Chapter Ten

The sun was high in the sky, the heat beating down upon the three figures atop their horses, the smallest figure wore a wide-brimmed straw had and sat before a woman with huge stomach, a man rode alongside them, he had wrapped a scarf around his head to protect himself from the suns burning rays. The woman wore a matching scarf also wrapped around her head covering most of her features.

Verenya was slumped forward in the saddle in front of Nesryn fast asleep and snoring quietly, Nesryn didn't blame her, they had left in the dead of night two weeks after Hugos visit. Rosita had decided to stay as it would have been too suspicious if they all disappeared and there were too many children living with her to escape with them all. Not all were her own, she had adopted a few of the orphans that ran wild in the city, her husband and Ravis wife lived in the same house and helped out as she insisted it was big enough for them all.

They passed through a small forest enjoying the shade while they could, no one spoke they were too tired but they had agreed to keep going until nightfall. Squirrels chased winged spiders away from their young, birds sang in the branches above. There were no travellers in sight, they hadn't seen many people since they left the city, only a farmer and his family on their way to Nybia.

"Are we there yet?" Verenya mumbled as she sat up a bit.

"Not yet honey." Nesryn murmured. "Try and sleep some more."

When the sun began to set they steered their horses off the road into a field and rode towards a forest on the other side of it. Once they got there they set up their small campsite near a small stream. They didn't light a fire for fear of attracting any unwanted visitors.

As Nesryn lay on the sleeping matt Flynn had laid out for her, she felt the baby inside her kick, a smile spread over her face as she called Flynn over, he sat there next to her hand on her stomach as he to felt the baby move and give an occasional kick. He beamed at Nesryn.

"What should we call him or her when they're born?" He asked gently, the joy in his voice was unmistakable as he continued to beam at his wife.

"I was thinking Anora or Yuana if its a girl, Angus or Rafael if its a boy." Nesryn said gazing lovingly up at Flynn.

"I like Yuana and Angus." Flynn said kissing the top of her head.

"Then Yuana or Angus it shall be." Nesryn laughed. She looked over at her older child, Verenya was sitting by the stream carving a small wooden raft with Flynn hunting knife to carry the acorn she had named Deseda down the river, Nesryn smiled at the sight, content, happy.

~

Another night was spent out in the open. When Yuana awoke up on the third morning something felt different, she didn't know what it was but something was off. She still hadn't found Elyta or Kallos for that matter. Though she had spent days or even a week alone when she was on a mission for Risun she still saw people when she was travelling, but here in this open grassland with not a soul in sight she was lonely. She was tired as she hadn't been able to sleep very well. And when she was tired so was her magic or she would have shifted back into a Siehda so she could cover more ground, but just didn't have the energy. As the sun began to sink she could see a dark smudge on the horizon, a smile spread over her face, a forest. Finally something she needed. She walked a bit faster, though she knew she wouldn't be able to get there by nightfall she wanted to come as far as she could before she laid down to rest. Sweat beaded on her skin as she walked. It grew hotter every day, another reason why she wanted to get to the forest, shade. And hopefully a river with cold running water, she had had of the warm pond water she had been drinking the past days, she was lucky that she didn't get sick from it, but magic helped drive off smaller sicknesses.

It was so silent, only the sound of insects, no birds, no wild horses, nothing. All she had eaten was a rabbit she had snared with her remaining magic, she'd had to eat it raw, there was no way she would light a fire and attract the attention of whatever was hiding just out of sight waiting for her to make a mistake, though she hadn't seen anything out there she knew she wasn't alone, the howl that had woken her just before dawn made sure she wouldn't get much sleep tonight.

The sun had nearly set when she heard a rustle, she looked back and froze mid step, a wolf hauled its self to its feet, it was the biggest wolf she had ever seen, as large as a horse, not a wolf but an Inkari she realized, deadly hunters that prowled the land, it stared at her with intelligent eyes, she didn't dare breath as the Inkari took a few steps towards her sniffing the air, it then shook its body like dogs do when they're wet, it sniffed the air once more. Then it completely ignored her and trotted around her, racing towards the forest that was much closer now.

She breathed a sigh of relief, it wouldn't eat her and it didn't consider her a threat, she waited until it was further away before she followed it towards the forest, at least now she knew what had howled. She could still see the Inkari, it had slowed to a walk but was far enough that she felt safe, surprisingly its presence comforted her, she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought.

