I didn’t understand how silence could be deafening, but I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what he described.
“You heard Yung play the guitara.That is but one of many instruments we have.There are hundreds of them, and they all have beautiful and unique sounds.Every house you enter, every street you stroll, you will encounter the sound of music.”
The image he painted seemed like a fairy tale my mother read to me when I’d been a child.“And the sound of music doesn’t attract the Hollows?”
“Zleyval is protected from attack by geography.Not all of Zulen has been so fortunate.I worry...”His voice trailed off, and I lifted my head to look at him.“I worry our fortune is coming to an end.”
“And that’s why you need me.To teach your people how to defend themselves?You could teach them that.”
He grunted.“Your knowledge is priceless,” he said.
His phrasing was odd.He didn’t say my skill at killing Hollows.He said myknowledge.“Worth this long journey?Worth risking your life in the arena?”
“Worth all that and more.”
I lay my head on his chest again.“Tomorrow before we break camp, I’ll give everyone a lesson on the best way to kill Hollows.”
“Yes,” he said.“I look forward to it.Now sleep,mi guerrira.”
“What does that mean?”I asked, but he was warm and his heart beat steadily, lulling me to sleep.
“Sleep, Mara.”
I closed my eyes and slept.
***
IFELT LIKE I’D BARELYdrifted off before Taio was climbing out of the bedroll.I opened my eyes and spotted Yung packing his bedding and Omira stretching.The light was still gray, but it would be morning soon.
I crawled out of my bedroll, pushing my hair back out of my face.Somehow it had come loose again in the night.Omira went with me to relieve ourselves behind a tree.Then we used a little water from our flasks to wash our faces and rinse our mouths.In the distance I heard the rumble of thunder.Although it was the dry season, rain was still possible.More likely, there would be thunder and lightning but no rainfall.We called these dry storms.A flash of lightning lit up the trees around us for an instant, and I was relieved to see nothing hiding in the shadows.
As we walked back, Omira nudged my elbow.“Taio says you will train us this morning.”
I reached for my hair and plaited it as we walked.“Just some tips in case we see more Hollows.”
She gave a visible shudder.“I would prefer never to see one again.”
“How much further until we reach Zulen?”I asked.
She scrunched her eyes.“Two days or so until we reach the border,” she said.“Then another day or two until we reach the city.”
I tried to conjure the image of the map I’d studied on Dlyenko’s desk.“Zleyval, right?”
“In your language, it would translate to something like First City.”
“Is it walled like Highcastle?”
“No,” she said.“But it is well-fortified.Ah, the men are waiting for you.”
The men were waiting.Everyone had packed their belongings and stood in a circle eating what was probably the last food from their packs.I knew I had eaten the last of mine yesterday.Taio moved forward and handed me a piece of bread.I shook my head.“I cannot take your food—”
“Eat, Mara.”
My stomach rumbled, and Taio gave me a knowing look.I took the bread and ate it, trying to chew slowly to make it last, but it was gone too soon.We’d have to forage for food as we walked today.We couldn’t make it four more days without sustenance.I swallowed the last of my water—another thing we would have to find today—and wiped my mouth.Everyone was already watching me, so I moved to the center of the group.I tried to ignore how awkward I felt.I’d never taught anything to my peers.I enjoyed giving lessons to children.The older always taught the younger in Earsleh, but that was different than teaching people my own age.I also wasn’t a leader.Morll and my other patrol leaders always said I was too impulsive for leadership.They tried to use routine and protocol to eradicate the traits that didn’t serve us on patrol.Consequently, I was more used to taking orders than giving them.
“We’re, ah, likely to encounter more Hollows on our journey,” I said.Taio quietly translated for Kintle, who seemed the least familiar with our language.“When we do, I have some, ah, suggestions for what to do.”
“Kill them,” Yung said, his accent so thick I almost couldn’t understand him.
