The Fire Sisters (Brilliant Darkness 3) (12 page)

Amarina raises her voice to be heard as we walk. “Kaiya feels we should use the walkways in the trees. What do the rest of you think?”

My hand strays to my stomach at the thought.

“Let’s do it,” Cuda says right away. I can’t blame him.

“Might be able to find more food up there," Moray says. "That possum hit the spot.”

Peree doesn’t speak. I know he’d rather be in the trees.

The idea of battling my tree-sickness all day makes me cringe, but I’ll do what the group thinks is best. I’m about to say so, when a harsh smell darts into my nose and mouth. I cough, and pull Peree to a stop.

“I smell them again. The Sisters. I haven’t been able to since yesterday, before the rain.”

I hear people sniffing the air.

“I can’t smell it yet,” Bear says.

“Maybe we should stay on the ground so we can follow it,” I suggest.

Kai makes a sound of disbelief. “You really can’t handle being in the trees, can you?”

My gut clenches. “It’s true I don’t like heights, but I’ll go if that’s what the rest of you want to do. I just think we have an open path, good weather, and a way to keep track of the Sisters down here. Shouldn’t we stay on the ground?”

“
Most
of us can see better from the trees.” Her voice has a nasty edge.

Heat creeps into my cheeks. “So? It’s not like your eyes have done us much good finding them so far.”

“Back up, boys,” Moray says. “The claws are coming out.”

“Maybe half the group can go up and half stay down here,” Conda suggests.

“No,” Derain says. “We should stay together. We will need numbers if we find the Sisters.”

“We should use the walkways,” Kai says again. “There’s no sense in following someone who can’t even see her own hand in front of her face.”

My mouth drops open, but words fail me.

“Kaiya!” Amarina admonishes.

“Kai draws first blood,” Moray says in a theatrical whisper.

“What?” Kai says. “She’s
Sightless
.”

“That’s enough.” Peree sounds irate. “Don’t say another word.”

“We’re making good time. We should stay on the ground like Fenn said," Bear says.

“We can move up to the trees later if necessary,” Amarina says.

Peree puts an arm around me. “Agreed.”

I appreciate their support, but my limbs are still frozen with shock and fury.

Kai huffs and stamps away down the path. If I’m lucky, she’ll keep on going right off a cliff. I sure wouldn’t shed any tears. Lifting my chin, I try to keep my pride from dribbling away as I relive the moment over and over, thinking of a hundred different comebacks now that it’s too late.

The path runs in a uphill direction through the morning, and I continue to smell the Sisters’ abrasive scent. Eventually Bear picks up on it, too. It seems like it has set up camp in my nose and throat, which makes me hope we might be closing in on the Sisters. But other than the smell, and an occasional footprint in the mud the others spot—which may or may not be our quarry—there’s no evidence they’ve been here.

We join the river Restless again in the afternoon. It hums as we draw near, as if welcoming us back. Leaving the forest behind us, we stop to rest beside the river for a few minutes in the warmest part of the afternoon. A breeze blows my hair back as we stand on rocks that must overlook the water. I hear it running close, some distance below our feet. Discarding my pack and walking stick, 
I sink down to the rocks 
and dangle my legs over the edge.

Taking slow, cleansing breaths, I try to dispel the lingering bad feelings Kai brought on. I’ve been alternating between determining to ignore her, and desiring to have it out with her once and for all. But I’m not sure what confronting her would accomplish. She won’t engage with me in any meaningful way, and she’s bound to say something else that hurts and embarrasses me. If only I didn’t care.

Peree touches my shoulder. “There’s a trail down to the river, but it’s pretty rocky and steep. The others are going down to fill their drinking sacks. Can I take yours for you?”

I’m happy to let him, if only to have a few minutes to myself. He takes my sack and walks away to my right, his footsteps fading as he descends down the trail. I lean back on my hands, close my eyes, and enjoy the swaddling warmth of the sun. Pressing my palms into the cool, bumpy rock under me, I wish it could tell me who passed by before us.
Kora, were you here?
There’s no answer.

