7 years later...

"Lieutenant?" Sergeant Rurik couldn't keep the question out of his voice even as he raised his fist to his left breast in salute. Two soldiers and the third-year recruit on the horses beside him followed suit, their eyes not quite reaching hers. Leyla was used to the lowered gazes; those of lesser rank were often afraid of being caught staring at the scar on her face. From beneath her right eye, all the way to the corner of her lip, Leyla wore her short officer braids tied up, doing nothing to hide the jagged line that was an ugly raised pink.

"I was nearby," she told Rurik to explain her unexpected presence. It wasn't entirely true, but she wasn't ready to disclose her theory about the recent No-Lander activity.

Drawing her horse alongside the Sergeant's, Leyla looked out over the edge of the forest in front of them. They were a two-hours ride North from the keep, on the border between the unforgiving grey dust that was Warrior Land and No-Lander territory. Just a short distance ahead of them, the thick branches of bright red Duya trees formed arches over the green life that sprouted from the fine brown soil below. Leyla soaked in the colours, her fingers itching to touch the swaying leaves; there were days that high-winds carried the scent of living-land to the keep, but nothing grew in the Warrior Kingdom.

"We are waiting on a single wagon, Lieutenant." Rurik said beside her. The older man was obviously not buying her excuse and was understandably curious about her sudden appearance, but that was neither here nor there. He would not dare to question a Warrior of higher rank. "We would not want to waste your time..."

Ignoring the Sergeants' comment, Leyla checked the position of the sun in the sky then frowned. The delivery wagon from the Green Lands should have been visible by now. At the very least, it should have been audible. Of course, if the Bone Eaters had turned up as she suspected they might...

"The Ear!" She called out.

The Sergeant motioned the furthest of the soldier beside him to do her bidding. Every escort party had a 'trained-ear'; a soldier that could tell the distance of moving horses through the vibrations in the soil. The boy put his head to the ground, then lifted his eyes in surprise: "There is no movement!"

Bloody Bone Eaters.

"Red formation!" Leyla gathered her reins as alert faces turned her way. "Use your bows, target the flanks first, they will scatter!" She kicked her horse into a gallop, not waiting for the acknowledgement of her orders. This was the Warrior army where an officer never had to repeat a command.

They rode a straight path into the forest, hooves eating up the ground as the men spread right and left behind her. The sound of steel on steel reached them a moment before the wagon from the Greenlands came into sight. Leyla assessed the situation as her horse galloped forward: a handful of No-Landers lay dead, four Warriors were fighting about two dozen more while an enemy archer was shooting arrows from a secluded spot to the west.

She fired five arrows in quick succession; five No-Landers went don't howling. The attackers looked around in panic as the Sergeant and his squads arrows founds their marks. The Warriors on the ground took advantage of their distraction and made short work of four more enemies before running after the rest who were now trying to escape.

Leyla saw the third-year recruit slow his horse from the corner of her eye. Before she could call a warning, an arrow lodged into his shoulder. The fool! She was going to have to take the enemy archer out before he wounded any more of her people.

"Keep them alive!" Leyla commanded as she steered her horse to the left and rode in the direction of the archer. He had to be hiding in the taller trees behind the shrubs surrounding the wagon path. The vegetation was too thick for the horse to move quickly. She jumped down, leaving the horse as she moved fast and low, making sure she kept out of sight.

Within easy shooting range of the trees now, Leyla placed her arrow on her bow, took a deep breath and moved into the open. The archer took the bate, revealing himself on a high branch of a Duya tree to take a shot. She rolled, aimed and fired as his arrow lodged into the ground to her left. A moment later there was a cry and the sound of branches breaking as the enemy fell.

A second arrow at the ready, Leyla ran forward, pushing past tall bushes and into a clearing before skidding to a halt. Bloody Diyu! A prickle of fear ran down her back as she stared at the large beast standing between her and the dead body of the fallen archer. Dark blue coat gleaming in the bright sunlight, the Hayvan lifted a massive paw to nudge the archers' listless body then turned its big feline eyes in her direction.

Leyla calculated quickly. The beast was three times her size, its razor sharp teeth and muscular build making it a formidable enemy. She could take it down with four very-well placed arrows, but that would not be the end of it. Although Hayvan's traveled alone, when dying they released a scent that would have an entire pack upon them in minutes.

If she killed it, they would have only seconds to clear out and taking the prisoners would be out of the question. If she killed it, the information they needed would be lost and they would be running for their lives.

The Hayvan tipped its head to the side, its yellow gaze taking in every inch of her before resting on her arrow. Damn. It was obviously not impressed with her aggressive stance, but she couldn't put her bow down. If she did and it pounced, she was dead.

"I don't want to kill you," she spoke slowly, keeping very, very still.

The Hayvan growled low, taking a step forward.

It took every ounce of her will to stop from pulling back on the arrow. Waiting like this was risky, she should shoot, but there was a tiny part of her that was holding out for the slim chance that the animal might decide to leave of its own accord.

"We are not enemies," Leyla tried again, looking the animal in the eye. "We can both live."

The animal flared its nostrils, its powerful legs flexing as it lifted its paw in the air then put it back on the ground and growled. It was a sound of irritation; much preferable to a sound of warning. Could they really end this without death?

