Following the directions the traders had last seen Ubira and the slavers heading, Ira took to the skies to find their quarry. He risked encountering the black bird, but as the mountain loomed every higher over them, it became vital that they pick up the trail of the slavers before they entered the vast range. It wasn’t until well after dark that Ira returned. Nokom had been impatient and short-tempered all day long waiting for her Mana Beast, though she refused to admit she was worried. Kellen proved an outlet for Nokom’s frustrations and suffered through far more rigorous exercises than usual.

“About time,” the old woman snapped when the coyote landed and folded in his wings. Yet again, Kellen wondered why Vex’s wings were like a bats, yet Ira, a fellow mammal, had feathered wings.

“Maybe it’s because he’s old?” Vex suggested, answering Kellen’s question out loud.

The coyote, not knowing what they were talking about but savvy enough to know he was the subject, turned and glared at Vex, then at Nokom.

“I am not as young as I used to be and I traveled far,” he said. “But I found them — I think.”

“You think?” Vex and Nokom asked at the same time. Nokom gave Vex a warning scowl, then continued, “Why not for certain?”

“Because it was dark when I saw their fires and the last thing I wanted to do was fight a black bird that’s a strength above me alone in the dark,” Ira snapped back.

Nokom sighed. “That was wise. I am sorry. How far? They have near a full day’s lead on us. I suspect their totem allows them to move almost as fast as we can on horseback.”

“They are nearing the mountains and the ground is not so easy to cover,” Ira said. “It was hard to tell in the dark, but I imagine after tomorrow they will have to abandon their horses, unless they know of a secret path through the mountains.”

“There are roads through the Wakar made by the mana of Earth Badger beastcallers that are large enough for an army to pass over,” Obishidan said. It was the first time the boy had spoken all day. He stood nearby, wiping down his horse and listening to Ira and Nokom. The horse was a normal creature as far as Kellen could tell, though it had held its own with the storm horses throughout the day. If they had been farther from the impossibly tall mountains Obishidan called the Wakar, the animal might not have kept up the marathon pace. As it was, if Tama had hoped the boy would fall behind, it hadn’t happened

“And they are likely watched by guards and outposts of the Southern Earth Badger Empire,” Tama said. “Ubira will not march through the mountain highways with a band of warriors and slaves.”

Obishidan lowered his head and went back to his work. As citizen of the Eastern Earth Badger Empire, he’d likely thought he knew a thing or two more about the mountains than Tama. She’d proved him wrong after the first thing that came out of his mouth.

Throughout the day they’d constantly climbed the foothills — narrow, steep mountains in their own right that laid at the feet of the mighty Wakar like clawed toes. The horses labored hard, often only able to proceed at a walk. In some spots, they’d all dismounted and continued on foot. Once they crested the narrow, jagged foothills, they found another plateau scattered with chunks of rock that looked like some titan had chucked them down from the mountain tops. The peaks were so high they wore a beard of clouds, giving the Wakar the appearance of a never ending mountain climbing out of sight into the heavens.

To Kellen’s naked eye, the mountains looked like an impassable series of sheer cliffs. But both Tama and Nokom insisted there were trails scattered all throughout. Of course, if they didn’t follow Ubira close enough, finding him would be the ultimate needle in a haystack.

“If we know where they are camped, we should keep moving,” Shani said. “That is the only way we will gain ground on them.”

“You could almost reach them by dawn,” Ira said. “At the very least, we will have an easier time tracking them.”

Much to Kellen’s surprise, Tama nodded. “I agree. The going will be slow and we will have to lead the horses in the dark, but the time is now. Everyone rest and prepare for an hour, then we will be off.”

“What if Ubira has left warriors behind?” Nokom asked. “We could be walking into a trap.”

Shani opened her mouth, no doubt to tell her grandmother that they would all die glorious deaths in battle if that were the case, but Tama raised a hand and cut her off. “It is a chance we must take. Everyone understood the risk when they walked this path,” she looked at Obishidan. “What about you, Splintered Stone boy?”

Obishidan turned to face the chief and slipped a pair of what looked like bladed brass knuckles on each hand. “I will fight if I have to.”

“Then it is settled,” Tama said. “Rest and prepare yourselves.”

While the others settled down to check or sharpen weapons and other tasks, Kellen found a quiet place on the edge of the campfire light. Tama had agreed to the fire after Ira’s report and Kellen wanted to soak up every minute he could. The plateau was cold and windy, even with the thick ponchos gifted by the traders. He watched as they produced the pouch of mana dust from the bear.

