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Description
July 11, 12973 BCE; Colombia

“Let's hope we have the luck to get us to the creature’s lair by nightfall,” Qambaq said to Arktalaki as they walked through the tall grass.

Arktalaki nodded in agreement. She and her team shoved through the grass, pushing past the tan blades that gently brushed against their skin. It was quiet, save for the warm breeze that whistled softly in their ears. It was... unsettling. Arktalaki knew this kind of quiet. It was the kind of tense silence that she and her hunters would always use when stalking prey. The kind of silence one would use to ensure that not a single aspect of their presence was noticed. It was the silence of a hunter, a very dangerous silence that Arktalaki wasn't too happy to be on the wrong end of.

This impossibly tall grass didn't help either. She could only just see over it, with the only features that stuck out of the plains being the occasional tree. They could see the chasm that the Terror called its home not far in the distance, a vicious crack splitting a small mountain right down the middle as if pounded upon by the gods. The vicinity of their destination only added to the unshakable and growing sense of fear and dread that latched on to Arktalaki’s heart and refused to let go.

“The sun's setting,” she remarked to Qambaq.

“We should be able to make it. If we hurry, the demon can be put down before darkness sets in.”

Arktalaki nodded, and she continued on her way through the silence, eyes darting at every speck of movement that caught her vision. She just knew something had to be lurking in the grass. There had to be. It was the perfect hunting ground. She kept her eyes darting in every direction, breath on the edge between steady and shaky as they trekked on. She looked left and right, in front of her and behind her, cautiously turning in every direction she could think to look in order to avoid another beastly encounter.

Little did she realize the importance of looking up.

The hunters passed by one of the few trees that was sticking out against the flat ocean of grass. It's leaves and branches gently swayed above them as the wind whistled through the canopy. Arktalaki suddenly felt very tense. Somehow the silence had gotten even more silent. She almost felt like she was being choked by the lack of noise. She started sweating in nervousness, hands fidgeting on her spear.

Then came the roar.

Before Arktalaki could even react, a huge figure lunged down from its hiding place in the branches. It descended upon one of her hunters, pinning him to the ground and silencing his screams of agony with a swift and hard bite into his neck with its two massive daggers of front teeth.

“Tiger!” Arktalaki shrieked. The hunters all panicked and jumped backwards, readying their spears for as little help as it offered them in the grass. They scattered like insects, frantically keeping an eye on both the movement of the grass and the vicious roaring of the tiger. Arktalaki could hear the beast silencing a few of her hunters, ripping into their bodies with its enormous canines and showing no mercy. Arktalaki bumped into someone in the haze of grass, and after a startled yelp she was glad to discover that it was Qambaq. The two stood back to back. They'd both dealt with tigers before, though normally it was a blinding blizzard blocking their view instead of a sea of grass.

“We need to run!” he said. “To higher ground!”

“There is no higher ground!”

“To the tree! Climb up it! Hurry!”

Arktalaki nodded and the two of them started sprinting towards the tree that the cat had ambushed them from. Once she was secure in the branches, Arktalaki scanned the grasslands below until her eyes locked on the tiger. It was just about to lunge onto another one of the hunters, so she acted fast and hurled a spear at the beast. It didn't hit it's mark, but it did manage to graze the animal's face, succeeding in making it go from just hungry to hungry and royally enraged. It spun in the direction of the tree and received an arrow in the shoulder as Arktalaki shot it with her bow. The creature roared at her, showing off it's blood-stained mouth full of teeth. It started to charge, and Arktalaki continued to try and bring it down with a volley of arrows. But it proved not to be enough. The beast lunged upwards with another mighty roar and knocked her back to the ground with a painful thud.

“Arktalaki! No!” she heard Qambaq shout. Both she and the tiger hit the ground hard and rolled away from one another. The tiger took longer to recover than she did, and she wasn't about to pass up that advantage. She scrambled to her feet and ran, trying to escape to another tree before it was too late. But she tripped on a root while she ran, and once again found herself tumbling to the ground. She only had enough time to sit up before she saw the tiger lunge put from the grass, claws and teeth bared to kill. In that split second, her entire body tensed as it prepared for the end, the very painful end.

But also in that split second, the tiger was suddenly blasted to the side in a dark blur. Arktalaki barely even processed it. Something else had come out of the grass and slammed into it, sending both predators back into the grassy abyss. Arktalaki scrambled to her feet and was about to wish a silent prayer to the spirits before whatever had hit the tiger away and—based on the gruesome noises that Arktalaki was hearing in that direction—was now ripping the tiger apart, suddenly made a noise.

