by Sophia Sharp
She wondered what had happened to Rafael. She hoped he survived, but despite Alexander’s conviction that he had, she wasn’t so sure. What Rafael had done for her had been nothing less than a sacrifice. He sacrificed himself completely for her to survive. Her and Hunter, actually. She felt indebted to him for that and knew she could never pay it back.
A wild fox appeared beside them, running alongside Nora. Nora surprised herself by noticing it – it blended extraordinarily well with the surroundings. Gray barked at it, and it ran off.
Something didn’t make sense in Nora’s mind. She had avoided thinking about it so far, but…why had Hunter shown her the world of dreams if he knew it was forbidden? If he knew it would get him in trouble, and if he knew it was breaking the creed, how did doing it make any sense? He had been surprised that they were noticed, but if it was really such a crime, would he have taken that chance in the first place?
Up ahead, Alexander laughed and picked up speed. Nora kept up easily. She zipped amongst the trees, racing through the wild tangles of the forest with nary a stumble. She felt surefooted and graceful.
A sudden pang of guilt overtook Nora by surprise. All this while, she realized, she had avoided thinking about probably the most important thing of all. Her family. They were probably worried sick. They didn’t know where she was. They hadn’t heard from her since she’d left. The whole community must be searching for her.
And then there were all her friends. This was the longest time she’d gone without seeing any of them. Could she…maybe…call her family to say she was ok? Once they got to Natsuk, or Naksup, or whatever the town was called. It would be her first opportunity to do so since all this began.
But then again…deep down, she knew she could never go back. She knew that going back was impossible. As much as it pained her to admit, a clean break from her former life was probably for the best. She didn’t want to endanger her family or her friends by making contact with them. With the Vassiz after her, there was no point in risking turning their attention to her old town.
Gray clambered behind them. Nora noted he was getting faster, too. And bigger. His silver fur coat was almost fully in. A little hint of brown, remaining just above the shoulders, gave it graceful elegance. She felt a bond to him already, but he was more than just a pet. Alexander had put it best. A companion.
She ran and spotted an overturned log up ahead. It was wide and precariously balanced between two boulders. She could just go around, but…she felt strong, and more in tune with her body and with what she could do. She jumped and nimbly landed on top of the log, running across without once feeling like she would lose her balance.
She laughed in delight. This reminded her a lot of when she was in the dream with Hunt— she stopped herself. She didn’t like how her thoughts kept leading back to him. He had left her, after taking her away from her family, after saying that he was “protecting her.” But now she saw the truth of how much that protection really offered.
It was better to have never met him. None of this – any of it – would be happening were it not for him. It was all so confusing. And crazy. She wanted desperately to push him out of her mind, but she just…couldn’t. She knew she should be angry with him for ripping her away from her life and then just forgetting her, nearly all alone, in the middle of nowhere…but the anger didn’t come. All she felt was an emptiness, maybe tinged with a hint of a sadness, at his absence.
Nora shook her head and ran, trailing after Alexander as he paved the away. She was going fast, now, and so was he. Abruptly, she realized that she had been lost in her thoughts. She was going too fast. She looked back – and Gray was nowhere to be seen.
“Hold on!” she yelled out to Alexander, coming to a stop. Alexander turned back, and seeing that she stopped running, stopped as well.
“What is it?” he yelled across to her.
“Gray,” she explained. “We went too fast, and left him behind!”
“Oh.” Alexander was by her side almost instantly. “I must have forgotten myself.”
“I don’t think he’s too far back,” Nora said. “But maybe I should go and find him, just in case he—” she cut off as she caught a dark blur streaking toward her face.
Before she could turn and react to it, Alexander crashed his body into her side, knocking her over. They fell heavily onto Nora’s shoulder, but it was Alexander who cried out in pain.
She looked – and saw a long wooden shaft, maybe as long as her arm, pierced through Alexander’s shoulder. It went straight through, and on the other side was fitted a sharp metal point.