The electric blue powder gave off a faint glow as Nokom poured it into a medium stone bowl she’d produced from her pack. She added a number of ingredients from her pouches, resulting in a variety of reactions from puffs of purple smoke, to sizzles and even what Kellen could have sworn was the faint echo of the bear’s roar. Next, she included a scoop of ash from the edge of the fire and mixed it together with a thick, round rock the size of a tennis ball. When she finished, she dipped a finger into the bowl and traced her finger through the air. A line of white smoke outlined the symbol she’d drawn before fading away on the breeze. Apparently satisfied, the old woman passed the jar to Tama, who took a small amount on her fingers and traced two lines down one side of her face. The others received the bowl and followed suit, though Nokom did not offer the war paint to Kellen or Obishidan.

Kellen’s curiosity piqued. Nokom had never tried to teach him how to use magical materials, though this seemed like a much safer and more useful pastime to him than bodyweight exercises. He wanted to ask her about the paint, but she remained with Tama. The pair looked to be discussing plans for the night and next day, though their voices blended in with the rest of the murmur and sounds of preparation.

With nothing else to do but rest, Kellen propped himself against a diagonal rock that jutted out of the ground to form a sort of recliner and pulled a blanket over himself. Vex nestled in between his arms.

“Do you really think you can sleep at a time like this?” Vex asked, peering up at Kellen with his bright green eyes. “I’m surprised your mind isn’t racing with — oh, there it goes.”

Kellen sighed and sat up, lowering Vex to his lap. “I probably wasn’t getting get any sleep anyway, but now I’m definitely not.”

“Are you worried about being in a battle?” Vex asked. “It’s easy for me. I can go into a fight knowing that as long as nothing happens to you I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to fight anyone,” Kellen said. “But I think I can do it if I have to. If that’s what it takes to get Allison back, I’ll find a way. I’m just…”

“Afraid that you’ll never see her again,” Vex finished. It wasn’t a question. The thought had been so prevalent in Kellen’s mind over the past weeks that Vex probably would have picked it up even if he didn’t have access to Kellen thoughts. “It’s okay to be afraid for the people you love.”

Kellen nodded, ready to talk about anything else as he felt a lump forming in his throat. “What about you? It doesn’t seem like anything scares you.”

Vex looked like he was thinking about the questions for a moment then his large ears drooped. “There’s one thing I’m afraid of.”

Kellen kicked himself for opening that can of worms. Of course Vex was afraid of something: Kellen going home and erasing his existence. They’d both avoided the topic since the stampede but it had loomed over them ever since the argument,

“I’m sorry,” Kellen said. “That was a dumb question.”

“Are you really going to go home?” Vex asked. “I mean, sure it’s dangerous here, but there are some cool things too, right? Don’t you think Allison might like to live here?”

“Allison needs to go home to our parents,” Kellen said. “I’m sure they’re worried sick about us right now. She needs to be somewhere safe.”

“What about you?” Vex looked up at Kellen. He was trying to hide it, but Kellen caught a hopefully spark in the little fox’s eye.

“I’m not worried about anything else until Allison is safe,” Kellen said. “And I’ll even make you a promise.”

Vex’s ears raised in curiosity. “Really, what is it?”

Kellen ruffled the fox’s fur with his hand. “I’m not going to go anywhere until I know you’re taken care of. Deal?”

Twisting around, Vex licked the back of Kellen’s hand. “Deal.”

Staring at the Mana Beast for a moment longer, Kellen laughed. “Sometimes I still can’t believe I have ongoing conversations with a fox that looks like he was sewn in Santa’s workshop.”

“I don’t know who this Santa guy is, but if he can make anything like me, he must be a talented fellow,” Vex said. He hopped onto the rock between Kellen’s knees and puffed out his chest in what he must have imagined was a striking pose.

Laughing again, Kellen noticed someone walking towards them out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and found Nokom, Ira at her side. She held something in her hand. When she drew close, offered it to Kellen. It was one of the long knives they’d traded from the Earth Badgers.

“I can’t take this,” Kellen said. “Not after I gave my claw away.”

“Take it,” Nokom insisted. “It is better you have it than nothing at all. You would only hurt yourself with a sword, but sometimes, a good knife is as useful as any mana you cast.”

