Клэр Белл - The Named - The Complete Series

“You aren’t sure about this either, are you.”

“No,” he admitted.

There was nothing else to be said. She led the way out from under the overhang, and they waded in the stream for a distance so that their scents and prints wouldn’t lead anyone to Bira. Then they cut back to the trail and set off downhill for the meadow.

Ratha and Thakur didn’t meet anyone on the trails they took. Even the path to the meadow was deserted and, when Ratha reached the trailhead and gazed out across the grass, she sensed a tense stillness in the morning air.

She saw the dapplebacks and three-horns gathered in a tight flock instead of being scattered across the pasture as they usually were in the morning. Around the edge of the meadow, several guard-fires still burned. That was strange, she thought. Usually the Firekeepers put them out after sunrise.

The herdbeasts didn’t like being confined to such a small area of meadow. Ratha could hear the three-horns bray and paw the ground, while the dapplebacks snorted and whinnied. A few herders circled the animals, trotting around the flock to keep it together. The others were nowhere in sight.

“Ratha!” A deep voice drew her attention away from the animals. Cherfan bounded toward her over the grass. She could tell from the urgency in the big herder’s stride and the way his whiskers trembled that he was worried.

“Where is everyone, Cherfan?” Thakur asked calmly.

“Behind the big thorn thicket near the far end of the meadow. Someone killed a dappleback early this morning,” he said, turning to Ratha.

“Un-Named raiders? Bristlemanes?”

“I don’t think so. Nothing broke through the line of guard-fires.”

Ratha began pacing beside him with Thakur at her Bank.“Have you found the carcass?”

“No, but we found the place where the animal was brought down.” Cherfan broke into a fast lope and Ratha galloped beside him until they reached the thornbush. Behind it was a hidden stretch of meadow and she could tell by the torn and flattened grass that the herdbeast had died here.

Gathered around the spot were the rest of the herders, sniffing the ground and exchanging puzzled looks. Cherfan stepped into their midst, waving his tail. He stopped and looked them over carefully.“That’s strange,” he growled. “We’re missing someone. Where’s Shoman?”

The herders muttered among themselves and soon confirmed that Shoman was not helping to guard the remaining animals, nor was he anywhere else in the meadow. In fact, no one remembered having seen him since the middle of the night.

“And Bundi’s not here either,” said Thakur abruptly.

“There’s something else I don’t understand.” Cherfan narrowed his eyes. “We keep the dapplebacks out in the center of the meadow during the night. We don’t let them go behind these bushes; it’s too easy for them to wander away. If someone killed a mare here, he would have had to driveit away from the flock and the beast would have fought and made enough noise to bring all of us running.”

“Unless it was lured here by someone it knew,” said Ratha.

“All right. The dappleback may have been lured here and then killed, but none of us heard it scream. A dappleback will cry out when it feels the touch of fangs.”

“Not if there are a pair of attackers,” Thakur said quickly. “One lures the beast while the other hides. When the beast is distracted, the other leaps out and bites behind the head. The creature dies quickly and quietly. I’ve used the same method in culling.”

Cherfan wrinkled the fur on his brow.“Shoman … and Bundi? Perhaps Shoman would do such a thing. I’ve never trusted him. But Bundi?”

“I caught Shoman with a piece of meat he was using to bribe a Firekeeper,” Ratha reminded him. “Bundi was with him. He said they were both being shunned by the rest of you because of their injuries from the Red Tongue.”

“Shoman killed that dappleback to revenge himself on us?” Cherfan’s puzzlement began to give way to anger.

“Not for revenge,” said Ratha. “I think he was forced to lure it here and kill it.”

“Forced? By whom? And where is the meat? He and Bundi couldn’t have eaten it by themselves.”

Ratha glanced at Thakur, then turned her gaze back to Cherfan.“You will find the carcass in the cave where the Red Tongue is kept.”

A wave of mutters and growls spread through the herders. Some looked uncertain while others raised the fur on their napes and showed their fangs. Cherfan flattened his ears.“You’re saying that Shoman killed the beast for Shongshar and Fessran? Why?”

“Because he and Bundi were made outcasts by the Red Tongue’s mark and sought to placate the Firekeepers by any way possible. Shongshar knew his desperation and used him,” Ratha hissed.

A wave of muttering and growling spread among the herders. Cherfan flattened his ears.“No one is allowed to kill herdbeasts without your order.”

“And I did not order anyone to take that animal,” said Ratha, staring meaningfully at the other herders. “Shongshar and Fessran have disobeyed me and clan law. The carcass is stolen meat and they have no right to it. If the Firekeepers are left unpunished, they will steal again and the rest of us will go hungry.” She paused and then growled, “Do you want to hear your bellies rumble because of the Firekeepers’ greed?”

“No!” came the answer in many voices. “Lead us to the cave and we will take back the stolen meat.”

“Listen to me,” cried Ratha. “It is the Red Tongue in the cave that gives the Firekeepers their strength. They have stored wood there to feed it. If we take back the wood as well as the meat, the cave-fire will starve and die.”

“We will take back what they have stolen!”

“You do not fear the Firekeepers?”

A chorus of roars and howls rose from the group.“There are more of us than there are of them. To the cave!”

With Thakur and Cherfan flanking her, Ratha led the outraged herders up the creek trail. At first the group was boisterous and noisy, but as they drew close enough to hear the song of the Red Tongue, they became quiet. Uncertain looks passed back and forth among the herders and Ratha knew that the sense of awe that subdued those who came before the fire-creature was creeping over them again.

Thakur could sense it too, for he put his muzzle to her ear and whispered,“Don’t hesitate, Ratha, or these brave herders will desert us.”

She was grateful for the smell of dappleback meat that lingered in the air along the path. The scent fanned the herders’ anger anew and kept them pacing steadily behind her. When they reached the last stretch of the trail, Ratha whispered her final instructions.

With a roar as loud as the booming of the falls, her pack charged the cave entrance and the two Firekeeper guards. The guards tried to fight, but only managed to avoid being trampled as the herders knocked them aside and surged into the cave.

Again the fire-creature rose up before her, writhing and hissing like a live thing, but this time, Ratha was too angry to be cowed by the sight. She looked beyond the fire to where a group of Firekeepers pulled and tore at a half-stripped carcass. Nyang lifted his head, his muzzle ash-streaked and bloody. Fessran dropped the haunch she was chewing and stood up while the others glared back at Ratha over the bared ribs of the kill.

Only Shongshar continued to eat, holding a chunk of liver between his paws and slicing it with his side teeth. Ratha could hear muffled growls among the herders, but none of them came forward to challenge the Firekeepers at their feast. Many of them glanced uneasily at the Red Tongue in the center of the cave, as if expecting it to leap out and sear the first herder who made a move.