Kindra made it to Deer Valley without running into any warriors on patrol. She found a path the Obsidian guards had stomped to mud and began to follow it, listening for the sound of guards. A rotten smell permeated the woods and she wondered if she was near a midden.

The source of the smell came into sight around a bend in the path. To Kindra’s horror it was a body. An Aledan body, by the torn, rotting clothing. Breathing shallowly through her mouth, Kindra crept closer. All the flesh had been eaten away—only scraps of cloth and hair remained. With the butt of her spear, she turned the corpse over. The beaded symbol of Ian Odion stared back at her from the rotting cloth.

Bile rose from her stomach, and Kindra retched on the ground next to her mother’s rotten corpse. How had this happened? It was impossible to tell how Loria died. The front of the dress was dark with old blood, but that could be from the wolves that had already been at the body.

It must have been purposeful—if she’d died on accident, they wouldn’t have dumped her body in Deer Valley to rot. And what of Kaye? If they’d killed Loria, what did they do to her daughter? Was this why Kaye was hiding from their bond? Pulling away every time Kindra tried to reach out?

Kindra had to get to her sister, but first she had to take care of her mother. There were no eyes in the rotten skull to close, so Kindra put her hand over the mark of Ian and spoke. “I send you, Loria Odion, back to Aleda, the Mother of us all.”

She should cover the body in rocks until she could return and make a proper pyre. There was nothing left for the animals, but it would be disrespectful to leave Loria on the side of the path like this.

Kindra was gathering rocks for the cairn when the Obsidian guards found her. She was bent over her mother’s body, carefully placing rocks so they would cover everything.

The Obsidians spoke in their native tongue. “What are you doing, Aledan?”

Kindra grabbed her spear and stood. “I’m doing what you should have. How dare you dump my mother’s body in the woods like a dead dog.”

One man smiled. “I remember you. The sister of the witch. What are you doing here?”

“Right now, I’m holding myself back from killing you. How did my mother die?”

They shrugged and Kindra’s knuckles went white around her spear. If they weren’t willing to tell her then it must not have been an accident.

“I will finish this cairn and then you will take me to your chief for answers.”

His smile remained. “Or we could leave you right here, rotting next to the Aledan bitch.”

Kindra bared her teeth, all of the helplessness and anger rearing up in her chest, and attacked. The smile fell from the Obsidian’s face as her spear cracked against the side of his head. He stumbled, holding a hand to his head as it bled freely between his fingers. She whipped around to attack from the opposite side, but the other Obsidian stopped the attack. He beat her back, driving relentlessly until he had her well away from his friend.

The first man was on his knees, blood dripping from his chin onto the snowy ground. It reminded Kindra of her fight with Pike and another flash of anger burst bright within her. Wouldn’t it be nice if she was able to kill an Obsidian in Deer Valley?

She crashed her good shoulder into the man before her to knock him out of the way, but even that movement made her wound flare up in pain and she almost dropped her spear. He smacked her across the back, and she fell. She twisted and knocked his spear out of the way as he tried to do it again, but he kicked her in the side, again and again, until she had no choice but to curl up to protect her newly-healed ribs. The butt of his spear hit her temple, and she saw the bloody man begin to stand just before the world went black.