“We accept!” Vex said faster than Kellen could decline the challenge.

Luckily for Kellen, the old woman interceded. “You have no right to challenge a Beastcaller to a duel, Shani. You know our ways.”

“Then it is up to you to fight for the honor of our band,” the woman said. “The bear was my hunt, and this boy tried to steal my kill.”

“Your grandmother is right, Shani,” the chief said, moving next to the old woman. “And besides, this boy saved your life.”

The younger woman’s face contorted into a deep scowl. Had Kellen saved her life? It seemed to him he’d been busy puking when the rest of the women rode in and saved Vex, the bear hunter woman and himself. Yet the angry woman Kellen guessed was Shani didn’t deny it. She shook her head in disgust, but said nothing.

Now that they weren’t in immediate danger, he couldn’t help but notice the deep, stitched cut running at a diagonal from just below the inside corner of Shani’s right eye almost down to her mouth.

Like the rest of her tribe, Shani’s raven hair was braided back from her face, but her war paint looked more like she’d rubbed blackened soot across her face. The cut, combined with the cuts and scrapes she’d sustained fighting the bear, added to her ferocious aura.

“Was there a heart left behind?” the old woman asked. Shani shook her head again, almost as if this were more upsetting than Kellen saving her life.

“No, nothing but claws, teeth, and mana dust. And a single stone.”

The chief looked at Kellen. “It is the right of those who make the kill to divide the offerings. You may not be one of us but we will not deny you this, stranger.”

“Just play along,” Vex said in the same loud whisper he’d adopted that everyone could hear anyway.

Kellen didn’t have the faintest idea what they were talking about. A few minutes ago, the old woman had said he was their prisoner, now they were inviting him to have some bear meat? It seemed a strange custom, but Kellen thought he might offend these people if he declined. “Umm… okay,” he said, not sure what to do next.

The old woman beckoned to Kellen with an impatient hand. “Don’t just stand there, boy. Come, follow me.”

After a quick glance at his two guards to make sure he wouldn’t get skewered, Kellen reluctantly followed the old woman, Vex in his arms. They led them to the huddle of warriors where the bear had fallen. As they neared, Kellen saw nothing left of the great bear, however. But when the circle of women parted, a small mound of fluorescent blue sand appeared, speckled with what looked like bits of bone and the claws and teeth Shani mentioned. The thick smell of burned hair and ozone filled his nose.

“Where did it go?” Kellen asked in shock. He’d seen plenty of unbelievable things over the course of the day, but the body of a bear the size of a pickup truck just disappearing topped the list.

The Amazonian women around him snickered. It was the old woman’s coyote that provided an answer. “When a mana beast dies, the mana that is its essence is released. That was the blue light you and your fox absorbed. What you see before you is the all that is left — remains of the bear’s power from its life.”

It still looked like a pile of crushed sour candy mixed with weeks-old roadkill to Kellen. What would he want with any of it? Did they eat it? The thought made his already empty stomach do a flip.

“Our customs say we divide the mana remains between those who made the kill,” the old woman continued. “They belong to you and Shani, traveler.”

Kellen knelt down next to the pile and pretended to examine it. “What do we do with any of this?” he asked Vex.

“No clue,” Vex said. “But man, that dose of mana released from the bear was a real kick start, wasn’t it? That’s probably part of the reason you got so sick.”

If Vex didn’t think they were valuable, then Kellen had no reason to dig through a pile of bear leftovers. Straightening up, he hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake or offending someone with what he was about to say. He cleared his throat, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. “Thank you, but I don’t think I need any of these, uh… remains. I would like to trade my share for food, water and any information you may have to share about my sister.”

A murmur of surprise ran through the group of warrior women. Even Shani’s eyes widened. Beside her, the chief shot the old woman a confused look, and she stepped next to Kellen, gesturing to the pile of blue sand and bones. “Your generosity is great, young traveler, but I am afraid you do not understand the value or purpose of these things. It would be dishonorable for us to accept your gift if you did not understand what you gave.”

Kellen didn’t understand why these people would give a prisoner free choice of the valuables won from a hunt. “Nothing is more important to me than finding my sister.”

The old woman nodded and Kellen got the impression that, now the formalities were over, she wasn’t entirely displeased to make off with what these people perceived as a small fortune. “Very well. These items will not buy your freedom, but there are things I will share in trade.”

Kellen wanted to ask at once but held back the questions while the old woman reached into the pile of electric blue sand and selected one of the bear’s claws as well as the stone Shani had mentioned. She offered them to Kellen, who pocketed them both as best he could, unsure what to do with a claw nearly the length of his forearm. The stone was shaped like a miniature version of one of the crystalline stalagmites that had grown out of the bear’s back. It was as big around as two of Kellen’s fingers and as long as his palm. When he wrapped his hand around it, he felt the stone pulse and almost dropped it.

Vex let out an oh sound. “That’s a mana stone! You can store power in it to use for later or for a non Beastcaller to wield.”

The old woman nodded. “You are wiser than expected for one so small. These are the trophies from the hunt, traveler. If nothing else, think of them as reminders of your first victory as a Beastcaller.”

