Page 61 of Corvak's Challenge

"So a dead animal…?" This is getting rather morbid and I'm not a fan. "What if you just disguise your scent with a different herb that day than the one we're using and so when they go to check on your body, they associate that herb with you?"

Corvak nods. "I think that is the best option rather than hauling about something dead and hoping they don't guess just how dead. So now we just need to figure out how I die."

"Jump off a cliff into the water? Do they swim?"

I suddenly panic becauseCorvakdoesn't swim. He's gotten a little better over the last few weeks thanks to our warm pool, but he's not what I'd call a strong swimmer.

But Corvak is stroking his chin. "It's not a bad idea."

"Isn't it?" I ask. "I'm not sure swimming is the right call."

"I can't jump off a cliff and hope to survive the fall." Corvak gives me a wry smile. "And snow would be too hard. I can tell them that I am planning on returning to the skies and so when I disappear, perhaps they will take it as such."

I don't like it, but I don't know what else to do. "Where, though? Where would you jump?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Corvak says, smiling at me and gesturing at the back of the cave. "Into our pool. I will step off the cliff above and into the waters below."

"But then they're going to expect you to come back out."

He nods. "I might have to wait a few days until they get the idea. They're bound to leave eventually."

"Or not. Corvak, I don'tlikethis."

"We welcome your alternate plans, Aidy," Valmir drawls.

I glare at him, but he's not wrong. What alternative is there? "Surely we can come up with something."

I won't let Corvak sacrifice himself.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

CORVAK

We setthe pieces of our plan into motion slowly over the next week. Nothing can happen right away, because food must be collected so Aidy will not starve as they journey. Valmir tests his ankle a little more each day, but I don't trust him to be able to hunt for her, to provide for her. He will not care if she is hungry or not…but I care, and so I will ensure that they have enough to eat. It means ranging farther and farther afield each day, but it suits my purposes.

I scout the area for food, for roots, for small animals to toss into our stew pot. I find the pungent herbs that Valmir mentioned and pull the entire thing, roots and all, from the sides of the cliffs, so the leaves do not get crushed and emit their awful scent. I find another herb to use for myself, and begin wearing its perfume and rubbing myself with the leaves every day as I emerge from the cave to make the snow-people associate me with the scent of it.

They still follow me wherever I go, and as we walk, I talk to them with my hands, repeating the gestures that Aidy taught me. I tell them that my purpose here is nearly done, and I will returnto smoke soon and disappear with the Northern Lights. It's a lie, of course, and I hope the Northern Lights go away so my story has the hint of truth to it. They were absent two nights ago, and last night it was cloudy.

I gather and hunt, and I plant the seeds of my disappearance for my followers.

With each day that passes, I am more convinced that this decision is the right one. Aidy's sickness comes and goes, but the valley remains barren of game. It takes all of my efforts to find things for my mate to eat. Of course, the metlak also expect to be fed. They no longer bring their finds to Aidy, but they still show up at the cave, expecting for food to magically appear. When it does not, they grow surly. They fight one another, and they are vicious. I have had to break up many scuffles between the males where they are close to killing each other, simply because of the lack of food. Theycanhunt and scavenge. They would rather just sit in front of the cave as we have trained them to do, and expect handouts.

This is my fault. I acknowledge this and acknowledge that the only thing we can do now is attempt to extricate ourselves without causing more pain.

I scout the area around the cave, venturing as far as I dare and looking for someplace that will be safe for Aidy and Valmir to take refuge in. There are rocky outcroppings and small caves aplenty—the mountains here are riddled with holes—but nothing that feels safe enough to send my mate to.

When I return that night, Aidy is in the bathing pool, and Valmir is alone in the front cave. I move toward the fire, stoking it with a few jabs of the rib bone we keep to stir the coals. "No luck," I tell him. "Nothing feels safe enough."

"No sense in doing work that's already been done," Valmir says, speaking slowly and thoughtfully. "You could use one of the sa-khui caves. The ones with all the supplies."

I turn to look at him. "There is one nearby?"

"There's one to the southeast," Valmir says, voice casual as he works on a reinforced bone-and-leather splint for his ankle. "I was there not long ago. It has supplies already and it's safe."

I turn to him, startled. This is the first he's mentioned of supply caves. But I remember I'd found one when we were on the run, and I'd wrongly assumed it was full of supplies for the combatants of the game. Since there's no game… "Explain to me about this cave. What is it like?"

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