The long slow trek was punctuated with Ayente periodically trying to sneak ‘rides’ on the sled. First… she bent down seemingly to look at something, so that she fell in behind him. And it was several minutes before he looked back during their conversation and found her reclining back on the unikoslof fur with Fen’Biter slobbering at her cheek.

“Ayente… run many manies around the sled and myself.” Achos said evenly, his eyes narrowing in her direction.

Her jaw dropped and a deep crimson color came over her face. “Damn.” She muttered, and began to jog around it. Her face flushed, but he didn’t sense any anger from her, after what he counted as her twelfth lap, Fen’Biter began chasing her, until he grew too tired and she found herself forced to pick him up.

Archos threw back his head and laughed until she hit lap twenty with the barking fenrisu in her arms.

“Wh-what?” She asked, breathing hard as she sprinted around several times.

“Memory. When I was young, Tascaros and I, we were together in the castle… like a large hut, many manys of huts all together and cut into mountains like one piece.” He clarified as her face quirked slightly to one side into a state of clear confusion.

“Beyond the palace, there are great beasts raised for meat, and as we were both small, these things were much larger, like same from you to me, but two of that.” Archos raised his arm upward as high as it could go above his head.

These beasts have many tails colored like night, and they sway constantly, unless you feed them a special plant. I took some of this plant and distracted the beast, the many tails that grew up from the beast’s back and hind end went limp, and Tascaros climbed up. When he was on, he waved, and I laid down the plant for the thing to eat, and scrambled to a limp tail as well. What I did not know…” Archos scratched under his jaw hesitantly.

“How I say this… ah, what I saw in Malach’s tent, his mating organ, the little dangling thing? Are those sensitive for your kind?” Archos inquired, cocking his head at her.

Ayente nodded vigorously. “Very. Much pleasure if treated well, much pain if…” She stomped her foot into the soft earth to finish her sentence. Her savage eyes were full of glee, like a memory had risen. He chose not to pursue it.

“Yes. Well, it turns out that not all this beast’s tails were tails, and I grabbed onto a not tail that was like that, and very sensitive, like that of your males. It did not like this thing. Tascaros got the ride of a lifetime… ‘I’ though?” Archos shook his head with vigor. “I got pulled along when it charged wildly, until I was thrown away. Tascaros’s mother found him still on the thing, and me walking out of a much water, ah… a lake, much like how we met. He was made to run the breadth of the herd ground most of the day.”

“It was… it was a good day. Seeing your expression then as you passed and ran the sled after your own attempt at stealing a ride, it made me too remember.” Archos whispered softly, roughly at last, and trailed off.

She felt a wave come over him, his shoulders drooped a bit, the tail that had been largely up, dragged on the ground, the upturned corner at his scaled lip, became flat, and the spark left his eyes.

She reached up and touched his arm. “Good memory.” She said softly. He pulled in silence, she fell behind. When he glanced behind him, he found her again reclining on the fur with Fen’Biter curled up on her chest.

For a moment he was annoyed, and then a smile spread over her lips, very small at first, but it grew, and when it grew, she winked at him. His jaw fell open, she got down from the sled, and began to run laps again.

By the third time she’d snuck her way onto the sled, his laughter at her antics had driven away the last bit of bitterness from his heart.

It was late that day when they were finally able to see the distant crude huts of the Red Ax.

“Wait.” She Ayente said suddenly.

Archos looked back, she’d snuck onto the sled again, but there was no teasing in her face, if anything, the blue eyes shimmered with hesitation.

She touched her face. The brutality of the marks over her face, ignored when alone with him, came rushing to the forefront of her mind. Archos looked at her in silent expectation.

“This… I am proud but…” She hesitated, trailing off, looking past him, to where her tribe waited.

“But?” Archos probed, lowering his head so that his eyes were held with her own.

“But these alone have marked me as one little desired. Even by Malach, I think he wanted only to see them change to dread, to see fear, to punish. He did not truly ‘desire’ me. Do you understand?” Ayente approached and put her hand on his side, seeking across the gulf of their differing kinds to find comprehension.