An arrow.
Nora’s senses were instantly alert. She looked all around her, searching for movement. Seeing none, she strained her ears – trying to hear anything that would give her attackers away.
There was no sound at all except for Alexander’s labored breathing.
Alexander grunted suddenly, and she turned her attention to him – while still being very alert for anything else that might come from the forest around them. He had broken the shaft and pulled it out of his shoulder. The part of his shirt right around the wound was stained with blood.
“Are you ok?” Nora asked anxiously. She was still looking around her alertly – and nervously – scanning every inch of the forest, trying to look behind each tree, into every shadow.
“I’m fine,” Alexander said, with a grimace.
“You’re hurt,” Nora said. “Is it bad?”
“The wound will heal.” It looked like he should be in great pain, but his voice had become steady.
“How did the arrow go through?”
“I don’t know. But that’s not our biggest worry. The arrow was directed at you.”
Before Nora could speak, she heard movement behind her. She spun around, instinctively shielding Alexander.
Chapter Eleven
~Old Friends~
Nora stared, amazed, as four of the most distinctive people she had ever seen came out of the bush.
There was an older man and a woman who looked about the same age, and two boys who looked a few years younger than Nora. All four were tall, extraordinarily so, and all had red markings on their arms that looked like tribal tattoos.
The woman was carrying a heavy bow, now slung over her back. As far as Nora could see, there were no more arrows.
Nora knew the instant she saw them that all four were Vassiz. The sublime grace with which they carried themselves, lightly and surefooted, gave it away immediate. But their skin was not milky white, as Hunter’s, or Alexander’s, or even Rafael’s had been. Instead, it was a pale cocoa, like a fresh brew of coffee mixed with too much cream. But it was flawless, as was the skin of every other Vassiz she had ever seen.
The four stopped maybe twenty feet away from Nora and Alexander and regarded them calmly. Nora’s body tensed. She met their eye contact, though, staring back defiantly.
“Alexander!” the man said suddenly, “We did not expect to find you here.”
Nora stared back at Alexander. “You know them?”
“Knew them, yes,” Alexander whispered quietly to her. He walked out in front of Nora, one hand still holding his shoulder. “It has been many years, friend,” Alexander said cautiously.
“Many years, yes,” the man said. “You do not look like you have aged a day.”
“And neither do you, or your family.”
The man barked a laugh. “A consequence of who we are, I’m afraid.”
“It is,” Alexander agreed.
The man motioned toward the woman with the bow. “Forgive my wife. Sometimes her aim is a little… off.” The words sounded hollow in Nora’s ears. They were said dismissively, with no real regard for Alexander. For some reason, Nora was reminded of two generals exchanging pleasantries before waging a bloody war.
“I did not recognize you from far away,” the woman said. Her voice did not share the elegance of her movement. It was blocky and quite rough. “If I had known it was you claiming the elder�
�s bounty, I would have been more precise.”
“The elder’s bounty?” Nora exclaimed without thinking. That earned an admonishing look from Alexander.
“Yes, doll,” the woman said cruelly, running her finger over the limb of her bow, “the arrow was meant for you.”
Alexander shot another glance at Nora, and whispered harshly, “Let me speak!”
He looked to the man again. “I will harbor no ill will,” he said, spreading his arms, “nor will I seek revenge toward you or your family, for the mishap that has occurred today, on the basis of our past friendship. All I ask in return is safe passage through these woods.”
The man frowned. “You know, Alexander, my boys have not had good sport for quite some time. Today…is a thrilling time for them. We did not answer the call of the elders at first, but when the boys saw unannounced movement through these lands…well, imagine their excitement when they realized just who it was.”
“Permit us safe passage,” Alexander repeated, “and I will forget what happened here. To attack another of the Vassiz is outlawed. Your wife will avoid trial and sentence for what she did.”
