The Wildcat's Claw

by Varian Johnson

  “But, Rollan …” She stopped as she heard the buzz of arrows in the air. Rollan must have as well. As he scrambled to his feet, the amulet glowed in his hand, his fingers hardly able to contain the amber light leaking through. He thrust his hand in the air as if he was blocking the volley. The arrows froze, hovering for a second, then silently fell to the ground.

  Rollan turned and stared at his friends. “What are you waiting for?” he yelled. “Run!”

  Conor, Worthy, and Briggan took off, with Abeke close behind. Meilin couldn’t see Anka, but she could hear her running ahead, her boots crunching through the forest foliage. She turned to see Rollan behind her, the amulet still glowing in his hands. He paused as another volley approached, then blocked them again.

  “Yikes!” Worthy yelled.

  Meilin turned to see the Redcloak leaping out of the way of an arrow. It had barely missed him, instead piercing his cloak. Two more arrows sunk into the ground at his feet.

  “More archers!” Conor said, pivoting to the left. “Where did they come from?”

  Meilin wondered the same thing. From what it seemed, this new set of archers had been sitting in the trees behind them. But if that were the case, they would have had a clear shot at the group. Why hadn’t they attacked?

  “Keep running!” Rollan yelled, blocking more arrows. But this volley, like so many of the others, hadn’t come close to hitting them. Still, the group pivoted again, turning down a small path.

  Something about running was helping clear Meilin’s mind. These archers were either the worst shots in all of Erdas … or they were missing them on purpose! They weren’t trying to kill them. They were trying to flush them out. They were funneling them a certain way.…

  They were running into a trap!

  “Guys! We have to stop running! We have to—”

  Suddenly, up ahead, Worthy, Conor, and Briggan yelled as a net sprung up from the ground, surrounding them. They flew into the air, crashing into each other as the net spun on the end of a wobbly evergreen tree.

  A few feet away, Uraza yowled as another net ensnared her. The leopard tried to find her footing, but there were too many holes in the net for her to gain her balance. The more she struggled, the more tangled she became.

  Abeke skidded to a halt. “Don’t worry, Uraza! I’ll get you out!” She reached for her knife, but then something—Anka, Meilin eventually realized—bumped into Abeke, pushing them both forward. Another net materialized around them, whipping them into the air.

  Meilin turned to see Rollan barreling toward her in a full-out sprint. Essix flew above him, her wings spread wide. “Slow down!” Meilin yelled. “It’s a—”

  But before she could finish her sentence, a tall, wooden cage, sharpened to pinpoint spikes at the top, sprung up around him. Rollan tried to jump over it, but it was too high, even with his spirit animal’s help.

  “Drop your weapon, Greencloak,” a voice said from above. “That is, unless you want a belly full of arrows.”

  Meilin dropped her quarterstaff as a group of men slithered out of the trees. They were dressed in brown furs, with green and brown paint over their faces. No wonder Meilin hadn’t seen them. They were dressed to blend in perfectly with the forest.

  She counted them as they exited the trees. There were at least twenty of them, with more still in the forest. One of the men started walking toward them. She recognized him immediately. He was the large, bearded trapper from the trading post, the one that had been doing the most clapping while she danced.

  “Check that one first,” the man said, pointing to Rollan. “It looked like he was holding something. See what it is.”

  Rollan held his hands open as two men approached him. They were empty.

  “He’s clean, Merch,” one of the trappers said to the large, bearded man. “Want us to tie him up anyway?”

  “Yep.” Merch was clearly the one in charge. “And use lots of rope.”

  “You heard the man,” one of the other trappers said, uncoiling a brown rope from around his shoulder. “Stick out your hands.”

  “Come on, guys,” Rollan said, extending his hands through the cage’s long vertical bars. “I’m already in a cage. Isn’t this a bit overkill.” Rollan winced as they tightened their knots. “I think you’re cutting off the blood flow to my fingers.”