He shook his massive head, “Not at all.” He said flatly. His sharp tongue was visible behind his serrated, brutal teeth, “Small and squishy though you are, in defiance of all that I know, somehow war spirits exist in your bodies. Good ones, if you thought yourself fearsome, if you were fearsome, then that should raise desire. That more fierce small ones be laid.”

Archos shrugged his shoulders like he was stating the obvious, and Ayente cracked a weak smile up at him. “Were that you were one of my kind.”

“I will take that as praise.” Archos chuckled a low, rough laugh, “Come, you bled for them to eat, when you return, it will be time to take your place, your proper place. Take back what was taken, and if they fear to look at you while you do it, then they will fear to resist you also. Fear is a weapon.”

Ayente removed her hand, which had not ceased to trace the marks that raked her face, and turned her ice blue eyes in the direction of home. She placed it on the necklace Archos had made for her, and closed her hand over the claws. She tightened them in her grip with such ferocity that they pricked her flesh. “Yes.” She growled out breathlessly. “Yes. Fear. Malach has used it, now I will use it.”

She stood staring at the distant dots, and spat words filled with venomous hatred, in her own tongue. "Ya sto'lope nak! Ya sto ti'eybe re nak, a'Malach nak rena."

Archos touched a talon to her shoulder, “What that means?”

Ayente flashed a fierce, predatory smile up at him, touching one small hand over the talon that rested on her shoulder. “I will take the tribe. I will take back my life, and take Malach's away.” Fen’Biter seemed to agree with her sentiment, because it jumped down from the sled, ran beside her, and barked into the distance.

“Good. Then we go. We cannot do this from here.” Archos replied, and began to pull the sled.

“Yes, and… Archos?” She looked up at him with her narrowed eyes opened wide, he looked down at her again, “Thank you.”

He didn’t respond as she scooped up Fen’Biter and held him against her chest, walking beside him the rest of the way back, until shouts from the distance told them both that they had been spotted.

Kelo entered the small hut and looked over to the dark haired beauty, the scent of desire’s fulfillment still hung in the small enclosed space, she met his eyes with passive curiosity, cocking her head with interest in what he had to say.

“This is still my hut.” She folded her arms in front of her and squared herself off… but the defiant posture was thrown down into the dust when her eyes fell away and looked down at his feet. She chewed on her lip, “One of the shame children or not… It is… my hut…” She said in a meek tone, Kelo continued to look down at her silently.

The hairs stood up on her arm, her dark eyes fluttered.

Then the moment broke when she felt the sudden touch of her recent lover on her shoulder.

Seyi drew close, then taking her chin in his thumb and forefinger, turned her away from his brother’s eyes so that she met his kinder look instead. “Forgive my… imposing brother. He is a man of few words, but what he tried to say without speaking, was that this was very important or he wouldn’t bother you. He’s also asking if we can be rude guests and borrow your hut for a private moment. Is that alright, Raena?”

“Yes. Ex-Excuse me.” She said hastily and moving around Seyi’s brother without so much as touching him, she brushed the fur over the entry aside with an audible slap and all but ran out of the little private space.

“Brother, was that really necessary?” Seyi asked, squaring himself off in front of Kelo in the same manner that Kelo had done with Raena.

Kelo’s shoulders slumped a little, “I am sorry, little brother. But my words are for you alone. I spent time with Malach last night, after you were gone. He is the voice of the gods, he showed me his hut, where his many stones of prophetic successes rested, they told the story of his power. He brought the elders of the tribe, and they told me of his many prophecies, and how the gods favored to whisper to him. His magic is great also, he can make the wind dance leaves for him and sparks leap from his palm. He is a powerful magic user and a great prophet. He tells me that the monster brings disaster, that is why he is with a curse who brought a disaster of her own. I believe we have only two choices in reporting home.”

