Strange New Eyes

Chapter Eleven - Ambush

They were walking again. It felt as though Aysel had walked more over the past six days than she had in her entire life, and she had the sore legs to show for it. This time, though, it was different. She new her goal. She had a direction. Beside her were people who had risked their lives for her, and she for theirs. After nearly a week of chaos, it felt good to have somewhere solid to stand.

She snuck a sideways glance at Dunyasha, who was walking through the snow beside her. Her profile stood out sharply against the light of the setting sun, rugged as the mountain skyline. Her dark mane of hair was illuminated by the sunlight, which brought out hints of golden tones. With her prominent muzzle and the swiftness with which she moved, she reminded Aysel of the snow wolves that sometimes prowled the outskirts of her village: fierce, dangerous, and in their own wild way, beautiful.

Beautiful. She averted her gaze so Dunyasha wouldn't see her stare and instead focused on her snowshoes, confused by why her face felt hot even in the frigid cold of the incoming storm. It was almost time now; the air was heavy around her and the skies had darkened into a blanket of imposing gray. By the time night fully fell, the snow would be falling, too.

Enrick, who was in the lead, held up his hand. Behind him, Dunyasha and Aysel stopped without a word, listening intently. Aysel couldn't hear anything but dry branches rustling together, but Dunyasha and Enrick cocked their heads and narrowed their eyes. Dunyasha silently pointed a bit to the right of where they had been going, and the three set off again.

Soon Aysel was able to hear what the two People presumably had been hearing: the sound of creaking wood and quiet voices. They slowed their pace to a crawl. Enrick and Dunyasha seamlessly shifted their stride from walking to stalking. They bent even further over, their ankles touching their hips with every step forward, bodies hidden beneath the horizon line. Dunyasha pulled out her spears. They were very close now; a few more steps and Aysel was sure she would be able to see them beyond the trees.

"Please don't hurt them," Aysel whispered, eyes on the point of Dunyasha's gleaming spear.

"We need their clothes, not their deaths," Dunyasha breathed back. She tapped Enrick on the shoulder whispered something in his ear. He nodded and silently crept into the woods on their left side. Dunyasha leaned close to Aysel and said, "Stay here. Try to stop them if they run your way."

"No one will get hurt, right?" Aysel asked. Now that her plan was in place, it was starting to seem exceedingly dangerous, if not for them then for those they were ambushing.

Dunyasha leaned in to whisper to her again, and Aysel could feel her eyelashes brush her cheek. "We won't hurt them unless they try to hurt us." And with that, she was gone.

The forest was silent for a few moments but for the quiet voices of the people they were about to attack drifting through the trees. Aysel closed her eyes and held her blade like a talisman. Let the gifts in their blood protect them from harm, she prayed, hoping the Ancient Ones were still listening after all she had done. Let the gifts in my blood protect us, as well.

It started with a familiar sound, the same one Aysel had heard the first time she met Dunyasha: the thud of a spear handle against a skull. Then the woods erupted into chaos.

Letters' shouts rang out as they realized the creature attacking them was the thing they hated and feared above all. Aysel could clearly hear the snick of a blade slicing through cloth and skin, the owners too hurried to roll up a sleeve.

"No," she whispered. People were getting hurt. People might die. It was her fault.

There was the drumming of Dunyasha's heavy but swift footsteps as she charged forward, and the retreating steps of Letters running in the other direction.