We are the shattered pieces of what once was whole. Our civilization burned to the ground, our families either died gasping, torn apart, or turned into those twisted goblins. We are what’s left and even our children are born warped.

But it is in the very nature of our kind to bend, but never break. We rise from the blood and stitch our community together from tortured fragments. Family is what we choose now, not what we’ve left behind.

I cannot follow my own words. I cannot forget her eyes. I cannot move past what I have left behind, and I never will. I walk alone, unwilling to stitch myself to others. Never again.

-Doc Vorran, somewhere in the wastes, lune is coming.

LESEDI:

I take a shaky breath full of icy air as our feet stop in front of the leader’s tent. It’s a large dwelling on top of a platform built above a luminescent purple pond. Swishing shapes swim among the waters, I gasp in awe. Spirit fish. I’ve seen drawings in books but they don’t come even close to the majestic creatures. Their heads are a stunning white while the pearlescent color trails down in a line along their spine. Wispy long fins stretch out from their bodies, translucent along with the rest of them. Even their organs are transparent with the exception of tiny white outlines. It looks like something not of this world.

When the fish swim they look like disembodied spirits. Beautiful but toxic, a touch of their skin is lethal, so much so that their presence makes the water they live in poisonous as well. The watery purple clouds, beautiful as they are, are swirling billows of poison. Falling into this water would kill a skysinger in seconds, I’m sure nightstalkers aren’t immune. Resilient though they may be.

I pause as Othin and Talea begin walking across the planked bridge connecting the platform to land. She clunks along in boots that wouldn’t seem so heavy if she were lighter of foot. With a sudden jolt she trips to the side, Othin reaches out and grasps her wrist yanking her upright in a blink of the eye. His reflexes are impressive indeed.

With my nerves already on edge, I panic and shriek. “Talea be careful!”

She stops and glares at me over her shoulder. “I’m fine.” Her voice lowers. “Stay calm. You see where you are.”

I get the message, show no fear. Easier said than done, I’m so terrified I have to keep my hands in my pockets to disguise that I’m trembling. How could I not be? At any moment we could be dead in seconds. I take successive deep breaths to calm down and do my best to not look like I’m trying to calm down. I can feel the eyes of the village on me with every second, not to mention the flickers of red eyes I see circling us from the shadows.

Othin and Talea reach the platform, from a tent flap emerges an impressive figure. He towers above Othin by a head, his cape of long white fur, rare albino zigon, glows with a soft purple tint in the pond light. The faint purple glow stretches up his combed white hair that seems to blend into his cape. He wears stark black armor over his torso, it creates a striking contrast. I surmise that it’s the leathery hide of an aalamon, a trophy of his kill. Altogether he’s a fearsome and stunning person, the rightful nightstalker leader.

The intimidating male gestures towards me, Talea seems to explain something to him. He nods and waves them into the tent. Talea jerks her head towards the tent and gestures for me to follow. Anything to get away from all these eyes. I gulp my fright down as I take a cautious step onto the plank. It creaks under foot. My body pauses and I pray the board won’t break. Please Father Sky, don’t let it break. I take can’t help myself from gazing down at the dangerous water. It’s a clever, albeit risky, show to the rest of the clan.

I prepare myself to take my second step and commit to charging up the plank. Before I can, a female nightstalker comes running and I pause. She shares some similar features with the leader, they both radiate this ominous grace as if they are above all these other beasts. Her hair is full of woven braids and black beads that click and fall down her back. I shift with embarrassment; she wears nothing but cloth tied in the middle of her chest and wider cloth tied around her hips. The cloth itself is well taken care of and beautiful in pattern. I recognize it as high-quality goods from Evos.

The female calls to the leader. “Wikon! It is Ki’vala. She is fading.”

Alarm raises in the proud leader’s face, there I see genuine affection, loss, and fear. There’s another nightstalker, one he cares for, and she is dying. He lowers his eyes with mourning and speaks with a weakening countenance. “Release her from her misery Shado.”

She nods with eyes glossing over with tears. Release her from her misery? They’re going to kill her. I feel panic swell in my chest like a hand is gripping my lungs and squeezing them empty. I’ve never met her, but I feel pain for her and her loved ones. My instincts leap into action, I need to save her. The grayskin I’ve never met. Something has to be done, she’s suffering, dying. Whether I can or not doesn’t enter my mind.

