“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Breakfast replied, a watery smile tilting his lips.
Rowan laughed under his breath while he rubbed his bloody hands in the snow to clean them. “Climb the cliff and scout out a cave for us to sleep in tonight. Light a fire when you get up there. Watch out for Woven along the way.”
“Breakfast, wait,” Lily said. She transmuted a little more energy for him to take with him on the climb. “Be safe.” He gave her a shaky look, then vaulted up the icy cliff face.
Rowan took his cauldron from his pack and started scooping snow into it. He put the snow-filled cauldron on the fire and stared at it while he rubbed salve onto Lily’s singed skin. Luckily this time she was not too badly burned.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, staring at the melting snow in the cauldron. “You need salt.”
“Not yet,” she whispered, every muscle relaxing under his hands. “Too tired.”
“They did well.”
“They’re scared out of their minds.”
He paused before responding, the fire popping and sending sparks and smoke up into the early morning light. “They should be.”
When Tristan and Una returned, Rowan told them to drink from the cauldron first, and to the use the rest of the water to wash before they put their outer clothes back on. Blood would attract scavengers. They silently obeyed him, relieved to have someone to take charge and tell them what to do. Lily could feel that they were on the edge of losing it, and the last thing they needed was too much time to stop and think. The group struck camp, climbed the cliff, and joined Breakfast in one of the Witch Caves. They piled into one big heap and fell into an exhausted sleep together.
When Lily awoke, she could hear urgent whispers. Tristan and Una were sitting by the
fire in the mouth of the cave, talking. Lily could feel that Rowan and Breakfast were not with them.
“They’ve been gone too long,” Una said.
“Rowan knows what he’s doing,” Tristan replied. “He’ll look out for Breakfast while they hunt. I guess we’re all going to need to learn how to hunt and gather now.”
“Yeah. This is our life now,” she said, incredulous. Una sighed. “I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe what I did,” she said.
“I know,” Tristan replied in a leaden tone. “I tore one of them apart with my bare hands.”
“Me too.” Una pulled her knees against her chest, hugging herself tightly. “And it felt so good,” she said, her voice small.
Tristan nodded. “If it had been a person in front of me I would have done the same.” He groaned. “I’ve never felt anything like that. Never felt so”—he paused, searching for the right word—“fulfilled. And I hate this about myself, but I want more.”
“I know. I’m disgusted with myself, but I crave it, too. All that power. Tristan, are we sick?” she asked tremulously.
“No, you’re not sick,” Lily said, sitting up. She stood and joined them by the fire. “The Gift is what it is. It’s always a struggle not to give in to it.”
“What’s it like for you?” Tristan asked, a curious smile narrowing his blue eyes.
Lily swallowed. “I feel what all of you feel combined,” she replied, leaving out that she also felt the temptation to possess every one of them.
“So what’s it like fueling a whole army?” Una asked.
Lily thought about it, seeking the right way to put it. “Like being a mighty river, I guess. I could grind down mountains or wash whole cities out to sea. It’s a lot to take in.”
“If you’re the river, are we the fish?” Tristan guessed, smiling. Lily smiled back vaguely, not really agreeing or disagreeing. “You could show us, couldn’t you? You could share your memory of it with us,” he pressed.
Lily sensed Tristan’s hunger. Restraint had never been his forte, and she was grateful that she was the one in control of her awesome power—not him. But, she wondered, how would she use that power if Rowan weren’t there to remind her not to give in to it? She looked out the mouth of the cave and changed the subject. “They’re almost here,” she said, feeling Breakfast and Rowan before she could see them.
They came back in the late afternoon with a dead rabbit, and Rowan immediately began to teach them how to skin it.
“I know this is probably a dumb question, but why go hunting?” Una asked. “Why don’t we just eat the Woven we already killed?”
“They’re poisonous,” Rowan answered. “Only Woven can eat other Woven.”
“Seriously?” Lily asked, surprised. “How can that be? There are so many different breeds, you’d think some of them would be edible.”