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“He what?” Niya shot to her feet. “Was the man attacking him?”
“No.” I shook my head, anger flowing through me. “Kivva had been fighting with the stranger, but the stranger must’ve overpowered him as he came to help me. He was preventing Aktor from...hurting me...when Kivva struck him.”
“By the fire—” Niya blanched. “Tral will punish them badly for this.”
I wanted to ask what sort of punishment would be just, but Hyath asked in a wavering, worried voice. “The man who helped save you...where is he now?”
Tears pricked my eyes. “I don’t know. He’s...gone.”
“Gone?” Hyath blinked.
Bracing my shoulders, I decided to give them the truth instead of secretive sentences. “Just like you have a power I didn’t know about until last night—the ability to hold flames in your hands as simply as you can hold a flower—he has a power too.” I rubbed at the prickles covering my arms. “He used shadows to help him fight, even when his fevers buckled his knees. He fought for me. Saved me. And when Kivva knocked him unconscious, a pack of wolves appeared.”
“Wolves?” Niya gasped. “The ones that were howling?”
“They took him.” I spoke around the bruises still hurting my throat. “They picked up his unconscious form and vanished into the grass, just before the hunters arrived.”
“Have you seen him since?” Hyath asked.
“No.” I hung my head. “I don’t even know if he’s still alive. His fevers are bad. I did my best to clean his bite from Syn, but Aktor’s spear...that made his blood turn black and thick.”
“Aktor speared him?” Niya gulped.
I nodded silently.
The two girls shared a look.
“What? I asked thinly. “Could he survive that? Has anyone survived that?”
It was Hyath who answered me with a grave voice. “If Aktor used his spear and the male’s blood spilled black, he could’ve been struck in the liver or another blood-rich organ. Without a healer, he...” She shook her head.
Niya patted Hyath’s hand, grabbing mine with her other as she murmured sadly, “He won’t survive the day.”
My heart turned to stone. “We have to find him then. We have to try to—”
“The wolves could probably smell his death.” Hyath dropped her gaze, wincing. “They probably just took him as he was an easy meal—”
“No!” I swooped out of my sleeping furs, my nakedness entirely forgotten. “He spoke of the wolves as his friends, his family. If you saw the way they picked him up so tenderly, Hyath, you’d know that they came to help him, not eat him.”
“Even if that is true,” Niya said, standing to match me. “You cannot leave. The trance will begin at dusk, and Solin told us what will happen if the ritual isn’t done perfectly to prepare you.” She looked at Hyath, who slowly stood with her hands holding the bundle she’d brought.
“Niya is right,” Hyath said with tight eyes. “You can’t go after him. Not yet, at least. Tomorrow, when the trance is over, then you can try to find him...but today, you have to do what you’re commanded. Otherwise, you might not have a tomorrow.”
My arms lashed tight around my middle. “And if he doesn’t last until tomorrow?”
Hyath lowered her voice to a sad whisper, “Then I’d rather a stranger dies than you, because if you run after him and refuse to do the trance—now that Solin has branded you with soot and the fire knows you’re stepping into its flames at dusk—you might.” Her cheeks pinked as she held up the clothing made of supple, fur-free bison skin. “I know it sounds heartless to turn our backs on him, but it’s only because we care about you. It’s only because we belong to the fire and know how merciful and cruel it can be. Don’t refuse its calling, Girl. Step into its flames, find out who you are, become one of us, and then tomorrow, when you have a name and have been accepted by the fire, we will help you find your stranger.”
Pushing the supple skins into my arms, Hyath said, “This is my first attempt at making different clothes. I wanted you to have the first, seeing as you never seemed comfortable in the furs.”
I looked down at the clothing she’d pressed into my hold. The skin was a buttery brown with splodges of cream, tingling a little with the spirit that used to wear it. I hid my shiver, forcing myself to stroke it. “It’s so smooth.”
“It’s bison calf skin,” Hyath said, watching me as I let the clothing unfold.
My heart fluttered for her generosity, all while the spark of dead life infected my touch. “You didn’t have to make me something new, Hyath. And you’re wrong that I didn’t enjoy the furs—”
“I saw your discomfort more than once.” Hyath smiled. “And don’t think I haven’t seen you refuse to eat meat either. I’ve tried for a while to make clothing out of woven reeds and grasses, but they don’t last as long as hides. But...if it will make you more comfortable, I’ll keep trying, and the moment I have something that works, it’s yours.”
