Still lying on the ground with Vex on his chest, Kellen stared wide eyed up at the women, hardly daring to breathe.

“We’ll never surrender!” Vex said.

He’d barely gotten the words out before Kellen contradicted him. “We surrender.”

“What are you doing on the Thunder Plains, Sun Hawk?”

The speaker was a middle-aged woman with long dark hair pulled back and parted down the middle, with beads and feathers woven throughout. Three horizontal lines above a dot were painted on both of her cheeks. Aside from being the oldest of the trio, the stern, sharp lines of her face and the way she demanded rather than questioned gave Kellen the impression she was in charge.

Kellen hadn’t known he was in the Thunder Plains, must less what a Sun Hawk was, but somehow he felt pleading ignorance wouldn’t get very far.

“I’m looking for my sister,” he said, hoping honesty would be the best policy.

The woman’s eyes widened in a flash of surprise, Kellen wasn’t sure really happened. “Where is your band?”

Band? Did Kellen look like a musician? “I… I’m alone,” he said, still keenly aware of the spear tips hovering over his face.

“Lies!” the woman with the eyebrow bone piercing hissed. “Chief Tama, surely he is one of the slavers!”

The middle-aged woman that Kellen guessed was the chief studied Kellen. Her hard expression never faded, but she seemed to be contemplating something more than the best place to stab Kellen with her spear. After several long moments, she raised her weapon and took a step back, motioning for the others to do so. “Sit up, Beastcaller.”

Kellen did as he was told, grateful for the increased distance between him and the glowing spear heads. He recalled how upset the woman fighting the bear had been and wondered if these women thought Kellen had attempted to — what? Steal their bear? He glanced between the woman at the spot the great animal had fallen. The rest of the riders blocked his view of the animal, clearly bunched together around something, although Kellen thought the carcass of an animal the size of a dump truck should still have been visible. But he had more pressing concerns.

“I was only trying to help,” Kellen said. “The bear is all yours. I’m not trying to hurt anyone.”

“But just to be clear, we could tear you limb from limb if we wanted to,” Vex chimed in, to Kellen’s horror.

Luckily, none of the women seemed to think Kellen and Vex capable of hurting anyone, but that didn’t make them any less suspicious of the pair. Once more, the chief looked Kellen up and down, taking in his work boots, jeans and t-shirt. At ground level, Kellen could see the women wore either moccasins or hand-stitched boots laced up to their knees. Trying not to stare, he also couldn’t help but notice that the rest of their attire was a bit scant. Although some had leggings or fabric trousers, most wore some short variations of leather skirt-shorts that showed much of their legs. Few had loose tunics belted at the waist, but the majority sported nothing more than tight wraps around their chests. He felt his face reddening and found an interesting rock between his knees to stare at.

“Where do you come from?” the chief asked.

Kellen didn’t quite know how to answer that. Idaho seemed like the wrong answer to this group. “Uh… far away. A place you’ve probably never heard of. I’m… lost.”

“More filthy lies!” the pierced eyebrow woman said. “You saw him fight the great bear — he and his beast are weak.”

“Hey!” Vex cut in. The woman ignored him and didn’t stop.

“He would not last a day on the plains alone. There must be others with him close by. I bet they will pay a big ransom to get their Beastcaller back.”

“There is more to him than meets the eye, I think.”

All heads turned to the speaker, an older woman with wiry, gray hair done up in a bun on the back of her head. A large black feather held her hair in place and her face looked cracked and weathered. No doubt, Kellen guessed, from a lifetime on the harsh plains. A half-starved brown coyote with red stripes down its side padded next to her as the old woman approached. A pair of bony, fur-covered wings similar in design to Vex’s protruded from just behind his shoulder blades.

In spite of her advanced age, the woman stood straight and moved with a surprising grace. Even though she wouldn’t have come higher than Kellen’s chin, her lean muscle arms looked tough enough to throw a knockout punch.

The skinny coyote drew within a few feet of Kellen and Vex and sniffed at the pair with a gray-speckled nose that showed it too had lived a long life. Despite its age, yellow eyes gave the creature an unnerving look. “That smell,” it murmured in wheezy voice. It turned to look back at the old woman. “They have her scent on them.”

Kellen wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or more concerned that another animal was speaking — and that the other humans seemed to understand it, too.

“You are starting to smell a little,” Vex said in a fake whisper.

Kellen ignored the fox and looked questioningly at the old woman and her coyote. The rest of the group did as well but she merely nodded in understanding. “I can sense it too. Tell me, boy, how did you come to our lands?”

The old woman’s sharp, dark-eyed gaze didn’t make Kellen feel any more at ease. He answered quickly. The way she asked the question suggested she wouldn’t suffer anything but the truth.

“I… a bright blue light.” It was the best Kellen could come up with while he himself was still coming to terms with the reality of his situation. To his surprise, a series of concerned murmurs arose from the small group of women and all but the chief and the old woman took a step back from Kellen and Vex.

A self-satisfied smile formed in the corner of the old woman’s puckered lips. “Ah, a spirit traveler from the Great Before. How long ago, boy?” The way she asked made Kellen think that people dropping into a different reality was as common as a good rainstorm.

“This morning.” Kellen felt the danger had ebbed enough to change the subject. “Please — I’m looking for my sister. She’s a white girl, ten years old, blonde hair. She would have been dressed similar to me. Have any of you seen her?”