A blood-curdling screeching noise.

Arktalaki went stone cold and her breath was ripped out of her lungs. The Terror. It was the Terror. She didn't even let her brain take a break to process this new information. She just ran.

She sprinted through the grasslands, hearing the demon let out another screech as it started zipping through the grass, nothing but a black blur that Arktalaki wasn't able to see given her speed and height. She just heard it sprinting through the grass, screeching its evil screech as it bolted from hunter to hunter. Arktalaki could hear them all screaming in agony as the beast got them and ripped them apart, picking off all of the men that the tiger didn't have the chance to munch on itself. Soon she was left alone, the last morsel of prey left for the demon to find and murder. Her breath was heavy and ragged. She felt herself crying. She could hear the monster chasing her down as it zigzagged through the grass heard but unseen. She was about to scream in terror, when suddenly she felt someone grab her from above and yank her upwards.

“I've got you, Chieftess!” Qambaq declared, hoisting his friend into the branches of the tree as fast as he could.

“It's here it's here it's here!” Arktalaki panicked. “It's going to kill us!”

“No it isn't! Climb climb! Hurry!”

He started helping her scramble up into the higher branches of the tree. She managed to get her feet hooked safely into the nooks of the branches and she immediately reached down to help Qambaq up as well. But just as she did and he reached out to grab her hands, the black blur erupted out of the grass and yanked him straight out of the tree.

“No!” Arktalaki screamed. Both Qambaq and the Terror immediately vanished into the ocean of green, and Arktalaki watched in utter horror as the trail of movement slinked back towards the Terror’s lair, leaving behind only the horrified echoes of Qambaq’s screaming as he was dragged away. Arktalaki thrust herself down from the tree, screaming protests and grabbing her bow as she attempted to chase after it, but it very quickly vanished, too fast for her to keep up with. It and her good friend were gone, and she was left alone.

She fell to her knees and cried, and pounded her fist into the ground as she did. “No!” she yelled. “No no no no no no!” She grit her teeth and kicked a tree trunk in fury. After a frantic episode of punching and kicking the air that knocked the energy out of her for a moment, she let herself go still. She clenched her fists and looked toward the chasm in the distance.

“I will not let this demon plague us anymore!” she declared, picking up her bow and slinging it over her shoulders. “I will not allow this Terror to take away happiness from my people! I'm coming for you Qambaq!”

And with that, she started sprinting towards the chasm, not knowing and not caring of the danger that awaited her once she got there.

These people were her family, and nothing messes with her family.

------------

Arktalaki had dreaded this moment ever since she had seen it in the Apple. She found herself walking through this dark, foggy chasm that wreaked of evil. She was deep into the demon’s home, and she still heard that same terrifying silence that she had felt with the tiger. Except now, it was multiplied tenfold.

Arktalaki frantically looked around the chasm, trying to find her friend and praying to the Spirits that they'd both be protected. She offered a silent prayer to Iwakuk’s spirit. God how she wished she still had her beloved pet. That loyal wolf probably would've had this demon ripped to shreds by now. But nature reclaimed her spirit many moons ago, and the most Arktalaki could hope for was that she was watching over her.

After a short trek and a few pulses of her Eagle Vision, Arktalaki finally found Qambaq, who to her eternal relief was still alive. She gasped and rushed up to him. He was bleeding heavily, and sitting barely conscious in a pile of bones.

“Ark-Arktalaki…” he groaned as she rushed to his side.

“Shhshsh,” she told him. “I'm gonna get you out of here, I promise. Just hold on.”

“No! It's… it's here! You must… you must flee Arktalaki! Forget me.”

“An Assassin doesn't leave innocent lives to die, my friend.”

But then Arktalaki’s eyes widened as a screech suddenly assaulted her ears. She spun around, grabbing her spear. She could hear it. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It was getting closer, and louder, but she couldn't tell where from. She heard the screeching in the distance, as well as the sounds of rustling and her own heavy breathing. She heard the echo of her terrified heart beat reverberate off of the walls of the chasm.

Where was it?! Where was it?!

She took a few steps into the chasm, spear raised as she tried to swallow her fear. She saw movement, a blur of a speedy shadow in the fog. It jolted in and out of view, still seemingly everywhere at once somehow. She felt herself sweating, but she knew she had to stay her ground.

