They crossed blades in a fury of muscle and sweat. Old Ponchy’s foul mouth hung inches from Roshin’s face, and his putrid breath made Roshin’s head swim. He almost knocked Roshin over backwards when Roshin swept out with his leg and hooked him behind the ankle. Old Ponchy hit the ground and the blade flew out of his hand. Roshin jumped on him with his two blades raised when Talya flew between them. She covered Old Ponchy with her body and held out her hand to Roshin. “Stop! Don’t kill him.”
Roshin glared at her and croaked through gritted teeth. “He would have killed me. He deserves to die.”
Talya moved in front of him and blocked the man from Roshin. “Don’t kill him. If you kill him, you’ll have to kill me first.”
Roshin roared in fury. “I will kill you. You tried to kill me, too. I trusted you, and this is how you treat me!”
“You would have let Lilith go,” she cried. “I had to stop you. Do you really think I would betray my people.”
Roshin swept the camp with his arm. “These aren’t your people. You’re Avitras.” She shook her head, but he cut her off. “You wouldn’t tell me why your parents joined the Outliers, but if the stories I’ve heard are true, I would bet they didn’t do it by choice. You don’t have to stay with these people, and you don’t have to help them maim and torture and kill people, either.” He waved his arm toward Lilith, but he couldn’t put his emotions into words.
He shook his head and stepped back. She was right. He couldn’t kill her. The remaining guards had run back to the camp. They would raise the alarm and bring others to capture him. He had to get into the air now. He couldn’t wait.
He turned away and sheathed his two blades. He grabbed up Lilith and settled her on his shoulder again. Talya got to her feet and stared at him. “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping her?”
He muttered under his breath. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Explain it me,” she insisted.
“Another time, perhaps.” He scanned the sky. It was still black night. He could fly away and the Outliers would never find him.
Talya regarded him. “You’re right.”
He jammed Lilith’s wrists under his belt so they wouldn’t flop while he flew. “Right about what?”
“They didn’t join because they wanted to,” Talya murmured.
Roshin’s head whipped around. Then he shook his head. “I don’t want to know why they joined. I don’t have time to hear it anyway. I’m going.”
She took a step forward. “Wait.”
“I can’t,” he replied. “You’ve done enough damage as it is. I’ll see you later sometime.”
“I don’t agree with what they do,” she told him. “None of us do.”
He looked at her for the first time. The intoxicating loveliness that enchanted him by the river no longer glowed in her face, but an earthy calm took its place. She was Avitras, just like him, and she felt the same horror at the Outliers’ deeds that he did. “Then don’t stay here. Leave.”
She glanced at the dark trees. “Where?”
“Come back to the Avitras,” he told her. “Come back to your real people.”
She looked up at the starry sky. Voices echoed from the camp. The others were on their way.
Roshin took her hand. “Come with me, Talya. You don’t belong here. Come with me. I’ll take you home.”
She smiled at him, but tears sparkled in her eyes. She pressed her lips together to hold back her tears. Roshin extended his frill and lifted off the ground. Lilith’s weight made flying slowly and cumbersome, but he managed all right.
Talya flew up into the sky with him. The Outliers rushed to the spot and found the dead guards and Old Ponchy still lying on the ground where they left him, but Roshin, Talya, and Lilith flew away, over the vast forest and trackless mountains, to the south.
Chapter 4
Roshin’s feet touched the ground, and he let Lilith slide off his shoulder. He laid her back on the ground with her head propped against a tree. Then he sank down on one knee next to her to catch his breath.
Talya watched him from a short distance away.
“I can’t fly very far carrying her,” Roshin panted. “We’ll rest here for a while before we go on.”
Talya scanned the forest, but didn’t answer.
Roshin glanced upwards. “I wish we could stay in the branches. I don’t feel safe down here on the ground, but I couldn’t hold her up there. We’ll just have to wait until she wakes up—or I’m ready to fly again, whichever comes first.” He ran his hand over Lilith’s head.
“What are you doing?” Talya asked.
“I’m looking at her head,” he replied. “Those travelers thought she was Avitras, but she isn’t. Look at these spots. From a distance, they look like immature feathers, but they aren’t. They’re some kind of hair.”
Talya made a face and turned away.
Roshin got to his feet. “I’m sorry we have to camp on the ground. I wish....”
She smiled at him. “I don’t mind. I’ve never camped in the trees before anyway.”
He stared at her. Then he shook his head. “You really have fallen far from your own people, haven’t you? Well, you can catch up when we get back to the village. One night won’t make much difference.”
He strode down a bank and cupped his hand under a trickle of water springing from the rock. He carried it back to Lilith and splashed some of it on her face. He tried to clear the blood clots from her face and head, and she stirred.
He poured another handful of water into her mouth and she sat up spluttering. “Get away from me! Get off me.”
Roshin sat back on his heels. “That’s a fine way to say thank you.”
Lilith blinked the water out of her eyes and looked around. “Who are you?”
“I am Roshin,” he replied, “of the Avitras.”
Lilith glared at him. Her eyes slid across to Talya, and she set her jaw in grim hostility. “I can see you’re Avitras. I’m Avitras, too.”
