The Scourge (A.G. Henley) - By A.G. Henley Page 0,98

guards were posted at every entrance to the caves. Adder justified it by saying he was protecting them from retaliation, but it kept in people who might have gone out to try to make peace with the Lofties. As far as I can tell, no one knew I had returned. Moray told everyone he bit his tongue while eating jerky.

Then Peree came into the caves, looking for me. Calli said he was limping badly, but he still managed to saunter in like he belonged there. He would have been killed on the spot if Aloe hadn’t intervened. She stood in front of him, protecting him from the spears. She convinced Adder he could be used as a bargaining tool with the Lofties. It was the best she could do to spare his life.

On the day of the Reckoning, as people are calling it, right before the negotiations, Aloe finally confided in Fox about Adder’s blackmail. She asked him to step in as a de facto member of the Three, to temper Adder’s madness. I wondered why she didn’t tell someone what was happening sooner. Eland said she probably wasn’t sure who she could trust. Adder had allies, and not all of them were as vocal as Thistle and her family.

Adder insisted Eland come to the mouth of the caves during the negotiations while the other children were kept behind, to remind Aloe of what she had to lose if she didn’t keep her mouth shut. She died protecting Eland. I wish I could say it was a stray Lofty arrow that killed her, but Marjoram told me it was a spear wound.

My only comfort is knowing that the choices Aloe made were for Eland’s sake. She forwent her duty in order to protect him. I would have, too. I try not to think about the times I needed her protection but didn’t get it, from being blinded as a baby, right up through the Reckoning. Instead, I remember she was doing the best she could to protect her children under difficult circumstances. Maybe all mothers are.

Sable and Willow succumbed to their illnesses days ago. Thistle, her sons, and a few others are being held under guard, until a decision is made about what to do with them. Adder was killed by Lofty arrows. Scores of them. No doubt he was targeted. With Adder, Aloe, and Sable gone, Fox, Pinion, and Bream were chosen as temporary Council members. They persuaded the Lofties to let us bury our dead and return home.

That is what I know.

This is what I don’t know–

If Peree lives. Eland said Peree managed to wrestle Cuda’s spear away from him again when the fighting started. He knocked Cuda out rather than killing him. All anyone could remember about Peree after that was he ran out into the Scourge like he’d suddenly gone mad. Eland thought he was consumed by the flesh-eaters, but Calli said she heard he was shot by a Lofty.

It can’t be true. Peree can’t be dead. But I’m haunted by Kadee’s wail of despair. How could he have survived—a fair-haired, fair-eyed target for generations of Groundling resentment and rage? Or survived the conviction of many of his own people that he was about to be consumed by the Scourge?

I’m strong. The last month convinced me of that. But losing Peree and Aloe in one day is more than my heart can bear.

I sit in the circle of light from the fire, singing softly to Bear as he coughs and shifts on his pallet. The throbbing ache in my head returns with brutal swiftness when I think about Peree, but physically I’m improving. I touch the bandage on Bear’s side, under his left ribs, to be sure the wound isn’t bleeding again. My guilt grows the longer he remains unconscious.

Calli told me Bear made it to the caves after I literally slipped out of his hands, only to have Moray stab him in the back. Bear’s lung was pierced, but somehow he fought him off. I can’t say I was glad to hear Moray survived.

Calli started helping in the infirmary when so many people began falling ill from the pestilential conditions in the caves. Marj and she work diligently and without complaint over the long hours. I admire their determination while I sit in a silent stupor of grief.

“Hey, Fenn, guess what?” Calli says as she leans over Bear, probably checking his temperature. He isn’t feverish anymore, thank the stars. “Cricket told me last night he