The river skips and splashes below my feet, playing games with itself. The others talk, their voices rising from down beside the river. There’s a splash, and someone laughs. Maybe I should pick my way down and try to clean up. The driving rain helped a little, but our group’s collective odor is increasingly like an aging compost pile. Cuda is particularly bad. From the whiffs I get of myself, I shouldn’t talk.

My greasy hair falls forward over one shoulder as the wind shifts. The breeze was coming from the river, but now it tumbles from the forest behind my back.

I startle. The Sisters’ smell is much stronger. And there’s a sound with it, one that sends my pulse galloping.

Quiet footfalls—many of them—charging straight for me.

He drags me silently away from the edge. I struggle, but his grip is too powerful to break. I scream; there’s little sound. Others move around me, staying quiet. I thrash at first, and then I go still.

When the man’s hand loosens a little, I slide Peree’s knife from my pocket, twist halfway around, and drive the blade into some tender part of him. He howls and lets me go. I leap to my feet, brandishing my knife, and shout for help.

“Fenn?” Peree yells from down by the water, desperately far away. “Fenn!”

My breath burns in and out of my chest. My muscles flex, ready to send me flying in one direction or another, but I don’t know the contours of the bluff we’re on. Running anywhere except straight at my attacker could send me plunging over the edge into the river, or worse, the rocks below. I crouch with my back to the water, swinging the knife wildly to keep the man away.

“Sightless?” he growls to himself. He sounds surprised—and in pain. Other attackers run toward the trail my group took down to the Restless. Abandoning stealth, their feet slap the ground as they move.

“Peree, they’re coming!” I call.

There’s a bellow from the head of the trail—Derain, I think. Shouts and grunts and hollering follows him. The man in front of me wastes no time in clenching my wrist. Writhing away from him, an animal in a trap, I almost drop the knife.

“Let her go!” Peree’s voice comes from somewhere near the trail.

An arrow whistles past my face a moment later, followed by a solid-sounding
thwack
. The man screams in earnest and releases my wrist. I scramble away on all fours, using both hands and feet to keep from plunging over the edge of the rocks.

The sounds of fighting grow behind me, echoing against the rock and nearby trees. Amarina lets out a battle cry almost as fierce as the Sisters’, her voice high, clear, and determined. An alarmed bird squawks at the tumult; wings beat the air as it takes flight.

I crawl as far as I dare, then crouch a few feet away from the ledge, listening. Gravel digs into my knees; my knuckles and palms are skinned. Dust, kicked up by the fighting, chokes me and stings my eyes.

Shouts of pain and the occasional yell of triumph fill the air. Are we winning? Or are they? I want to help, but I don’t know how. I’d be as likely to injure myself or one of my own group as one of theirs if I rushed in now. And I don’t want to make myself an easy target.

“Derain, behind you!” Peree yells.

Kai shouts with alarm.

A cry, followed by an ear-splitting shriek, rents the air a moment later. I can’t sort out who might be hurt.
Please, please don’t let it be Derain.

A man, a voice I don’t recognize, calls others to him. Running feet move back toward the forest. Some footfalls are quick and light, others are slower, sliding unevenly across the ground as if the person is forced to limp. Are the attackers retreating? I wait, trembling, praying the fighting is over.

Footsteps come my way. I clutch the knife in front of me.

“Fenn… it’s me,” Peree pants from a few feet away. “They’re leaving.”

I drop the knife in my pocket and throw myself toward his voice. He catches me, gasping as if in pain. I freeze. Groping to find his face, I feel his features, his expression, keeping my touches soft. He’s wincing.

“Are you hurt?”

“A few cuts, some well-placed punches.” He slides his hands over my face, my shoulders, my back. “What about you? Are you okay? My shot was way too close; someone pushed past me up the trail and it screwed up my aim.”

“But it was effective. He let me go.” I kiss him. “Is he… dead?”

“Nah, I got him in the shoulder. He ran off with the rest. Moray, Cuda, and Conda followed to make sure they aren’t regrouping to come back.” He pauses. “The brothers are strong fighters. Tough.”

He sounds impressed, which reminds me that he still doesn’t know all that much about the Groundlings. The brothers were among our best. Bear, too. The Lofties practically lived on top of us, but we didn’t know any more about them. How could we all be so ignorant for so long?

“Who
were
those people?” I ask.

