Clanless (Nameless #2)(42)
He bit off a piece of grass root and stared at the clouds shifting in the sky. His thoughts were broken by the faint sound of breathing behind him. People didn’t sound like that when they breathed. It was more like the slow and heavy pant of a dog. A very, very large dog. He craned his neck to look back, afraid to make any sudden movements.
Two bear cubs with brownish-black fur backed behind their gigantic mother. They seemed to whimper at her feet. The mother wore a shaggy brown coat. Her long muzzle stretched into a wet, black nose raised to the sky as she sniffed the air.
Gryphon flipped onto his stomach and eyed the massive creature. Its head was easily as wide as Gryphon’s shoulders, and standing on four legs, the beast’s back would have met his chest. He’d heard of mess units spotting Kodiak bears, but they mostly kept east to the Kodiak Hills. Men whispered stories about the size of these beasts, but people exaggerate, and Gryphon hadn’t believed them. Until now.
Again, the bear sniffed the air around Gryphon. She sneezed and shook her head, as if disgusted by what she smelled. Tossing her head from side to side, she clacked her teeth together, her mouth opening and shutting.
Gryphon slowly pushed up onto his hands and knees. “Easy, girl. I’m not going to hurt your cubs. I’ll leave.”
The bear grunted and charged forward, then stopped only five yards away. With claws like daggers, it swiped at the air as it backed up.
Gryphon shifted into a crouch and picked a dead tree branch off the ground. “I’m leaving. I’m leaving. It’s all right. I’m leaving.”
He took a half step backward and the bear charged again, this time stopping just outside the reach of its claw swipes. The fur on its neck stood on end and its ears lay flat to its head.
This was no longer just about defending her cubs. She seemed hungry, and he was prey. The giant Kodiak pushed onto its hind legs. The force of her growl sent Gryphon stumbling back.
Gryphon raised the stick above his head and shouted his own battle cry before launching the stick at the bear’s face like a spear. The stick flew wobbly through the air and struck the bear’s nose. The roar that followed forced Gryphon to cover his ears.
The Kodiak charged forward and pushed up onto its hind legs. This time, when it swiped out with a paw, all the bear’s weight went into the blow. Gryphon ducked and scrambled back against a tree. He scoured the ground for some kind of weapon to defend himself.
Just as the bear reached him, an arrow shot from somewhere behind Gryphon, connecting with the beast’s shoulder. The bear howled in fury, biting at the arrow, desperate to pull it free of its body.
Gryphon spun around and gaped at the sight.
A woman stood on the shoulders of a man, a bow in her hands with an arrow aimed at the bear. The man at the bottom of the human totem kept a wide stance to support her weight and held the girl by the ankles.
“Don’t turn your back on her,” the woman said, her accent clearly Raven. “She’s threatened by my size and knows now that my bite stings, but an injured Kodiak is a very dangerous creature.”
Gryphon shook his head in wonder and obeyed the woman, turning to face the beast that seconds ago had almost killed him.
“Good, now back away. Good. Almost there. Now stop.”
Gryphon stood level to the pair of Raven, panting and unable to keep his hands and legs from shaking.
The Raven man said, “Now it’s your turn, bear. Back up before this girl squashes me into nothing.” The man didn’t seem at all taxed by the weight of the Raven girl. The bear snorted and whined as it backed away, but no one relaxed until it disappeared over the crest of a nearby ridge.
The Raven girl jumped to the ground and Gryphon turned to thank the strangers but was met by a drawn bow, its arrow pointed at his head. “Who are you?” she hissed. The Raven man also had bow drawn, any humor he shared with the woman gone.
“You have Sani’s beaded bracelet hanging about your wrist,” the girl said. “What have you done to my brother?”
If this was Sani’s sister, that also made her Chief Naat’s daughter. “Months ago, when I was on a scouting trip with my unit, we came upon a flock of Raven,” said Gryphon. “We attacked. I had the chance to kill Sani but instead spared his life. I’ve since left my clan to warn your people of a coming invasion. Sani recognized me and claimed he is my ‘Atiin. I just came from the Nest with him after helping convince your people to flee.”
The woman sucked in a quick breath. “They left the Nest?”
“Impossible,” said the man. His head was shaved on both sides, leaving a cropped strip of hair running from forehead to nape.
“They escaped the Ram by boat and are headed to meet the Allies in the south.”
The woman lowered her bow and tugged on the man’s sleeve. “They’re safe, Talon.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “They’re safe.”
Zo didn’t bother telling Joshua and Tess about Boar’s desire to have her. They only knew Stone and Boar couldn’t come to terms.
Eva stared at Zo across the burial pyre and offered a sharp nod, her Ram way of saying, “We will fight this.” Zo appreciated the show of support even though it was accompanied by a husband’s wails, as smoke carried a murdered wife’s ashes to the heavens.
The fumes of death constricted Zo’s throat. Stone had spared her life, but at what cost? Now that Stone knew the Clanless were targeting them, he’d have everyone on high alert for the rest of the journey. If they could just survive another week, Commander Laden’s scouts would surely spot them and send help. Just another week, and Zo and Tess would be completely safe for the first time in months.