I reach out and grab Shado’s arm. “Wait!”

The nightstalker pauses and turns to me with venom in her eyes. I release my grip with slow, sorry, motions. Her voice comes out angry and quiet drowning in pain. “I do not know who you are daypeople. But here, that is a challenge.”

I swallow my terror and firm myself. I ice my emotions and put on my Lesedi face. “I am a learned woman. If you let me see her perhaps, I can help.”

Shado looks to the leader, Talea nods at him and speaks some words. A sliver of renewed hope sparks in his face. It shows in his voice, my heart feels like it’s being squeezed. What if I’ve only given him false hope? What if I can’t help? Will he lash out and kill me for it? Even still, my urge to help someone in need of medical attention pushes me forwards. Maybe I’ve spent too much time stitching up Talea.

“Shado take her to Ki’vala. She is under my protection as Talea’s claim, do not let harm come to her.” He glances towards me with subtle anticipation in his smile. I feel sick.

Shado nods and walks away, I follow her as quick as I can. My short legs have to run to keep pace with her. She looks like it’s painful to make herself walk instead of run to her friend, I imagine she’s thinking how useless and small skysingers are. I glance over my shoulder and see Talea and Othin disappear into the tent. I keep Shado in my sights as I run, but she keeps getting uncomfortably ahead of me. She’s my only safety in this grim forest of murder. Without her they’ll shred me in seconds, I can see it in the eyes of those we pass.

As we run, I see more connecting bridges above us in the trees. Glowing vines spread across these connections creating a scene both unsettling and beautiful. This seems to be how it goes with nightstalkers. I can see vague silhouettes of structures and figures moving around. Eerie shadows play upon the scene both adding to the beauty and terror of it.

We keep our run through the forest, past more and more nightstalkers. They snap into a rage when they see me, but stop with one look at Shado. She must be a representative of the leader. His wife? Or a mate might be a more fitting term depending on their social customs towards marriage. They seem so similar in standing apart from the others. Not only in behavior but in physical appearance, they could be relatives. Or both? I shudder, maybe that isn’t an issue for nightstalkers. Sometimes in the outlands, it’s not an issue for skysingers either.

We come to a stop in an open clearing and I gasp for air as if I’m drowning. There are no nightstalkers here, it gives me a small sense of security. In a circle are large metal cages, I doubt they forged them themselves. To the left, one of the cages in occupied and tied shut. We approach the cage with slow caution. Crumpled in a ball is a pregnant, naked, nightstalker.

She looks like she’s bordering on a coma, or death. Her breathing is rapid and her muscles are twitching without intentional control. Strings of saliva fling from her snarling lips. Shado bites her bottom lip trying to hold in her emotions. Pain, grief, worry. She’s more than friends with this nightstalker, she’s something akin to sisters. Though, no genetic relation is evident in their features.

I turn to Shado trying my best to keep my ethics from clouding my judgment. “Why is she in a cage?”

The grieving woman steps towards the cage and grips one of the bars, she radiates pain. “She is bearing her young.” I see her bite her lip as her eyes gloss over.

My jaw drops in shock. “She’s in labor?! Why would you put her in a cage?!” Anger shrieks from me in a flash and I swallow hard to suppress it. I picture a wave of water washing over the fire of my anger. A picture I always use to calm my inner rage.

The pain switches to fury and it manifests in a murderous glare. “You think I want her in there? You think it is my choice daypeople?” I respond with silence as I see a tear trickle down her cheek. She looks away back to the weak laboring female. “It must be this way. All females of the Blood Bane suffer through the trial of birth. When the unborn are finished growing they decide to leave. This does something to the female’s mind; without the cage she will attack others.”

I look at the helpless looking creature lying on the cage floor and I’m overwhelmed with pity for her. Sympathy, unless I help her, then it becomes compassion. But how? I lean forward and grip the bars with both my hands and lean my face against the cold metal. My voice softens. “Do many die during this?”

Shado flinches. “Some. The strong are able to survive the bearing, that is most of our clan. Our females are powerful and brave and will not be defeated.” She gestures towards the nightstalker drooling with rapid unstable breaths. “Ki’vala is a weakling. I did not think she would survive.” Her voice falters to a whisper. “But I had hoped.”

