Obsidian and Stars (Ivory and Bone #2)(61)

But the next person to appear isn’t a Tama fighter. It’s my sister Seeri. She and the others must have seen the smoke of Kol’s signal fire. Whatever might have delayed them, I’m glad they are here now. Seeri clambers over the ledge and hauls Lees up behind her. Pek appears at the very spot where the Tama woman disappeared, his spear on his shoulder as he ascends.

Just as they all clear the wall, Lees calls out. A dart sticks in her upper arm—a Tama dart that came from below. Seeri scoops her up and sweeps her behind her as two Tama men come over the ledge at once—one carrying a spear, the other reloading his atlatl.

Before I can think or weigh my actions, Anki’s spear is out of my hand, heading for the man with the empty atlatl—the man whose dart protrudes from Lees’s arm.

It flies true, but the man has already turned away to seek his next target. The spear lands squarely in the middle of his back, lodging right between his shoulder blades.

He drops to both knees. His atlatl and dart slip from his hand as he falls. The fear pressing down on my chest eases just a bit at the sight of his dropped weapon, and a deep breath rushes into my lungs.

Anki’s spear stands out from his back at a hideous angle, like some grotesque and unnatural tusk. He flails, twists, and turns, but he cannot reach it. He cannot shake it loose. The more he tries, the thicker the trail of blood running down his back becomes. Turning in place, pivoting from his knees, he looks back to find his attacker. He sees me, but he also sees Thern and Pek, running right for him.

The man struggles to his feet, one hand searching the ground for his dropped atlatl. But he has no hope of finding his weapon—Thern is coming too fast.

Before the man can straighten to his full height, Thern is on him, knocking him face-first onto the ground. With both hands, Thern tugs Anki’s spear from the man’s back, blood flying from the point as he swings it like a club.

As Thern swings the spear, he connects with the other Tama man who climbed over the wall. Staggering from the blow, he drops his spear and retreats for the cliff. Pek grabs the dropped spear and raises it over his shoulder, but he never has to make the throw. Both men disappear over the ledge.

I drop to the ground, breathing so hard I feel faint. I glance around. Pada—a dart still in her arm—comforts Lees, who has pulled the dart from her own arm. Seeri is at Pek’s side, checking a cut on his face. Winded and gulping for breath, Morsk and Thern kneel side by side at the edge of the cliff, watching the water below.

“They’re paddling away,” Morsk calls over his shoulder. “They’re in retreat.” He climbs to his feet just as Thern does, and Thern hands him his atlatl and pack of darts.

Morsk nods to Thern, and walks to Pada’s side. Without a word, Pada nods and hands him her weapons, too.

“How?” I stammer. “How is it that there are not more—”

“There were more,” Pek says. “We saw them coming while we waited below with the boats. We intercepted as many as we could, driving them back before they could climb the cliff. We turned quite a few around, but we couldn’t stop them all. Then we saw your fire and we decided we better climb.”

“Before we did, we slashed as many of their kayaks as we could,” Seeri says. “Hopefully, we’ve bought some time before they can return.” I step closer to the ledge and look out at the retreating Tama. Nearly every kayak carries an extra fighter, draped across the deck, hands and feet dragging through the water. A few boats struggle to stay afloat as two fighters cling to the sides.

“And our boats?” I ask.

“Tucked away in the dune grass, out of sight.” Seeri actually smiles.

That’s when the knot of fear around my heart loosens just enough for me to look back at the clump of trees. To seek out the glow of Kol and Noni’s fire and know that they are both safe. I climb to my feet, ready to run back and thank them for setting the signal and tell them what has happened.

But only a scent of fire remains. No smoke rises from the trees.

Kol’s fire is out.





TWENTY-FOUR


Before I can think, my feet are moving across the ground, carrying me back toward the edge of the trees, back to the place Kol and Noni set the signal fire. But then my thoughts slow me. I turn. The others are following—even Thern and Pada.

I stop. “You go and check,” I say to Morsk. “I’ll stay here. I need to talk with the Bosha.”

Morsk hesitates. “We’ll stay with her,” Seeri says. “I have questions for them, too.”

“Then I’ll go with Morsk,” Lees says. “Mya, if Kol needs you, I’ll come right back.”

She smiles at me, and the bond that brought us here—the need to protect each other—stretches between us like an unseen cord. I nod and Lees and Morsk hurry away. My heart tears as they go—I want to check on Kol and see him with my own eyes—but I need to deal with Thern and Pada first. As the High Elder, I need to decide what’s to be done with them.

“We’re unarmed,” Pada says. “We turned our weapons over to Morsk.”

I run my eyes over her and Thern. Their hands are empty. Morsk has their packs. “Knives?” I ask.

Pada lifts up the hem of her tunic to show me that there is nothing tucked into her belt. Thern does the same. When he turns to show me his back, I see the trail of blood that runs from the place I drove a spear into his shoulder. “You saved our lives,” Thern says, even as I wonder how serious the wound I gave him might be.