Chapter 104: What did Mama say about taking food from strangers?
Nilo pointed toward a man crouching near the edge of their group.
The Ashclaw male held a piece of roasted meat in one hand.
He smiled at the cubs.
"Come take it."
Miko stared.
His tongue touched his upper lip.
Kairo grabbed the back of Miko’s clothing.
"No."
The male laughed.
"It is only food."
Nilo sniffed.
His small face tightened.
"Smells blood."
"It is meat."
"Not meat blood."
The male’s smile weakened.
Miko continued staring at the roasted piece.
Swanly caught his chin.
"What did Mama say about taking food from strangers?"
"Do not."
"Then why are you leaning toward him?"
"Miko only smell."
"Your feet moved."
"Feet hungry."
Swanly closed her eyes.
Raising cubs during the end of the world was going to kill her before the monsters managed it.
The Ashclaw male stepped closer.
"Your cubs look thin."
Kael stood.
Fast.
His injured shoulder should have slowed him.
It did not.
One second, the male was smiling.
The next, Kael’s claws rested beneath his jaw.
"Step away."
The stranger’s throat moved against the points.
Soren watched from across the camp.
His expression was already dark.
The tip of his tail curled.
Nerin rose beside the cubs.
Arion turned toward them.
Even Dagan looked over.
The Ashclaw male raised his hands.
"I was being friendly."
Kairo frowned.
"No."
The male glanced down.
Kairo stood in front of his brothers with his tiny fists closed.
"You smile wrong."
Nilo nodded.
"No females."
Miko pointed accusingly.
"Ugly meat."
The man’s face darkened.
Swanly quickly gathered all three cubs.
Tavi attached himself to her leg.
Dagan approached.
"Is there a problem?"
Kael’s claws remained beneath the male’s throat.
"Your male approached our cubs."
"He offered food."
"He was told not to approach."
Dagan looked at Soren.
The snake was still sitting.
Still pale.
Still bleeding.
His silver eyes contained no mercy.
Dagan sighed.
"Move away from the cubs."
The male obeyed.
As soon as Kael released him, he glared at Swanly.
His eyes moved over her body.
Then he spat beside her feet.
Kael nearly tore his head off.
Swanly grabbed Kael’s waist with both arms.
"No."
"He insulted you."
"I know."
"He looked at you."
"I also know."
"I can remove his eyes."
"Later."
Kael stopped.
The Ashclaw male stopped too.
Swanly smiled at him.
It was not a pleasant smile.
"Did you hear that?"
The man’s face changed.
He walked away.
Swanly remembered him.
Very clearly.
The cubs were dragged back to Tilla.
Miko protested the entire way.
"Miko knew bad man."
"You almost accepted his meat."
"Only before know."
"That is how tricks work."
Kairo held Miko’s hand.
"Miko easy trick."
Miko gasped.
"You also look at meat!"
"I look suspicious."
Nilo nodded.
"Kairo suspicious face."
Miko attempted to make the same serious expression.
His cheeks puffed.
Tavi looked at him.
"You look need poop."
Kairo and Nilo collapsed into tiny laughter.
Miko’s mouth fell open.
Swanly covered her face.
Behind them, one of the hollow birds called faintly from the distant forest.
For once, it sounded less dangerous than her children.
Thalara sat alone near the edge of the ridge.
No one had invited her into a group.
People still moved around her.
Swanly noticed and carried a water skin toward her.
Thalara’s forehead eye followed Ashclaw’s camp.
Her claws were pressed against a thin crack in the stone.
"What is it?" Swanly asked.
"The roots beneath their fires."
Swanly crouched.
"There are roots under this stone?"
"Small ones. Old ones."
Thalara’s voice became quieter.
"They remember pain."
Swanly’s stomach tightened.
"How much pain?"
"Many bodies."
The wind moved through Thalara’s wet-looking white hair.
"The ground beneath their sleeping place is filled with buried blood."
Swanly looked toward Dagan.
He was speaking with Raku as if they were old allies.
His smile seemed reasonable.
Patient.
Almost kind.
