Page 13 of Wind Rider

“I’m not sure. Thaddeus and his goons were using him for archery practice. He has several lacerations that don’t want to stop bleeding. I thought they were only superficial, but his weakness and the feel of his skin tell me they’re more serious than that.”

“Hey, Moon Women. I’m right here. And I’m going to be fine. Although, sadly, I think you might have to sew me up. Again. And this time without the help of that tea that knocked me out.”

Antreas paddled up to them in his little boat, expertly gliding around them as he assessed the situation. Mari thought his Lynx Companion, Bast, would look like a statue perched before him on the front of the watercraft had her yellow eyes not been shining as she gave the wide body of water suspicious looks. Then Danita’s head peeked around from her spot in the rear of the canoe and her teeth flashed white. “Mari! Thank the Great Goddess! We were all so worried about you.”

“It’s good to be back with our Pack, that’s for sure,” said Mari.

Antreas maneuvered their canoe beside Mari’s. “So, you’re absolutely certain you must call down the moon now?” he asked her.

“Yes. Nik has lost a lot of blood, and he’s still bleeding. I need to call down the healing power of the moon and then see if I have to close the wounds, or just clean and pack them.” Mari tried to see through the darkness to glimpse the shore. “Can’t we go to shore for a little while?”

“No,” Antreas spoke grimly. “We haven’t even gotten around Farm Island yet. I know the Tribe is under attack, so we shouldn’t have to worry about them following us, but we have no idea about the size of the Skin Stealer army or their intention beyond invading the Tribe. They definitely could think we’re part of the Tribe that is attempting to escape. It would be very bad for us if we gave them an opportunity to catch us.”

“But do Skin Stealers even have boats?” Davis asked.

“They can swim. Amazingly well,” Nik said. “I’ve seen them.”

“As have I,” came a weak voice drifting over the water.

“Wilkes? Is that you?” Nik asked.

“It is. Claudia and I made it to the Pack.” Then he had to stop speaking as his words were drowned in racking coughs.

“Mari, can you just bandage Nik and make do for a few hours?” Antreas asked. “If we all bend our backs to it, we should be able to get far enough upstream that we can rest and you can call moon power to you then. I planned our first stop to be about ten miles from here. If we’re lucky we’ll get there in a little over four hours.”

Mari’s ears caught the sound of Wilkes’s coughs and of another person, whom she guessed was Claudia, retching into the river. “Antreas, it seems Nik isn’t the only Pack member who needs healing. And if the Pack is weak, we won’t make it to your stopping point.”

“We’re fine, Mari.” Claudia’s voice drifted to her, sounding sick and wet and absolutely not fine.

“Antreas, could we stop to draw down the moon if we knew that the Skin Stealers weren’t after us?” Sora asked.

“Briefly, yes. But we’d need to get going again as soon as possible.”

“Well, good. That’s an easy fix,” Sora said. “O’Bryan, could you paddle over here to us, please?”

“Sure! Coming!” O’Bryan’s voice came from somewhere in the middle of the group of boats that were all tied together and filled with nervous Pack members and supplies.

Soon, O’Bryan’s boat, another one of the larger, multi-oared crafts, came into view. Mari could see that Jenna and Sarah were paddling with him. Jenna grinned and waved quickly to her before continuing to dip her oar into the water. There were no canines on their boat and it had one of the refurbished bed frames attached to the rear of it, loaded with supplies. Lydia, Sarah’s older sister, whose back had been burned in the forest fire, was one of the three passengers. There were two other women sitting in the middle of the boat, and as they drew closer Mari was surprised to realize she didn’t recognize either of them.

Then her initial surprise was replaced by shock as one of the women turned her face toward Mari—her eyeless face!

“Who are these girls?” Mari asked.

“Skin Stealers,” Sora replied nonchalantly. “We found them on the way to the channel. They were fleeing their people. That’s Lily.” The younger of the two women—the one with eyes—bowed her head respectfully to Mari. “The other girl is Dove.YourDove, Mari. The one from your dream.”

Mari felt a jolt of shock, instantly understanding that Sora was referring to the dream Mari had shared with her about a dove seeking safe haven with the Pack and Mari’s mother’s voice insisting she should begiven sanctuary, but on one condition only. “Did you make her swear?” Mari asked Sora.

“She did, Moon Woman.” The eyeless girl answered for herself. “It is good to meet the second leader of this Pack.”

Mari had little time for pleasantries and no inclination for them. “What was that creature on the ridge? The one with the horns?”

“They are antlers, Moon Woman. He is the God of Death. It is from Him that Lily and I fled.”

Mari felt a terrible foreboding shiver through her body. “What is the intention of His army?”

Dove didn’t hesitate. “To defeat the Others you call the Tribe of the Trees and to move the People from the poisoned city to the City in the Trees.”

“Do you think He’ll follow us?” Sora asked.