Page 68 of Sun Warrior

“What has happened to Sora? Is she dead?” Isabel cried out in horror, and then the Clan’s attention was on the unconscious Moon Woman Nik still held in his arms.

“They killed the Moon Woman!” someone shouted, and then the Clan took up the cry: “Goddess! They killed Sora! Save Mari! Save our last Moon Woman!” As one, the Clanswomen surged forward, many of them grabbing torches, lighting branches, and brandishing them at Nik and Jaxom.

“No! Sora isn’t dead! She’s asleep! She had poppy tea!” Mari tried to shout over the maelstrom of noise and hysteria, but her words were drowned by fear and hatred. Horrified, she watched as one Clanswoman and then another picked up rocks and hefted them to test their throwing weight.

There was no time to think—there was only time to act, and Mari acted on instinct. She ran to stand before Nik and Jaxom, reaching up for the power of the fat moon that was now visible above the trees.As if she would cup it between her hands, Mari stretched her fingertips up and up; simultaneously she sketched a scene in her mind where the silver power of the moon cascaded down and around her, filling her with light and strength and a voice the Clan would have to listen to.

“STOP!”

***

Nik felt the change in the Clan as soon as someone shouted that they’d killed the Moon Woman. Cursing under his breath, he realized he’d been stupid enough to leave his crossbow back in the burrow.Knife—I’ve got my knife. Gotta put Sora down and face this, though I don’t want to hurt any of Mari’s Clan!

Jaxom had taken a step back when Bast had threatened him. He was standing behind Nik, looking young and completely lost. Nik wanted to tell him he knew a little about how the kid felt—knew what it was like to have people he trusted turn on him—when Mari lifted her arms and her body began to glow.

“STOP!”

That single word cut through the Clan like a kayak through the Channel. As one the Clan wavered, hesitated, and finally came back together, only this time they were silent and focused on Mari.

Arms still raised, Mari glowered at her Clan. Her eyes had gone from gray to silver; her hair was no longer blond but had absorbed moonlight, changing to pure, lustrous white. Her body didn’t just glow silver as Sora’s had after she’d so recently Washed the Clan and invited Mari to join her in the Beltane dance. Mari’s body shimmered and glistened with a brilliant, argent light that left spots in front of his eyes if he stared directly at her too long.

And he couldn’t help but stare. Mari was magnificent. He saw the Goddess in her and, humbled by her divinity, Nik took to his knees, placing Sora gently on the ground before him. Beside him, Davis did the same, and, after only a slight hesitation, so did Jaxom, Sheena, and O’Bryan.

“Clan Weaver, heed my words and hear your Moon Woman.”Mari’svoice was and wasn’t her own. Nik could hear Mari in the words, but the volume was amplified by moonlight magick that filled every syllable. “Sora lives, though she sickens with the same illness that tainted Jaxom and made him do terrible things.”

“The Tribe brought this sickness to us! It’s a sign from the Great Mother that we should not be mixing with Companions!” called a Clanswoman from the shadowy side of the circle.

“How dare you spew hatred and say you’re speaking for the Goddess! The Earth Mother is not spiteful or cruel. She doesn’t turn from those in need.”Mari’s body appeared to grow with righteous indignation.“You are so quick to blame the Companions—almost as quick as the Tribe was to blame me for their problems.”She shook her head in disgust.“Yet there they are, the Companions you’re ready to turn against—to stone to death—on their knees before your Moon Woman.”

“They know we could kill them all and feed them to the swarm!” came the same hard voice as before.

Mari blazed so fiercely that those closest to her shielded their eyes from her light.

“You would have to get through me first!”

Even Nik was shocked by the vehemence in her voice. It didn’t matter that they were a bunch of women with few weapons and no canines to protect them. If the Clan attacked, Nik and the other Companions would be forced to defend themselves, and no matter how carefully they would try to subdue them, Clanswomen would get hurt, very possibly killed. And that would be a sad, sorry beginning for them all.

“Speak wisdom to us, Moon Woman and your Clan will listen,” said the young woman Mari called Isabel, dropping to her knees before Mari as she spoke.

“Yes, Moon Woman, speak,” said an older Clanswoman who joined Isabel, kneeling before Mari.

Mari bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment of the two women’s show of respect. Then she waited, shimmering like a descended star, casting her gaze around the circle.

Like a ripple from a pebble dropped in a pond, the Clan went totheir knees. After they were all quiet—all listening expectantly—Mari spoke again, her voice still amplified by the divine power of the moon.

“I believe the Skin Stealers are responsible for a disease that has spread to the creatures in the forest—and even to the Companions and our Clan. We only know a few truths right now. We know it can be contracted from tainted blood or meat—or from being bitten by someone who has been infected. We know the symptoms—cough, aches, nausea, skin eruptions, and, most disturbing of all, there is a marked change in the infected person’s personality. They are filled with a rage that is difficult, if not impossible, to control. That is what happened to Jaxom.”

Nik watched Mari shift her attention to Danita and speak directly to the girl.

“Danita, Jaxom and the other Clansmen who attacked you were all sick with this infection. That is not an excuse. That does not lessen what they did to you. It is simply the truth.”

“Am—am I sick now?” Danita asked in a tremulous voice.

“I believe you were infected when Sora and I found you, but since you’ve been Washed and healed.”Mari’s otherworldly silver eyes regarded the Clan.“We must all be vigilant, especially until Sora and I discover more about this disease. Clanswomen, be wary of any Clansmen. Never go anywhere alone or unarmed. We will get through this—together. We will not fight among ourselves or cast blame—not at one another, and not at Nik and his friends, who are now our friends. Thankfully, the Great Goddess has a response to this terrible disease.”Her gaze found Jaxom.“Clansman, bring the Moon Woman, Sora, to me.”

Nik passed Sora’s unconscious body into Jaxom’s arms, and the young man held her carefully, reverently, making his way slowly to stand in front of Mari. As he got closer and closer, Danita began to tremble, and Nik saw that tears fell silently down the girl’s face. Bast pressed closer to Danita, and Antreas actually put an arm around the girl.

Without Mari directing him to, Jaxom knelt before her, oh, so gently laying Sora on the mossy ground between them. Then he did something that took Nik by surprise. Instead of kneeling beside Sora—withwhom the boy was obviously infatuated—Jaxom stood and bowed formally to Mari, speaking in a voice that carried across the circle.