The women exchanged glances, and a frown creased the old woman’s brow. “Some of our people saw a girl of that description the night the slavers attacked. If she lives, they will have taken her.”

Kellen felt his heart freeze in place. He could barely breathe. “What attack? When was this? Please, I — “

“The attack was last night,” the old woman said. “The slavers attacked our camp, killed some, took others.”

“Can you help me find her?” Kellen asked. The question came out without thinking and he reminded himself that only a few short minutes before the women seemed ready to turn him into a pincushion. He knew, too, that he couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.

The old woman cocked her head to the side. Eye level with Kellen, who was still sitting in the dirt, the ragged coyote did the same. The timing between the two was more than a little unnerving. “We shall see,” the old woman said. “For now, you are my prisoner.”

“No deal!” Vex shouted. He growled and lowered himself to pounce at the coyote, but the other animal barred its teeth and flared its tattered wings. The coyote Mana Beast napped out a warning bark, lips curled in a snarl. Vex’s hair stood straight out, and Kellen placed a calming hand on the little fox. At the same time, the tips of the three spears appeared around them again.

“We don’t want any trouble,” he said. If these people were his only chance at finding Allison, he had to find a way to travel with them, whatever the means. “We’ll come peacefully.”

To his surprise, the younger women, including the chief, looked almost offended at his surrender.

“Watch him,” the chief said, waving her spear at the two other warriors. She then beckoned for the old woman to follow her several paces away, still close enough that Kellen could catch their conversation, however. Sitting as still as he could, Kellen watched the exchange.

The chief turned to the old woman and jabbed the butt of her spear in the ground angrily. “It is not for you to decide who is taken as prisoner.”

“I am still the Beastcaller of Gray Dawn, am I not?” the old woman said. “In these matters I have the right.”

“You should have let me handle this,” Vex whispered to Kellen. “Captured by enemies on our first day together — this is bad mana. We’ll never live this down.”

Kellen shushed him, straining to listen.

“Even if this boy is a spirit traveler, he and his Mana Beast are weak,” the chief said. “He is of no use to us and will only be a distraction.”

“You doubt me?” the old woman asked with a flash of temper as intimidating as the two warriors holding spears over him. “As I said, I speak for Gray Dawn in these matters. The boy comes with us.”

The chief opened her mouth, but the old woman carried on. “Think on it Tama,” she said in a gentler tone. “I hate more than any to admit it, but our bloodline has failed. We need another Beastcaller or we will always be the dogs begging for scraps among the Storm Tribes.”

Kellen felt like he was only following about half of what they said. To his surprise, however, the chief seemed to consider the words of the older woman. It was clear she held a position of respect in the group, even if she wasn’t in charge.

“He and the ward are favored by Coyote Lady,” the coyote added, turning to stare at Kellen with his piercing yellow eyes. “It is a good sign.”

“And he saved Shani’s life,” the old woman added. The chief scoffed. “Do you doubt it?” the old woman continued. “It is bad mana to kill someone owed a life debt.”

“Look, I don’t know any Coyote Woman or whatever,” Kellen said, loud enough for the two women to hear him. “I just want to find my sister and go home.” His words had an unexpected effect. But the old women and the chief turned sharply toward him and his two guards looked surprised as well.

“How do you speak our tongue?” the chief demanded, striding toward him.

“I-it sounded all the same to me,” Kellen said, confused. He tried to scoot away, but the two guards pressed their spears in closer.

“Look, I’m really losing my patience with you ladies,” Vex growled again. “If you don’t put those spears away, I’m gonna —“

“Enough!”

The old woman’s voice cut through the tension, and all talking ceased. She hurried toward Kellen. “And this? Do you understand my words?”

It seemed like a trick, but Kellen didn’t want to outsmart himself, either. “… yes?”

“Can you speak with me now?” the old woman asked.

Nothing sounded different. Maybe these people were crazy, but Kellen thought it best to play along. “Yes.”

The old woman threw back her head and laughed. Nobody else seemed to get the joke. Still smiling, she looked at the chief, hands on her hips. “He speaks Trader, Storm Horse, Sun Hawk and Fire Bison as well as any I’ve heard,” she said. “Do you still think they are not a find now, Tama? This spirit traveler has the gift of tongues!”

“You know,” Vex said, struggling to free himself from Kellen’s tight embrace. “I’m really getting tired of everyone talking about us like we aren’t here.”

“Apologies little one,” the old woman said. She half squatted down to look at Vex, hands resting on her knees. Kellen wasn’t buying the kindly grandma act, though. And it didn’t escape him that she didn’t offer him an apology.

“I would like to propose an arrangement,” the old woman said. “But first, let me introduce myself. I am — ”

An angry voice cut through her introduction. “Where is he? Where did the pale boy go?”

All eyes turned to a battered figure striding toward Kellen as fast as her limp would allow. It was the woman the bear was chasing, the one that attacked him with her knife when he tried to help her run away. She didn’t have a knife now, but she looked no less angry.

The old woman moved to intercept her as Kellen scrambled to his feet. “Shani…”

“You stole my hunt!” the woman accused, jabbing a finger toward Kellen. “I call you to battle for this insult to my bravery.”