The screeching got louder and louder and louder, and then suddenly as she rounded a corner, she slammed into the shadow. She barely even had time to look up and react. Her vision from the Apple suddenly played out like clockwork. She screamed a shrill cry of terror as the demon opened its jaws wide and lunged forward, ready to end her in a single bite.

But Arktalaki refused to let this be her end. Her family was on the line.

No, this was not how she ended!

She swallowed every ounce of her fear and transformed her terrified scream into a war cry as in that split second that the demon lunged at her, she yanked one of her wrist blades out of its sheath and thrust it upwards, jamming it into the monster's mouth and lunging away with a roll.

She hopped back to her feet and grabbed a spear, and for the first time she was able to get a good look at the creature as it frantically tried to shake the dagger out from between it's jaws.

It was… a bird. A massive bird, almost twice as tall as a man. Its wings were stubby little things, especially when compared to its massive head and beak, which was hooked like a hawk's. It stomped and shook as it finally managed to spit out the dagger and turn threateningly towards her. She held up her spear, and felt the force of its screech push her back a little.

“I will not let you torture my people any longer!” she declared, and the Terror responded by charging straight at her. She acted fast, smacking it in the face with the side of her spear and rolling away in order to slash at it with the spearhead. It screeched with every hit and very quickly got frustrated over how difficult its meal was being. Arktalaki ducked and dodged when it tried to bite at her, and aimed more slashes its way when she could. Then suddenly it managed to get its jaws around her torso, and she gasped as she was lifted into the air and then thrust back down to the ground like a ragdoll. She felt dizzy, and was suddenly lifted and smashed again. She knew she had to stop this fast before she lost consciousness and became a bloody pulp. When it lifted her up again she quickly grabbed her other wrist blade and jabbed it into the bird's eye, causing it to shriek and let her go.

She hit the ground hard but at least she was out of the creature’s grip. She pulled herself to her feet and the Terror, now half-blind, tried to charge at her again. She ducked and slashed, hoping that she could deliver that one killing blow that would bring this beast down once and for all.

It's feathers were just as blood-stained as her clothes, but Arktalaki was clearly holding better. She was human, and with that came the advantage of determination. And that advantage is exactly what carried her to the end of the fight, which was finally awarded to her when the bird tried to bite her again and she thrust her dagger straight into the back of its skull. The beast’s legs gave out beneath it as the entire feathered monster fell to the ground.

And at last, the screeching was finally silenced once and for all.

Arktalaki stood there for a moment simply holding the dagger and trying to catch her breath. It was over, she repeatedly told herself. It was finally over.

Once she had finally calmed her body and mind, she pulled the dagger out of the Terror’s corpse and picked up her other one before sheathing them both on her wrists. She then walked over to Qambaq, who had fallen unconscious during the fight, and she carefully picked him up. She didn't look back at the Terror as she carried her friend out of that foggy chasm.

Her fears had met their end.

------------

August 11, 12973 BCE; Colombia

A month had passed since Arktalaki had brought down the monster that was plaguing her people. She remained with them while Qambaq recovered and they all were given the time to mourn their lost warriors. She wasn't about to return to the north without making sure her people were in good shape.

“We cannot thank you enough, Arktalaki,” Qambaq was saying as she sat with him. “You have brought peace and salvation to our lands, as you always have.”

“I did not do it alone,” she smiled. “I never have. Our victories are shared.”

Qambaq laughed. “Always our humble chieftess,” he said. “Well either way, our lands are saved and our people are at peace. And we cannot thank you enough for your part in that, my friend.”

She nodded and smiled. “Are you going to be alright?” she asked.

“I will be fine. A day or two more and I'll be right back to join our hunters in the fields.”

“That is good to hear.”

“I take it you will be returning to our people up north?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she said. “The Apple is still up there, refusing to be destroyed, and so I must go and help defend it against any aspiring tyrants.”

“Then may the Spirits give you great fortune and blessings, Arktalaki. And may we someday cross paths again, in this world or the next.”

She smiled and nodded, and she hugged her friend goodbye. “To you as well, Qambaq. To you, and to the rest of the people of this land.”

She stood to make her way to her new horse, and all the tribespeople gathered to wish her a hearty farewell. She smiled at all of them, and then finally kicked her horse into gear, beginning the long journey back home. It would be difficult as the last time, but at least now she didn't have her fear plaguing her thoughts.

Terror no longer held her back.