Roshin shook his head. “You’re not Avitras. I don’t know what you are, but you’re not Avitras.”
Lilith stiffened and tried to stand up. “I am so Avitras. Aimee Sandoval and Piwaka are my parents. Take me to them and they’ll tell you who I am.”
Roshin regarded her from his full height. “Aimee Sandoval and Piwaka don’t have any children.”
Lilith stared at him. Then she made another heroic effort to get up, but she only collapsed in a heap at his feet. She foamed in rage. “How dare you? I’ll show you. Just wait until I get on my feet. I’ll show you.”
Roshin sighed. “Those travelers you rescued came to our village telling us the same story. They tried to get Piwaka to come out here and get you away from the Outliers. I heard him with my own ears. He told them point blank he and Aimee never had any children, and I’ve known him all my life. I would know if he had any.”
Lilith blinked. In fact, only one eye blinked. Dried blood held the other eye closed. “That’s....that’s impossible.”
“I heard him,” Roshin replied. “Anyway, we’re on our way back to the village now. You can confront him yourself if you want to.”
Lilith lowered her eyes. “I will.”
Roshin turned back to Talya. “We won’t be able go straight back to the village. We’ll have to cut across the Divide to the east. Then we can drop down the other side to the village.”
“Why can’t we go straight there?” Lilith asked. “Are you trying to hide me from Piwaka?”
Roshin chuckled. “We can’t go straight because you can’t fly. We could only go straight there if we could all fly. As it is, I’ll have to carry you.”
Lilith humphed and turned away. “I won’t let you or anyone else carry me. I can go by myself.”
“I carried you here,” he pointed out. “You’d be dead now if I hadn’t. But that doesn’t matter. If you don’t want me to carry you, you can walk, in which case we will definite
ly have to go over the Divide. We couldn’t walk over those mountains.”
“There’s no rush,” Talya replied. “We can take our time.”
“No, we can’t,” Roshin returned. “I wish we could get back right away. I have to report to Piwaka what I found up there.”
“What do you mean?” Talya asked.
“Didn’t you hear Old Ponchy?” he asked. “The Outliers are driving south into Avitras territory. They’re planning something.”
Talya shrugged. “I’m sure you misunderstood.”
Roshin shook his head. “He told those men to go back down the other side tomorrow. That means they’re crossing the Divide into our territory. He wouldn’t want to know exactly where the Avitras villages were and how many of them there were if he wasn’t planning some kind of incursion.”
Talya shook her head and smiled. “The Outliers are perfectly peaceful. You’ll see.”
“Did you see those men standing next to the tent where they had the Conjunction?” he asked. “They carried weapons, and they weren’t primitive blades, either. They were phase reciprocators. They’re advanced energy weapons developed by the Ursidreans. The Outliers must have stolen them, and they’re arming themselves for some major conflict. They aren’t peaceful—at least, they aren’t anymore. Maybe they were once, but they changed. Maybe it was Old Ponchy that made them change, but they aren’t happy to hang around the uninhabited territories anymore. They want our territory, and they’re arming to get it.”
He looked up at the sky between the branches overhead. The light of dawn sketched black outlines of leaves and branches. “We’ll have to find a place to rest, for a few hours at least, before we go on. Lilith isn’t well enough to travel on her own, and I can’t carry her until I have a rest.”
He squatted down in front of her and touched a gash on her head. She flinched away from him. He drew away. “Come on. I’ll carry you up into the branches. We’ll be safer there.”
“Leave me down here,” she muttered. “I don’t want to spend the day perched on a branch.”
Roshin grinned at Talya. “You see? I told you she wasn’t Avitras.”
He took Talya’s hand, and the two of them flew up into the trees. They settled on a branch to watch the day growing. Lilith lay back against the tree trunk below them.
Talya smiled at him. “She’s a queer one, isn’t she?”
Roshin shrugged. “She doesn’t seem very happy that I got her away from there. Maybe I should have left her there to die.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Talya covered his knee with her hand. “And I’m very glad you got me away from there.”
Roshin’s eyes widened. “Are you? I’m surprised.”
“Why” she asked.
“You were so intent on stopping me,” he replied. “You protected Old Ponchy with your life. I didn’t think you wanted to leave. I thought you were loyal to the Outliers.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think anyone is loyal to the Outliers. They’re afraid of Old Ponchy, and of the customs.”
Roshin shuddered. “Who wouldn’t be? They’re awful.”
Talya gazed at the sun blazing on the horizon. “No one thinks of that at the time. They seem normal while you’re there. It’s only when a stranger comes that you realize how awful they are.”
“I guess that’s what happened to Lilith,” he remarked.
“The Conjunction wasn’t so bad, though, was it?” she asked. “That wasn’t so awful, was it?”
He smiled at her. “I liked it better after we left it.”
She squeezed his hand. “I liked that part, too.”
He paused. “We could do it again.”
She looked around. “Now?”
“Any time you want,” he replied.