When the sun set and the moon rose she didn't stop, she continued on her way as best she could though she could barely see in the dark and often stumbled over small dips and holes in the ground. She kept an ear on her surroundings as best she could, then gathered her strength and shifted into a wolf, she was much smaller then the Inkari she had seen but there was nothing to be done about that. As a wolf her eyesight was better, it was still very dark even for her wolf eyes so far from civilisation. She fell into a slow jog she could have kept up for many hours if she had ben fit, but being in a dungeon ruined people and animals alike. Finally she stopped to rest when she was too exhausted to go on, she curled up in a ball where she was, not bothering to find a more sheltered spot, if the Inkari had wanted to eat her it would have done so a long time ago. As the sun rose once more she caught another rabbit and ate it then she buried her face in her fluffy tale again and continued to sleep until the moon rose once more.

She stood up shaking herself and stretching. The wind blew from behind her and she inhaled deeply, drawing the cool night air into her lungs and scenting it and blinked in shock. A familiar scent filled her nose. She turned into the light wind breathing deep once more and yes! There it was! The scent of Kallos! She broke into a sprint racing towards the smell, the ground was solid under her paws, the air cool in her lungs, the stars bright above her, she ran and ran and ran, a smile spreading over her lupine face as the scent grew closer and closer. Flickering light appeared behind a hillock, Yuana breathed in again, something was wrong, off. More scents were mixed with that of Kallos, two of them she recognised, Jay and her heart skipped a beat as she sank to the ground in despair, Samael.

What were they doing here? What were they doing or going to do to Kallos? As if on command someone started to speak.

"I don't think she's the one." A deep voice she didn't recognise said. "The Dragon Queen is supposed to be pretty." Hate and anger rose in Yuana as harsh laughs followed the comment. How dare they take Kallos captive, let her free giving her hope then capturing her again, it made her sick just thinking about it. Kallos wasn't even ugly, she just had a more masculine face and lacked some of the more feminine traits such as big breasts and curves, but she was in no way whatsoever ugly.

"First one we've found so far, of course it's not her, that would be too easy and there are plenty more shifters on this island." Another voice said, this one was low but soft and strong.

"Good point Yaseen, we don't want this to be too easy, where would the fun be."

So they were looking for the Dragon Queen and they thought she was here on the island, the riders were hunting the shifters they had let loose for sport? There were other methods of finding the Queen without capturing dozens if not hundreds of shifters and shoving them on an island to be hunted and maybe even killed, the more she knew about the riders the angrier she got, the horrified and scared she got. They had to be stopped somehow, damn the cost of doing so.

She kept her body close to the ground as she crept through a thicker patch of grass and up the hillock where she sat sill hidden in the grass, she had a clear view of the campsite but they wouldn't be able to see her. A fire burned in the middle of the flattened area of grass, the horses were tied to a grazing post that had been shoved deep into the ground, the horses grazed on the dry grass, a bucket of water by the wooden post for them to drink out of. Riders sat joking and laughing around the fire, ullos at their feet, the ullos had a head similar in shape to that of a wolf but their body shape was more that of a lion or other big cat, some kind of meat was roasting above the fire on a spit, it smelled divine and made her mouth water. And there, laying on the ground her hands tied behind her back, her usually spiked hair limp and caked with mud, her face bruised and battered was Kallos. A young boy sat hunched next to her, he too was tied up and as he turned his face to the riders the firelight lit up his face and she recognised him too, Pablo, the boy on the ship who had said he had stolen the Dragons amulet to save his little sister, speaking of his sister, his mother and sister were nowhere in sight, she hoped that they had gotten away.

Samael was also nowhere to be seen, where was he? Jay was accounted for, she could see him sitting with the others by the fire, his head in his hands, a woman sat beside him, watching him, a long curved dagger resting across her knees. She stayed there crouched in the grass for a long time, waiting and watching. After what felt like an age Samael returned with another rider, he melted out of the darkness on the other side of the campsite, a rope in his hand, she could smell the tang of blood in the air as he stopped where Kallos and the boy were tied up. The rope in his shone bright red in the firelight and blood oozed out of it dripping onto the ground. The boy looked up him with wide eyes. Samael knelt down next to the boy and took his face in his hands.

