Over Their Shoulder

Bebe woke Fallon. "Can you tell us what this Faerie is squeaking about?"

The sun had warmed the air while he slept. He threw off the covers of his bedroll and stood up. He looked to the Faerie on a nearby rock and laughed. Someone had tied a skirt of woven twigs around the Faerie's waist. The wings did not have full motion so the Faerie hopped up and down in a fit of anger and frustration. "It looks ridiculous! Alpen, was this your idea?"

Alpen pointed to Drindl, who said, "I thought he would like being out of the cage."

Fallon brought his teeth together to make a high keening sound. The Faerie paused, then said that he wouldn't fly away if they took this skirt off him. Fallon put him back in the cage, then gave him the tiniest morsel of energy to help the Faerie sleep.

Bebe wanted a break from babysitting the eggs and stepped into the harness of their travois. Drindl took lead and they continued south on the Ibik migration path. Their route took them toward what they guessed was a river running down from the highlands ahead of them. When they broke in the mid-afternoon, Alithea checked and redressed Fallon's wound, then tied a fresh bandage. "You can pull for a few hours but keep a moderate pace," she told him.

Erthen wanted to sit on Fallon's shoulders but Alithea thought that was too much strain. Alpen took the boy for a while until he got tired of the bouncing. Drindl took Alpen's place. A short time later, the wind changed direction and Fallon noticed the smell of Drindl's musth again. He looked back at Alpen who came alongside and said, "His smell is in the wind. Our village is downwind. If faeries get a whiff…"

"The faeries won't search all the way down here," Fallon argued.

"They don't need to. They only need the direction of the scent. They will tell Altiss who will tell Sarten."

"You think he'll come after us?" Fallon asked.

"Sarten won't come after us. We're only two warriors," Alpen said. "Bebe and Alithea are two of his best doctors. He needs them. That's why we need to keep moving."

"We could explain," Fallon argued. "You and I both bear the marks of our loyalty to Sarten. That has to mean something."

"I'm a bit older than you. Sarten has become ruthless and will get more so," Alpen said. "We'll find my brother's people and make a new home, a safer home."

"Wash Drindl in the river?" Fallon asked.

"That will help for a while," Alpen agreed. "Not in the evening. The scent will attract the wolfbear."