Behind him, Ashclaw’s males watched Riverbone’s females like starving animals.
"There are no women in their group," Swanly whispered.
"No cubs," Thalara added.
Swanly’s skin went cold.
System.
{Present.}
Search their camp. Quietly.
{Deep environmental scan available. Cost: Twenty points.}
Do it.
Golden light passed through Swanly’s vision.
Nobody else saw it.
Stone became transparent in thin layers.
Ashclaw’s camp unfolded beneath the surface.
Weapons hidden inside cracks.
Stripped bone knives.
Broken bows.
Bundles of clothing belonging to different tribes.
Small bracelets carved for cubs.
Female ornaments.
Several patches of dark soil beneath the fires.
Then pale shapes underground.
Bodies.
Too many to count quickly.
{Scan complete.}
{Multiple concealed belongings from travelling groups detected.}
{Stripped weapons belonging to at least six distinct tribes detected.}
{Cub-sized personal items detected.}
{Multiple buried remains detected beneath Ashclaw’s camp. Causes of death unknown.}
{Current balance: Four hundred and ninety-four points.}
Swanly’s fingers tightened around the water skin.
They had robbed travellers.
They had almost certainly killed some.
Maybe many.
Thalara watched her face.
"You see something."
"My magic confirmed enough."
"Will you tell the snake?"
"Yes."
Swanly looked toward Soren.
He was sitting alone because everyone had begun avoiding him.
Even Raku maintained a careful distance unless needed.
Nahla had warned people not to approach him suddenly.
The damaged core was making his senses too sharp.
Every crying cub struck his ears like a scream.
Every drop of blood sharpened his hunger for violence.
Every unfamiliar male smelled like a threat.
One Ashclaw guard walked too close behind him.
Soren’s tail snapped around the man’s ankle before the male completed his next step.
The guard hit the ground.
Soren did not turn.
"Do that again."
The guard’s face paled.
Soren’s tail tightened.
"And I will tear both legs off."
Dagan laughed from nearby.
"He meant no harm."
Soren released the guard.
"I did."
Swanly approached carefully.
His head turned before she reached him.
He had recognized her footsteps.
Or her scent.
Possibly both.
"What?" he asked.
"You look pleasant."
"I am in pain."
"That explains the expression. Not the personality."
His eyes narrowed.
Swanly sat beside him, leaving enough distance that his tail did not immediately catch her.
It caught her anyway.
One pale coil settled behind her back.
Not holding her.
Merely preventing anyone else from standing there.
Possessive, irritating creature.
She lowered her voice.
"Thalara says the roots beneath Ashclaw’s camp are filled with buried blood."
Soren showed no surprise.
"My magic searched the area. They have weapons from several tribes, belongings from women and cubs, and buried bodies beneath their fires."
His scales darkened.
Swanly caught his wrist.
"No."
"I have not moved."
"You were thinking loudly."
"That is your line for me."
"I borrowed it."
His gaze moved toward Dagan.
The wolf was now speaking with Garran and three former elders.
Soren’s claws pressed into his palm.
Blood appeared.
Swanly tightened her fingers around his wrist.
"We cannot fight forty males right now."
"I can kill forty males."
"You can barely stand."
"I do not require my legs to use my tail."
"And afterward?"
"Quiet."
"Soren."
He finally looked at her.
For one frightening heartbeat, his pupils were almost black.
Then they thinned again.
Swanly lowered her voice.
"Let them think we do not know."
His jaw tightened.
"Why?"
"Because they are already searching for weaknesses."
Soren looked toward Garran.
The old lion stood straighter as Dagan spoke to him.
A former Riverbone elder nodded repeatedly.
Another kept glancing toward Soren to see whether he was watching.
He was.
He saw everything.
Hands clasping too quickly.
Ears turning toward private whispers.
Tails stiffening when Dagan mentioned leadership.
Males stepping closer to Ashclaw’s fires.
Others moving closer to their families.
Soren’s expression became calm.
Too calm.
"Let them speak."
Swanly studied him.
"You are not stopping them?"