To Nora’s surprise, the man laughed in return. Laughed and laughed and laughed. She could feel the tension building between Alexander and the group of four in front of them. When the man finally calmed down, his face twisted into something that resembled anger.
“You trespass on our lands without permission,” he began, “and you dare make threats against my wife? However thinly-veiled your pleasantries are, I know what lies behind them, Alexander. You are a man of great ambition, and you will stop at nothing to get what you want. Don’t deny it – I know you well. No, Alexander, I am afraid we will not allow the two of you safe passage through these woods.”
Alexander growled, a noise that Nora only ever heard before from Hunter, but the man continued anyway.
“But we are friends, no? Yes,” he nodded, “I think we are. And in the spirit of that friendship, I will make you a concession. You bring with you to our pack a precious gift. This is the girl that has been shown to us in the dream, no?” The woman – his wife – nodded. “We will help you, then, Alexander. Your shoulder – it looks badly hurt. You will need to tend to it. You should not be burdened by running around with a newborn. Allow us to take the weight off your hands. Give us the girl, allow us to claim the bounty, and you may go freely.”
“No deal, Korver,” Alexander said quietly.
“What’s that?” the man – Korver – asked, raising a hand to his ear. “I do not think I heard you correctly. Could you speak up, please? And this time, Alexander…make the right decision.”
“I said,” Alexander replied defiantly, “No. Deal.” He took his hand away from his shoulder, and crouched down in an aggressive stance.
“No?” Korver mused. “I must say, Alexander, I knew you as an ambitious man, but not as a fool. Consider the numbers. There are four of us and only two of you. The girl – she has no control over herself yet. She does not know her body as we know ours. That paints her out of the equation. What does it become then? It becomes quite scary for you. It becomes four of us, against only one of you. And you have a bad shoulder, now, while we’re freshly rested and without injury. Do you truly wish to risk such odds?”
“I do not want to risk anything, Korver,” Alexander snarled, “but I will do what I must if you force me. Let us through. There is no need for a confrontation.”
Korver ignored Alexander completely. “Oh,” he said to himself, as if just remembering. “We also found something in the woods.”
One of the boys, Nora realized, had stood there the entire time with his hands behind his back. Easily, he brought them around – and sheer terror clutched Nora’s heart. Gray hung limply, the boy’s hand wrapped tightly around his neck.
“No!” Nora screamed.
Korver smiled at her. “You see, we are more in touch with nature than most. That is how we found this stray running behind.” Nora saw with relief that Gray’s chest still moved with breath. Weakly, though. “Surely it is of no consequence to you, Alexander, if we take his pelt? It is such a rich, beautiful color.”
“I would not do that, Korver,” Alexander warned. Nora stepped up beside Alexander, shoulder to shoulder with him, facing the pack.
Korver frowned, this time truly with surprise. “I did not think you one to care. But that means… No. Could it be true…? The girl…she is not your prisoner at all, is she? You have no intention of claiming the bounty, or taking her to the elders. No. She is your toy.” He said the last word derisively. “Do you so easily forsake the Vassiz, then, Alexander? What you are doing, it is worse than treason.” He smiled to his wife. “The elders will reward us greatly if we bring them not one, but two outcasts. Boys – go take them.”
The boy holding Gray threw him aside gruffly, and his brother took a step toward them. At the same time, Korver’s wife locked eyes with Nora. “This one’s mine,” she told them.
Everything happened at once.
The boys streamed toward Alexander. He pushed Nora aside and charged right at them, giving no heed to his shoulder.
Nora stumbled a bit, and just before she caught her feet, something hit her across her cheek. Hard. She fell back and, at the same time, looked up. The woman, who had just been beside Korver, was standing over her. “That’s for Alexander’s threat,” she said in a menacing tone.
Nora started to get up, but received a hard kick to her side – one that sent her flying. Nora landed on her stomach and grunted.