He took a long, deep breath. “We either take the Red Ax into our own, except for the monster and the curse. Or we join with Makine to destroy them. They are without chief, their hunters are few. It can be done easily.”

Seyi listened patiently through every word, but his brow furrowed and he felt his muscles tense. ‘Is Raena’s opinion influencing my own? Or am I reliant on my own impression?’ Seyi reflected on the question, he looked down and watched the way light and shadow bounced back and forth where the fur behind them still swayed.

When Kelo finished speaking, Seyi met his brother’s face again. “Brother… Kelo, do you trust me?” He put both of his hands up on Kelo’s powerful shoulders and leaned forward.

“O-Of course.” Kelo stammered, “Jokes of your wild nature aside, you have always managed to make things good, and you do not lie to me.”

Seyi put his left hand behind his brother’s neck and drew the larger male toward him so that their foreheads were pressed together affectionately.

“Kelo, I do not trust Malach. My first impression, he reminds me of Makine, cruel, hard, and selfish. I don’t know if gods or spirits speak to him, but I know when I do not trust someone. Yes, he offered me Raena for the night, but I spoke with her of him. What words we gave and took to one another…” Seyi swallowed hard and put a hand over his chest, covering his throbbing heart, “I will not say. But she speaks of the cursed one who brought the monster with great affection. Even respect. I would like to meet the cursed one and the monster… but you want my opinion, brother, if it comes to it, we should not work with Malach. We should also not trust Makine. I would trust Vyka before him, but Vyka is not chief of the Stone Children.”

When the moment passed, their tight hold on one another broke, and Kelo closed his eyes and shook his head, “I know your voice, I know your spirit, Seyi. You will not listen.”

“And I know yours, neither will you.” Seyi whispered, softer than his brother’s own voice, but no less determined, he clenched a fist tight at his side.

“You have always been too influenced by the women who embrace you in the night. It is dangerous, especially if one is in need, what will she not say, in order to get what she wants?” Kelo replied and in a gesture that marked them as brothers, clenched his own fist at his side in the same way as Seyi.

Seyi’s quick tongue spat back a retort in an instant. “The same is true of men like Malach and Makine, what will they not do, not say, for their own sake? Raena’s wants are known to me, she spoke of them honestly last night. But Malach? He will lie to you by the fire you share.”

Kelo clenched his jaw, “Seyi, we may have two different sets of words to give on our return, leave it for the chief and the elders, there is no reason for us to fight.”

Sayi nodded after a brief hesitation, but as he did, the light cast to the ground showed the footprint of the woman whose hut they now stood within, the woman who now carried away his night seed within her. ‘Brother is wrong. There is reason to fight, and I just do not have that knowing.’ Seyi felt a chill come over him at the thought, but he did not alter his nod.

“What you say is so, but we cannot leave now. Raena has promised to show me a plant known to her that is not known to me, one that may help our young in lean times when mother’s milk is in a weak flow.”

“How long do you need?” Kelo asked bluntly and glanced at the way out. “I feel on edge now, like we should not linger.”

“Hours only, we will be gone before sunset.” Seyi said emphatically.

“Very well, I will hunt small game with the few hunters, when we return and have eaten, be ready to go back to our tribe with what we have taken.” Kelo said it in the brusque commanding way he always did when he chose to exercise his status as elder brother. And true to the tone, he didn’t wait for his instruction to be acknowledged before he left the hut.

For Kelo, the next few hours were frustrating. The handful of shame children and those who were still alive of the divinely loved ones, all did their best. But for all their efforts, they gathered only a few handfuls of rabbits. It was as if the effort itself was cursed.

However, Seyi savored his hours with Raena. Away from her people, she seemed to come alive, speaking enthusiastically as she walked far beyond the dark waters where she said the cursed stone came from. Beyond it lay a wide open field with many great, tall plants, from the distance, he thought nothing of them, and then she swept her hand out to a sun golden stalk and swept into it several grains. She threw them to her mouth and chewed the crunchy little things before walking on.