  “I’ll sure the Oathbound will take you, with or without fingers,” Merch replied. “My buddy Cal is already heading back to their camp to let them know that we found you.” Picking up a stick, he walked to the net with Conor, Worthy, and Briggan. “And look what we have here,” he said, poking at them with the stick. “The mighty Briggan, caught in a net. Guess you aren’t such a Great Beast after all.”

  The wolf snapped at the man. Catching the stick in his strong jaws, Briggan broke off a piece, then hurled it back at him.

  “Careful there,” Merch taunted. “The Oathbound woman said she wanted the Greencloaks alive. She didn’t mention anything about their spirit animals.” The man spun the net, stopping it once Worthy was in front of him. “And what exactly are you?” he asked. “Why do your eyes look so funny? And what happened to your hands?”

  “Let me out and I’ll give you an up-close demonstration,” Worthy said, holding up his claws. He tried to reach out and swipe the man, but he was too caught up in the net.

  Merch smiled. “Why don’t you all put away those precious animals of yours before someone gets hurt?” He poked Briggan again. “Go ahead.”

  In a flash, Briggan and Uraza disappeared, while Anka slowly came back into view. Although Meilin didn’t see Essix, she was sure that the bird was there, hidden out of sight. They were probably going to need her help if they hoped to escape.

  “And what about you?” the trapper asked, now pointing his stick at Meilin. “Where’s your animal?”

  “Already in passive state,” Meilin said, showing off Jhi’s mark on the back of her hand. “Please don’t do this,” she continued. “Whatever reward the Oathbound are offering, we’ll double it.”

  He stroked his beard. “Like I could ever trust the word of a Greencloak, especially after the way you all laid waste to Eura.” His lips curled into a snarl as he talked.

  Rollan shook his hands, vibrating the walls of his cage. “The Oathbound are nothing but big bullies,” he said. “We Greencloaks have kept the peace for centuries. If they capture us, they’ll split us up and use us as weapons. They’ll have each land fighting against one another.”

  “You have the nerve to talk about Greencloaks keeping the peace?” Merch sneered at Rollan. “Were you keeping the peace a few months ago, when the Greencloaks destroyed my village? When Betarvius fell? Or were you off rampaging some other part of the world?” He neared the cage. “Perhaps you were the one controlling the elk that destroyed the mill. Or maybe it was one of your animals that stampeded through the center of town, destroying all our homes. Or maybe you helped demolish our dam, flooding what little remained of our town.” Merch leveled the stick at Rollan. “It was bad enough when the Conquerors came. They stole our animals, seized our supplies. And then, right when we’re trying to rebuild, you Greencloaks came along to finish us off. Betarvius was founded by my great-great-grandfather. It stood for hundreds of years. And the Greencloaks destroyed it within a matter of hours.”

  Meilin glanced at Conor and Worthy. Both their faces were turned to the ground. So that was why they didn’t want to talk about Betarvius. It must have fallen after the Greencloaks were taken by the Wyrm. She knew firsthand of the horrors that could be inflicted by a group of people controlled by the Wyrm—she’d seen how the Many had destroyed everything in their path while she was underground in Sadre. There was no village in all of Erdas that could have withstood the might of a horde controlled by the Wyrm, especially if that horde was made up of warriors like the Greencloaks. The village would have been doomed from the start.

  Rollan didn’t speak for a few moments; he must have understood the gravity of what happened in Beta
rvius as well. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry about that. Really, I am. But the Greencloaks were under the power of something called the Wyrm—”

  “Just more Greencloak lies,” Merch said. “We’ve heard rumors that the queen wants the Greencloaks to disband. We stand with her. It is what’s best for Eura.”

  Rollan opened his mouth again, but Meilin shook her head, warning him to remain quiet. There was nothing Rollan could say that would soothe the man’s anger. He had lost too much.

  “Since you want to do all this talking, why don’t you tell me how you stopped those arrows of ours?” Merch continued. “How did they fall out of the sky like that? It was like they hit an invisible wall or something.” Merch jabbed his stick into Rollan’s side. A flash of pain came across Rollan’s face, but he didn’t yell out. The man poked him again, this time harder. “Come on. Spill it.”