“No idea. They didn’t exactly introduce themselves. But they looked clean, well fed, and organized. And they were mostly men, only a few women.”

“So not Fire Sisters, then.” I bite my lip, disappointed. If it had been, we could have followed them back to the Cloister.

“Their clothes and weapons were different, and no feathers on the women.”

A pained moan drifts from down the bluff.

I clutch Peree's arm. “Who's that?”

“Derain. Amarina is checking him out.”

I hear her now; her voice is controlled, soothing.

“What happened?” I ask as we move that way. Peree guides me away from the edge.

“He had to fight with his knife in his weaker hand because of his injury. One of them got behind him and inside his defenses. He just wasn’t fast enough. Derain blocked the man’s knife thrust, but he came back and punched Derain hard in the side of the chest. I heard ribs break.”

I grimace—first his hand, now this. “Is anyone else hurt?”

“Nothing serious.”

Amarina asks Derain questions about his pain, if he can move, if he can sit. He answers, but he gasps between words. Everyone else is silent.

I kneel near Amarina’s voice.

“Don't worry, Mirii
…
I’m alive.” He coughs. “And grateful to be so.”

“Ribs are broken,” Amarina says, “but I don’t think your lung was punctured.”

Someone grabs my arm from behind, yanking me up and spinning me around. A finger jabs my chest.

“This is
your
fault,” Kai says.

“What?”

“If we’d gone up in the trees where it was safer, where we could
see
, this wouldn’t have happened. It always has to be
your
way, doesn’t it, Fennel? Even if you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.”

My hands curl. “We haven’t come across a single person out here! I couldn’t know we’d be attacked.” I pause. “Why are you always picking on me, Kai? What’s your problem?”

“
You
are,” she says. “You’re weak, vulnerable. You can’t even help in a fight.”

I’m shaking so hard, my voice trembles.

“I may not be able to fight, but I’m
not
weak. Which you would figure out if you bothered to get to know me. From the first day Peree and I arrived in Koolkuna, you’ve been mean, spiteful, and jealous. If no one listens to your ideas, then maybe
that’s
why.” She starts to say something, but I cut her off. “Don’t say another word to me, Kai. I don’t want to hear it. We might be stuck out here together, but as far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist. Back off.”

I stalk away, toward the forest. I’m breathing hard, my pulse pounds in my neck, and my stomach is a rock.

Peree follows me. His familiar footsteps stop nearby, allowing me room to pace back and forth. I don’t like losing my temper, but I couldn’t help telling Kai off. She better listen, too. She better leave me alone.

Someone jogs out of the woods, their feet pushing through leaves on the ground. I spin in that direction, but Peree doesn’t react, so I assume it’s the brothers coming back. One set of footsteps slows as it reaches us; the others keep on, heading toward the group.

“The boys and I followed ‘em a ways.” Moray’s out of breath. “They scattered. I don’t think they’re coming back, at least not for a while.” He pauses. “What? What happened now?”

I pinch my lips together, not trusting myself to answer. My face boils.

“Fenn had words with Kai,” Peree mutters.

“
Damn
. I missed it. Who won this round?”

“I did,” I snap. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

He snorts. “You two are making it our business, sweetheart. Can’t exactly pretend it’s not happening.”

“It’s
not
happening. Not anymore. I told her I don’t want to hear another word from her.”

He laughs. “That’s it? That’s all you said?”

“No. I said other stuff.” As my head clears, I can’t exactly remember
what
I said. I know I was honest about how I felt, though, and it felt really good.

“You have to put her in her place.” Moray’s voice grows serious. “Don’t let her intimidate you.”

“I am; I will. I’ve had it with her.”

Moray musses my hair. “Good girl. I was getting bored watching her push you around.” He leans in, still somehow smelling of possum stew, and says, “Pushing you around is
my
job.”

I make a face as he walks away. “Peree?”

“I’m here,” he says from nearby.

He slides an arm around my shoulders, moving carefully. My body wilts as the anger ebbs out of me.

“I hate to
ever
agree with Moray, but Kai needed to be told off, and you were the one who needed to do the telling. Good job.” He squeezes me. “Have you ever heard of a wolverine? I might have to add it to your list.”