Chapter 18
Riley
Before last night, the only two funerals I’ve ever been to were my mother’s and Lara’s.
Neither of them were anything like the one carried out for Jodah’s parents.
It truly was a celebration of their life.
Of course, tears were shed, but there was more laughter and celebrating than grieving.
Especially as the copious amounts of liquor flowed.
I’ve never been much of a drinker so it didn’t take a lot to get me on the far, far side of tipsy.
Thankfully Sage supplied us with some kind of hangover remedy.
I climb out of our furs and wash my face with the basin of water. Stella isn’t in her own bed and neither is Zalik. I quickly change my clothes and go in search of them. My first stop is the elders’ area, since that seems like the most logical place they’d be. Except they’re nowhere to be found.
Alesha is outside and said she saw them earlier but it’s been a while.
Next, I stop at the healers’ tent. Once more they’ve been seen but Kyler can’t remember how long ago.
Worry starts to fill me. Has something happened to them?
My search becomes a bit more frantic as my pace quickens through the village.
Each person says the same thing as the one before them.
I’m nearly running by the time I find London. She’s down at the river with the kids doing what looks like some kind of school lesson when she spots me. Whatever she sees on my face has her jumping to her feet.
“Riley, what’s wrong?”
I have to catch my breath before I can answer. “Zalik and Stella are missing. I’ve searched everywhere. No one has seen them for far too long.”
London turns to the children.
“Our lessons are canceled for the day.” She focuses back on me. “Let’s see if we can find a scout who might have spotted them.”
She and I make our way through the village once more and stop at the front gate.
“Did Zalik leave the village with Stella?” London asks the two males standing guard.
“Aye, Shefira. He has been gone since the sun crested the horizon,” one of them replies.
She and I share a glance. There are no clocks—no hours or minutes—on Tavikh, but but based on where the sun is now, he left at least two hours ago. Where would he have gone for that long, especially with Stella?
“Do you know which direction he headed?” Maybe that will give us an idea where to start looking.
“I believe he mentioned something about heading up into the hills to look for a tree,” the second warrior says.
“A tree?” London appears confused. “There are trees a lot closer than up in the hills. Why would he need to go all the way up there?”
Suddenly it hits me. “I think that’s my fault. Zalik and I were talking about human customs I wanted to share with Stella and I told him all about Christmas. I can only assume he went looking for a specific kind of tree. That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“If there are different trees besides fiku trees, I’ve never heard of them,” London says.
“Shefira,” the first warrior gets her attention. “There is a place up in the hills where a small grove of dehnar trees grow. Those could be the ones Zalik went to search out.”
London turns to me. “Let’s go get Zander.”
We rush across the length of the village for a second time and down the rise to the training arena.
This is the closest I’ve gotten to it and the sound of wooden staffs cracking together is louder than thunder.
Warriors are paired off and spar against each other with either long wooden staffs or what appears to be capped swords.
Several of the kids are paired off as well, including a Tavikhi boy who looks to be in his early teens and a tall, slender, human girl near his age She’s quick and agile and is definitely keeping up with him. This must be Cecily.
Zander turns and when he lays eyes on us, he moves quickly forward.
“What is wrong, keeshla?” He cradles one side of London’s face.
“Zalik and Stella are missing. Imir is at the gate and says they left just as the sun rose. No one we’ve talked to has seen them since. Imir also says Zalik mentioned looking for some special trees only found up in the hills.”
“If he was going to be gone this long, he would have woken me or at least have someone let me know,” I add. “There’s no way Zalik would make me worry. Especially not where Stella is concerned.”
Zander nods. “I will gather a couple of warriors and we will go in search of him.”
I take a step forward. “Respectfully, I’m coming with. Zalik is my mate and Stella our daughter.”
The shefir has the look of a man who’s going to refuse me until London lays her hand on his arm. “If it were you, I wouldn’t let them go without me, either.”
He releases a heavy sigh filled with resignation. “Come.”
I offer her a sincere thank you and then rush to catch up with her husband who’s already halfway up the hill.
Every scenario runs through my head as to why Zalik is missing.
He’s hurt somewhere. Stella’s hurt somehow, but he can’t leave her for whatever reason.
Some other alien species living on this planet found them and has taken my mate and daughter captive.
Any number of things could be wrong, and everything I come up with is worst than the last.
Zander has managed to acquire two additional warriors, including Evren. I can’t remember the other’s name, but I’m sure he’s also one of Zalik’s friends. We make a quick stop at the weapons store where they each arm themselves. I know better than to ask for a weapon for any number of reasons.