I never thought nightstalkers hoped. A little thing, but so powerful. I always envisioned them as mindless beasts, could I have been wrong? No. They’re murderers, this is not a case of misunderstanding. But something is going on, I just don’t understand it yet. Do all of them feel such a range of emotion? Or is it only a few like Shado? Hope is at the core of reason and intellect. Hope, the ability to hope, is key to being a soul. We weren’t wrong about nightstalkers, but we weren’t right either.

I take in a deep breath and clap my hands together. “Then let’s get to work. Open the cage.”

She shakes her head. “I cannot. The danger is real and I am to keep you safe.”

I roll my eyes. “Look at her! She can’t hurt me; she doesn’t have the strength to lift an arm let alone rip me to pieces. Now, open the cage or I can’t help her.”

Shado pauses in thought, it looks like she’s debating with herself. She glances at me with worry, then concedes to the argument in her mind. I hear a rusty squeak as the cage door swings open. Ki’vala’s twitching intensifies a bit, she tries to react but all she can do is lay on the floor slave to her spasms.

I crouch down by Ki’vala and stabilize her head in my hands. With a firm but soft touch I open her eyelids to examine the pupils, the unsettling red eyeballs are rolled back into her head. I place her head back where it was and place my fingers on her throat. She twitches in response but can’t muster the strength. I can feel her pulse against my fingertips, it’s racing, though I have no concept of a resting nightstalker heartrate. But this seems fast even for a flitter bird. At this rate her heart will stop altogether, her body can’t handle this strain.

I glance to my right and see Shado crouched beside me. Forgetting the warning earlier I reach out and grab her wrist, she flinches but does nothing. I can feel Shado’s pulse and compare it to Ki’vala’s. Shado’s pulse is fast also, too fast for a Skysinger who’s been running for their life even, but it’s scores slower than Ki’vala’s.

I look down to her engorged stomach and place both hands on her. The stomach begins jerking and stretching in all directions. Groups of pin prick shaped points, tiny fingers I hope, begin bumping up from her rotund belly. The pin pricks flail towards my hands, I jerk backwards and gasp with the realization hitting me. Nightstalkers are born rabid. The mother doesn’t go through a labor process like skysinger women do. The young become aware of their surroundings and siblings suddenly, and they panic. With nightstalker instincts they try to fight their way out. I gulp and the full reality of what Ki’vala is going through terrifies me to my core.

The children are a real threat to their mother’s safety. Their raging must trigger labor and the mother has to combat the stress of both labor pains and her children thrashing and fighting inside her. The pain must be unimaginable. No wonder something happens to their minds, that much pain surely flips the switch on their aggressive instincts. Before me is an agony beyond anything I can imagine.

I stand back aghast. My voice is weak and quiet. “How long has she been like this?”

Shado firms her stance and takes a deep breath. “She has been bearing for three nights and days. She began fading a short time before you arrived. I had hoped she would rally-” She breaks off her sentence unable to finish her thought.

I nod and do my best to compartmentalize my feelings. So much of this doesn’t make sense. How can these people function at all? This village is a vague facsimile of a society but it’s still something, I’m not sure how they’ve even achieved that much. From what I’ve seen they should be nothing more than animals, but they’re not. I shake my head and bring myself into focus. I assume a short time means less than an hour. There’s hope here, not much, but I won’t give up on her.

After a settling breath I turn towards Shado who’s eyes look distant. “Tell me exactly what happens during the bearing. Tell me what is normal when they don’t die.”

She flinches in response, now is not the time for a gentle tongue. We’re pressed for time. “The bearing lasts for no more than three nights. There is pain, screaming is normal. She begins to attacks others as she loses herself.”

I frown. “How is that different from normal? Don’t your people always fight?”

She turns a dark glare on me that causes a shiver. “We are not animals daypeople. We challenge and take our passion to the arena. This is different. It is mindless, uncontrollable. We bind her with the first signs of pains and release her into the cage. Her sanity dissolves and she spends one to two nights deep in madness. The young leave her and she is returned to us whole.” Shado takes a step back and leans against the bars looking away. “Or, it continues. Never past three nights, that is the limit. She dies and the young do not leave her. Or, sometimes they find a way.”

