Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,43

a crafty look. “My Brooke thought you needed a helping hand. It was her idea to take Ha-nah along on our journey, and her idea that you must come as well.”

“H’nah invited many others.”

“Bah. What hunter would take such an invitation seriously? They know she is yours. Brooke knew no one else would join us.” He nods at me, tying a roll of furs together tightly. “Use this time and get to know your female. Give her sweet words. Resonance will help with the rest.”

I nod, soaking in his suggestion. Perhaps sweet words are a good idea. But what? I ponder this even as we set out from the cave. T’shen and his mate B’rukh take the lead and I follow behind with H’nah, who does not walk as fast. On this day, the twin suns shine brightly overhead, unobscured by clouds, and the ice and snow glare, so we pause to rub soot under our eyes to distract the light.

This trip is good for me in many ways, I realize. T’shen is a good teacher. He takes his time, pointing out animal tracks or the signs of a den. He pauses to strip leaves from a bush, explaining what the plant is used for, and I know the lesson is for me as well as H’nah and B’rukh. There is much to learn about this part of the world, so different from my own. I have gone on hunts before, but I was always distracted with worry over N’dek. Now I can focus.

Well…perhaps not. H’nah is a greater distraction than N’dek ever was. But she is interested in learning, and I find that it is good for me, too. The morning passes pleasantly, and my mood is light.

Even though I am not familiar with this snowy landscape, there are some things every hunter knows. And as the wind shifts, it brings with it a new smell.

Rot.

The scent is sickly sweet and overwhelmingly strong. T’shen and I share a glance of worry.

“What is that stink?” B’rukh asks, waving a hand in front of her.

H’nah shakes her head. “No clue.”

“Look for birds,” T’shen tells me. “Dirty gray feathers and big, tearing claws. Short bill with a sideways clamp. They are scavengers and if something is dead, they will be nearby.”

H’nah’s hand touches my arm. “Should we be worried?”

“Not yet,” I reassure her. “Death-smell can linger over a very long stretch of land. It might be nothing.” But I hold my spear at the ready, because my senses—and T’shen’s tight stance—tell me that it is something.

And over the next ridge, we see them. The birds, just as T’shen described, but so many that whatever is dead must be large indeed. He casts a worried look in my direction even as the wind blows a fresh round of death-stench into our faces. “The females should stay back while we see what it is,” T’shen tells me. “There might be many scavengers, and not all are afraid of hunters like the blood birds are.”

“Fuck that,” B’rukh says.

H’nah grips my arm and shakes her head. “We’re staying with you guys.”

“It might not be safe,” T’shen reasons with his mate.

“It’ll be safer if we’re with you instead of out here in the open,” H’nah says, looking up at me. “Just give us weapons. We won’t get in your way.”

I glance over at T’shen. “It might be safer to bring them with us after all.” He nods, looking at his pink-maned mate with a worried expression.

H’nah puts her hand out and I give her my best knife. “Stay close.”

The females follow us as T’shen and I take the lead, heading into the valley that crawls with death and its scavengers. The birds are everywhere, and the smell grows stronger…and then we see it.

An enormous creature has fallen in the snow, one with long, thin legs that seem to stretch across the narrow valley and a mass of shaggy whitish-gray fur. As we walk toward it, the birds screech and fly off, settling onto nearby cliff-tops and waiting for us to leave. As we circle the creature, I see a pair of heavy tusks that jut from the mouth, and four eyes that once glowed with khui-brilliance but are now dull.

“Isn’t that a sa-kohtsk?” H’nah asks me.

“It is,” B’rukh says. “I remember how they looked when I got my khui. And you guys hunted them for the new babies recently, didn’t you?” She looks at me and I nod.

“Was there a hunt I was unaware of?” T’shen asks,