Two weeks had passed since Javin’s rescue. The five Elders looked after him and trained him. Normally they would have ushered escapees from the Sisters into a place of safety, but a living boy didn’t belong in the beyond. He was a sign of hope.
The Elder, aptly named Shoots Paleskins, taught him how to use a bow. His skill allowed him to shoot arrows out of midair. George Crow excelled at medicine and tracking. The gruff Papa No Clouds, who looked older than any of them, knew a little of everything. Echo, best at hand-to-hand and small weapons, worked Javin the hardest. He considered the boy soft. Their leader, Rising Bison, carried a club the size of Javin’s leg. He remained enigmatic and spoke only when he needed to, preferring to let the others train the boy.
Like all ancestors in these lands, they remembered little before the death that brought them to the Hunting Grounds. Their previous stories were lost to them. They earned their new names after their escape from enslavement. Their escape strengthened them.
The rest of their brethren, trapped by the Paleskins, did not have the same fortitude. Javin learned they all held one thing in common. The seven, now five, had encountered the Lady of Light, just as he had. All of them had resisted the temptation she offered, the thing they desired most. And they all awoke with the ability to resist the Paleskins’ control. Over time they were drawn together to lead a resistance.
As they moved west, they came to a wall made of black night and passed through. On the other side, at a distance, a wall made of bright sun bracketed this in-between. The Elders hid their camp here. To pass through both barriers meant escape. The Elders knew little about it, other than Paleskins could not pass through the sun wall, and no spirit that went in ever returned. But the Lady of Light commanded them to rescue their people and bring them through. They would be the last allowed to enter.
Javin tagged along for one such rescue that brought two survivors across the border and left several pursuing Paleskins dead. The survivors called themselves Sue, Daughter of Earl, and her father. Javin learned from them that Seal lived and was searching for him. The Elders also learned the patchwork man accompanied her.
“You were stupid to let him go with her,” Papa No Clouds spat. “Should have died trying to stop him.”
“She’s as good as dead,” Shoots Paleskins added.
Rising Bison stopped the harangue by lifting his hand. No use, he knew, of chiding the dead and worrying the boy.
“Let them have peace on the other side. We know where the patchwork man will take her,” he told Javin. “We will see what we can do to rescue your friend.”
Javin urged them to help him save Seal quickly, but they ignored him and spent their time preparing instead.
“The right time will present itself. You need to learn to fight,” Papa told him. “Now is the time to learn and listen and not talk as much as you do.”
Javin learned how to tie knots, throw an axe, and how to breathe while aiming with a bow. They played games that practiced these skills. Javin performed poorly at most, except when they rolled a hoop across the ground and chased it. He moved quickly and could follow when the hoop took unexpected turns. He was the best at diving through its center without touching the rim.
Javin was the worst with an axe. When he hit the target, which was rare, it was usually with the flat side of the axe head. Echo gave up on teaching him and moved to hand-to-hand combat. He showed him how to dodge and to lessen a blow’s impact. Javin preferred the insults to the body blows and resulting stiffness and bruises suffered at Echo’s hands.
Papa No Clouds, the tallest among them, seemed to relish in focusing on Javin’s weaknesses. Where Echo had given up, Papa would force Javin to throw the axe repeatedly.
After earning extra bruises from Echo, and then more from Papa, Javin’s day would move on with Shoots Paleskins. His fingers would be rubbed raw from the training with the bow.
“It is a shame we cannot grow you hard fingers.”
After training with the three Elders, they passed him along to George Crow. George used foraged roots and knowledge of natural cures to help soothe Javin’s bruised muscles and bloody fingers. He taught him how to recognize certain roots and their properties.
“They lose potency with death, and everything here is dead, so you have to use more.”
Javin helped him forage through the barren land.
Javin spent little time with Rising Bison, who often left the camp solo, scouting and looking for Paleskins to kill. Occasionally the others joined Rising Bison, but they made training the boy a priority.
“There is a reason you are here, and we will not waste it by coddling you,” Papa No Clouds said.
After the second week, Rising Bison returned from three straight days away and called the Elders together.
“I have news.”
He overheard them argue.
“This is the sign we have been waiting for. There can be no doubt.” It was Papa No Clouds’ voice.
“I’m not sure it is best to bring the boy,” George Crow said.
“We can’t leave him behind. You didn’t train him to be worthless,” Shoots Paleskins said.
“Yet he remains worthless.” Echo’s opinion stung Javin. Soon after the arguing stopped, they came to him.
“We have word from the slave pens that all Paleskins have been summoned and are gathering at the Sisters’ palace.”
“What does that mean?” Javin asked.
Rising Bison spoke. “This has never happened before. The Sisters have captured your friend, and they mean to use her to perform great evil. It is time to help. It will be dangerous for you.”
“We have ways to hide you,” George Crow said.
“Bah,” Echo interrupted. “He is still mostly useless.”
Papa No Clouds nodded.
“His story is intertwined with hers. With ours,” George Crow said. “We must bring them together.”
“We will meet our enemies, some too powerful for us to fight,” Rising Bison said. “But to not go would be our end. We made a vow to the Lady.” He looked at each of them. “We will either rescue his friend or find a way to stop the Sisters’ plan. If we save her, it will be by cunning, not brute strength. Do you understand?”
He turned his attention to Javin.
“We will hide you both where they cannot find you until we can get you home. But it is dangerous for all of us. If the three Sisters found a way to use your friend in their ritual, it will give them great power. They would not otherwise go through all this trouble and ceremony.”
George Crow put his hand on Javin’s shoulder.
“It must be your choice to help you save your friend.”
Javin did not hesitate.
“Seal is my only friend. I have to help. We must save her.”
Papa No Clouds nodded at the boy’s words, pleased with his courage. Echo still looked doubtful.
***
Not far away, on the dark side of the veil, a figure listened to the Elders call out. He approached as close as he was able to the wall of black, not wanting to pass through. His arm hung dead at his side. It had taken a long time to heal enough to track the group down. It had been an even longer time since he had fed. But Butcher Briggs intended to make his next meal the interloping boy, and when that fully healed him, he would kill the remaining Elders that dared to defy him.