The Huntress of Iyhiri

Chapter 18

"So, that's what you ran away from?" asked Agnez. The four companions: two Crymith women, a Euryfera man, and an Iyhiri wolf, were following another burnt trail, this time on the north side of the island.

"That's not what I ran away from." Yaalon looked down at Rockdog. "Hunt, pup."

Rockdog took off toward the distant tree line.

"Have a good dinner!" Yaalon hollered after him.

"Oh?" Agnez said, coming back to her question, raising an eyebrow as she cocked her head toward Yaalon.

"Those people are frightened, trying to survive. Nothing short of threat of life would have gotten them out of the caverns. And they had no idea the Vi'qom or those things they brought with them were here. I left a static life of darkness. I left because I couldn't stand being stuck underground in the caverns.

"Even so, I'm glad the trail led us to them so we could help. They wouldn't have known where to go for shelter otherwise."

His focus drifted off somewhere ahead of him as he walked along silently. Then, "You know, even though I've always been within days of the caverns, I wouldn't ever have gone back to living there. No point. I could have been standing over top of them and they wouldn't have known. They shovel soil earthside but they don't actually come out of the caverns. Everything is underground for the Euryfera. At least it was."

"Maybe now that you don't have to go into the caverns to see him, you can visit your father again," said Agnez.

Silence hung among them in place of Yaalon's response.

"I'm sorry about your mother," said Rajhani.

Yaalon stopped walking. Agnez and Rajhani stopped next to him, one on each side.

"Me, too," said Agnez.

"I guess we all have that in common now," said Yaalon, his voice shaking slightly.

"Yeah..." said Agnez.

Rajhani turned toward Yaalon. "If you need time..."

"No," he said abruptly. "I hadn't seen them for ten years. Nothing really changed for me today. We have to find the Vi'qom. Let's keep going," he said and started forward again.

Rajhani and Agnez exchanged a knowing glance and got in step behind him.

🙚🙘

"There!" Rajhani yelled and grabbed Agnez and Yaalon's arms, digging in her feet and pulling them backward. "It's one of them." She let go of Yaalon and pointed across the field they were standing in.

"It's moving away from us," said Yaalon.

"It's smaller than the others. A lot smaller," said Agnez.

"That explains why the trail wasn't as wide as the others we've seen. It must be a different one than what went through the caverns."

"Wait," said Rajhani. 

"What is it?" asked Agnez.

"How are they crossing the river?"

"Could be crawling over fallen trees or stone crossings," said Yaalon.

"Or there could be far more of them than we think," said Agnez. "Maybe none of them cross the river. If the Vi'qom made these things, then they must know they won't go in water. They would have brought several. The main river runs all the way from one side of Iyhiri to the other."

"Of course," replied Yaalon. "Thalassa said there were a few that she knew about but there must be more than even the Zaryans are aware of. And I saw a small one, not bigger than the tip of my thumb, in a tank in the domes. So they must be made small and grow larger."