Description
July 11, 12973 BCE; Colombia

“Let's hope we have the luck to get us to the creature’s lair by nightfall,” Qambaq said to Arktalaki as they walked through the tall grass.

Arktalaki nodded in agreement. She and her team shoved through the grass, pushing past the tan blades that gently brushed against their skin. It was quiet, save for the warm breeze that whistled softly in their ears. It was... unsettling. Arktalaki knew this kind of quiet. It was the kind of tense silence that she and her hunters would always use when stalking prey. The kind of silence one would use to ensure that not a single aspect of their presence was noticed. It was the silence of a hunter, a very dangerous silence that Arktalaki wasn't too happy to be on the wrong end of.

This impossibly tall grass didn't help either. She could only just see over it, with the only features that stuck out of the plains being the occasional tree. They could see the chasm that the Terror called its home not far in the distance, a vicious crack splitting a small mountain right down the middle as if pounded upon by the gods. The vicinity of their destination only added to the unshakable and growing sense of fear and dread that latched on to Arktalaki’s heart and refused to let go.

“The sun's setting,” she remarked to Qambaq.

“We should be able to make it. If we hurry, the demon can be put down before darkness sets in.”

Arktalaki nodded, and she continued on her way through the silence, eyes darting at every speck of movement that caught her vision. She just knew something had to be lurking in the grass. There had to be. It was the perfect hunting ground. She kept her eyes darting in every direction, breath on the edge between steady and shaky as they trekked on. She looked left and right, in front of her and behind her, cautiously turning in every direction she could think to look in order to avoid another beastly encounter.

Little did she realize the importance of looking up.

The hunters passed by one of the few trees that was sticking out against the flat ocean of grass. It's leaves and branches gently swayed above them as the wind whistled through the canopy. Arktalaki suddenly felt very tense. Somehow the silence had gotten even more silent. She almost felt like she was being choked by the lack of noise. She started sweating in nervousness, hands fidgeting on her spear.

Then came the roar.

Before Arktalaki could even react, a huge figure lunged down from its hiding place in the branches. It descended upon one of her hunters, pinning him to the ground and silencing his screams of agony with a swift and hard bite into his neck with its two massive daggers of front teeth.

“Tiger!” Arktalaki shrieked. The hunters all panicked and jumped backwards, readying their spears for as little help as it offered them in the grass. They scattered like insects, frantically keeping an eye on both the movement of the grass and the vicious roaring of the tiger. Arktalaki could hear the beast silencing a few of her hunters, ripping into their bodies with its enormous canines and showing no mercy. Arktalaki bumped into someone in the haze of grass, and after a startled yelp she was glad to discover that it was Qambaq. The two stood back to back. They'd both dealt with tigers before, though normally it was a blinding blizzard blocking their view instead of a sea of grass.

“We need to run!” he said. “To higher ground!”

“There is no higher ground!”

“To the tree! Climb up it! Hurry!”

Arktalaki nodded and the two of them started sprinting towards the tree that the cat had ambushed them from. Once she was secure in the branches, Arktalaki scanned the grasslands below until her eyes locked on the tiger. It was just about to lunge onto another one of the hunters, so she acted fast and hurled a spear at the beast. It didn't hit it's mark, but it did manage to graze the animal's face, succeeding in making it go from just hungry to hungry and royally enraged. It spun in the direction of the tree and received an arrow in the shoulder as Arktalaki shot it with her bow. The creature roared at her, showing off it's blood-stained mouth full of teeth. It started to charge, and Arktalaki continued to try and bring it down with a volley of arrows. But it proved not to be enough. The beast lunged upwards with another mighty roar and knocked her back to the ground with a painful thud.

“Arktalaki! No!” she heard Qambaq shout. Both she and the tiger hit the ground hard and rolled away from one another. The tiger took longer to recover than she did, and she wasn't about to pass up that advantage. She scrambled to her feet and ran, trying to escape to another tree before it was too late. But she tripped on a root while she ran, and once again found herself tumbling to the ground. She only had enough time to sit up before she saw the tiger lunge put from the grass, claws and teeth bared to kill. In that split second, her entire body tensed as it prepared for the end, the very painful end.

But also in that split second, the tiger was suddenly blasted to the side in a dark blur. Arktalaki barely even processed it. Something else had come out of the grass and slammed into it, sending both predators back into the grassy abyss. Arktalaki scrambled to her feet and was about to wish a silent prayer to the spirits before whatever had hit the tiger away and—based on the gruesome noises that Arktalaki was hearing in that direction—was now ripping the tiger apart, suddenly made a noise.

