I dragged the poisoned bishkawi upstream, the water helping to buoy her weight. Like her troopmate before, her face was locked in a rictus of terror. I didn’t mind seeing my enemies troubled, but it wasn’t good to let an animal suffer like that. As soon as it was safe to do so, I put her down and took her core.

12 silverlight gathered. 11 absorbed

I stuck around the glen longer than I should’ve, and the sun was dipping below the horizon by the time I reached the bulge in the escarpment. There was enough light to get most of the way up, but I needed the Candle Stone for the last twenty yards. The stone still hung from my neck, wrapped in cloth so that only a beam shone on the ground ahead of me.

There was barely any moon, and, while the stars were like diamond dust across the velvet night, they didn’t cast enough light to see by. The woods were eerily quiet, and every rustle and every crackle had me wondering if it was a predator nearby. This was my first night in the forest away from Ikfael Glen. I felt vulnerable and exposed outside of her territory.

The uekisheile noticed the tension and sprouted around my face to help sniff for any qi that might threaten us. I felt better with two of us watching for danger, and I picked up the pace. It was still another hour and a half until we found the path down to the cave though. It was easy to miss, and we had to doubleback for it.

My heart sank when I saw the cave’s entrance was dark. Didn’t the children know how to use the Firestarter? Were they trapped inside Meliune’s Blessing this whole time? I hurried down, and then I slowed down. The night was dark, and my backpack was bulky--rushing was a good way for me to fall to my death.

I rounded the corner and found the cave empty. Further in, light glimmered against the limestone walls. The children had moved the chliapp lion deeper into the cave and started their fire there, out of view of the cave’s entrance. It occurred to me that if they’d started the fire where I’d told them to, the cave’s entrance would be lit up like a beacon for miles around.

I gave myself a knock on the head, grateful that the kids had more sense than I did. The uekisheile’s tufts tickled when they mimicked the movement. With a wry grin, I asked them to hide again.

Game-song-play?

Patience-patience-patience, I said to them. We’d play once the kids were settled for the night.

I found Billisha and Aluali guarding the small fire. The children were as blank-faced as before, but each had their axe ready. Billisha faced the cave’s interior, while Aluali watched the entrance.

With a shudder, Aluali let go of Meliune’s Blessing long enough to say. “Biluu kuse pappashi zhileete.”

Billisha ran to join him, her axe still at the ready. “Biluu kuse pappashi zhileete.”

They’d said the same words before, back when they were still in chains. That was also when Billisha offered to cut her arm to show me her blood. Now, the children watched me carefully, expectant.

“Biluu kuse pappashi zhileete,” I said.

Only then, once I’d proven I wasn’t a Little Horror, did they sag with relief and Meliune’s Blessing melt away. Billisha grabbed my shoulders and swung me around to check for injuries, while Aluali went to the fire to get me a bowl of porridge.

“Friend safe?” Billisha asked using Trade Sign. “Where friend?”

“Friend safe. Friend--” I didn’t have a sign for trapped, so I improvised one.

Billisha frowned. “Person--Bascon, Kaad--trap friend?”

I shook my head and said, “Bishkawi.”

Me using the Diaksh word surprised Billisha. She mixed it with her Trade Sign. “Bishkawi! Bishkawi hunt. Bishkawi eat. How Bishkawi trap friend?”

Well, now wasn’t that an interesting challenge for pantomime? I pointed to the cave around us, and then to the room’s exit. Then I mimed closing a gate and holding my shoulder against it.

Billisha seemed to understand.

“Today,” I signed, “I see bishkawi. Tomorrow, I hunt bishkawi.”

The children glanced worriedly at each other. She said a word that sounded a lot like a resigned affirmative. “Okay.”

Aluali handed me a wooden bowl. The porridge was made from corn, onions, beans, and salted venison. One bite, and I could almost feel my body sucking in the salt. It was so good, I nearly cried. The children watched as I devoured what was in my bowl and poured myself a second and third helping.

Only once I started to slow did Billisha wave her hand to get my attention. She gestured to herself. “Billisha.” Then to Aluali. “Aluali.”

“Eight,” I said, gesturing to myself.

The children quirked their heads. “Eaate?” The word-name was clearly unfamiliar.

I counted aloud on my fingers. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight.”

The children frowned and muttered to each other. Shrugging ensued. Then more discussion.