“Thank you,” Kellen said. “But what I really want is —“

Raising a hand, the old woman stopped him. “You want news of your sister. Come, while the others gather Shani’s prize, I will tell you what I know.”

She gestured for Kellen to follow her and then turned without bothering to see if he’d listened. The two younger women who’d guarded him at spear point fell in on each side of him but stopped at a stern look from the skinny coyote.

“Nokom and I can handle these two.”

Surprised, Kellen watched the two women nod their heads in respect and return to the rest of the group without hesitation. The old woman who Kellen now guessed was Nokom led him to the edge of the stream, the coyote at her side. Lowering herself with a sigh on a large rock on the bank, she gestured for Kellen to sit nearby. Kellen hesitated, but did as he was told. By now, there was no reason the group of women couldn’t have killed him if they’d wanted to. That seemed a small assurance that could change at any minute. However, Kellen ignored his current predicament, eager to hear anything about Allison.

“Please, tell me anything you can.”

“The girl with the hair like autumn grass was not among the dead,” Nokom said. “The slavers have taken her, and we are hunting the slavers to recover those stolen from us.”

Kellen’s stomach dropped when he heard slavers. The plains had already proved to be a dangerous place, but to hear someone had kidnapped her was worse than if Allison was simply lost. A dozen different questions surfaced in his mind.

“Can’t someone help?” he asked. “Don’t you have, I don’t know, some kind of king or police that can track down these slavers? What do they want with my sister? Where are they going?”

Nokom shrugged. “Their leader is a man called Ubira. He has threatened these plains for a number of years, always striking when unexpected and carrying his captives away to the Kingdom of the Sun Hawk. Most of the time, the people taken are never seen or heard from again. As for your other question, we are but a small band among many of the Storm Horse Tribes. Our Elders will not involve themselves in these matters. We are the only hope for those who were taken.”

“Then we’ve got to do something!” Vex said, jumping off of Kellen’s lap to bounce in between the two humans. “What are we doing just sitting around here?”

A flash of annoyance crossed the woman’s face, and the coyote snapped at Vex with his yellowed teeth so that Vex jumped back into Kellen’s arms, fur raised.

“What do you think we are doing?” Nokom asked. “Picking flowers? We have left the rest of our band to track the slavers across Thunder Plains and bring our stolen home.”

“If you wish to rescue your sister, there is much you need to know,” the coyote said to Kellen. “You are lucky that bear didn’t eat the two of you in a single bite.”

Vex scoffed. “We had that totally under control, old fella. I didn’t see you around until after the danger was all over.”

The coyote laid its ears back and growled until Nokom put a comforting hand on the animal’s shoulders. “Calm yourself, Ira. The young require more patience than the day is long.”

Still baring his teeth, the coyote laid down. Kellen got the impression Ira wouldn’t have needed much persuasion to eat Vex. “Behave yourself,” he said to the fox, feeling his anxiety rise at the tension between the beasts.

Nokom lifted what looked like a pouch or canteen from around her shoulder. She pulled the stopper, confirming Kellen’s guess when she poured water back into the stream. With the last drops gone, she held the empty canteen up to Kellen and Vex.

“You two are like this water skin, not much good with nothing inside it. Empty. If you don’t want to end up dead, you should listen to what I have to say.”

With her free hand, she gestured to the other women, who were mounting their strange rhino-horses. “You and I are not like them. We are favored by the Wild Mother. Our mana is strong. We have Mana Beasts at our side who can make us stronger than they could ever dream to be.”

She pointed to Vex and Ira. “But Beastcallers and their Mana Beasts still follow the law of the wild: the strong survive and the weak die. Do you understand?”

Kellen didn’t like where the conversation was going, but he nodded. In his lap, Vex did the same.

“Right now, you are weak,” Nokom said, silencing Vex with a wrinkled scowl and a warning look before he could interrupt. “This is why you are my prisoner. I will make you strong so you can rescue your sister but in exchange, you will do what Ira and I tell you. If not, I will leave you here. Most likely you will die and you will never see your sister again. Is that what you want, traveler?”

Kellen shook his head. Feeling Nokom and Ira’s stare on him, he forced himself to look up.

The old woman was right, of course. Somewhere along the way, Kellen realized he’d accepted his life would never be anything special. But that was before Allison disappeared. On Earth or Oras, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for his sister.

Kellen recalled the fight with the bear, and the shield of light he’d somehow conjured with his hands. He didn’t understand this world, wasn’t even sure he understood himself or the strange powers everyone seemed convinced he had. Chances were, Vex had made a mistake and found the wrong person.

But if saving Allison meant surviving in this strange land long enough to get them both home, he would do whatever he had to.

Looking down at Vex, Kellen sucked in a deep breath. He forced himself to look at Nokom. “Tell me what I have to do.”

“We’re ready for anything!” Vex added.

The old woman’s leathery storm-cloud-colored face broke into a wicked smile. “Good.” She leaned forward and poked Kellen hard in the shoulder with a bony finger. He grimaced, but tried not to let it show. “You are a scared boy. We will make you a Beastcaller.”