Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,66

mean, and their beaks are as deadly as their clawed feet.”

T’shen nods. “It is so with our people. Haeden will tell you that a sky-claw nearly ate his mate Jo-see once.”

“No shit?” B’rukh says, horrified.

“They eat whatever they desire, but they tear and destroy and eat only small pieces of what they kill.” I think of the dead sa-kohtsk with the enormous bite out of the back of the neck. “My people say they just like the taste of blood.”

H’nah shudders.

“T'aashi went to the far side of the Great Smoking Mountain, where no people lived, where the cliffs were said to be riddled with sky-claw nests. He expected to be greeted with a great many sky-claw but he only found one. Old Grandfather. Even then, he was so ancient that his fur had turned white, and T'aashi’s father had spoken of seeing such a sky-claw who came out only at night or on stormy days. The tribe thought they were just stories even then. T'aashi knew that if he killed this sky-claw, he would be chief. And so he planned. He found sleep-leaf and killed a young kaari and stuffed it full of it, then hung it from a tree nearby. A larger kaari came by and devoured the dead one, and it grew sluggish. T'aashi wounded it and chased it towards the cliffs, and the great pale sky-claw ate the kaari in one gulp and flew away. T'aashi went back to its nest and waited, and when Old Grandfather returned, his movements slow, T'aashi struck. He thought he could kill the thing, but the hide was so hard his spear bounced off of it each time he tried to attack. Old Grandfather was still fast, and he grabbed T'aashi and held him in his mouth as T'aashi fought and fought to be freed. He punched at the hard mouth over and over again until he punched out the teeth on the side of Old Grandfather’s face and split the hard, bony shell of his beak. After that, Old Grandfather released him, and torn and bleeding, T'aashi gathered the teeth and limped back to the tribe. It took him many moons to recover from his injuries, and he was scarred all over his body from Old Grandfather’s teeth, but he went on to be a great chief and hunter for Strong Arm and fathered many kits. After that, Old Grandfather was only seen from time to time, when the weather was poor, but we would often find great-sized creatures with just a bite taken out of them, and the bite would have a break in it, right where T'aashi’s fist was said to have broken his mouth.” I shake my head. “My father told me such tales as a kit and I thought they were just stories…and now I have seen Old Grandfather for myself.”

I sigh heavily and they stare at me, worry in their eyes. I do not blame them. I am worried, too. The sight of Old Grandfather—terrifying on his own—has made me realize just how fragile H’nah is. How vulnerable we are with only two hunters here to defend the precious females. I know T’shen is thinking the same.

“How did he get here?” H’nah asks. “From the island? If it’s the same bird?”

T’shen speaks up. “The sky-claw come down from the mountains in the bitter season and hunt everything they can. Perhaps because the weather has been warmer this one has ventured out even during the brutal season.”

“Or because he’s got a lot more belly to fill,” B’rukh says, and hugs her arms to her chest.

H’nah looks at me. “You’re positive it’s the same one?”

I nod. “There were always sightings of Old Grandfather, up until the Great Smoking Mountain attacked the first time. Perhaps he came here after that, when most of the island was destroyed.”

T’shen nods thoughtfully. “My people are usually not in this area during the brutal season. They stay much closer to the village. It is possible he has been here many turns of the seasons and we did not know it.”

“Well that’s just fucking great,” B’rukh says, and T’shen touches her shoulder to comfort her.

“The others have seen many slaughtered dvisti,” T’shen admits after a moment. “We thought perhaps a sky-claw was in the area, but we never saw it, so we did not tell the others.” B’rukh shoots him an angry look. He shakes his head, raising a hand before she can yell at him. “R’jaal and Raahosh are aware. They said