by Moose Tyler
She swooped across the second clearing and hit the platform on the other side hard. She lunged forward, stumbling slightly, before regaining balance and sprinting on. When her foot touched the marker on the third tree, she grabbed a vine and dove out into the opening. She flung her feet in front of her and leaned back, gaining speed. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked to the left, and a large mountain cat sprang out of the grass below and swiped, narrowly missing her.
“Great Mother!”
She landed on the other side, turned, and had her bow armed and ready in three heartbeats. The cat scampered up the base of the tree. It was huge, head to tail as long as a four-stick boat. It lunged, and Amaria fired. The arrow skimmed the cat’s shoulder. It squalled and fell to ground. She reloaded and continued west. There was one more gap to cross before she’d reach the Burrow. She looked left and saw the cat racing alongside her in the clearing. Leaves blocked her view. When there was another opening, she saw that the cat was ahead of her. Sacred Peacock, that thing is fast.
She slowed down as she approached the last break. Tangling with a cat that size, armed with a bow and only, she did a mental count of her quiver, nine arrows was not a good idea. Had she brought the blade like Bekos suggested, Amaria wouldn’t have been as concerned. The cat was big but manageable.
She approached the leap point with caution, bow at the ready. She leaned out and saw it growling and pacing beneath the tree. Its haunches glistened in the late light of the afternoon. It’s hide was golden and smooth. Great Mother, that’s pretty.
As divine as the cat was, the sun was setting. Amaria backed up and assessed the situation. Any other day she would have either waited it out or chosen an alternative route, but on this day, she had to use the forbidden path. She didn’t see any other solution. She’d have to kill that beautiful beast, if she wanted to make it to Mesha Cliff by last light.
She returned to the edge of the branch. The cat’s tail swished rhythmically as it paced under her. It tried to scamper up the base, but the first branch was too high. It tried again, growling as it dug its claws into the bark. Amaria pulled the arrow taut and took aim. Great Mother, please give me another choice. The cat slid to the ground. She lowered the bow and looked around. There was nothing but leaves and vines. Come on, give me something I can use. She looked at the clearing between the trees. The grass behind the cat trembled. Amaria readied the bow. The grass shook again, and in a heartbeat, a smaller cat sprang out and sank its claws into the bigger one’s hind.
The big one squalled, whirled around, and batted the nuisance away. The growl intensified, and it reared back and lunged. The small one braced for impact, and they toppled over. The little one rolled to its feet, but the large one clutched it and snapped down on its hind. The small one squalled and thrust its legs out, shoving the big one away before scampering into the grass just as the large one pounced again. Its claw swiped the small one’s leg. It pulled its tail in and abruptly changed directions. “Come on, girl,” cheered Amaria. Girl?
The little one raced through the grass with the larger one close behind. The big one swiped. South. The little cat zagged left, and the strike missed. The big one slid as it changed directions, giving the small one a chance to gain distance. “Faster,” whispered Amaria.
The small one increased its speed. Amaria couldn’t believe it. For a heartbeat, it felt like she was controlling it. The bigger cat closed the distance and swiped. North. The little one slipped under the swipe and went the opposite direction. The big one adjusted and lunged. East. The little one zigged. South. It zigged again. West. The cat turned right.
Amaria looked up to see the sky had changed color. The yellow was fading. She looked at the clearing. The bigger one had given up the chase and was sauntering back and forth as the little cat trotted away. Great Mother be with you, little one.
With the threat preoccupied, Amaria returned the bow and retraced the path until she had enough of a runway. She turned and sprinted towards the leap point. When her foot hit the marker, she grabbed a vine and sailed out into the clearing. She swung across the gap and kept her eyes on the big cat. It was far enough out that it likely wouldn’t reach her before she hit the platform, but that wasn’t guaranteed.
She went unnoticed, until she leaned back to get momentum for the dismount. The big cat whipped around and raced towards her. It closed the distance. Amaria let go of the vine and hurled herself onto the platform just as the cat reached the base of the tree and scampered to the first branch. Amaria armed the bow and looked behind her. Part of the path was blocked in by another tree. She looked at the cat. It reared slightly, and Amaria fired, reloading in a heartbeat.
The arrow sank into the cat’s chest. It squalled and broke off the wood shaft sticking out. She fired again, but the cat batted the arrow away. She fired two more times, but the damage was minimal. She loaded the bow and glanced down at the branch. It was thick, so she stepped out and scooted farther out. Let’s see you climb branches.
The cat crept out on the limb. Amaria cursed. She should have chosen a higher branch. She stepped farther out, moving as cautiously as the cat. She aimed the bow. The cat growled low.
Amaria stomped. “Go on, get!”
The growl deepened, and the cat advanced. Amaria shuffled farther out. The limb cracked. Her stomach tightened. The cat was going to pounce. She’d have one chance to pierce its brain or heart. She chose heart. The cat lunged. Amaria fired, just as a spear lanced the cat’s head. Its lifeless body rammed into her, knocking her off balance and rolling her off the limb. She clutched hold of the beast and plummeted into the Great Ravine.
