I didn’t really want to answer that, but he needed to know the truth.“If they’re motivated enough, yes.Not very well, but if a pack congregates at the base of the tree, they could climb over each other to get to where they want.”
“Or fell the tree,” he said.
I hadn’t thought of that, and I wasn’t about to thank him for bringing that possibility to my attention.“Do you want me to go first?”I asked.The light was fading quickly now, and we had to hurry or try climbing in the dark.
Taio made a courtly gesture of invitation, and I moved back a yard or so then ran for the limb.I jumped, but my fingers didn’t even touch the bark.I couldn’t believe that for once I was too short.We might find a more suitable tree, but we didn’t have time to look at this point.I could try running again or try climbing straight up the trunk.I wished I had my skullcrusher.I might have dug the sharp point into the bark and used it as a handhold on the tree trunk.
“Come here.”Taio’s arms were open.
“Now is not the time for a hug.”
“I will lift you.”
I looked up at the limb again.Taio’s idea might just work.“But how will you get up?”
“Do not worry about me.I told you”—he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear—“I would give my life for you.”
He had said that, but it had been in the throes of passion.My mother had always told me never to believe anything a man says when he’s in your bed—or, I supposed, on the table, as the case may be.Apparently, Taio had meant it, though.He moved under the limb and made a stair with his hand.I stepped into it, and he lifted me high enough so that I could grab the limb and swing up.He’d used no little amount of strength lifting my entire body like that, and he was bent over, panting.“Taio?”
“Climb,mi guerrira.”
I scooted along the thick limb and then reached for another above it.I pulled down on it, testing my weight, then hoisted myself onto it.I did this twice more, until I was at least twenty feet off the ground.In the last light, I saw Taio move away from the tree then run toward the limb as I had done earlier.Like the lion he wore on his body, he gracefully caught the limb and pulled himself up.My arms hurt just watching him.A few minutes later, he reached the branch below me then took another route around the tree and perched on a branch to my left side and just above me.He leaned into the crook where the limb met the trunk and caught his breath.I did the same.He reached over and took my hand.His was wet with blood from the harsh bark, and I prayed the Hollows wouldn’t be able to smell us from up here.The limbs shook slightly with the breeze, and it was colder than below.
I took my hand back and carefully removed my pack and slid it around to my front.I wore it that way and settled my back against the tree.I lifted my feet against the limb, pushing myself securely against the trunk, though I could still lose my balance and fall.I’d have to sleep very lightly, if I slept at all.
Taio and I didn’t dare talk, but we reached for each other, holding hands as darkness descended, covering the silent forest in a blanket of blackness.We took turns keeping watch, while the other dozed.At some point in the night, close to midnight by my estimation, Taio reached over and touched me gently.I took his hand.He squeezed mine hard and didn’t let go.My senses came alive, and I heard the distant groans and hisses.I could not smell the Hollows up here, and I prayed to the gods that meant they couldn’t smell us.We seemed to sit with our hands clasped for hours as the pack moved.As far as I could tell, they were to the north of us and didn’t pass directly under our tree, but we took no chances.We sat silent and rigid even long after the forest fell silent again.
***
WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, the weak light of the morning sun filtered through the tree branches, making leaf-shaped patterns on my arms and drawn-up knees.A bird chirped and another answered, and I felt my eyes widen.Birds!That was a good sign.I turned to look at Taio, and he was awake as well.My relief immediately dissipated.His face was swollen and bruised with green and yellow splotches.Blood had sealed one eye almost completely shut.Like me, his pack was against his chest, and he held the stick I’d given him across his knees, which were under blood-soaked trousers.
“Am I that handsome?”he asked, trying to smile then wincing when his swollen lip moved.
“The most handsome man I’ve ever seen,” I said, meaning it.“Even right now.”
He shook his head, plainly thinking my vision was distorted, but I saw him very clearly.He called me his warrior, but he was as much a warrior as I was.Not for the first time, I was excited about the prospect of seeing Zulen and beginning a life with Taio.What would it be like to live with him—eat with him, train with him, sleep with him...
He’d mentioned silk sheets, and those seemed a distant dream when my aching back would have settled for the hard ground over the scratchy bark I’d been leaning against all night.My stomach gurgled, adding hunger to the list of my woes.I had a few dried berries in my pack, but those would do little to alleviate the gnawing in my belly.I’d been shivering most of the night, and I was hungry, tired, cold, and thirsty.None of that would change today.
“I will climb higher to look for water,” Taio said.I looked at the tree branches above us.They grew progressively smaller and thinner.
“Are you certain that’s wise?”
“I am no longer certain of anything.Hold this.”He handed me the stick I’d given him to use as a weapon, and I paired it with mine.Now that we had light, I could fashion the ends into sharp points we could use if we encountered any Hollows.
“Be careful,” I said.
He shouldered his pack and began to pull himself up to the next branch.I held my breath, but he made it with no trouble.The branches this high were close together and seemed sturdy.I pulled my knife from my boot while he carefully negotiated a path to the next branch.Making sure I was securely wedged between the tree trunk and the limb where I sat, I quickly stripped my branch of extra twigs and smoothed out the bark where my hands would rest.Before starting on the point, I found Taio again.He was much higher now, still moving slowly and carefully, but almost out of sight behind the leaves and limbs of the tree.
I drew in a steadying breath and sharpened my stick into a wicked point, then set it across my lap and took up Taio’s limb.His was heavier and had many more little offshoots.I cleared the main shaft and removed any rough areas until he had a smooth area to place his hands.I looked up again and caught a movement, which was surely Taio.My head spun, and I lowered my eyes again.I hoped he would not climb any higher.Surely, he could see far enough from that height.I began to sharpen the point of his limb, which took longer because it was thicker.By the time I was halfway finished, Taio was on his way down.I wished I could call out to him, but I kept my lips closed and tried to focus on my work so I wouldn’t add a missing finger to my problems.When he was just a few branches away, I lowered my knife and watched him descend.He was careful but also agile enough that he made the descent look easy.On the branch above me, he paused and leaned against the tree trunk, catching his breath.
“I saw it,” he said, finally.
“What did you see?”
“Lake Igo.We can reach it in a day or a day and some hours.”
I didn’t think that having to walk a day or a day and a half to water was very good news.“Is there any water closer?”
