“Yes.”Well, this was helpful.So far I’d told them to kill monsters.Very helpful.“Um, oh!You must go for the head,” I said.“Nothing else will stop them.You can stab one right in the heart, and it will keep coming for you.”I unsheathed my skullcrusher.“I usually go for the eye.”I showed them a practice lunge.To my surprise, they all took their weapons in hand and imitated me.“The temple or ear,” I said and illustrated with a slash to the side of my imaginary target.“If you’re coming from behind, the base of the skull is the place to strike.”I demonstrated shoving my skullcrusher upward and into my target from behind.
The Zulenii did exactly as I did, all of them showing remarkably good form.
I began to grow more comfortable with my role.This wasn’t so different than teaching children.“If you’re strong enough, you can take the head off or bash it in.”I motioned slicing a head off and then bashing in a Hollow’s brain.“I’m not that strong, so I go for the quick stab and release.”I pantomimed stabbing a Hollow in the eye and pulling my skullcrusher back.“You see how I go in for the kill and then back?You don’t want to be close to them or they might bite...”I pressed my lips together to ward off the emotion that flooded into me at the reminder.“Keep your distance as much as possible.”
Taio nodded.“Go on, Mara.”
“Um.”I didn’t know what else to tell them.“Oh!We should be as quiet as possible.They are attracted to sound.I don’t know how well they see.They’re most active at night.Fin—” I took a breath.“We think the light might hurt their eyes.The forest is darker than out there, though, so even a sunny day might not help in here.”The overcast skies and far away thunder promised anything but a sunny day today.“Listen for hisses and groans.And I’m sure you noticed yesterday, you can smell them.”
Everyone nodded, noses wrinkling with remembered disgust.
I shifted from one foot to another, not certain what else to say and made more nervous by all the eyes on me.I tried to think back to my training days and remembered we did a lot of practice fighting.The children always enjoyed practice bouts.“Pair up,” I said.
They looked at each other in confusion.Clearlypair upwas not a phrase any of them were familiar with.I moved forward and took Kintle by the shoulder and placed him in front of Yung.Then I pushed them together.“One pair.”I did the same with Taio and Omira, though as soon as I put my hand on Taio’s arm I felt a frisson of arousal.He looked down at my hand and then at my face, and I wondered if he felt it too.This thing between us was growing, building.I withdrew my hand and motioned for him to face Omira.
“It’s too dark to practice with weapons.You will pretend to strike, like this.”I mimicked stabbing a Hollow in the eye with a pretend skullcrusher.The Zulenii nodded and put their weapons back in their belts.“When I sayfight, you are the Hollow—er, Twilight Man,” I said to Taio.I turned to Omira.“You defend.”I assigned Yung and Kintle roles as well.“When I sayswitch,change roles.”Then I stepped back, gave the ground a cursory look to make sure no one would trip over anything.“Fight!”I said as loudly as I dared.
To my shock, Taio and Yung, the Hollows for this exercise, immediately began groaning and hissing.They walked with stuttering steps, lumbering like Hollows.When we’d done this exercise in training camp, we usually just attacked as we would normally.But the Zulenii were taking their roles literally and playing their parts.I wondered if I should have mentioned they didn’t actually have to pretend to be Hollows, but it was fascinating to watch the men act.
I almost forgot to watch Kintle and Omira defend.I might have ignored them completely if their movements hadn’t drawn my eye.Both moved with so much grace and fluidity, it was almost like they were dancing.I could see them employing the defensive moves I’d given them, but if I hadn’t known what they were doing, I might have thought this was some sort of performance.
“Switch,” I said when Taio and Yung were acting out death scenes on the ground.Immediately, Kintle and Omira became Hollows, and their acting was even better than that of Taio and Yung.This was why the Zulenii were known as artists who could play music, sing, dance, and act.They’d turned a training exercise into a play.
My trainers in Earsleh would have been appalled by this behavior.Acting like a Hollow would have been considered unserious.But the Zulenii had assumed this was what was expected.Honestly, I thought pretending to be a Hollow was rather brilliant.The first time I’d fought one I’d been so shocked by all the noises it made and the jerky movements.No amount of playacting could ever compare to the real thing, but some playacting might have better prepared me.
And it would have been amusing to see Broga acting like a Hollow.Riah wouldn’t have understood the assignment.She would have been completely confused.Morga probably would have played a Hollow the best.She was always full of inventive fighting methods and tricks.Finnrey and I would have laughed and laughed.Finnrey...
I caught my breath.For a moment I’d almost forgotten Finnrey was gone.The reality sliced into me like a fresh wound every time I thought of her.
I heard someone clear a throat, and Taio was looking at me, Omira lying at his feet, tongue out and positioned as though having endured a violent death.“Again?”he asked.
I shook my head.“No.We should be on our way.I think you all have the idea, yes?”
They nodded, and Taio offered Omira a hand and pulled her up.
“Good job today.When we travel, we’ll walk single file and rotate first and last position to keep everyone alert.”
When Taio had finished translating, I reached for my pack.Omira held up a hand.“What if we see your countrymen?What should we do?”
I looked at each of the Zulenii—Omira, Yung, Kintle, and Taio.They were looking right back at me.Their faces were familiar now, and though I still thought Taio so handsome my heart thundered, the rest no longer looked strange to me, not even Yung with the drawings on his face or Kintle with that carrot-colored hair.Their lips were set in fine lines and their eyes narrowed.No question they would kill Gaz and Nize given the first opportunity.It was me they were unsure of.I lifted my head.“Kill them.No negotiation, no quarter.”
Taio nodded his approval.His eyes met mine with something I hadn’t seen in them before: respect.As much as I wanted his respect, I hadn’t wanted it because I was willing to kill my countrymen.But I hadn’t chosen this fight with Gaz.Gaz was the one who was responsible for Finnrey’s death.He’d put us all in danger and would kill the Zulenii if given the chance.If Gaz attacked us, he’d have to die.
“Let’s go,” I said, shouldering my pack.I’d cried enough for what I’d lost.I wouldn’t cry over Gaz.He’d chosen his path, and I’d chosen mine.I could only pray our paths wouldn’t cross again.
The thunder and lightning continued throughout the morning.No rain fell, but the air felt charged and smelled of unlit matches.The strikes weren’t close enough to make my skin prickle or my hair stand up, but I worried a shift in the wind might bring the storm to us.Yung was ahead of me, leading us, and Taio was directly behind me.Yung looked back at me and nodded, then paused to move to the rear of the line.For the first time since we’d left Highcastle, I led the Zulenii.I had my skullcrusher in hand and chose my path carefully.I picked my way over fallen branches and thick brambles, all the while watching for any signs of movement and listening for Hollows.
Instead, I heard a rushing sound.I held up a hand and the line of people stopped.I stared at the ground and listened.The sound was coming from the west, and I heard sounds of splashing amidst the rushing.“A stream,” I said, looking back at Taio.“That way.”
“Stream?”
“Water,” I clarified.I made a motion with my hand to show him a moving current.
“Ah,” he said and lifted his flask.
That had been my thought exactly.We could drink and fill our flasks.We might also search the area for any berries or other food that survived near water.
I led us carefully off the path, the sound of running water growing louder as we neared it.The sound calmed me.Hollows did not like water.They did not drown in it, but they could not swim.Occasionally, we would spot one floating in the ocean off the shore of Highcastle.Eventually, it would wash up on shore and despite being waterlogged, it would stand up and lumber about, seeking to bite and tear and kill.If a Hollow was overcome by bloodlust, it might follow a person into water, but they did not enter it unprovoked.
