The sun rose, but as usual, didn’t cut through the fog in the Stone Seeker’s range.

Morgan looked back the way she’d come. There wasn’t a hint of movement along the horizon, but she knew too much about other alien species to trust that her human vision showed her everything.

Still, Al said that the wind was still blowing towards them, which meant it wasn’t carrying their scent back towards the Wolves. It had to count for something.

She glanced back to see Al watching her.

“They will come for your range next,” he said.

Her throat tightened, but she didn’t argue. “You might be right, but…” She hesitated. “It doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“What?”

“Why would the Makers go to all the trouble of terraforming a planet and plunking different people down, just to stand back and let one species kill the rest?”

Al thought about this for a minute as he flutter-hopped from one stone to the other. “Maybe the Wolves are the Makers.”

“No way. The Makers, whoever they are, have advanced technology. Wolves aren’t tool-makers. They just use claws and teeth.”

He growled pensively. “My father used to say there were questions too big for one person to answer. I feel like this might be one of those questions.”

She shook her head. “I’m going to figure out a way to contact the Makers and find all the answers. Not just about the Wolves, about all of it.” I’m going to find a way home.

Al didn’t say anything. Morgan got the impression he was either too polite or exhausted to argue.

However, his next words surprised her. “Did you mean it when you said the Wolves learned of the Stone Seekers from my people?”

“I think so.” Lower. “I hope so.”

“If it means some of them are alive, then so do I.” He stopped and twisted his muzzle to what Morgan was starting to think of as ‘North’. “Your range is that way. It’s probably safe to head in that direction now.”

She stopped as well and shielded her good hand over her eyes to to the distance. During one of the few rest breaks they’d allowed themselves, she had rigged a sling for her arm out of bandages from her first aid kit. The cloth cut into the back of her neck and the whole thing needed to be redone, but it could wait.

Dropping her hand, she regarded her friend. “You’re coming with me, aren’t you?”

“Will I be welcome?” he asked.

She wanted to say yes, but he deserved to know the truth. “You’ll probably scare the crap out of everyone at first, and I’ll be the only one who knows what you’re saying until we convince them to go to our Knowledge Transfer Device.” She blew out a breath. “It won’t be easy. Humans can be weird and tribal, but… the wolves are coming, and yeah, humans are pretty good at fighting, but we’re still going to need all the help we can get.” She paused and looked at him. “You’re my pride brother, right?”

Raptors didn’t smile, but he did drop his jaw, which was a close equivalent. “Yes.”

She rested her good arm on his shoulder. “You’re probably the best friend I have on this planet. Come home with me, Al.”

He bobbed his head in a nod. Together, they turned for the north to the human rage.

Morgan was going home.

The end.