I stifle my nausea at the implication, this is beyond bizarre. I’m so far out of my depth my head is spinning and I feel overwhelmed, like dark waters are trying to drown me. How do I combat any of this? Ki’vala’s eyes flash open and she locks her reds on me. Eyes writhing with pure hatred. She throws her arms out to grab me and screams revealing her sharp misshapen teeth. I jolt backwards, Shado moves to grab me but I signal for her to stop. Ki’vala doesn’t have the strength to harm me, she collapses to her side hissing.

None of this makes sense, how can unborn infants snap like this? How can they keep this up for three nights? This goes beyond nightstalker resilience, this is monstrous. Somehow, they are even stronger and more formidable than we ever thought. That is unsettling.

I feel her pulse again and it’s even more rapid. I need to take the stress off her body, bring her pulse down, relax her. I need to sedate the infants. I assume that though they’re nightstalkers their tiny bodies are more sensitive to sedatives than their mother. If I administer the right herb I could effectively still them and calm Ki’vala without rendering her unconscious so she can complete the birth. But the dosage will have to be exact to avoid killing the children. I take a shaky breath; this will be tough.

I snap my fingers, vernum. It’s highly addictive but perhaps not as much with what I assume is an incredible metabolism for nightstalkers. Even if it was, at least she would live. People use it as an escape drug, it pulls away their anxieties and relaxes them into a careless puddle. Overdose and they fall asleep and never wake up. It’s only found in nightstalker territory.

I leap to my feet and hurry from the cage. Shado follows me and latches the door shut behind us. I become a madwoman attempting to scan the clearing, it has to be somewhere. Erian collects it from the edges of the forest, a lump forms in my throat that it may not grow near the village.

I swallow those fears, I have to try. I have to save her and the tiny unborn monsters tearing her apart. Why does it have to be so dark? Curse the void! I can’t see anything out here! The moon is obscured by cloud cover leaving only faint lines of light that bleed through the thick branched canopy. I can’t see my own feet let alone look for the right plant.

I run to the edge of the clearing and tear at the brush, I try to pull handfuls of plant matter close to my eyes to attempt to see them better. They all look like dark green foliage; everything looks the same. I can’t find anything in this dark mess! Panicking, I leap into the brush, it has to be here. A tight gripped hand pulls on my shoulder and yanks me backward. My body whips around to face an enraged Shado. She wears a glare so intense I feel like she’ll kill me right here and now.

She growls. “You are leaving her?! Coward daypeople!”

I look at her with incredulous eyes. “No! I’m trying to save her!”

I expected an argument, some kind of resistance. But in an instant, she recognizes the problem I’m having and is determined to fix it. “Describe what you seek, I will find it.”

I point wild gestures towards the brush. “It’s a bush! Its wood is orange with yellow leaves that have a purple stripe down the middle, it keeps its leaves even in lune. But it’s dark as the void and I can’t see anything!”

She rolls her eyes and leaps into the brush. “You daypeople you see nothing!”

Within an eyeblink she disappears from the clearing. I’m alone. I retreat back to the cage, in the least maybe I can lock myself in if there’s trouble. With Shado my protection disappears into these woods. I stand by the cage staring down at Ki’vala, weak and breathing in faint hisses. She turns her head towards me with those fierce eyes. Even though her death draws near there’s still murder in them. They fight to their last breath.

Ki’vala pulls her heavy body along the bars of the cage floor. She pulls herself along making her way towards the door of the cage, taking breaks to stop and heave. Her eyes stay locked on me the entire time, so determined to kill. During this time, they’re stripped away down to their basic core instinct, to attack and kill. It must be their brain’s way of coping with an intangible bodily threat. Perhaps it’s their physiological response to massive amounts of adrenaline, it kicks in their instincts to survive.

I look at this miserable creature. This is the genetic destiny that runs through mine and Talea’s veins. What will happen to us when we have children? Will our children turn rabid too? Will we turn into vicious beasts? Will it kill us? I ponder on the implications of this being a response to adrenaline and think about the journey ahead of us. What about Talea? She has significantly more nightstalker characteristics than me, she’s already at a heightened state of hostility. Will she lose herself? I gulp with worry, that’s what I fear the most.