Just as Leyla began to get her hopes up, a sudden rustling from a nearby tree spooked the beast. Thinking it was being attacked the Hayvan released a furious roar that vibrated across the forest. Survival instinct kicking in, Leyla dropped to her knee and raised her bow just as the animal took two steps forward, its body poised to leap. She pulled back on the arrow, controlled her breathing...then watched with utter surprise as the beast toppled over its right foot. What on Gaia?

Loosening her grip on the arrow, Leyla stood up, still not able to believe what she was seeing. The feline was struggling on the ground as it tried without avail to get its front leg out of what appeared to be a puddle of black goo. What was that on the ground?

She took a step closer against her better judgement. At first glance the dark patch on the ground looked like a pit of dark dirt, but then she noted a strange sheen on its surface.

"Ree-aaa-w!" The pitiful sound came from the powerful cat as it slumped to the ground. Its struggles had pushed its front leg deeper into the strange mass; was it a type of quick sand? Leyla had read about the pits of quicksand that existed beyond the Three Sisters mountains when she was studying for the officer exams. There, in the Empty Desert where no one lived, traps of the sort lay at every turn.

"Ree-aaa-w!" The animal whimpered as it tried uselessly to edge back from the darkness on the ground.

Either way, this had worked out for the best. Now she would not have to kill the animal and they could take the prisoners back for interrogation. Leyla turned in the direction of the wagons, then hesitated as the Hayvan whimpered once more.

Leaving the animal this way was the same as killing it. It would starve to death, unless No-Landers found it first and killed it for its prized blue pelt. Something inside Leyla stirred at the thought of the creature meeting such a pitiful end. Although Hayvans were the most feared animals in the Four Kingdoms, they were brave, loyal to their kind, protective of their young...

"I said we could both live, didn't I?"

The Hayvan looked up at the sound of her voice, its eyes weary. Leyla knew she was being foolish, but she lowered her bow. Then, holding the animal's gaze, she took another step closer.

"A Warrior never goes back on her word."

The Hayvan stayed still, its golden eyes following her every step as she moved closer. Leyla stopped when she was only an arms length away, then lowered her body without taking her eyes from the creature's gaze. The dark goo was right beside her now, the feline's paw within reach.

"Easy now." She reached out, slowly, very slowly, then touched the black sheen. It was surprisingly cool, smooth, then suddenly it was pulling at her! Startled, Leyla yanked back with all her might and almost flew backwards as she stared at her fingers; there was no trace of the black.

The Haivan snorted, shook its giant head, then rested it on the ground.

"Sorry, that was... unexpected." Leyla reached forward again, this time dipping her entire hand in before pulling back; the suction was there, but her hand came away easily. Why could the Hayvan not come loose? Was it to do with the animals' centre of gravity? She reached in one more time and grabbed the beasts' paw.

In the next moment, Leyla pulled its leg out and took three hasty steps away from the black pool. The hand that was in the cool goo a moment before was now on her taught bow, waiting for the freed animal's reaction.

"Grrrr." A deep rumbling sound came from the feline who took a few steps as if to test that its leg was still working. Then it tipped its head towards Leyla, its light green ears twitching as its golden eyes stared into hers.

"We can both live." Leyla repeated, forcing a steadiness into her voice that she did not feel.

The Hayvan let off a loud growl that shook the branches of the surrounding trees, gave Leyla one last look, then turned and disappeared into the forest.

A few minutes later when Leyla came back to the wagon path, she found half a dozen Warriors on one knee with their arrows pointing at her. She knew they would have been in that position since they heard the first Hayvan roar.

"At ease."

The soldiers stood, expectation written across their faces. Leyla noted that the boy who got the arrow in his shoulder was looking pale as the Sergeant stepped forward leading her horse. "Lieutenant, how much time do we have for evacuation?"

"The Hayvan is not dead."

A murmur of surprise went through the camp at the pronouncement; it was difficult to survive an encounter with a Hayvan, but to come back without having killed it was rarer still. Leyla ignored the curious glances and looked around at the No-Landers on the ground. Those who were not dead had been tied up in groups of two. Judging by the blue belts and short battle ax's, they were low-level Bone Eaters. But that archer did not shoot like one... Leaning down she pulled up the sleeves of two prisoners to reveal the large circular tattoos. It really was as she had suspected!

Standing, Leyla moved back towards her horse. "What is the wounded Warrior's name?"

"Berk, Sir," the Sergeant replied.

"Gather everyone and walk the prisoners back to the keep." Leyla wrapped her horses' reins around her hand and jumped into the saddle. "Berk!"

"Yes, Sir!" The Warrior took an unsteady step forward, beads of perspiration gleaming on his pale forehead. He was maybe two years younger than her, but this was likely his first taste of serious pain. Between the accidents that kept befalling her when she lived in the orphanage and the burning sensation that came from Calling the Heat, Leyla had been numbed to pain at a very early age.

"Get on." She pointed behind her.

Berk blinked at her without comprehension.

"Move you fool! Can't you see Lieutenant is taking pity on you!?" The Sergeant barked him out of his daze and Berk approached the horse with a grateful expression. He knew that most superiors would have left him to help walk the prisoners back to the keep; a Warrior had to be able to withstand far more than a slow prisoner march with an arrow in the shoulder.

"Thank you, Lieutenant!" Berk said, as he grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. His body was cold behind hers and he was trying hard to keep from trembling.

"Hold tight, we will reach the Healers soon," she lowered her voice so only he could hear her. Then after a final nod in the Sergeant's direction, she kicked her horse into motion.