A blood-curdling screeching noise.

Arktalaki went stone cold and her breath was ripped out of her lungs. The Terror. It was the Terror. She didn't even let her brain take a break to process this new information. She just ran.

She sprinted through the grasslands, hearing the demon let out another screech as it started zipping through the grass, nothing but a black blur that Arktalaki wasn't able to see given her speed and height. She just heard it sprinting through the grass, screeching its evil screech as it bolted from hunter to hunter. Arktalaki could hear them all screaming in agony as the beast got them and ripped them apart, picking off all of the men that the tiger didn't have the chance to munch on itself. Soon she was left alone, the last morsel of prey left for the demon to find and murder. Her breath was heavy and ragged. She felt herself crying. She could hear the monster chasing her down as it zigzagged through the grass heard but unseen. She was about to scream in terror, when suddenly she felt someone grab her from above and yank her upwards.

“I've got you, Chieftess!” Qambaq declared, hoisting his friend into the branches of the tree as fast as he could.

“It's here it's here it's here!” Arktalaki panicked. “It's going to kill us!”

“No it isn't! Climb climb! Hurry!”

He started helping her scramble up into the higher branches of the tree. She managed to get her feet hooked safely into the nooks of the branches and she immediately reached down to help Qambaq up as well. But just as she did and he reached out to grab her hands, the black blur erupted out of the grass and yanked him straight out of the tree.

“No!” Arktalaki screamed. Both Qambaq and the Terror immediately vanished into the ocean of green, and Arktalaki watched in utter horror as the trail of movement slinked back towards the Terror’s lair, leaving behind only the horrified echoes of Qambaq’s screaming as he was dragged away. Arktalaki thrust herself down from the tree, screaming protests and grabbing her bow as she attempted to chase after it, but it very quickly vanished, too fast for her to keep up with. It and her good friend were gone, and she was left alone.

She fell to her knees and cried, and pounded her fist into the ground as she did. “No!” she yelled. “No no no no no no!” She grit her teeth and kicked a tree trunk in fury. After a frantic episode of punching and kicking the air that knocked the energy out of her for a moment, she let herself go still. She clenched her fists and looked toward the chasm in the distance.

“I will not let this demon plague us anymore!” she declared, picking up her bow and slinging it over her shoulders. “I will not allow this Terror to take away happiness from my people! I'm coming for you Qambaq!”

And with that, she started sprinting towards the chasm, not knowing and not caring of the danger that awaited her once she got there.

These people were her family, and nothing messes with her family.

------------

Arktalaki had dreaded this moment ever since she had seen it in the Apple. She found herself walking through this dark, foggy chasm that wreaked of evil. She was deep into the demon’s home, and she still heard that same terrifying silence that she had felt with the tiger. Except now, it was multiplied tenfold.

Arktalaki frantically looked around the chasm, trying to find her friend and praying to the Spirits that they'd both be protected. She offered a silent prayer to Iwakuk’s spirit. God how she wished she still had her beloved pet. That loyal wolf probably would've had this demon ripped to shreds by now. But nature reclaimed her spirit many moons ago, and the most Arktalaki could hope for was that she was watching over her.

After a short trek and a few pulses of her Eagle Vision, Arktalaki finally found Qambaq, who to her eternal relief was still alive. She gasped and rushed up to him. He was bleeding heavily, and sitting barely conscious in a pile of bones.

“Ark-Arktalaki…” he groaned as she rushed to his side.

“Shhshsh,” she told him. “I'm gonna get you out of here, I promise. Just hold on.”

“No! It's… it's here! You must… you must flee Arktalaki! Forget me.”

“An Assassin doesn't leave innocent lives to die, my friend.”

But then Arktalaki’s eyes widened as a screech suddenly assaulted her ears. She spun around, grabbing her spear. She could hear it. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It was getting closer, and louder, but she couldn't tell where from. She heard the screeching in the distance, as well as the sounds of rustling and her own heavy breathing. She heard the echo of her terrified heart beat reverberate off of the walls of the chasm.

Where was it?! Where was it?!

She took a few steps into the chasm, spear raised as she tried to swallow her fear. She saw movement, a blur of a speedy shadow in the fog. It jolted in and out of view, still seemingly everywhere at once somehow. She felt herself sweating, but she knew she had to stay her ground.