I crouch down peering at her gripping the bars. “How have your species lived this long if this is what happens to you?” Ki’vala’s hands drop from the bars and thump to the ground. Her breath heaves and she refuses to break eye contact. “You don’t know it, but this is part of why you’re so hard to kill. For one thousand years only your strong survive. You’ve bred yourselves to be almost invulnerable.” I let out a breath. “And you don’t even realize it.”

I recognize Shado’s voice from beside me, I flinch, she appears in silence. “Is this what you seek?”

I turn and see Shado standing with her left arm outstretched. An entire vernum plant is gripped in her hand roots and all. Clumps of dirt fall to the ground and I suppress a giggle. She’d seen the plant and pulled the entire thing up, probably in one pull.

I stand up and pluck ten leaves from a branch. “Thank you Shado, I would never have found it.”

She nods with a glint of pride in her face. Her hands release the bush and it drops with a thud to the ground. I eye her, she’s a statuesque woman. Muscles coil on top of each other beneath her skin creating forms that look like they’ve been sculpted from stone. Everything about her looks balanced, strong, formidable.

I reach out my hand holding the leaves to her. “Shado, are you an especially strong one among nightstalkers?”

She nods with a proud grin and I smile. “Good. I need you to put these in your mouth and chew them into a paste.”

Skepticism floods her face. I reach out and place the leaves in her palm. “I’m not trying to poison you. That would be suicide. In her state, Ki’vala can’t chew. The medicine is released as soon as the leaf is broken. If I chew this many leaves it would kill me.”

Shado looks down at the leaves in her hand. “What will this do to me?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Skysingers boil these into a tea to drink. For a real high they might eat a straight leaf. This many though would send us into a coma or kill us outright. But you’re a nightstalker, not to flatter you but your people are more robust than us. It might get you high, it might make you sleepy, I’m not sure.”

A sad glance is tilted towards Ki’vala at the bottom of the cage. “It will help her?”

I nod. “I think so.”

Without hesitation Shado throws all ten leaves into her mouth and chews like her life depends on it, or her friend’s. After a minute she opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue revealing the lumpy paste. I nod and she spits the mass into her hand. “Now what do we do?”

I point to Ki’vala. “We need to get that down her throat. Open her mouth and force it down as gentle as you can.”

Shado opens the cage and kneels by Ki’vala’s side. She pauses and strokes back a lock of white hair from her friend’s face. Love, that’s love on her face. A feeling I’ve seen confirmed by now that they feel. It’s sweet and heart wrenching all in the same moment.

With her long thin fingers Shado opens Ki’vala’s mouth and places the lump of paste inside. I nod. “Good. Now what helps is rubbing the throat to-”

Shado shoves her long fingers down Ki’vala’s throat forcing the mass down her esophagus. Ki’vala heaves and chokes in response, but Shado has a tight grip on her head. She completes the task in the most violent way possible and then holds the poor wretch’s mouth shut. Ki’vala lurches and I see a trickle of vomit drip from the corner of her mouth.

With a scolding voice Shado yells. “Swallow Ki’vala! Swallow!”

After some flailing and muffled shrieking, she swallows the medicine in horrifying fashion. Shado releases her hands from the suffering female’s mouth. She moves from her knees to sitting flat on the ground and leans against the cage in slow movements. The tense muscles in her face relax. The vernum is kicking in, I tense and pray she doesn’t die on me.

Ki’vala stops moving and draws in a slow deep breath. I crouch by her and feel her pulse, still fast but slowing. I squeeze at her arm muscles and feel them loosen from the stiff boards they were minutes ago. I reach down to feel her tight stomach, there are some bumps and movements but the young are settling. It’s working, I gasp, it’s working!

I look over to Shado who leans against the bars with one eye half open. Her mouth forms into a soft slight smile, which looks downright terrifying. I crouch next to her and feel her pulse, she seems alright but I have no idea what a baseline is for them.

I pat her shoulder. “Shado, how are you doing?”

She turns her head to look at me, but her eyes take a minute to track. “I am fine daypoeple.”

I nod. “By the way, my name is Lesedi.”