"They're dead." Samael said with a smile as if he were telling the boy that he had won a race and earned twenty gold coins. Then Samael stood and walked over to the other laughing along with them as they jeered at the boy, a bloody handprint remained on the boys cheek where Samaels hand had been. A tear slid down the boys face cutting through the bloody handprint. The boys shoulders began to shake as he curled in on himself, Kallos sat up and began murmuring words even she couldn't hear with her keen wolf hearing, to the boy. Who was dead? Yuana crept back into the open grass land and made her way around the campsite to where Samael had been, she followed his scent into the darkness away from the flickering light of the fire.

After half an hour she could make out a crumpled figure on the ground. She shifted and ran over to it. The boys mother lay on the ground her mouth open in a silent scream, tear tracks could be seen through the dirt on her face. Yuana knelt down and touched her hand, it was ice cold and stiff, she looked around for the little girl but couldn't see her. Had Samael lied? Was she still alive and alone out there? Maybe he had just said that the both of them were dead to break the boy spirit, it had certainly worked. She stood and looked around again as the sky grew lighter to the east. And sure enough, there, in the distance barely visible over the tall grass, stumbling along was a tiny figure, she ran towards the little girl, when she was about fifty meters away the little girl collapsed. Yuana reached her in seconds and she threw herself down next to the girl who looked up at her with teary eyes as she cowered on the ground hand pressed to her stomach.

"Please don't hurt me." The little girl whispered, Yuanas face softened.

"No of course I wont hurt you." She said softly, the little girl sobbed and threw herself into Yuanas arms, Yuana caught her and sat her on her lap rocking back and forth to sooth the young girl. Her tiny shoulders continued to shake as she cried.

"I'm scared!" She whimpered.

"I know, it's OK, it's all going to be OK." Yuana said hugging her tight, that's when she noticed the blood seeping out from under the girls hand that was still pressed to her stomach. "Let me see." Yuana said quietly gently pulling the girls hand away from the wound, her breath caught as she beheld the jagged stab wound, she was no healer, she could heal small cuts and scratches but this? She laid her own hand on the wound willing her magic into it, she couldn't fix any internal damage she didn't know how to, but maybe, just maybe this would be enough.

"I want my mama." The little girl whispered, she couldn't be older then seven maybe eight.

"I know." Yuana said her voice choked with unshed tears. "It's going to be OK, you'll see her soon, I promise."

The girls breath was ragged even as Yuana poured all hr magic into her, washing the pain away stitching the wound together, too slow, the magic was too slow, she willed it to work faster, the girls breaths were shallow and short, she gazed into Yuanas face.

"What's your name?" She asked and her voice was too quiet, too weak.

"Yuana." Yuana whispered fighting back tears as the girl lay dieing in her arms, her magic just wasn't enough no matter how hard she tried, "What's yours?"

"Zaira." The girl shivered. "It's so cold." Yuana held her closer as the little girl shivered once more then went still, Yuana continued to hold her close even though the knew it was too late, the little girl was gone. Yuana hoped she would find her mother in the afterworld. She hadn't deserved to die, she had been so small, so young, so innocent. Tears splashed onto the girls face, her brown eyes still open, staring into the sunrise without seeing it, Yuana closed the little girls eyes and remained seated with her in her arms, she didn't have the heart to just leave her here in the open for the scavengers. So she stood the girl still in her arms and turned back the way she had come tears still streaking down her face. She came to a stop when she reached Zairas mother, then laid daughter next to mother, she was already tired from using up most of her magic, but with her remaining power she carved a shallow grave into the ground next to the two still figures. She laid the girls mother into the grave then laid little Zaira next to her in her arms, she looked down at mother and daughter one last time before she used the last of her magic to sweep the dug out earth over the two of them, she then wove a cross out of grass as best she could and laid it a top the mound of soft brown earth. It wasn't much but it was the best she could do.

She knelt before the grave and prayed to Talula goddess of souls to guide the two innocent souls to safety. She stood and turned her back on the distant campsite she couldn't see from here but knew was there. She silently begged Kallos for forgiveness as she walked away from her friend, she couldn't get Kallos and the boy out on her own, so she continued on towards the forest to find Elyta, for what use was knowing who the Dragon Queen was if Samael found her first. What use was Elyta the Dragon Queen to the resistance if she was dead?