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very kind to me, and I’m honored to have you as friends.”
    “I believe that’s our cue to go and let Malora enjoy her new home in peace and quiet,” Orion says, rising from the bench.
    When her guests have all taken their leave and West has cleared the table and retired to his tent, Malora fetches the flask of Breath of the Bush. She climbs up on the mattress and sprinkles the canopy, perhaps too liberally, for the gift of the statue has made her miss Sky with a sudden, sharp longing.
    After dousing the lantern, she surrenders almost immediately to sleep.
    She is standing alone, surrounded on all sides by high sandy bluffs. Sky calls out to her in a plaintive whinny, a sound shehasn’t heard him make since the day the Leatherwings attacked and carried off all the horses and the hunters in the Settlement. At the foot of the nearest bluff is a big round pen with towering walls tightly woven from weatherworn sticks. Fitting her bare toes into the cracks, she scales the wall of the pen and peers over the top. In the center of the pen, Sky is bound, all four legs pegged to the ground. He strains, his body twisting and lathered with sweat and dust
.
    “Oh, Sky! What have they done to you?”
    He looks up and sees her, his struggles growing more desperate. Where the ropes chafe, he has begun to bleed
.
    Malora scrambles over the top of the pen, but something sharp in the weave gouges the palm of her right hand. She loses her grip and falls backward onto the sand. And then, suddenly, her own wrists and ankles are pegged to stakes. Like Sky, she twists and struggles against her restraints, screaming in fury
.
    She wakes up to find her right palm is pierced and bleeding. It takes a few moments for her to calm herself, taking deep breaths. She is safe in her new house. Not even the beautiful bed can keep her safe from the Night Demons.
    Outside in the paddock, she hears the pounding of hooves as the horses run frantically back and forth, calling out to her.
    West appears at the foot of the bed, his face fretful in the light of his raised lantern. “Are you all right, boss?” he asks.
    “Yes! No! I’m fine!” she says, realizing that both of these statements are true. She is fine, but Sky is not. “A dream …,” she adds faintly.
    “A visitation by the Night Demons, boss. That’s all it was. It must have been that second helping of pood. I had some peculiar dreams myself, and I had only the one helping. Ifyou’re sure you’re all right, I think I’ll go out and soothe the boys and girls.”
    “Did I scream very loudly?” she asks.
    He looks surprised. “You didn’t make any noise at all. I just figured when the horses got so stirred up, I’d need your help to calm them. But I see you’re in no condition.” He turns to leave.
    “No! I’m coming,” Malora says, climbing out of bed.
    She grabs her fleece robe and, shivering, puts it on over her sweat-damp nightshirt. She will have to make an effort in front of the herd to be calm and collected. Because the fact is, she is nothing of the kind now that she knows that Sky is no longer out in the bush roaming free. Wherever he is, Sky is in grave danger—and he needs her help.

C HAPTER 4

A Visit with the Apex
    It is challenging to rekindle the fire with only one good hand, but she manages, and by the time Brion enters the shop the coals are banked and glowing red. One look at Malora’s face and Brion knows something is amiss.
    “What is it, Daughter?” he asks, setting down his leather satchel.
    “I can’t work today,” she tells him. “I have to go away. I started the fire for you. You’ll have to bring in a striker to take my place. One of the Twani—”
    “Where are you going?” he breaks in.
    “To find my horse. To find Sky,” she says, lifting her wounded hand to her forehead. “I had a dream—”
    “What happened to you?” he breaks in, seeing that she is hurt. He takes her hand and examines the palm, which has begun to bleed through