Obsidian and Stars (Ivory and Bone #2)(56)

By leaving Kol with anyone but me.

“It’s too dangerous—”

“Staying here to defend the two of them is just as dangerous. Noni’s never even held a spear—”

“That’s not true,” Noni blurts out, but I know what Lees means. She can’t be depended on to help if they were found.

“The trip to the boats will be much more dangerous—”

“Will it?” It’s Seeri who interjects now. “I don’t know. Honestly, Mya, I think I would be less worried about Lees if she were with me, Pek, and Morsk than if she were left behind to defend two defenseless people.”

I study Seeri. Is this really what she thinks? Or does she think Kol might die and I should be here if he does?

I know he won’t die—he can’t die—but I bend down beside him and he turns to me. His eyes see me, but I don’t think he’s heard anything we’ve said. His eyes flutter, move to the sky, and fall closed again.

“All right then. I’ll stay. But I want a signal. If any of us gets into trouble, we’ll set a fire. If we see smoke, we’ll know it’s a call for help.”

“But won’t smoke draw everyone else who’s stalking us, too?” Pek asks.

“I’d be happy to have them all out in the open at last,” Seeri says. “It would be better than fearing every shadow.”

With these words in my ears I walk with them to the edge of the cliff, wondering where the Bosha might be at this moment and when they might attack. I watch Pek, Morsk, and Lees drop over the ledge one by one and start down. Seeri goes last. “Don’t worry about us,” she says, pulling me into an awkward hug. “Take care of Kol. We won’t be long.”

I stay low to the ground and watch her descend. When she is halfway to the bottom of the cliff, I creep back into the shade of the trees and find Kol alone.

Noni is gone.





TWENTY-TWO


Kol lies on the ground, but he does not lie still. He tosses restlessly, like a dreamer caught in a nightmare. Every part of his body is in motion except for his left leg.

From just beyond the edge of this clump of trees, Black Dog howls. I crouch down and slide toward the sound, Lees’s spear balanced on my shoulder. Black Dog howls once more and I am up, running toward the sound.

I see her even before I reach the edge of this meager stand of stunted trees. She lies on her back beside a clump of plants with deeply serrated leaves. Feverweed. Handfuls of stalks yanked straight from the dirt litter the trampled grass. Noni lies still, a dart sticking out of her neck. Black Dog runs in circles around her until he hears my foot on the ground.

I drop down, crawling on hands and knees to the edge of the trees. Noni looks at me, moving just her eyes. She is alert—alert enough to know she is in danger. My gaze sweeps the open space around her, but I see no one. Where did her attackers come from, I wonder, and where did they go? Are they hiding, waiting for me to come out into the open? It doesn’t matter; I have to go to her. With the spear balanced on one shoulder, I slink across the ground to her side.

Blood runs from both wounds in her throat—where the dart went in and where the tip came out. She is bleeding hard. “I had some,” she says, and her chest rises and falls like the sea in a storm. “I dropped it—”

“Shush,” I say. I gather the plants that are scattered on the ground. “I’ve got it.” I scoop her into my arms—she is so light—but I’m exhausted. My steps are slow, and with each one I turn and look over both shoulders.

“I didn’t see anyone,” Noni says. Her voice gurgles, like she’s underwater. As I carry her, Black Dog runs in front, but then stops and lifts his head. He sniffs the air. I hesitate, wondering if he smells the scent of the person who attacked Noni. I don’t move until the dog runs again, returning to Kol’s side.

I lay Noni beside him on the mossy soil. When I brush my fingers across Kol’s forehead, they burn. His fever must be rising. His body has gone still. I think maybe he’s fallen back to sleep, or whatever approximation of sleep his high fever will allow.

I check Noni’s wounds. “I’m going to leave the dart in place,” I say. “It will bleed less.”

“Pack the feverweed all around it.” Even with blood running from an open wound, she still wants to tell me how to use the plant. I’m happy for it—she is still awake, and I so desperately want her to stay that way. “I promise you it will stop the bleeding.” I follow her instructions, hoping these leaves will do even a fraction of what she claims they will. “But give some to Kol. That’s why I went out there. To get it for him.”

Noni tells me to wad up a few leaves and press them between Kol’s teeth. I whisper to him, telling him to bite down on it, and though his eyes stay pressed shut, he does as I say. I ration the remaining supply of leaves, setting some aside to dress Noni’s wound again later.

I listen for any sound that might suggest someone is nearby, planning to attack. I hear nothing but waves below the cliff and the wind rustling the leaves. “The person who did this—you saw nothing at all? You didn’t hear a voice?”

“Nothing.” She sighs, but pain tears at the edges of the sound. Her breath rattles, and when it stops, something else rattles, too. A crunch, like a foot on the ground. Noni’s eyes move to my face. Her head nods. She’s heard it, too. I pick up the spear, stretch to my full height, and turn in place, searching for any movement beyond the trees.