She gives a whimsical shrug. “I do not care.” A giggle escapes her. “Only for my own ones. Ki’vala will be ok now.” Shado lifts her arm and moves it like she’s in awe of how slow she’s moving. “And if she is not, I will kill you.” Then she giggles again.

I purse my lips and let out an unsure laugh, nightstalkers don’t lie. I lean in to look at her pupils and flinch. Their pupils are like ovals with the ends cut into sharp points. Bright shapes of reflections shine across the pond of red that is their eyeball. The iris is a dark crimson red among a paler red eye that should be white. It’s creepy but beautiful in its own way. I have no way of telling if they’re dilated or not, is this normal for them? I need to examine a nightstalker in an average state and take notes.

Shado giggles louder and makes wild gestures to a person who is not here. “These daypeople. Think so smart. Know so much. Know not everything.”

I click my tongue. “Alright, you’ll be fine.” I stand up to go check back in with Ki’vala.

As I stand Shado grabs my leg and I turn to her. Her face is relaxed, her voice is light, but her eyes seem to be trying to force lucidity. She speaks with an almost unintelligible slur. “She joins pack not to help. To betray. Kill her before she kills you. Us. Must kill her first.”

I frown trying to make sense of her words. “Who are you talking about?” Before I can finish forming my question, she falls unconscious. Of course, she does.

I let it go, it was drugged nonsense anyway. Though I can’t help but make a note of it, she wouldn’t say that for nothing. Would she? I kneel by Ki’vala again, her eyes open to look at me. This time murder has been replaced by confusion and fear. I smile at her and speak with clear and simple words. “Ki’vala, do you understand my words?”

She nods with a slow and weak motion. Alright, good. She’s at least calm enough to listen. It’s my hope that by taking away the stress caused by the young we can proceed as normal. Though I’ve never helped someone deliver babies before so I’m not sure what’s normal. Of course, the one subject I skipped.

I hold eye contact with Ki’vala. “Shado brought me to help you. I know you’re tired but now we need to work. Ok?”

She nods with precious little strength. She’s already been taxed to her limit but sometimes there is no way but forwards. I look over at Shado who’s talking in non-language to nothing. I guess I’m on my own, no way but forwards.

✽✽✽

TALEA:

Wikon looks haggard, stressed, and distracted. It’s the condition of Ki’vala, it’s wrecked him. He tries to shake whatever dark thoughts are bouncing around his mind, it doesn’t help.

Othin approaches the powerless leader with caution. He places a long-fingered hand on Wikon’s shoulder. “I am sorry about Ki’vala.”

Wikon nods, he’s already grieving and given up hope. “It is expected, she is a weakling.”

Wanting to change the topic he turns to Othin. “Are you ready for your journey?”

“Almost, Talea and Lesedi are ready. Have you assigned a pack for us?”

I frown and shake my head. “I still don’t like this idea.”

Othin looks at me with the expression you give an ignorant child. “They will keep us safe. We need them.”

Wikon nods again and approaches the table with a map placed on top of it. “It is dangerous territory you are traveling through. The pack I have assigned is loyal, as much as they can be, and have orders their entire assignment is to protect Talea.”

I purse my lips and groan with discomfort. “I don’t need a pack protecting me.”

I receive nothing but a nonchalant wave from Wikon. “You, Talea, are the only key we have to this plan succeeding. Without you, it fails. We fail. We all die. You will have protectors.”

I cross my arms and frown. “What about Lesedi?”

He raises his eyebrows with skepticism at Othin. He gestures to me. “That is her bloodling. She insisted on coming.”

He nods his head in thought. “Then she is also moonrunner. Is she strong also?”

My reply is tentative. “She’s strong of mind. She knows more than I ever will. Her knowledge will be invaluable.”

Wikon hums to himself in quiet thought. “I do not think it wise. We cannot afford burdens in this journey.”

I pull my face into a piercing glare. I don’t want Lesedi in danger, but I refuse to let her be devalued. “You say I am the key in all this. You’re wrong. Lesedi is. She will unlock options I would destroy. Without her, we fail. We die.” I remember the words Lesedi always spoke to me during a tantrum. I raise my chin like her. “Fire must be fought with water, not more fire. I can’t be water.”