I polished off a fourth bowl of porridge and leaned back with a sigh. Finally full, I realized just how bone tired I was. According to my Status clock, it was almost eleven.

There was a half formed plan in my head for a raid to poison the bishkawi food supply, but for the plan to work, I’d have to be in and out of their camp well before dawn. That’d give me only a couple of hours of rest. Reluctantly, I shelved the plan for tonight. Better to rest now and infiltrate the camp tomorrow night. It’d also give me time to better prepare.

The children had gone quiet. I looked up to find them both watching me.

“Eight,” Billisha said. She raised her hands and counted aloud on her fingers. “Hawda, diilka, daawsi, shootha, giash, akra, sablu, dupre, hewei, pilak.”

“Huh. Then, with my powers, does that make me Supa Dupre?”

The dad joke was lost on the kids. They just looked confused, and Billisha started to count again.

“No, no. I got it,” I said. “Hawda, diilka, daawsi, shootha, giash, akra, sablu, dupre, hewei, pilak.”

“Dah! Dah!” Billisha smiled, excited. She pointed to the fire. “Di--”

“Dilwei,” I said.

She looked confused at first, but then remembered she’d used the word before; when she’d asked about cremating Bascon and Kaad’s bodies. Remembering the two men must’ve reminded of her having been a slave. The enthusiasm drained from her face.

Honestly, the mens’ deaths were a drag on my thoughts too, but I hated seeing the children shrink into themselves. Ideally, they’d have psychological counseling and therapy to help them heal, but there was only me here. And I couldn’t even talk to them. Not yet anyway.

I waved a hand to get her attention. “Hawda, diilka, daawsi, shootha, giash, akra, sablu, duupa, hewei, pilak.” Then I took off my shoe, pointed at my foot, and waited for her to tell me the word.

Billisha bit her lower lip, trapped by whatever was going through her head. It was Aluali who responded. He tugged on her shirt and said, “Itbu.”

She looked back at him, nodded, and said. “Itbu.”

Aluali sang a song, the kind you’d use to teach a small child. It started with: “Itbu sadt. Itbu dellei. Itbu sadt. Dolanei kei.” And kept going.

After the first couple of words, Billisha sang along with him. Then she turned to me--there were still shadows in her eyes, in both their eyes--but the song didn’t stop. She pointed to the different parts of the body as she sang.

When the song came to an end, they started it again from the beginning. I got to memorizing.

###

The next day, I didn’t wake up until almost noon. The children insisted on trading watches during the night, but then never woke me for mine. They looked smug about it too; really pleased with themselves.

While eating a bowl of leftover porridge, I looked over the chliapp lion’s carcass. In addition to the watches, the children tagged teamed taking it apart. There were sections where they clearly struggled, but otherwise the skeleton was picked clean; the meat stored in the coldest part of the cave. The children had the Skinner Talent, and it showed.

There was new wood stacked against the wall too. What busy little beavers they were. Billisha noticed me noticing and puffed up, proud.

“Good,” I said in Diaksh.

She snickered. “Yes. Good.”

Both children were still haunted, of course, but feeling useful, feeling like they had some control over their lives, helped. To that end, I gave them the task of making sinew from the chliapp lion’s tendons. In the jumble of recent events, I forgot to prepare them. And I’d need the sinew for new arrows.

While the children huddled and discussed the work, I checked in with the uekisheile. I needn’t have worried about them though--they were still singing the song from last night.

Foot-knee-hip. Tail-spine-heart. Shoulder-elbow-hand. Head-circle. Head-up. Foot circle. Foot-down. Spin-spin-spin.

While the children sang last night, the uekisheile sprouted tufts on the backs of my ears to investigate the interesting qi vibrations. Later, when I lay down to sleep, they asked me about it, and it took an hour to explain the concept of language--of using symbols to communicate. And then, of course, they had to sing the song too. Heaven forbid anyone feel left out.

The uekisheile couldn’t see the parts of the body, but they could recognize the qi structures within each. All I had to do was point to them and associate them with the right vibrations. It must’ve been around three in the morning when I finally dozed off.

Everyone busy, I left the cave to search for materials.

###

The new bishkawi scouts above Ikfael Glen were too well hidden for me to spot from the top of the escarpment, even with enchanted eyes. I assumed they were there though; maybe even the one with Hidden Strength. She was good for baiting traps. Well, I’d have my own traps soon enough.