  Finally, Rollan spat out, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yeah, you do,” he said. “The woman in black told us specifically to watch out for you. Said you had some type of amulet. Some gift.”

  “You must be imagining things,” Rollan said. “Maybe you all just have bad aim.”

  That drew an even sharper poke from Merch. “Fine, don’t tell me. The Oathbound will pry it out of you, one way or another. The way I understand it, the woman leading them, Cordelia the Kind, has a real knack for getting information out of people.” He grinned. “She takes the phrase ‘kill them with kindness’ to a whole new level.”

  Now Rollan looked worried. “Okay, how about this. If I tell you where it is, will you let us go?”

  The man stroked his beard again. “Maybe.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Merch,” one of the other trappers said. “You heard what Cordelia said—”

  “We’d be long gone by the time she figured it out,” Merch said. “Think of what we could do with that amulet. We’d be unstoppable. Forget rebuilding Betarvius. We could rule all of Eura!” Merch turned back to Rollan. “So, are you going to tell me or not?”

  Rollan opened his mouth, and hesitated.

  “Rollan, you can’t!” Meilin yelled. He actually looked like he was considering his offer.

  “Why not?” Rollan said. “It’s better in their hands than the Oathbounds’.” Then Rollan smiled and rolled his eyes at her.

  It was a signal. Meilin wasn’t sure, but she thought it meant that Rollan wanted her to play along.

  “Come on, Meilin, what do you say?” Rollan continued. “We give him the amulet, and he lets us go? Just us two. He can still turn the others over to the Oathbound.”

  “Hey!” Worthy yelled from behind her. She turned to see Conor clamping his hand over the spot on Worthy’s mask where his mouth would be. Whatever was happening, Conor wanted it to play out, too.

  Meilin took a deep breath. She hoped she was doing what Rollan wanted her to do. “Don’t be ridiculous. Look at this guy,” she said, nodding toward Merch. “You think he stands a chance against the Oathbound? He could hardly fight his way out of a puddle of water.”

  Rollan smiled and offered her the slightest of nods. “Meilin, don’t fight me on this. It’s the only way to save us.”

  “Us?”

  “Yeah. Us,” he said. “I’m not leaving without you.”

  She turned away from him and jutted her chin in the air. “Then I guess we’re not leaving.”

  Rollan sighed. “Merch, buddy, do you mind bringing her over here? Let me talk to her.”

  Merch cast his eyes upon Meilin, like he was studying her. Like he was trying to figure out if she was really serious.

  “Just let me talk to her,” Rollan repeated. “Once I get her to change her mind, I’ll tell you where the amulet is.”

  Merch let out a deep grunt, then pointed to two nearby trappers. “Take her over there,” he said. “Tie her up to the cage. But watch out for her. She’s a fighter. I can see it in her eyes.”

  Meilin tried to hold her hands apart to keep the rope loose, but this trapper was an expert at knots. He triple-tied the cords, squeezing her hands uncomfortably tight together.

  The two trappers then dragged Meilin to the cage. Meilin pulled against them, but they were too strong. They tied her to the side, face-to-face with Rollan.

  “Um, how about a little privacy,” Rollan said, shooing the men away.

  Merch sighed. “Step away, boys. But you two better make it quick.”

  Rollan shifted forward. They were probably close enough to kiss, although Meilin wasn’t trying to think about that.

  “If I had known we’d be this close, I would have brushed my teeth,” Rollan whispered.

  “You can’t help yourself, can you? You just can’t let the opportunity for a joke to pass you by.” Then she smiled. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Not sure. I’m making this up as I go along.”

  “Were you at least able to get the amulet to Essix before you were caught?”

  “Yeah … not quite,” he whispered.

  “Rollan!” she hissed. “Really?”

  “I was hoping to, but Essix was too far away when the cage trapped me. But I was able to slip it into my boot. It’s wedged against my ankle. I originally wanted Essix to create a diversion so I could reach it …”

  “But then you had to mouth off and get yourself tied to the cage.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  “I don’t have forever,” Merch called out. “You going to tell us where the amulet is or not?”