He thinks for a moment while scratching his hairless chin. He suppresses a grin on his face. “I will tell them to protect her as well, but that will take some effort from you to enforce.” I nod with gratitude and understanding.

Wikon turns back to the map and points to the red outlines of Blood Bane territory. “I am assigning to your pack a bane. Everyone has been told a bane is among the pack, it should inspire better behavior.”

That’s right, the identities of a bane are a secret. They enforce the nighstalker laws, if you break a law the banes will kill you in your sleep. A mark is carved into your cheek showing evidence of their work. The penalty for which is to be stricken from the clan’s memory. It’s a fate worse than death, you never existed at all.

Wikon moves his finger along the map and traces along the foot hills past my home. The path continues past the frozen river where we first met in secret. I miss those times now. Then he began passing by the Gerafar plateau. I interrupt and it makes Othin flinch. “My cousin and his wife, they are travelling to Gerafar tomorrow. We are passing right by there. I want to escort them.”

The powerful leader taps his claws on the map as if I’m trying his patience. I have that effect on others. “The plan was for one of you. One half-moon among a pack of moon runners. How many daypeople do you insist on bringing with you?”

I firm myself with confidence and strength. I try to project it like Othin does, I imagine it filling the room. “You are enforcing a no kill policy on daypeople as part of our bargain. If your people escort my family, they will think well of you. Word will spread. Words about the newer more cooperative moonrunners, it will help this alliance. They won’t be with us long. This is worth doing.”

He narrows his eyes. “I cannot guarantee the safety of those that are not one of us like you and your bloodling are.”

I keep my strong stance and resist the urge to ball my hands into fists. “If it helps, the woman is pregnant.”

His eyes relax some. “Then he best stay close to her, and you.”

I’m committed now, the announcement has been made the arrangements settled. This journey is happening and my only choices here on out is to keep going forwards. My breath is shaky as I inhale, if I fail countless people will die. I agreed to this for my own selfish reasons, I have no illusions about that. I’ll do this job and then Othin and I can be together. I’ll also save lives in the process, that’s a win for everyone.

The tent flap opens letting in a gust of cold. A small shiver runs over my skin, Othin with his bare torso didn’t even notice it. A nightstalker wearing a bane mask enters. “A challenge my leader. The arena.” A female voice I think, it can be hard to tell sometimes.

Wikon rolls his eyes with annoyance. “The night has only just begun!” He storms off from the tent with an irritated demeanor. “How many must I kill before they understand?”

Othin and I walk to the tent door and observe the arena before us. Wikon’s powerful figure storms towards the arena dropping his armor and cloak to the ground as he marches. Upon approaching the ring of death, he leaps into the air over the ropes and lands in the center.

A furious nightstalker glares at him while hunching in an aggressive stance. Its voice is raspy and hard edged. “You no right! Kill the daypeople!” The nightstalker charges Wikon.

Without so much as a flinch Wikon reaches out his arms, grabs the head of the charging foe, and twists. A loud snap echoes through the trees and the gray body falls dead in the moongrass. With raging eyes, the leader glares at the onlookers.

He bellows with a thunderous voice. “I have every right!” The words cling to the crisp air. A silence falls upon the crowd, not even the winds speak. “Do any more of you wish to die?”

His words echo in the trees across the silenced people. He stretches his arms out to his sides and paces the arena perimeter making eye contact with bystanders from every angle. His presence is so intimidating I feel myself shrink. In the crowd, nightstalkers who had been monsters now feel like petulant children. Wikon is more than a nightstalker, more than a monster, he is in his own category. I get now why Othin flinches when I act disrespectful.

Wikon hollers, his voice is loud and booming but his face looks controlled. “I will slay every moonrunner in this arena! If that is what you wish. But I am your leader and you will listen to me! The daypeople will be left alone. You may die for your protest in the arena if you choose.”

He jumps over the arena rope and holds his head high while he marches back to his tent. He doesn’t even stop to pick up his armor and cloak, a show to them that he’s expecting to be back here. With confidence, strength, and valor he strides to his dwelling never looking back. Awe and fear are left his wake like a dark cloud on the clan.

