The fall had winded her; she could hardly move. The nylatl came at her, moving slowly now, and she smelt its singed, carrion-flesh odour. It eyed her warily. She expected it to take her hand off with a single lunge, but it stood just a pace from her face, staring.
Hungry!
Was it playing with her, or was it afraid now? She clutched the little blade in her other hand. She would have to strike across her body, a clumsy stroke, and the blade was the wrong way around.
The nylatl arched its back. Its eyes were mesmerising. It leaned toward her, opening its mouth, which was a gory red. The blue tongue began to roll up at the edges. She felt paralysed. Was it hypnotising her?
It was going to deluge her in venom then eat her face off at its leisure. She forced her arm to move. Clear liquid dripped from the tip of its tongue. Tiaan squeezed her eyes closed.
There came a meaty thump and the nylatl went flying. A death-like Fluuni swayed behind her, the bloody stone mallet hanging from her hand.
The nylatl whimpered, dragged itself across the floor and out through the curtain, leaving a trail of mauve blood. Fluuni collapsed onto her knees. Her unmarked face was fish-belly pale, but her whole front was red.
'Jiini?' she whispered.
'Outside,' Tiaan gasped. 'She's dead. I'm sorry.' She felt utterly useless.
Fluuni's eyes slid across to Lyssa. No need to ask about her.
'Where is Haani?' asked Tiaan.
One blood-spattered hand pointed towards the cellar. Tiaan hobbled over and lifted the trapdoor. In the furthest recesses, Haani cowered. Tiaan did not know what to say to her. Could anything make up for the horrors she had seen, or imagined? She threw a fur over Lyssa's middle.
'Haani, come out!' called Fluuni.
The child emerged warily into the light, then scuttled to Fluuni's arms. Fluuni allowed her to weep for a minute or two before she pushed her towards Tiaan.
'Tiaan mi. Tiaan mumu niss!' She looked up at Tiaan. 'Go with Tiaan. Tiaan iss mother now!'
Haani let out an awful wail and ran back.
'Tiaan mumu niss. Mi!' Fluuni gasped.
'But…' Tiaan was almost as bewildered as the child. 'Her family…'
'All dead!' Fluuni's arm swept the room. 'Tiaan iss Haani's mother now.' She looked up pleadingly.
Tiaan did not know what to say. 'Yes,' she whispered. 'I will be Haani's mother. I will take her with me.'
Fluuni gave a tiny grunt. Blood ran out of her nose and she fell sideways. Tiaan knew that she was dead but checked her anyway. There was no doubt of it; her whole belly had been torn open.
Leaving Haani clinging to her aunt, Tiaan found a pack, clothes and furs the child's size. She put in a wooden plate and other items Haani would need, and as much food as she could carry. Two furs had escaped the blood; Tiaan gathered them and a tiny canvas tent that was heavier than it looked. She could not have carried it had she been walking, but she could probably manage it skiing on flat ground.
There was nothing to be done for the women; the hut would not burn and there was no way to bury them in the frozen ground. She closed their eyes and dug the child out from beneath the furs. Haani screamed and burrowed back in. Pulling the covers away, Tiaan discovered that she had a small toy in one hand, a creature made from scraps of leather sewn together and stuffed with straw. It had a long body, small round ears, a duck bill and a flat, paddle-like tail. It looked like no animal Tiaan had ever heard of. Well, if it comforted her…
Tiaan led the child to the dead women, having her touch them and say goodbye. Then, hoisting up the pack, she took Haani's hand and led her outside.
Haani tied her boots into the bindings of the small skis. One boot was badly worn. Tiaan hacked a piece of leather from the bottom of the boat, added it to her overloaded pack, tied on her skis and, taking Haani's hand, set off down the river bank without looking back. Only much later did she realise that the child had not said goodbye to Jiini, her mother. Not far away, the nylatl had found a burrow going down into the river bank, then up to a secure, dry and relatively warm home. A duck-billed creature dwelt inside. The nylatl had no trouble with it, or its helpless young.
When sated it curled up in the warmest spot and went into hibernation. It had many injuries to repair and that would take time. And when it finally woke, it would go on the hunt. The black-haired woman and the terrible, tantalising crystal could not hide. Wherever she took it, the nylatl would hunt it down. And then it would make the woman suffer for the torment of its existence.
F IFTY
The child said not a word that day, which was the most tragic part of the whole terrible affair. Haani skied to one side of Tiaan, or ahead, as if she wanted to get as far away as possible. She was an accomplished skier, better than Tiaan in these conditions. Her small round face, as pale as the snow, showed nothing but an icy bleakness. Tiaan felt culpable. She'd led the nylatl to them. If not for her, the creature would not exist. If not for her, their lives would never have been touched.
Her shin was excruciatingly painful but had not bled much, so she'd left it untreated. Getting well away, beyond the nylatl's reach, was more important. They went by a number of villages, at the first of which children were carrying water from a hole cut in the ice. Tiaan had not thought about that problem, but of course water would be hard won here in winter unless they had a well that did not freeze. The children stared but did not wave. Haani did not even look at them, just shushed past with Tiaan following in her tracks.
In the middle of the day she called out to Haani, skied off the river, sidestepped up a steep bank and settled on a log. The child followed, skiing round and round. Tiaan suspected that, had she not called, Haani would have kept going straight down the river until she dropped.
Tiaan was ready to drop right now. Her leg muscles had gone wobbly. Taking off the skis, she massaged her thighs. It did not help. She felt weak and shivery. Not cold, for the day was mild and her exertions had made her sweat, but shuddering inside from the horror of the morning. The tragedy came directly from her aiding the enemy, and all the self-justification in the world, all the 'they made me do it', could make no difference. If only, she kept thinking. If only…
That was futile. Taking out a piece of fatty dried meat she began to cut slices from it. The meat resisted her blade, and only at the end did Tiaan realise that the child was still skiing round the log. Tiaan watched Haani go over a hump, down into a hollow where bare yellow twigs stuck out of the snow, between two trees that leaned towards each other to make an arch, across a smooth patch of snow and back over the hump. Her jaw was set; she kept doing the same movements over and again, but her mind was not there at all. It was back in the cabin with the dead women, and the nylatl.
'Haani?' Tiaan called. The child did not react. She called more loudly. Nothing. Tiaan stood up, shouting, 'Haani, come here!'
Haani jerked, gave her a vacant glare, but skied across to the log. Tiaan patted the space beside her. 'Sit down. Eat your lunch.'
She knew that the child understood a little of her language, though maybe not very much. Haani went to the end of the log, took off her pack and began nibbling on a piece of dried fish, staring into the emptiness between the trees. Tiaan had no idea what to do. She could hardly blame the child. It was a wonder she did not lie down and refuse to get up, or have a screaming fit. Perhaps it would be better if she did.
Tiaan ate her strips of leathery meat. After a lot of chewing, they released an overpoweringly strong flavour, like the smell of a male Hurn bear in the mating season. The taste did not appeal.