She blushed and looked away. He cupped her chin and kissed her. She leaned into him, and they almost fell off the branch together. Roshin slid closer to her and folded her in his arms. She tucked her head under his arm, but her feathers lay down flat. She wasn’t flying anywhere any time soon. “How long do you want to stay here?”
He breathed into her feathers. “As long as it takes.”
She laughed. “I meant how long do you want to rest before we move on.”
He sighed. “We can’t stay long. I know that. Do you want to sleep before we go?”
“No,” she murmured. “I don’t want to sleep.”
He took a deep breath. She didn’t want to do anything else, either. “Okay.”
They sat clasped in each other’s arms for a while. “Roshin?”
“Yes?” he asked.
“Are you glad you took me out of there?” she asked.
“Of course,” he replied. “I would be glad to take anyone out of there. No one should stay there. The whole camp should be burned to the ground for what they’ve done.”
“That’s not what I mean,” she told him.
He sighed again. “I know what you mean. And yes, I am glad.”
She hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“We wouldn’t be sitting like this if I hadn’t,” he pointed out.
She didn’t say anything. The sun grew hotter. Lilith lay down on the ground, somewhere out of sight. Roshin should go down to check on her, but he didn’t let go of Talya. She might slip out of his hands at any moment. He couldn’t let her go again.
“I am glad,” he told her. “You don’t belong there. You belong with the Avitras......with me.”
Chapter 5
The sun went down and the stars came out. Roshin extricated himself from Talya’s arms, and she woke up. “I better go check on Lilith. Night is coming. We should move on.”
“I’ll come with you,” she replied.
Roshin shook his head. “You stay here. I’ll fly up here with her, and then we can fly off together.”
Talya settled back on the branch to wait, and Roshin fluttered down to the ground. The spot where he put Lilith down, where she’d slept during the day, was bare. The indentation in the soft soil still showed the outline of her body, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Roshin’s hand drifted to his blade, but then he saw her crouched by the spring. She cupped the water to her mouth and touched her wet hand to her battered head. Roshin waited for her to finish. She stood up all right and limped back to her place.
She frowned when she saw him. “What is it?”
“Night is coming,” he told her. “We’re leaving now.”
“I suppose you want to carry me.” Lilith snorted and shook her head.
Roshin surveyed her up and down. “It’s the only way you’ll go anywhere. You can’t put any weight on your left leg. You won’t be walking out of here.”
She slumped back into her place.
“None of us can afford to let you fall behind,” he went on. “We’re still close enough to the Outliers that they would recapture you inside of a day.”
She stared at the ground in front of her.
“They’ll be searching for you the same way they searched for those young travelers,” he told her. “They can’t let anyone get away when you might tell someone their plans.
He started to turn away when she surprised him by speaking. “You were right.”
He spun around. “Right about what?”
“About the Outliers penetrating Avitras territory,” she replied. “Old Ponchy is planning to expand the Outliers’ range.”
“How do you know?” he asked
Lilith tried to grin, but her lip split and she ended up wincing instead. “I saw the weapons. I heard the men talking about their investigations beyond our usual range. And Old Ponchy tried to get me to join him and help him organize the bands for the invasion.”
Roshin’s head swam. Coming to that conclusion himself was one thing. Hearing it confirmed by someone else staggered him. “Are you certain?”
She cocked her head. “You said it yourself. They want land, and they’ve got the number
s and the weapons to get it. Old Ponchy trusted me. He wanted me to move up to be his lieutenant or something like that. That’s why he designated me choose the sacrifice when those travelers came to us.”
Roshin stared at her. “Did he have any idea you wanted to leave?”
“I never wanted to leave,” she replied. “Leaving never crossed my mind until I met those people. I loved the Outliers. I would have led them into battle and given my life to expand their territory.”
Roshin stiffened. “And taken that territory away from the people to whom it rightfully belonged?”
Lilith waved her hand with a shrug. “What difference does that make? I would have benefited my own people.”
“And now?” he asked. “Who are your people now?”
“You say Piwaka denies me,” Lilith replied. “And yet, you want to take me to his village so he can shame me in front of your whole faction.”
Roshin rubbed his chin. “He says you lied about your relation to him. He says you told those travelers a story to manipulate them.”
“Why would I do that?” she asked. “We had them in our power. I had no need to manipulate them, and still less need to give my own life to save them.”
Roshin nodded, but he couldn’t stop frowning. “True.”
Lilith’s shoulders slumped. “I’ll be shunned and shamed no matter where I go. I’ve been an Outlier, and no one will ever forget that. I’ll be an Outlier as long as I live, and no faction will take me.”
“You can’t go back to the Outliers, either,” he pointed out.
“You shouldn’t have bothered to save me,” she muttered.
“So why did you save them?” he asked. “You must have known what you were doing.”
Her head shot up. “Didn’t they tell you?”
“They told us what you said about your mother and father and brother,” he replied, “but we’ve proved that story couldn’t be true.”
She lowered her eyes. “It’s true to me.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. He couldn’t make her out, no matter how he tried. He hated her, but he couldn’t turn his back on her. He couldn’t trust a word that came out of her mouth, and yet he found his destiny tied up in hers. She represented a mystery, and he couldn’t rest until he solved it.
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