Kavio
Kavio noticed all the changes to the Tors of Yellow Bear since he first came here eight years ago.
Back then, the place had seemed bigger—but he had only been ten years old. That was just how children saw things.
He remembered running through the winding paths between the round, beehive houses—once while playing, and again while fleeing from the old man who tried to kill him.
He remembered the jingle of gold bracelets on Lulla's ankles and wrists—Hertio's daughter—and the smell of molten gold from the smelting ovens.
Beyond the tors, across the river, the land sloped up into a forest of giant sequoias. The oaks and sycamores looked small beside them, like defeated warriors.
His father's army had once camped on those slopes. They came hoping for peace—but ready for war.
At last, Kavio let himself look at the Unfinished Tor. The place where he had killed a man for the first time. The moment that nearly started a war.
He could still feel the old man's breath on his neck, stinking of beer and rotted teeth, shouting: Your father murdered my son! I'll pay his deathdebt with your blood!
That was the first time Kavio met someone who didn't call his father a hero.
After that awful day—and the worse night that followed one moon later, on the Tor of the Stone Hedge—Kavio had never looked at his father the same way again.
In Yellow Bear, Kavio had felt terror, shame, and betrayal. He had spilled blood. He had been left to die as a slave.
It almost felt like home.
If Hertio would welcome him—and that was far from certain—could he stay? His allies expected him to ask Yellow Bear for help. His enemies likely expected that too.
But deep down, Kavio had a bad feeling.
If he stayed, there would be blood.
This time, no human sacrifice would stop the war.
I'm sorry, Yellow Bear, he thought. I have to pass you by.
He turned south and began to follow the river downstream, toward the ocean.
The valley of the Tors was wide. By evening, Kavio could still see the last tor—the Tor of the Stone Hedge—behind him.
Along the riverbanks, wooden lookout towers, called bomas, kept watch for strangers like him. Scouts in the towers noticed him, but did not challenge him when they saw he was alone and staying at the edge of the valley.
Close to midnight, their attention shifted.
They looked away from him—toward something else.
He followed their gaze and saw two long columns of tiny figures climbing a hill. Torchlights flickered in their hands.
The Initiation, he thought.
In the Rainbow Labyrinth, the ceremony was different. It took place underground, in the stone maze beneath the tribehold. But he knew what he was seeing.
His own Initiation had happened only three years ago.
He tried not to think about Dindi. He warned himself, Let it go. There was no point chasing someone he could never have.
But thinking of her made his heart twist.
Trying to shake off the feeling, he decided not to stop for the night. He pressed on.
The new moon gave little light. The river beside him was dark.
But far ahead, lights sparkled on the water—like sapphires.
Coming upstream.
Kavio froze.
The lights were on boats. But who would be boating up the river in the middle of the night?
He crept closer, hiding behind tall river reeds.
The lights weren't torches. They had a strange blue glow.
Not firelight. Fae light.
The boats moved silently. Their bark sides were smooth. Carved wooden animal heads decorated their prows.
Perched on each prow was a blue fae—their twisted faces even uglier than the carvings made to look like them.
Behind the fae sat one Tavaedi in blue robes and several bare-chested warriors, tattooed and strong.
Blue Waters tribesmen, Kavio thought.
But why were they here?
What did they hope to do?
He glanced toward the boma scouts. They hadn't sounded any alarms.
Then Kavio realized: The same fae light that lets me see the boats is hiding them from the scouts.
The Yellow Bear watchmen couldn't see the Blue. That meant the Blue Waters warriors could strike at least one place before anyone could stop them.
Where would they attack?
He knew at once.
The Initiation.
Two hundred young people.
Half of them girls.
All of them unarmed and blindfolded.
Perfect hostages.
Kavio nearly stumbled in relief when he saw a group of Yellow Bear warriors rushing toward him.
"We don't have much time!" he gasped. "We must intercept them before they reach the tor—!"
The warriors raised their spears at him.
The leader chewed a leaf, looking calm.
"Throw down your weapons and come with us."
Kavio stared. "Are you mad? I'm not your enemy! They're attacking the Tor of the Stone Hedge! They're trying to capture the Initiates!"
"I don't see any enemy but you," said the leader.
"Boats are coming up the river—!"
"Our scouts didn't see any boats. They saw you. Why were you running toward our tribehold?"
"To warn you, you squash-headed fools—!"
The sept-leader punched him in the gut.
Two other warriors grabbed his arms.
Kavio didn't fight back. He could. He could break free and knock their skulls together—but that wouldn't help him make his point.
"I'm on your side," he said again. "I'm from the Rainbow Labyrinth. I'm your ally."
"We'll let Hertio decide that," said the leader.
"There's no time!" Kavio shouted. "There could be a massacre by then!"
The leader curled his lip.
"Sure," he said.
Some of the warriors laughed.
"Take him. If he fights—kill him."