“What is that?” Seyi asked, pointing to the few that still stuck to her fingers.

“The long seed.” Raena said indifferently, “They are not very good, but they can be eaten, few grow per plant, but many many plants.” She swept her hand over the open ground.

The breeze around them swayed the plants so that it was as if the golden stalks were calling his touch over to them. He hesitated, then swept his hand out over a stalk, closing his hand over the smooth surface, he drew the fist up over the top and was rewarded with some small seedlings. He looked up at her, she nodded encouragingly, and he brought them to his mouth.

He licked them, sniffed them, then put them onto his tongue. He chewed, scrunched his lips at the bitter flavor, but then swallowed, “Yes, they are not good, but I do not feel sick.”

“See?” Raena asked rhetorically and repeated the gesture to snatch more. “Ayente wanted to make more of them grow where she wished, she said that if we could do that, then we might make enough to not have to move.”

Seyi frowned lightly, “Is she possessed of some demon spirit? To imagine such a strange thing…” His mind reeled as he contemplated the very impossible notion of not walking or running the endless lands…

Raena giggled a little and smiled, her lips turning up only a little at one side of her mouth, “No… I think she just hated the way she lives so much that, well she imagines any life must be better than that one. She was always a strange girl. Now come here, these grow by the small waters, near tree cover.”

She gestured to a now evident small set of trees. Raena picked up the pace, the wind blew the sweet scent of flowers their way, the faint buzzing of bees kept him wary, but she ventured on, and so Seyi followed.

When they reached the place she intended, he looked around more closely. There was a light tree cover, twisting, long and healthy branches weaving together from tall trees of varying thickness. At their feet was a low bank and within it lay a babbling stream. There was the familiar hush and rustling of the plants and the whispering wind between them. Out of sight, a splash spoke of a beast jumping into the water, but they were otherwise alone.

“Well?” Seyi asked when he stood beside her for several minutes. He could feel her closeness, like there were words beneath the surface, but rather than speak them, she raised her hand and pointed. Out of an outcrop from the bank where a tree grew, and roots were so long that they thrust out of the ground to dangle over the water, he caught a glimpse of something white.

“See the white?” Raena asked, he nodded. She jumped down lightly and landed with a splash, he watched as she sloshed through the water, sinking into the soft water logged streambed down to her knee height. When she reached her destination, she pulled aside the roots, and there grew several green stalked plants, from the tops grew thick, white, bulbous ends. They were thick as three fingers together, and as long as from a man’s middle finger tip, to the end of his wrist. She reached in and snatched one at the base just below the milky white bulbous portion. She slogged her way back to him, and held her hand up. Seyi took it, and pulled Raena up to where he stood.

She held the plant in the palm of her hand, then closed her hand over it, not tightly, but like a mockery of concealment. Her eyes went down to his feet.

“Your brother frightened me.” She finally said from behind fluttering eyes.

Seyi hung his head, “He doesn’t want to, it is just his way.”

“How many of your young do you lose in the lean times, for want of mother’s milk?” Raena asked hesitantly, swiftly changing the subject when Seyi’s eyes no longer fell on her own.

Seyi snapped his eyes up from the ground, “Some.”

“The Cave Children lose almost none. Neither do we. Sometimes, we lose none at all. A mother’s death, it does not take a child’s life, as long as somebody will gather these, the child can live. Do you understand? No, no you don’t.” She answered her own question, and held the head over her other palm. “You must see.” She said sharply and cupping her empty hand, she squeezed the plant, and it became instantly like mush, like white mud, and parts of it began to drip with a sticky squelch into her waiting hand.

“Here.” She said, and held her hand out, raising it to Seyi’s lips.

He delicately licked at the stuff. “It is like milk… so…” His eyes began to widen.

“Yes, this is how both the Cave Children and ourselves had been raising our numbers over the years to the many many. Our women still die in labor, but if someone is willing to nurse, or gather the plant for the babe, it needn’t die for want of nourishment.” Raena said the words like she was confessing to some terrible misdeed, and the importance of her revealing was not lost on Seyi.

