Her breathing died.
Sky Messenger used a hand to gesture for her to be perfectly still, but it was unnecessary. She’d already gone rigid.
The figure moved as though not tethered to the ground, drifting through the moonlight like one of the Flying Heads. Awful creatures, they were just heads with long trailing hair and huge paws that were continually grasping at things, for they were forever hungry. Or it might be one of the oki, Spirits who inhabited Powerful beings, including the seven Thunderers, rivers, certain rocks, valiant warriors, and sometimes lunatics. Even shamans, witches, or others who possessed supernatural Power had a companion oki that helped them.
Taya kept her eyes on the figure. The only sounds in the night were the soft hissing of her breathing and the panicked hammering of her heart.
Moonlight caught in the shell beads sewn to his cape, and there was a prolonged glimmer. Was he examining the brush where they hid?
The hair at the nape of her neck felt like it was on fire.
Warriors. Had they followed them from Bog Willow Village? Other shadows closed around the first. From the bristly ridge of hair down the center of their scalps, all but one were of the Flint People. The last man, the man with long black hair, hung at the rear. It was difficult to see him. The warriors hissed to each other and sniffed the breeze.
Taya turned to …
Sky Messenger hissed, “Not one word.”
She had to lock her knees to keep standing. There was something horrifying about the sudden quiet. It was unnatural. The wind had stopped. The silvered branches resembled thousands of ancient knobby fingers reaching down to grab her, and Gitchi stood like a grass-stuffed dog skin, his unblinking yellow eyes on Sky Messenger.
The lead warrior said, “I don’t see anything. I thought you said they’d be here. Isn’t this the place your hanehwa told you about?”
Taya shuddered. Hanehwa were human skins that had been flayed whole by a witch and served as guards. These skin-beings never slept. They warned witches of danger by giving three shouts.
There was a pause; then the man with long black hair replied, “They’re here. Somewhere close by.”
Another warrior said, “You’ve been saying that for days. I was sure I smelled smoke, but I don’t smell anything now.”
“You imagined it,” the lead man said, and swung his war club up to rest on his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s keep searching. I want to get home before dawn.”
Their words affected her bones like war clubs, striking and trembling them until she felt certain her skeleton would splinter to dust. A witch was hunting them, sending out his hanehwa to fly over the land and bring back information about their movements. That’s the only thing it could mean. When she knew she was going to collapse from sheer terror, Sky Messenger slipped an arm around her shoulders and physically held her up. All she could do was squeeze her eyes closed and lean heavily against him.
Finally, she heard their steps moving away and held her breath, listening for voices. When they seemed to be gone, her fingernails dug into Sky Messenger’s cape. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
“It’s all right,” he whispered. “They’re gone. We’re all right.”
Terrified beyond rational thought, she stood dumbly, feeling the hard muscles of his thighs pressing against her and the large shell gorget he wore beneath his cape crushing her breasts. A strange sensation, bewildering and frightening, came over her. Her thin body rigid with fury, she wildly slammed her fists into his chest, and just above a whisper, wept, “If you’d had weapons, I wouldn’t have been so afraid! At least you could have kept a few of them busy while I made a run for it! Let me go, you coward!”
Rage and hate flowed into her. She wrenched her body from his arms, and her quaking knees instantly buckled. She collapsed to the ground in tears and sat there with her shoulders heaving, not making a sound. Dear gods, she wanted to be home!
Sky Messenger took one last look out at the forest. When he seemed certain they were truly gone, he knelt before her and lightly touched her hair, stroking it comfortingly. “We’re going to be all right.”
“How can you say that? We’re being hunted by a witch! Didn’t you understand that?”
“I’ve been hunted by witches before. We’re going to be fine.”
She wiped her eyes on her cape. “How could you escape a witch? They have armies of hanehwa and gahai, and—”
“Just do as I say, and we’ll make it home. Can you stand up?”
“Of course I can.” She rose on shaky legs.
He whispered, “The last man in line, the one with long black hair and big ears, looked over his shoulder again as they left. He wasn’t satisfied with the decision to move on. He may return to search this spot.”