Amaria opened her eyes. The dead cat, broken and bloody, lay beneath her. Her neck and body cricked as she sat up. She looked at the sky. By the color, she could tell first light was approaching.
“Oh,” she groaned as she stood up. “Great Mother, that was rough.”
She looked at the cat. The spear through its head had snapped off during the fall. She looked around. The broken end was a few paces to her left. Her bow was in two pieces beyond that. She picked up the spear shaft. It was hers, the red one the Sacred Peacock had left by the hearth cycles ago. She was certain. Sakina had gotten the same spear, so Amaria etched a circle and three dots in hers.
She put it in her quiver and pulled the spear out of the cat’s head. It was her only weapon. She double-checked her satchel for the scrolls and finished what was left in the water pouch as she hobbled up the side of the Great Ravine.
Her feet were bruised and cut, and her arms were limp bowstrings. Her ribs hurt, which slowed her progress and made the crawl beneath the trees a painful endeavor. When she reached the northwestern checkpoint, she put the spear in the quiver and practically fell down the hole, but she finally made it back to the path that led to Mesha Cliff. She had no idea if Wanje would be at the top, but Amaria’s philosophy on completing assignments was better late than never.
To her astonishment, Wanje stood next to a torch in front of the repelling ropes. Amaria thanked the Great Mother and hustled over. Wanje extended her hand when Amaria approached. She forfeited the satchel.
Wanje opened it and looked inside. “Three scrolls delivered.”
“Yes, ma’am, but I failed to do so before last light.”
She set the satchel on the ground. “Do explain.”
Amaria didn’t know where to start. She had been delayed because she had eavesdropped on a patrol and watched whatever it was the citizens were doing in the Stalks, but the reason she had fallen into the Great Ravine had been out of her control. “I would have made last light, but I got knocked off course by a mountain cat.”
Wanje tilted her head. “How off course?”
“I fell into the Great Ravine.”
Wanje looked concerned. “Are you okay?”
Amaria nodded. “Just bruised and sore. The cat broke my fall. My f
eet are throbbing though. The climb out would have been easier if I had sandals.”
“Yes, the pain is always worse when our burdens are already heavy.”
Amaria wasn’t sure how to response. “Yes, ma’am.”
“So, tell me, this cat hunted you?”
Despite her aches and pains and disappointment for being late, Amaria was dying to tell someone about the encounter with the cat. “I’m not sure. It sprang out of the grass and took a swipe at me. It was as big as a four-stick boat, at least.”
“That is big.”
“Its tail was huge.”
“How did you escape such peril?”
“That was the strangest part, Wanje. This other little cat attacked it. They fought for a while before the little one led it away.”
“How did you manage to fall in the Great Ravine with the big one?”
“When I crossed the gap, it came after me again.”
“So, it wasn’t led away completely.”
“No.”
“What were you doing while the large cat was occupied with the small one.”
“Well, I was watching.” Amaria thought about it more. “No, I was waiting for the right heartbeat to cross when it was safe. It was either that or kill the cat, which I didn’t want to do.”
“Yet, it still died.”
Amaria nodded. She knew she should tell Wanje about the spear, but she had to keep the secret a little while longer, at least until she got a chance to talk to Ursula.
Wanje motioned to something behind Amaria. “Is this the smaller one?”
Amaria turned around. She squinted and peered into the darkness. Sure enough, she saw a small cat crouched in the underbrush. “How in the—”
“She’s quite lovely. I’ve always preferred the gold hide to black or spotted.”
Amaria faced Wanje. “She?”
“Did you not know the cat was a female?”
Amaria shrugged. “This can’t be the same.”
“Why not?”
“Because how could a cat her size squeeze under the trees in the Burrow, not to mention navigating the checkpoint?” She looked at the cat again. Its ears flicked back. It was the same. She looked at Wanje.
“Is it the same?”
Amaria nodded. “I think so.”
“How do you know?”
Amaria was confused. She thought she would get an earful for being as late as she was, followed by a hefty and unfair punishment that involved donating all her clothes and emptying the citizens’ waste pails or something equally foul. Instead, Wanje was asking questions about a cat who had mysteriously followed her from the north.
Amaria adjusted her stance. “I don’t know. It just is.”
“I feel you have a question,” said Wanje.
“It’s silly.”
“Maybe it only sounds that way in your head.”
Amaria shook her head. “No, I’m certain it will sound silly if I say it out loud.”
Wanje stared at Amaria for a few heartbeats.
“It’s nothing. It’s just when I was watching the cats fight.” Amaria laughed. “Never mind.”
Wanje was silent.
“You’re going to think I’m stupid.”
Wanje kept still as stone.
“Okay, for a heartbeat, only a heartbeat, I thought I was controlling it.” She looked at the ground. “Told you it was silly.”
There was more silence. Amaria looked up and saw that the corners of Wanje’s mouth had lifted. Amaria felt embarrassed. “What?”