Back in the tent Wikon lets out a breath and doesn’t let what just happened shake his demeanor. Though pain washes over his face. “That was the third challenger this night. There were eight last night. I hope they will begin to accept my words.” He brings blazing eyes to lock onto mine. “You will succeed for us halfmoon.”

I raise my chin to look up at Wikon and try to mimic his strength and confidence. “It is as good as done.”

He chuckles to himself. “You have the arrogance of a moonrunner. That is good.”

He approaches the map once more. His finger begins to trail from the mark of Gerafar. “Now, after passing Gerafar you will-“

The tent door rips open with ferocity, Wikon rolls his eyes and turns around. We all gasp when we see who stands in the doorway. Lesedi. Her pants and tunic are covered in blood, her veya is nowhere to be seen. Her chest heaves with violent gasping breaths. She stands with knees trembling and in her arms is a fabric bundle that I recognize as Shado’s skirt. In a sudden panic I bolt to her side and pull her to the bed. I sit her down to fuss over her checking for wounds. Thank the moon mother none of the blood is hers.

I put an arm around her and realize only now how worried I was for her. It was sitting in the back of my mind being ignored as much as possible. My whole person relaxes knowing she’s alright. “Les are you ok? What happened?”

She tries to speak but she’s still catching her breath. She smiles and pulls back a layer of the fabric. There in her arms is a silver skinned face with a skinny nose and white wisps of hair. A baby nightstalker, I’ve never imagined what one of these would look like. Of course, they have them, but to see a nightstalker in such a docile innocent form, it’s breathtaking. A little gray hand reaches up from the makeshift blanket, I can see little black fingernails as the hand makes its way into the tiny mouth.

Wikon takes an urgent leap forward. “Ki’vala! Does she live?”

Lesedi lifts her head and draws in a deep breath. “She does.” Her face beams with a proud smile as she pokes her finger down at the little baby. Its hand leaves its mouth and grasps her finger. “This little girl’s siblings are still with their mother.” The baby smiles a toothless grin, Lesedi giggles at the little pink gums.

A flood of relief washes over Wikon’s face and he can’t help but beam with a smile. An enormous weight has been lifted from his spirit. His eyes are bright with joy. My mind struggles to reconcile him with the fearsome man I saw earlier. He kneels by the bed to look Lesedi in the eye, even kneeling he’s taller than her.

“Where is Shado? What happened?” His voice trembles with worry at saying her name.

Lesedi takes another steadying breath and smiles. “Everyone is fine. Ki’vala is resting and Shado is too.” She lovingly caresses the baby’s nose; she looks at the girl as if it’s her own. “I found a way to sedate the young from inside. Shado had to chew up the vernum leaves for her. She got a bit loopy, but she’ll wake up in a couple hours.”

The baby girl’s eyes flutter open in slow, soft movements. Crimson eyes look back at us, they’ll lighten as she grows. Lesedi coos to the baby and rocks her until the little eyes close again. “Shado couldn’t escort me back and I was afraid they’d kill me. I hoped they’d leave me alone if I was holding the leader’s baby. But, the vernum wore off soon after the birth and they kept trying to snap at me and wriggled when I tried to pick them up. Except for this little one.”

Giddiness fills Wikon’s demeanor as he calls for a bane to gather a group and retrieve his wives and children. He turns back to Lesedi, remaining on his knees. “Thank you. You are a blessing from the Moon Mother, wise Lesedi. My family would have died without you. What can I do to repay?”

Lesedi looks down at her stain-soaked tunic. “Do you have any clean clothes?”

He chuckles. “I will have them brought.”

I interject. “Also, she seems to have left her veya behind. Please have them retrieve it, it’s precious to her.”

Lesedi gives me an appreciative, and impressed, glance. Wikon turns his eyes downward to look at his new daughter. “I will name her for you Lesedi, the one who saved her family.”

My sister shakes her head with eyes flashing full of alarm. “Oh, all I did was offer a little help. I’ll draw instructions so you can help all the women here.”

Wikon smiles and glances at me with a nod. “I see now wise Lesedi, you are the key. Welcome to the Blood Bane, you who will save our entire family.”

Welcome to the Blood Bane. Our new family. Murderers, psychopaths, and hateful monsters. They doomed the world one thousand years ago, now with their help we might save it. Unless we fail, in which case we condemn it all over again.