At last, we set off. It feels like hours have passed since I started searching for Zalik, even though it can’t be more than fifteen or twenty minutes. This whole time I’ve been hoping I’m wrong and suddenly he and Stella are going to pop up. But that isn’t the case.
The direction we head is opposite the human settlement. Ahead of me, the hills look large and imposing. More mountainous than anything. For a minute I worry about my ability to keep up if we’re supposed to ascend the things, but I push my concern aside. I’ll find the strength for Zalik and Stella.
“He did not mention to you where he might go?” Zander asks.
“No, nothing. We spent all of yesterday preparing for the funeral last night. We ate, drank, and everyone shared their memories of Jodah’s parents. I’m not a big drinker so by the time we stumbled back to our tent, I was asleep the second I laid down.”
He makes a sound I take for okay.
“Zalik is a skilled warrior. He will be fine,” Evren attempts to soothe me.
I smile because I appreciate him trying to make me feel better, but it quickly falls when the worry returns. No one speaks again as we stride through a knee-high field of the weird yellow grass. My lungs are already burning, along with my thighs as I wade through the field.
Once we finally make it across, I crane my neck to see up, up, up toward the top of the mountain.
Dense trees make up the entire landscape and I have no idea how we’re going to climb when there aren’t any visible trailheads.
Evren, who has gotten farther ahead of us, squats down and messes with the ground.
He brings his fingers to his nose and sniffs.
“There is a faint, but recent indicator a Tavikhi passed this way,” he says over his shoulder.
How he can tell, I have no idea, but I trust Zalik’s tribe brothers. Evren studies the ground a second longer and then scans the area. Finally, he points toward some invisible marker at the base of the mountain.
“I believe he went that way.” He rises to his feet and proceeds forward.
We all follow him. To my surprise, he leads us to a hidden trail head that is tucked behind an overlapping section of the mountain wall. When looking straight on, the wall looks flat, but from the side, the gap between the surfaces is evident.
The trees on both sides of the narrow trail serve as a barrier against sound and light. It’s eerie walking the path and the far too quiet that surrounds me, broken only by my footsteps that echo in my ear. The three Tavikhi warriors move silently, like ghosts floating weightlessly over the ground.
“A human has passed through here,” Evren finally says, his voice pitched low I almost can’t hear what he said.
“How can you tell?” I keep my voice as quiet.
He points to something, but whatever it is, it’s not obvious to me. “There is a marking of the foot coverings you all wear. Yet it is slightly different than those belonging to the humans of the settlement.”
“Can you tell how long ago the markings were made?”
“Only within the last one or two turns.”
I suppose that’s better than nothing. We set off once again and I try to study and observe the ground and general area the way Evren is, but I have no idea what to look for.
It’s especially hard to see with the dense foliage blocking out what little sun manages to escape the overcast sky. I shiver in the chilly air.
Since we left the village the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees.
We continue ascending the trail, luckily stopping every so often while Evren studies the ground.
A short distance ahead, I notice the path divides.
How are we going to know which way to go? When we reach it, I get my answer.
“Rassim will come with me. Riley will go with Evren,” Zander says.
I’m not keen on the idea of splitting up, but I also know the search will go faster this way.
The shefir and the other warrior take the left path while Evren and I take the right.
The silence feels extra heavy without the other two warriors and I’m almost suffocating from it.
Still, I keep my eyes and ears open for anything.
We pause every so often for Evren to do his tracking magic. It’s during one of the stops that I glance around and freeze. I narrow my eyes and strain to bring a small color disturbance into focus.
“Evren.”
He glances up at me and I point to what I think I’m seeing in the distance, even though its probably nothing.
He studies the direction I’m indicating and then he’s off running toward it.
I follow as quickly as I’m able, but he’s so much faster and the distance between us lengthens.
He skids to a stop and then calls out the sound of the yellow birds I’ve seen flying around.
It’s slightly off pitch, but after a few seconds, a faint echo of it comes back.
Finally, I reach him, and he’s digging through the leaves.
I cry out and drop to my knees to help, because buried beneath the large pile is Zalik.
Black blood stains his golden hair and leaves are stuck in it.
He’s cold to the touch, but his chest rises and falls.
We finally get him out from beneath the camouflage that hid him.
I lay his head in my lap and gently stroke his face
There’s no sign of Stella.
Moments later, Zander and Rassim come rushing out of the trees to join us. Rassim inspects Zalik for more wounds, but the only one is to his head. I talk softly to him, begging him to wake up. Finally he groans and his eyelids flutter. Slowly they open and his eyes are glazed over
“Zalik, baby, what happened? Where’s Stella?”
He opens his mouth and croaks out a single word. “Dane.”