“Fight me.”
“No.”
“Coward.”
Now Mara laughs. The sound is sharp, almost hysterical. “Did you just call the male with forty scars a coward? The one who hunted crater-dwelling salamanders at fifteen? Who survived the great burning when half the territory turned to glass? That male?”
How does she know about the burning? I haven't told her. But somehow she knows. The same way her body knew to respond to me at the portal. Recognition goes deeper than scent.
“Fight me,” Vek repeats, but his conviction wavers.
“I don't fight children.”
His spines fully extend. Full threat now. He's going to do something stupid.
He lunges.
I sidestep, using his momentum to send him into the canyon wall. He hits hard, scales scraping stone. Green blood wells from a dozen small cuts.
“That's your one free attempt,” I tell him. “Try again and I'll remove scales.”
He pushes himself up, breathing hard. Youth makes him resilient but not smart. He lunges again.
This time I don't dodge. I catch him by the throat, lift him off the ground. His feet kick uselessly. His claws scratch at my arm but can't penetrate my scales. Too soft. Too weak.
“You want to know why she chose me?” I hold him at eye level. “Because I'm not gentle. Not safe. Not easy. And neither is she.”
I drop him. He lands hard, gasping.
“Leave. Now. Don't return to this territory until after the claiming season.”
He staggers to his feet, one hand on his throat. Looks at Mara one last time.
“You're choosing wrong.”
“Still my choice,” she says.
He leaves. This time for real. His scent fades as he heads for lower ground, away from the flood zone. Smart, finally.
Lightning flashes. The first drops of rain hit the canyon rim.
“We need shelter,” Mara says.
“Yes.”
“You have some, I assume.”
“I have a den. Prepared for storms.”
“And I have to earn it.”
“No.” That surprises her. “You've earned it. The question is whether you can reach it.”
I point to the crack in the canyon wall. From here it looks too narrow for anything larger than a snake. Optical illusion, but she doesn't know that.
“There?”
“The entrance. The path is treacherous. Especially once wet.”
