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blasphemous. In fact it was; he had spoken out against
High Princess Nito.
    “Educator,” Nito spat, walking toward
him. “You are nothing. You are the lowest of the low of the
Ancients. You are not above being excommunicated.”
    “ You are not in a position to do so,” Iry
stated.
    The sound of my little sister’s voice
cut through the tension.
    “Vala!” She yelled. “Vala!”
    I gasped in joy over the sight of my
little sister, Sophie. She didn’t fear me, she ran to me and I
crouched own with extended arms. She slammed into my chest,
greeting mine with a huge embrace. I took her in my arms, holding
her tight, and lifting her against me.
    Maybe I should have sought out my
mother, however, my sister was the one I needed to hold.
    “You’re back,” she said. “I knew
you’d come back.”
    My mother emerged from the crowd. Her
lips moved silently, then finally she spoke my name. “Vala.”
    I clutched my sister tighter. The
crowd just watched.
    Nito inched closer. “Your time draws
near, Mare.” She cocked her head and spoke loudly. “Akana, tomorrow
is ceremony. Tomorrow, encourage the Elders to hand her to me, for
the longer she is free, the more danger she poses to you.”
    She cast a snide look my way, my eyes
locked on hers. There was a psychic tension, an underlying
challenge between us. She turned in a dramatic fashion and walked
off.
    I held on to my sister in the face of
dozens of cold stares from those I knew as neighbors.
    My mother kept her distance. Not that
it surprised me. Maybe she was in shock.
    Iry insisted that Nito’s words were
lies and she was using the people of Akana. In any event, Nito had
to be stopped. I firmly believed she was an important figure to
defeat in the war against the Sybaris. Her demise was my goal, and
one I was certain I would reach.

TWELVE – TANNER
     
    We killed a lot of Day Stalkers the day they ascended on Lyons
Estates. The rest left when Nito did. I would say I found them on
the remains of highway whatever it once was called, but how did
they get so far on foot? The only reason I put them together and
associated them with Nito was because her apparition appeared in
the car, warning and taunting me as if to say, “Turn around. Look
what I have for you.”
    The last time she brought them, she
was physically there.
    Of course, now the Day Stalkers were
there, directly in front of me, blocking the road. There had to be
hundreds, if not a thousand. I couldn’t see where they ended.
    They had not spotted me yet. There
was no way I could go through them, nor could I veer off the road
because the wooded area was too thick. My only hope was to turn
around and try to find an alternate route.
    My fuel was low. I had just enough to
make it back to Angeles City. I had to weigh my options, choose my
battle, use the fuel to find an alternative route, and possibly
have the car die out or try to make it through. Surely, I didn’t
have enough arrows to fight. I was a dead man, even with my skills,
if I tried to make it through them. I turned around the car and
when I did, they noticed me.
    I expected as they all stared my way
for them to turn and I’d be like the pied piper and lead them
away.
    However, I watched them through my
rear view mirror as they only looked briefly and then the horde
continued on their westerly course.
    Straggler Day Stalker swung out at my
car as I passed him, even he too, kept his westbound focus.
    I looked, eyes glancing to the map as
I drove for some alternate route. Every time I would think I’d come
across one, or see an old exit sign, it was overgrown.
    About fifteen miles out, almost at
the bait shop, my salvation arrived.
    Sandstorm. Could I catch him? He
trotted at a good pace down the road, and I turned the car sideways
to block him.
    I stepped from the vehicle, held up
my hands and Sandstorm came to a halt.
    ‘Good boy, good boy.” I grabbed his
reins and walked him back to the car, grabbed my crossbow, map, and
bag, shouldered