The screeching got louder and louder and louder, and then suddenly as she rounded a corner, she slammed into the shadow. She barely even had time to look up and react. Her vision from the Apple suddenly played out like clockwork. She screamed a shrill cry of terror as the demon opened its jaws wide and lunged forward, ready to end her in a single bite.

But Arktalaki refused to let this be her end. Her family was on the line.

No, this was not how she ended!

She swallowed every ounce of her fear and transformed her terrified scream into a war cry as in that split second that the demon lunged at her, she yanked one of her wrist blades out of its sheath and thrust it upwards, jamming it into the monster's mouth and lunging away with a roll.

She hopped back to her feet and grabbed a spear, and for the first time she was able to get a good look at the creature as it frantically tried to shake the dagger out from between it's jaws.

It was… a bird. A massive bird, almost twice as tall as a man. Its wings were stubby little things, especially when compared to its massive head and beak, which was hooked like a hawk's. It stomped and shook as it finally managed to spit out the dagger and turn threateningly towards her. She held up her spear, and felt the force of its screech push her back a little.

“I will not let you torture my people any longer!” she declared, and the Terror responded by charging straight at her. She acted fast, smacking it in the face with the side of her spear and rolling away in order to slash at it with the spearhead. It screeched with every hit and very quickly got frustrated over how difficult its meal was being. Arktalaki ducked and dodged when it tried to bite at her, and aimed more slashes its way when she could. Then suddenly it managed to get its jaws around her torso, and she gasped as she was lifted into the air and then thrust back down to the ground like a ragdoll. She felt dizzy, and was suddenly lifted and smashed again. She knew she had to stop this fast before she lost consciousness and became a bloody pulp. When it lifted her up again she quickly grabbed her other wrist blade and jabbed it into the bird's eye, causing it to shriek and let her go.

She hit the ground hard but at least she was out of the creature’s grip. She pulled herself to her feet and the Terror, now half-blind, tried to charge at her again. She ducked and slashed, hoping that she could deliver that one killing blow that would bring this beast down once and for all.

It's feathers were just as blood-stained as her clothes, but Arktalaki was clearly holding better. She was human, and with that came the advantage of determination. And that advantage is exactly what carried her to the end of the fight, which was finally awarded to her when the bird tried to bite her again and she thrust her dagger straight into the back of its skull. The beast’s legs gave out beneath it as the entire feathered monster fell to the ground.

And at last, the screeching was finally silenced once and for all.

Arktalaki stood there for a moment simply holding the dagger and trying to catch her breath. It was over, she repeatedly told herself. It was finally over.

Once she had finally calmed her body and mind, she pulled the dagger out of the Terror’s corpse and picked up her other one before sheathing them both on her wrists. She then walked over to Qambaq, who had fallen unconscious during the fight, and she carefully picked him up. She didn't look back at the Terror as she carried her friend out of that foggy chasm.

Her fears had met their end.

------------

August 11, 12973 BCE; Colombia

A month had passed since Arktalaki had brought down the monster that was plaguing her people. She remained with them while Qambaq recovered and they all were given the time to mourn their lost warriors. She wasn't about to return to the north without making sure her people were in good shape.

“We cannot thank you enough, Arktalaki,” Qambaq was saying as she sat with him. “You have brought peace and salvation to our lands, as you always have.”

“I did not do it alone,” she smiled. “I never have. Our victories are shared.”

Qambaq laughed. “Always our humble chieftess,” he said. “Well either way, our lands are saved and our people are at peace. And we cannot thank you enough for your part in that, my friend.”

She nodded and smiled. “Are you going to be alright?” she asked.

“I will be fine. A day or two more and I'll be right back to join our hunters in the fields.”

“That is good to hear.”

“I take it you will be returning to our people up north?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she said. “The Apple is still up there, refusing to be destroyed, and so I must go and help defend it against any aspiring tyrants.”

“Then may the Spirits give you great fortune and blessings, Arktalaki. And may we someday cross paths again, in this world or the next.”

She smiled and nodded, and she hugged her friend goodbye. “To you as well, Qambaq. To you, and to the rest of the people of this land.”

She stood to make her way to her new horse, and all the tribespeople gathered to wish her a hearty farewell. She smiled at all of them, and then finally kicked her horse into gear, beginning the long journey back home. It would be difficult as the last time, but at least now she didn't have her fear plaguing her thoughts.

Terror no longer held her back.