‘How many… how many of our young died for want of the breast…?’ He could not answer, only because he knew no number great enough.

He stared at Raena, whose body began to shake under his silent eyes. “You were not to reveal this, were you?”

She gave her head a vigorous tiny shake, but didn’t meet his eyes.

“How did you come by this?” He asked, anger and interest warring in his eyes before the dark eyed lover.

“Accident. I think Malach must have learned of it from Ayente’s mother, who must have learned it from the Cave Children when she was with them. She has long urged her daughter to redeem herself in the way we are told the gods wish us to. But despite Ayente’s constant refusal, her mother is not mistreated by Malach. I believe she revealed it to him as a trade. I learned of it by accident… I came here…” Raena pointed to the ground where they now stood.

“I was becoming a woman and lay with a male of the tribe, after we finished, we were quiet, and I spied Malach coming this way, and recognized what he left with. As he left, he shouted, “Whosoever sees but does not speak, is cursed.” I was about to speak, but the man I lay with covered my mouth and held me close. It was only when Malach was gone that I saw the knife. I believe he was going to kill anyone who saw, and wanted to draw out anyone who was near him. The man swore me to silence… and died in the next hunt.”

Raena wiped her eyes and sniffled, she wrung her hands together, “I thought I would die too, as I had been silent, but I believe the gods only chose to kill him because he stopped me from speaking. No matter why, I lived. Now I give this secret to you.” She sank down to the ground on shaking knees, her palms tracing over his strong, muscular legs. “Y-You can find that plant hidden beneath water reaching roots that hang from overhead. Where water flows like this, a clutch of these will almost always be found. They grow quickly, as long as you don’t pull the root, the milk head will return, and it will do so all year round, it is always warm, and if you do not see it, look for the white birds nests, they are often near these things.”

Raena swallowed, “You know it all, now. And I have only your word, I hope I did not take poorly for what I gave.”

Seyi furrowed his brow, “This is a heavy secret, why do you tell me, after only one night?”

Raena looked up at him, unable to rise through her shaking frame, she forced out the words, “B-Because something has to g-give us a chance. Ayente may be despised of the gods, but she is right. We need to do other than we have, or we will die, sooner or later, we are doomed. When our young would grow and not die, we needed more food, but could not get it. The Cave Children could keep their young alive, but also feed them. They held the best place. What good is it for our children if they do not starve as infants only to starve when they get older?” Raena looked up at him with a bitter expression, her dark eyes were shimmering pools filled with tears of frustration.

Raena’s hands tightened on his legs, her nails dug into his skin, words poured out like blood from an ugly wound and neither he nor she could staunch their flow. “That is why our chief listened to Ayente, because she wanted to end problems. Malach, he said the gods chose who would die, and there was nothing to be done. Our chief, he loved us, all of us, even those who the gods cursed with life. Is it so wrong to want all your people to live? Ayente’s raid was a risk. But if we had not gone, then when winter came, many would starve for want of food if we could not share the space with the Cave Children.”

“I… understand.” Seyi said softly, but Raena was not done. “Do not reveal the secret I have given you, Malach will not just curse me for this, he may kill me, or outcast me where I might be prey for the wind terrors, or monsters. If he knows you have our secret… he may not even let you leave alive.” The last words were almost breathless as she spoke her warning, her body had barely slowed its tremble, and his mind raced like a high wind over unbroken plains.

“Yes, I see. I understand, I will say nothing. I swear on the luck of the seed you carry.” He crouched down, crunching the golden plants under his knee, and kissed her forehead.

“Thank you… Seyi. We should go back. No other knows what I intended, most assume I simply wished more of your body.” She managed a tiny smile, “I do, but that can come again another time.”

She took his hand boldly into her own and wiped her eyes fiercely, rapidly as he helped her to stand up again. They made their way back to the collection of huts, returning just in time to hear the sound of shouting and chaos erupting ahead of them.