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“Do you know who her people were?” I asked coldly.
The chief’s face tightened with annoyance. “No, but she must be Quelis. Even if Runa is not a Quelis name—or not one I’ve heard of. I believe, like Solin believes, that she must come from Lagol or Karfe and carries the power of flames in her blood.” His eyes searched hers eagerly. “Was he right, Gir—I mean, Runa? Did the fire give you the gift of its light and children?”
Runa nodded, shifting Natim a little so she could hold out her palm. In a single breath, she summoned a flickering flame, making the fawn cringe away and Zetas to wrinkle her nose. The lynx didn’t care, desensitized to smoke after living with a clan who had no respect for the danger of living in a grass sea with a perpetually burning bonfire.
Murmurs spread throughout the Nhil hunters, whispering about Runa in ways I didn’t like. Aktor stayed tense, unable to take his eyes off her. He kept watching even as she snuffed out the tiny flame and bowed her head at the chief. “I’m honoured that I learned my name and have been given the same gifts as the Nhil, and of course, I’ll return with you, Tral. That was always my intention.”
I crossed my arms, fear of losing her thick in my stomach. “I’m coming too.”
“You?” Tral frowned, his hand tightening around his spear. “Are you fireborn?” He looked me up and down. “Solin mentioned you were a foreigner. A stranger who didn’t belong with us.”
I bared my teeth as my voice turned icy. “I don’t know who I am, but I do know that I’m not letting Runa out of my sight.”
The chief threw an unreadable look at his son before sighing and locking eyes with me. “Runa has chosen to become Nhil. She’ll become one of us the moment Solin wakes to finalise the name and spirit ceremony. Your home is here, with these...” He waved his hand at the pack of crouching wolves. “...Beasts.”
“Beasts?” My tone was deceptively soft. “They might not walk on two legs like you, Chief, but I assure you, your son is more beast than them.”
The chief drew up with a glower. “I am fully aware of what my son has done, and he has been punished. As well as Kivva. Once our Fire Reader has awoken, we will ensure they never—”
“I don’t trust them around Runa.” I growled. “She isn’t safe in your clan.”
“She is one of us,” Tral snapped. “We would never harm family.”
“You merely harm guests staying within your borders.”
“Enough!” the chief barked, making the wolves shift and snarl. “I don’t have time for this. We need to go.” Marching back to his hunters, he held his hand out to Runa. “Give the fawn to the foreigner, Runa. We’re leaving.”
Runa threw me a worried glance.
My temper uncurled, hungry for their submission, raging at the thought of them taking her.
“Darro, I—” She looked down at Natim as if she actually contemplated following Tral’s commands.
No way.
No way would I let her leave without me.
Stepping around Zetas and brushing aside her bushy tail, I cupped Runa’s cheek and forced a smile. I didn’t want to leave Salak. My heart broke at the thought of saying goodbye to my pack. But I’d do it for her.
I had no choice.
She’s mine to protect and cherish.
Ignoring Salak’s pained huff behind me, I murmured, “We’ll both go. We’ll figure out how to feed Natim without Kiu’s help. They can’t stop me from—”
Something hard and sharp thwacked against my temple.
For a second, I felt nothing.
But then a gush of agony made my vision black out and the world swim.
Pain arrowed through my head.
I swayed with sudden sickness, dropping to one knee as I pressed a hand to my temple.
Blood.
Moon-dark blood glistened on my fingers.
A shift in the air.
A billow of shadows trying to protect me.
Runa’s scream ripped apart my ears.
“No! Don’t—!”
Her panic made my heart race, granting a pinprick of sight as I looked up.
“Kivva, stop—”
Her voice warbled in my drunken mind.
I couldn’t focus.
Couldn’t see.
The hazy silhouette of a male leaping from their ranks, his staff swinging wide and high was the last thing I saw as it crunched against my skull.
Pain.
Nothing but pain.
Then darkness.
Nothingness.
Coldness.
Gone...
Chapter Twenty-Nine
. Runa .
FOR A TERRIFYING HEARTBEAT, NO one moved.
Everything unfolded in slow motion.
Darro lay unmoving at my feet, blood trickling from his temple and arms splayed from Kivva’s strike to his skull. Natim bleated, and Syn hunched into herself as if she was the one in trouble.
I couldn’t make sense of what’d just happened.
One moment Darro had been beside me, his spirit so rich and powerful, so alive and potent within his shadows.
But now...now, he was gone.
Gone...!
I choked as every inch of me froze to frigid frost.
His strength was missing. His shadows snuffed out. His skin grey and eyes closed.
