Page 43 of Wind Rider

Death nodded His massive head. “So I hear… so I hear.” Then He turned away from her, gesturing dismissively. “Leave me now so that I may think. Collect whatever supplies you can carry and take them back to your campsite, and as I rebuild this city I will be sure to fashion a home for you,myStoryteller.”

Sick to her stomach, Ralina rushed from the platform and began gathering baskets and filling them with medicines and anything else she could find that might help her people, and then she hurried back to her little campfire and the few members of the Tribe who had listened to her—had refused the tainted meat and waited for what she could provide. Ralina knew one thing beyond any other—that whoever remained here, under the control of Death and Thaddeus, was doomed.

CHAPTER 9

CURRENT DAY—UMBRIA RIVER—THE PACK

A soft kiss and the fragrant aroma of steaming tea woke Mari. She blinked blurrily, yawned, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat. The fragrant mug was beside her, pressed down in the sand so that it wouldn’t topple over. She could see that the Pack was stirring, but when she looked for Nik he was nowhere in sight.

“Nik?”

Rigel rushed up, wagging happily and licking her face. She put her arms around the young Shepherd and kissed his nose. “Good morning, sweet boy! Where are Nik and Laru?”

“They’re hunting gull eggs in the interior of this mini-island,” Sora said as she sat beside Mari with her own cup of tea. “He brought you a mug of tea before they took off on their hunting mission.”

“Gull eggs? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Neither have I, but Nik and the rest of the ex-Tribers got super excited when Antreas announced that he’d found a gull nest with eggs in it.” Sora pointed her chin at the mess of scrub, river debris, ferns, and tenacious pines that filled the interior of Spirit Island. “Apparently they’re delicious, so they asked me to wait to ladle up the leftover stew until the group of them return, hopefully with eggs to poach and add to it.” She sighed and leaned back against the log Nik and Mari had used as a backrest the night before. “I can’t say I mind the break.”

“Didn’t you get any sleep last night?” Mari asked, sipping her tea.

“Oh, sure. All two or three hours that I wasn’t on watch.” She yawned. “Which wasn’t enough. Goddess, I wish we could rest here for the day.”

“You know we can’t.”

“That’s why I said ‘I wish.’ And I do agree with Antreas. We’re still way too close to Port City and what’s left of the Tribe of the Trees to take a break. I wonder whatisleft of the Tribe of the Trees.”

Mari shook her head. “It’s bad, Sora. You should’ve seen them. The entire Tribe was infected with the skin-sloughing disease, and Thaddeus,of course,was rallying them under a cry of hatred and anger. But for all of their hate they were in no shape to fight the Skin Stealers. Unless the Death God takes prisoners, I can’t image many of them living.”

Sora met her gaze. “You sound upset by that.”

“I am! You weren’t there. The Tribe was suffering. Good people, bad people, the skin-sloughing disease doesn’t care. It infected all of them, but some were stillgood,like Wilkes and Claudia. I really hate that the Storyteller, Ralina, didn’t come with us. I would’ve liked to have gotten to know her better. And, Sora, the canines—they would have broken your heart. Thaddeus’s men had flayed skin from them, packed it onto their own bodies sotheyhealed, but they then ignored the agony of their canines. It made me angry and sick.”

“That must have been why Fortina left her Companion and Chose Jaxom. She knew what her Companion was getting ready to do to her.” Sora lifted her lip in distaste. “I had that horrible illness, and I can tell you that I wouldneverhave hurt Chloe to make myself feel better.”

“Right? I’m starting to agree with the hypothesis that the Skin Stealers’ disease reflects who we truly are. And there is something very wrong with many members of that Tribe—many, but not all of them.”

“Yeah, it made me lose my patience and react in an angry manner, but I hated how I felt. I didn’t want to be angry—I fought it.”

“Maybe that’s it—whether an infected person has the will to fight the anger the disease brings or not.”

“Or whether an infected person actuallylikesthe anger. Well, hopefully, we’re leaving all of that behind us as we head into our new future.”

“From your mouth to the Great Earth Mother’s ears,” Mari said reverently.

“Hey, speaking of new futures, what do you think of them?” Sora’s gaze flicked to the spot almost directly across the camp’s fire pit, where Dove and Lily were rolling up their bedding and then beginning to walk slowly toward the secluded area that had been designated as the Pack’s temporary latrine.

“I think Lily is young and sweet. And I think Dove is as layered as an onion. But I have to say that I’m starting to like her.”

“So, you trust her?” Sora asked.

“I’m going to trust her until she gives me reason not to. What about you?”

“That’s where I’m at, too. She did swear an oath to us, and she seems forthcoming. Plus, it’s obvious that her people have abused her. Her option is going back to them or wandering around the forest with Lily until something kills them.” Sora sent Mari a pointed look. “Why? Are you getting pushback from the Pack about accepting them?”

“Not the Pack—Nik.” Mari shrugged. “But that doesn’t change my decision. Actually, it opened up a discussion about respect between the two of us.”

Sora grinned. “I’ll bet that didn’t go well for Mr. Sun Priest.”