“What if I told you that you could have been?”
“Could have been what?”
“Controlling the cat. Well, not controlling, more like tapping into, like a spigot.”
“How can you tap a spigot into a mountain cat, unless it’s dead?” Amaria cringed at the mental picture she had conjured.
“All warriors can tap into the Great Mother’s creations. All those with divine blood have the gift, only most don’t know how to open it. The few who do often learn later in training.”
Amaria’s feet and body hurt. Now, her mind ached.
Wanje smiled. “You train with me because you’re eastern-born and most in balance with water. Correct?”
Amaria rubbed her temples and nodded.
“You’re a marvelous swimmer and truly daring on the sliver.”
Amaria shrugged. She had never won a crown in Sliver Riding.
“Too daring I’m afraid. The sea will knock us off the wood with the flick of a wave, if were not cautious. Still, you have a sense about the water and how it crests and curls at the moon and wind’s command, do you not?”
Amaria nodded. “I guess so.”
“I’m like you in that regard. I’m most at peace in my natural element, but as a sage, I connect with all of them. Though I will admit, I’m least comfortable with fire.”
Amaria looked at the cat and back at Wanje. “So, how do I connect with a cat, if I have the gift? I tried with the bigger one, but it didn’t listen to me.”
Wanje laughed. Amaria felt silly again.
“It’s not about listening to you,” said Wanje. “It’s about you and the cat becoming one.”
“Yes, but how?”
“By using the air that you both breath, the earth you stand on, the water that flows through and around you, and the fire that burns in your stomachs, hearts, and wills to survive.”
The explanation hadn’t alleviated her confusion. “Okay, but how do I do that?”
Wanje smiled. “I suggest you start by training the cat, if she sticks around.”
“What if she won’t let me? Train her, I mean.”
Wanje looked at the cat. “Another warrior once asked the same question when I helped her open the gift.” She looked at Amaria. “I assure you it’s still young enough.”
Amaria thought about how she would go about training a mountain cat. Food would be a must, but outside of meat sticks and scraps, what else could she use?
“Close your mouth, Amaria.”
“Sorry.” Amaria closed her mouth.
“This is too vast a topic to explain right now. You’re exhausted physically and mentally. You have the ability to channel the elements, but only the Great Mother knows if you will be able to open Her gift.”
Amaria nodded.
“Now, let’s discuss the mistakes you made in this lesson.”
Amaria cleared her throat. “I didn’t make it by last light.”
“Yes, but that wasn’t your mistake. That was the consequence. Tell me, in what order did you retrieve the scrolls?”
“Northwest checkpoint, northeast checkpoint, Middle Divide.”
“Did you not read the scrolls?”
Amaria cursed in her head. She had been so focused on avoiding the patrols, completing the task by the deadline, and watching the citizens and cats fight that she didn’t even bother unrolling the parchment she had been sent halfway across Themiscia to retrieve. She looked at the ground and shook her head.
Wanje waited five heartbeats. “So, why that order then?”
“Because I saw a patrol, ma’am, and I didn’t want to interfere.”
“How does securing a scroll interfere with a patrol?”
Amaria shrugged. “They were meeting at the checkpoint, so I decided to get it on the return.”
“How did you know they were meeting at the checkpoint?”
“I, I, well, I saw them from the trees, and then I overheard them talking.”
“So, the cat fight wasn’t the only thing you were spectating.”
Amaria cowered slightly as Wanje’s tone darkened. “Again,” she said, “losing focus on the task at hand and putting your interests and insecurities above your training are your biggest mistakes.”
�
�Yes, ma’am,” Amaria said softly.
“Although you will receive low marks on this lesson, you did have moments of excellence. Your sense of direction in unfamiliar territory has improved greatly, and you retrieved all three scrolls—,” the sage paused, “—despite having one misplaced.”
Amaria looked at Wanje surprised.
“Delphi wanted me to know that one of my lessons had been meddled with.”
Bless Delphi, Great Mother.
“I’m impressed that you did not list it as the reason you failed to return by last light, though it would have been a better excuse than a mountain cat.”
Amaria looked at the ground again.
“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about your lesson?”
She thought about the citizens in the Stalks. She wanted to confess what she had seen and that one of them had killed the cat with her spear, the one she had just given to Wanje as part of her weapon donation, but Amaria shook her head instead.
Wanje waited a few heartbeats. “I see. Well, as you know, there are consequences for failing this lesson.”
Amaria took a deep breath. Here it is, the punishment.
“For failing to accomplish the task by last light, you will swim to the first southern checkpoint and back by first light for fourteen moons.”
Great Mother, fourteen moons?
Wanje looked up. “Though, today you won’t be able to make it by first light.”
Today? Amaria was already so exhausted.
“For straying from the path, you will go to the Great Ravine and collect the cat’s hide, teeth, and as much meat as you can and return the animal properly to the Great Mother.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When you’ve finished, deliver the meat to Sheila. She’ll salvage what she can. The hide, claws, and teeth go to Sephora for the queen.”