She had a point there, Kellen decided. Especially since his mana castings were still a work in progress. Even the Gray Dawn warriors had been practicing with their swords during the quick break. While they rode, Nokom had explained that the Gray Dawn hadn’t been wealthy enough to equip their warriors with swords before, so while the women understood the basics, the weapons were new to them.

Kellen accepted the knife from Nokom and drew it from its leather, beadwork sheath. It was just shorter than his forearm but sharp and the grip felt comfortable in his hand. “For emergencies,” Nokom said. “A beastcaller’s first weapon and first defense should always be his mana. Have you prepared yourself?”

“I’ll be ready,” Kellen said. He wanted to mean the words. A ball of nervousness had sprung up in his chest at Nokom’s approach and was steadily growing in size, twisting its way through his body. He hoped a mana dance would help settle the butterflies.

Nokom watched him like she wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him. Eventually, she gave a short nod. “No one is ever ready but we must always be prepared.”

Out of all the sayings he’d heard from the old woman, this one he thought he might remember. “I’m not asking because I need some, but why didn’t you give me or Obishidan any paint?”

“The war paint I created is not just for decoration,” Nokom said. “And the recipe allows it only to work with those who have storm mana running through their veins.”

Kellen was confused. None of the other Gray Dawn warriors were beastcallers. They had no Mana Beasts. He said as much to Nokom, who nodded as if she’d been expecting this.

“Mana resides in all living things, remember?” she said. “They may not be able to use it and it may only be the tiniest trickle, but anyone of the Storm Horse Tribe has storm mana running through them. The same with earth mana for our new companion. But I do not know the mixtures for sun or earth mana, so you had to go without.”

“What does it do?”

Obishidan had either noticed or heard he’d been mentioned and join the group after a respectful bow to Nokom.

“It strengthens — or perhaps thickens is a better word — the storm mana within us,” Nokom said. “Makes us a little faster, little stronger, little quicker. Sometimes in battle that is the difference between life and death.”

Kellen saw the apprehension on Obishidan’s face. It reminded him how young the boy was, even with his height and bulk. Nokom seemed to sense it as well.

“There is one more thing we can do,” Nokom said. She stood up, groaning slightly and grasping her knees, then beckoned to Kellen. “Come, we will dance together, and call the strong mana to us.”

Rising, he hopped a little to loosen his muscles. Still thinking how ridiculous this would have felt a few weeks ago, Kellen started to shuffle as Nokom hummed. If he’d seen the same dance on Earth, it would have seemed strange. But there on Oras, it could mean the difference between life and death.

Soon they started moving, a short slide left, a hop right, hands raised overhead, hands held to the ground while they crouched. The hair on the back of Kellen’s neck prickled as he felt the mana stirring within him and in the surrounding air. It grew from an ember to a crackling storm. As he danced beneath strange stars a world away, Kellen felt the spark of something primal awake with in him, knew that between that moment and the passing of thousands of years, he’d closed a circle. Somewhere, in the echoes of a forgotten world, his ancestors had danced their dances and sang their songs with nothing but fire and courage to keep them alive in an unforgiving eon.

Nokom matched him step for step, accompanying with a complimentary dance that charged the mana even more. When at last they stopped and Kellen’s concentration broke, he realized the rest of the group was standing around, watching them. He looked around, expecting someone to laugh. To his surprise, they all looked deadly serious. Even Shani said nothing as the song died on Nokom’s lips and the raw energy surrounding them faded.

Kellen felt ready to try anything. His muscles pulsed, and his body felt free of aches and weariness. The dance was the first time Nokom had accompanied him, other than to show him the steps. Before, the mana had felt like a trickle. Now it was like standing in a steady rainstorm. The dance was one for storm mana, but it would work for any beastcaller, according to Nokom. It just lost some of its effect and potency when the mana they reached out for in the world didn’t match the recipient’s. Swaying a bit from the buzz of the dance, Kellen wondered what an actual dance created for sun mana would feel like.

Tama’s white and gray paint combined with the flickering fire, cast a ghoulish shadow over her face. While the mana dust from the bear had been neon blue, Nokom’s concoction was an ashen white color. It gave Kellen goosebumps to look at Tama as she met eyes with each of them. “We came for blood. We came to rescue those we love. Show Ubira no mercy.”

Kellen expected the group to shout in affirmation. Instead, they stared back at their chief with silent fury. Shani’s fierce gaze left no doubt in Kellen’s mind about the outcome when she faced the slavers.