  “Give me another minute,” Rollan said. “I’ve almost got her convinced.” Rollan slid even closer to Meilin. “If I was able to get the men away from here, and if Essix created enough of a distraction, do you think you and that big panda of yours can break us out of here?”

  “Given our current predicament, I don’t see many other options.” She shook her head. “But remind me to talk to you about escape strategies.”

  Rollan smiled, then turned to Merch. “Okay, I’ll tell you where it is,” he said. “I dropped it in the forest.”

  Merch threw his stick to the ground. “Boy, is that all you have to say?” Merch pulled a sword from his belt and advanced toward them. It was the falchion, the very sword that Meilin had been drooling over at the trading post. “You tell me where the amulet is, or I start slicing fingers off.” He pointed the sword at Meilin. “And I’ll start with Twinkle Toes.”

  “Seriously, it’s in the forest,” Rollan said “About one hundred paces back. By the oak tree with the large knot in the center. You’ll find it if you look hard enough.”

  Merch glared at both of them. “You’d better not be lying to me. You and your friends’ lives depend on it.” Merch turned to a small group of nearby men. “You all stay here and keep watch. You others come with me. We need to find that amulet before the Oathbound get here.”

  Meilin waited until most of the men had disappeared into the forest. Only seven remained, although they were all armed. She looked at Rollan. “Is Essix ready?” she whispered.

  “Just give her a signal, and she’ll swoop in.”

  Meilin closed her eyes. In a flash, Jhi appeared beside her. The panda yawned as she took in her surroundings.

  “Whoa!” one of the trappers yelled. “Is that a panda?”

  “Get it!” another said.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Meilin said to Jhi as the panda began to chew on her rope bonds. “Stop them first.”

  The panda nodded, turned, and reared up on her hind legs. She roared loud enough to make the birds in the trees take flight. Then she dropped to all fours and charged the men.

  The three trappers nearest to them paused for a moment, seemingly frozen by her size, then continued running toward her. They brandished axes and daggers, swinging them wildly in the air as they approached the panda. Meilin knew Jhi could hold her own against the men, but she still worried for her partner. Jhi wasn’t the fighting type, though thankfully these men didn’t know that.

  But just as
the men reached Jhi, Essix soared down from a nearby tree. She dove toward the man with a dagger, raking her talons across his face. With streaks of blood across his cheek, he dropped his blade and blindly waved his arms around his head, trying to keep the gyrfalcon away.

  “Go, Essix! Get him!” Rollan yelled. “That’s what happens when you mess with a Greencloak!”

  Meanwhile, Jhi swiped her paws at one of the other trappers, batting him to the ground. She roared again, her bellow loud enough to make the last man drop his weapon and cower before her. But Jhi and Essix didn’t have time to waste on those men. Other trappers were already rushing toward the animals. But unlike the first group, these carried crossbows and bolts. Before they could ready their weapons, however, Uraza and Briggan joined the fray, clawing and biting at the men, ripping the crossbows from their hands.

  “Hurry up,” Rollan said. “I hear the others coming back.”

  Meilin closed her eyes. She allowed herself to connect to Jhi—to have their thoughts and strengths and souls intertwined. She felt Jhi’s strength surge through her. Then she lowered her shoulder, squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, and rammed into the cage. It began to splinter. She rammed it again, this time breaking the wooden bars.

  Although her hands were still tied, she could move more freely. She reached through the cage and grabbed Rollan’s boot. “Hold on,” she said, ripping it from his leg.

  “Ouch!” he yelled. “You could be a little gentler, you know.”

  “Pain—it’s an occupational hazard.” She turned over the boot, and the Heart of the Land fell to the ground. She picked it up, and tried to hand it to Rollan.

  “I can’t take it,” he said. “My hands are bound too tightly. You use it.”

  Meilin looked at the small stone. She curled her fingers around the amulet, then thrust it into the sky. It began to give off its bright amber glow.

  “Um, Meilin,” Rollan began. “What exactly are you about to do?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Remember what we were talking about a little while ago,” he said, his words faster. “About how earthquakes weren’t so good when surrounded by huge trees and thick branches and—”