“That one,” the woman said, “was from me.” The woman walked leisurely around her. “So,” she continued, starting to circle Nora widely, “how does it feel to face your demise? This is your destiny today.”
“My destiny,” Nora said harshly, “does not involve you!” The woman had taken Gray, threatened her, and put an arrow through Alexander’s shoulder. The anger inside Nora steamed to the top. Nora pushed herself up and locked eyes with the woman. She had been running for two straight days, making use of all her newfound abilities. Together with the anger, she could feel the Vassiz instincts inside her just begging to be let out.
She let them go.
With a snarl, she ran toward the woman. The woman’s face momentarily showed surprise, only to be quickly replaced by determination. The woman charged toward Nora, matching her stride for stride.
Nora saw a rock sitting along her path, and bent quickly to grab it, while keeping at a dead run. The large stone fit well in the palm of her hand. She kept running, closing the distance between her and the woman. Suddenly, the woman jumped, high into the air. Nora jumped, too.
They flew toward each other, bodies streaming through the air. The woman bared her teeth harshly, and Nora did the same.
They collided, like two rams meeting head-on, came to a dead stop in mid-air, and fell to the ground.
The woman was like a viper. She already had one hand wrapped around Nora’s wrist – on the same hand that held the rock. But Nora had the woman’s other hand. They tussled on the ground, both vying for advantage, and neither getting it. Nora found herself on her back, defending more than attacking, and the woman moved to slam her knee into Nora’s side harshly. Nora wiggled out of the way just in time. Using the momentum, Nora flipped them over so she was on top, but cringed as the only weapon she had flew from her hand.
The woman’s face flamed red with anger, and her eyes shone with a vicious intensity. Instead of fighting against Nora’s grip, she rolled back, flipping them both over again so she was on top. Nora tried to hold off the woman’s hands, but they were quick and strong. Slowly, Nora began to feel overpowered. The woman was stronger, and she had more experience. Staving off the woman’s hands was quickly draining Nora’s energy.
With alarm, Nora realized she couldn’t win on the ground. The woman was too experienced, too much stronger in such close combat. She had to get to a different terrain, gain some kind of advantage, or else… or else she would lose.
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br /> Nora let her body go limp. . The woman fell for the trick, grinning as she positioned herself more securely above Nora and darted her hands toward Nora’s neck. Just at that moment, when the woman thought she had the advantage and let up her defense, Nora used the leverage of both her legs to fling the creature off, away from her. The woman flew backward through the air, but righted herself nimbly before landing on both feet. That was just enough time for Nora to get up, though.
From the side of her vision, Nora caught Alexander taking on the two brothers. They were both jetting around him, mocking him. Suddenly, one of them was down, cringing in pain. And Alexander was right on top of him, finishing with a lethal blow to the head. She had no idea how it happened so quickly, but if he could take on two…surely she could take on one.
The woman rushed back toward Nora, but instead of facing her head on, Nora turned and ran. She had to get away, to find some place where she could have an advantage. Her mind raced.
She ran through bushes and trees, around ancient trunks and fallen logs. Turning her head back, she saw the woman was right on her trail. She doubled her speed, until the lines of her vision started to blur. She had never gone this fast before in the real world, and it felt…liberating. She was moving so fast she had no time to think about where she was going – and she let instinct completely take over. She dodged past branches, sidestepped boulders, and twisted through narrow gaps between trees, all without losing a step.
She glanced back again, and realized she had gained quite a lead over her pursuer. Wait. That was it! Nora was faster, most definitely, and she could use that to win.
She darted ahead, zipping through the trees and turning at random to throw off the woman behind her. If she could just get out of her line of sight, maybe she could take her by surprise. Nora ran, going left, then right, then left again, in an effort to get farther and farther away. But also in an effort to get out of sight.
She glanced back – and saw nobody. She stopped, pressing herself up against the trunk of a thick tree, and waited. A few seconds later, she started to make out the sound of the other woman running.