On my shopping list were:

Flint Straight branches for arrows Stout branches for stakes Pine pitch The qi from Bascon and Kaad

The uekisheile wasn’t hungry, but if they could store qi long term, then I’d make it happen. Otherwise, things might get complicated if they needed to eat while people were around.

Really, though, I didn’t know what I was thinking--there was hardly anything left of the bodies. The internal organs were gone. The bones were broken for the marrow inside. Even the flesh of their faces had been torn away and eaten. The uekisheile found some remnant qi in their skeletons, but that was all.

“I’m sorry, little buddy. I’ll do better next time. Maybe we’ll have you sneak in while I’m searching for the core.”

I checked to make sure the gear I’d hidden was still there, but didn’t linger. Just because their eye sockets were empty, it didn’t mean that Bascom and Kaad weren’t watching me. I felt a faint, hard-to-describe pressure. Maybe it was my imagination, but I didn’t think so. It reminded me of the atmosphere inside mi abuela’s workshop. For a long time, I thought that was just my imagination too.

Yeah, I got out of there as quickly as I could and focused on solid, tangible things, like cutting and stripping branches. With proper tools, the work was easy. It took only an hour to fill my backpack. On my way back to the cave, I stopped by the blueberry bush to fill a pouch with berries for the kids.

The smell of grilling meat welcomed me. Aluali tended a series of thin lion strips sprinkled with salt. They charred nicely. So delicious. And the kids loved the blueberries for dessert. Oh, in Diaksh, they were piliashte, but I knew that from the camera.

After lunch, I checked on the drying sinew, but didn’t notice any mistakes. I asked Billisha and Aluali if they were willing to sharpen the stakes for me. There wasn’t anything else for them to do while they waited, so they were game.

I headed out to collect the flint, pine pitch, and more chishiaxpe poison.

###

The forest was an uneasy quiet. I didn’t notice it yesterday, but I was more rested today and better at picking up the nuances. All the creatures kept a low profile, still shaken by the kahlichi bear’s rampage during the thunderstorm.

I emulated them and took my time. Yes, I was in a hurry. Yes, I now knew where I was going and what I was doing. But time was safety in a situation like mine, and I had plenty of time. The sun wouldn’t set for another eight hours.

Overnight, the boundaries of the chishiaxpe’s territory had shifted. Some were in different trees than before, and I even found a dead vine that’d been stabbed to death multiple times. I had to familiarize myself with the new layout, but once I knew where all the players were, I got to work picking off the stragglers.

I kept one eye on my prey, one eye on the trees, one eye behind me, and one eye downstream. It was a lot to keep track of, but the uekisheile helped. They were able to sense qi up to ten yards away, depending on the number of tufts exposed to the air.

Once my bottle was full of poison, I moved downstream. Just a little bit. Just close enough for enchanted eyes to spot the Hidden Strength bishkawi ambling around the area above Ikfael Glen. If it was like last time, the rest of the bishkawi were hidden in the trees around her.

I was tempted--sorely tempted--to sneak into the glen, then and there, to poison what was left of their food. What stopped me was the alpha. I had no clue as to his whereabouts. Plus it was still frickin daytime.

Yeah, no. Let’s go back to the cave, have some dinner, and make some arrows. Then later, once night fell, I’d come back to take care of the bishkawi.

###

Dinner was more corn porridge, and the entertainment afterward was making arrows while singing vocabulary songs. Even the uekisheile joined in, if surreptitiously. They bopped along with the rhythms and mimicked the sounds’ vibrations.

Each song was paired with a dance. For example, when the children sang about corn, their gestures were reminiscent of picking cobs from a stalk and placing them in a basket on their back. When they sang about mowing hay in the summer, they bent over and scythed the air. I enjoyed the performance, especially once the arrows were done and put away. Then I could devote my full attention to it.

In a few hours, I would leave the cave with the intent to kill. The children knew it, and I knew it. But they sang anyway and pulled me into dancing along with them. We were strangely protected, warmed by the fire and surrounded by a pocket of stone. There were horrors outside and tragedy too. But the singing and dancing kept them at bay, at least for a little while.

I’d forgotten how strong children were--how they could play for hours and hours. I stopped dancing in order to conserve my strength, but Billisha and Aluali kept going and going. Like they were possessed. Like if they kept going, they’d never have to remember what happened to them and their families.

Our little cave burned with the light of their spirit that night, but eventually, I had to leave.