Page 43 of Sun Warrior

“You’re right. You are here. I think you fell in this ditch as you ran from the fire and you hit your head. It killed you.”

“But I’m not dead.”

Thaddeus ignored him, searching the ditch around them until he found what he needed. Then, quickly and efficiently, he lifted the rock and as the old man stared at him, eyes wide with sudden understanding, he bashed it several times against Cyril’s skull.

“Now youaredead.”

Thaddeus waited, feeling for Cyril’s pulse as blood drained from the old man’s head wound and his body twitched soundlessly. After his pulse slowed and then finally stopped, Thaddeus lifted the dead man, slinging him carelessly out of the ditch—tossing his body toward the path. Smiling at the ease with which he handled the old corpse, Thaddeus scrambled out of the muddy ditch and up the steep incline where Odysseus waited for him. Then he hefted Cyril over his shoulder and picked up Odysseus, holding him snugly in the crook of his other arm while they started back down the trail.

“You see, Cyril, I’ve been thinking, too. And what I’ve been thinking is that it’s time new blood ruled the Tribe. Odysseus and I shared flesh, and now we shareeverything—intuition, senses, strength. That’s not a disease, or a sickness. It’s a miracle.”

Tucked against his side, Odysseus barked his agreement, and Thaddeus laughed with pleasure.

***

“Two apprenticed Healers? Surely more survived than that!” Wilkes stared around the triage area of the old meditation platform. He was horrified by the cries of the wounded and dying—but even more horrified by the lack of trained medical personnel to care for them.

“Keep your voice down. The truth is bad enough. The injured don’t need to know that the rest of us are as frightened as they are.” Ralina, the revered Storyteller of the Tribe, grabbed Wilkes by the wrist and steered him to a relatively secluded section of the crowded meditationplatform. She wiped her sweaty face with the back of her blood-spattered tunic and blew out a long, exhausted breath before continuing. “The Healers wouldn’t leave the infirmary. There were too many people there who couldn’t be moved. They decided to stay with the sick and hope that the fire would be stopped before it reached them.” Ralina shook her head sadly. “They all burned, Wilkes. The Healers, the sick and blighted, the old, the newborn infants and their mothers, everyone.” She paused, her shoulders shaking as she fought for control of her grief. “Thank the Sun that Kathleen thought to send her two apprentices with a store of supplies away before they were destroyed by the fire as well.”

“Kathleen was a wise Healer. She’ll be greatly missed,” Wilkes said, trying to reason through the shock that felt as if it was pressed down on him, layer by layer, as he discovered more and more about the tragedy that had struck the Tribe. He leaned against the ornately carved railing and bent to stroke Odin reassuringly. The big Shepherd was, as always, hyperaware of Wilkes’s emotional distress, which was at that moment at an all-time high. “It’s okay, big guy. We’ll get this sorted out. Everything will be okay.”

Ralina’s Bear whined fretfully, and the Storyteller rested her hand on his broad head as he leaned against her for comfort. “How?” Ralina asked softly. “How is everything going to be okay? So many of the Tribe are dead or dying. More wounded keep staggering in here every moment, and we don’t even have a real Healer.”

“We’re going to survive, Ralina. The Tribe is strong.”

“Where is Sol? Why isn’t he here after he stopped the blaze?” she asked.

Wilkes didn’t want to tell her, but there was no point in putting off the inevitable—at least not now that the fire was out and the recovery could begin.

“Ralina, Sol is dead.”

“Oh, sunfire! No.” Ralina slid down the railing, dropping heavily to her butt. She wrapped on arm around Bear and leaned into him as tears dripped down her cheeks. She looked hopelessly up at Wilkes. “Was ittoo much for him? Did the amount of sunfire needed to save us destroy him?”

Wilkes drew a deep breath and told the truth. “No. Sol was killed at the Farm, where the fire started. It was an accident. Thaddeus was trying to shoot Mari, and Sol pushed her out of the way, taking the arrow meant for her.”

“Wait, what are you talking about? Who is Mari, and how did the fire get put out if Sol was dead?”

“It’s a long, strange story, and I don’t have all of your answers. I can tell you that Mari is a Scratcher—they call themselves Earth Walkers.”

“Earth Walkers?”

“So Mari says. She also says her father was a Companion—one of the Tribe.”

“Bloody beetle balls! That’s impossible!”

“Apparently not. She looks more Companion than Scratcher. Laru’s last pup—the big male Nik’s been hunting for weeks—chose her. Andshecalled down the sunfire that saved us.”

The Storyteller shook her head. “I—I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it. I saw it. Nik helped her control the sunfire, but she called it down herself.”

“Nik! Oh, Gods! With Sol and Laru gone, he has no one except the O’Bryans.” Ralina wiped her eyes and then jerked her chin in the direction of a tarp that had been hastily erected on the forest floor, several yards from the meditation platform. Beneath it Wilkes saw mounds of what looked like dirty clothes. Then, with a terrible start, he understood he was looking at bodies—many, many bodies. “Lindy and Sherry O’Bryan are dead, along with their Shepherds. I haven’t seen their son’s body yet, but I assume he was with them. And that means Nik has no one left in this world.” She shook her head sadly. “I know he hadn’t been chosen by a Shepherd yet, but I always believed he would be. Many of us thought he was destined to be Sun Priest after Sol.”

“Laru chose Nik.”

Her eyes widened and joy flashed across her face. “Good for him! Laru is in his prime. I’m so glad he didn’t choose to die with Sol.” Shelooked around as if trying to find Nik. “But where is he? His presence, with Laru by his side, will calm the Tribe.”

Wilkes set his jaw. “Gone. He left with Mari. Davis and his Cameron left with them, too, as well as that damn Lynx man, Antreas.”