The wind howls. A frigid vortex encircles Ixek and I as we trek through mounds of snow. The world is painted white, and it's impossible to see how far we've traveled, how much further we must go until we reach the mountain pass. I press on only because Ixek keeps plodding forward. Judging by the pained expression etched in his brow, I may serve a similar motivating role.

"H-how much longer?" I say through chattering teeth. The sun has already peaked in the sky and is now in a slowly descending arc.

"Not m-much farther," Ixek replies.

Unease churns in my stomach. I only have a few days left before I must meet the Earthwatcher. If we keep trekking across the mountainside, I won't have a chance to finish the starlight robe, and all our efforts will have been for nothing.

The path we've taken finally takes a familiar turn. We walk alongside a long stretch of mountain, the same mountain Ixek climbed when we last came here. Apprehension tingles my nerves at the memory — Anderwres warriors chasing us, shooting arrows at my back. Hopefully things will go better this time.

Ixek stiffens beside me. Fear trickles into my veins accompanied by a healthy dose of adrenaline.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I don't know. But I don't see any sign that someone's been in the area. No sign of the scout team. Unless they've camped out closer to the pass..."

Something is wrong, I fill in. My knuckles tighten around the walking stick I picked up earlier this morning. Now, I realize it can double for a sword should the need arise.

We creep forward. Only a slight crunch betrays our approach. My breathing is quiet and steady, despite the hammering in my chest. It's so loud, I wonder if Ixek can hear it.

Ahead, something sticks out of the untouched blanket of snow. It's like a brown rock in a rounded oval shape. As we draw closer, more detail comes into view — a slight curve on one side, a shriveled surface, five knobs sticking from the top. It's one of the strangest rocks I've seen in my life.

It's not a rock. I gasp at the realization, and Ixek jumps, pulling his bow taut.

"A foot," I breathe, pointing to it. "There's a foot in the snow."

Ixek rushes forward. We frantically brush the snow aside.

Underneath lies a massacre. Broken arrows and bloodied bodies lay atop maroon-colored snow. My hand touches something hard only for me to uncover a man with an arrow protruding from his throat. The furs have been stolen from the warriors' backs, leaving them with only loincloths.

A sob chokes my throat. "It's horrible."

Ixek sands off another snow-buried figure. His glassy eyes stare down at another deadman. "Holdesk." He moves to digs in a different section, uncovering long, black hair and a strained female face. "Zaleki." He sniffs, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. "They're all dead."

It's too horrific, all these bodies with arrows sticking from withered flesh, limbs splayed and bent at grotesque angles. Yet I can't stop digging through the snow. Tears skate down my frozen cheeks, sticking to my skin.

"Celisae, we need to stop," Ixek says.

I can barely hear him. Who would do such a thing? Who is this inhumane?

"We need to leave," Ixek tries again. "Celisae, stop!"

My hand strikes something hard. I shovel the snow aside faster. I must see who lays beneath. No one can be forgotten. A body forms against a brownish backdrop. Tears blur his face, the bloody hole gaping in his forehead.

Two strong hands grip my wrists, forcing my hands down. I fall against Ixek and weep.

"Celisae, we have to cover all this up," Ixek says. "The Anderwres might come back. Judging by the blood spatter, I'd say this was a recent attack."

"Who is it?" I mumble out between sobs.

"Don't you understand?" Ixek grips my shoulder tighter. "We might be next." Ixek peels me away from him, forcing me to look at him. "Celisae, we might be next."

"Who is it?"

Ixek's throat bobs. "I..."

"What?"

"Don't—" I turn around, facing the dead warrior, and my jaw falls slack. Ixek's distant voice fills my ears. "Turn around."

Red channels carve across the warrior's chest. Put together, they spell a message.

The mountain is ours. Surrender or die.

Earthwatcher.

***

The two day journey back to the tribe is finally over, but I feel little relief. I toss and turn in my bed, unable to sleep after the message I saw scrawled over the man's chest.

Earthwatcher. The earthwatcher has been behind all this. So many emotions war inside me, betrayal and despair, and most prevalent is a creeping sense of dread that's turning my stew to lead in my stomach.

I shouldn't have eaten. I feel sicker than I've ever felt in my life.

In a way, it doesn't matter that I'm ill. After all, it appears that I won't be finishing the starlight robe. All this time, I've been pushing myself harder and harder to fulfill the Earthwatcher's demands. Yet the Earthwatcher is the source of evil closing in on the tribe. My head hurts at the thought of what I've done. The sunlight robe provides burning power, while the moonlight has the opposing effect. Both are at the Earthwatcher's disposal, can be used for her every whim...

Stop it. Don't think. It's too much for me to bear to dwell on my mistakes.

A blue glow floats into my room. Fear paralyzes me. I'd recognize the blue butterfly anywhere. I lift my head just enough to peer at the night sky. A half-moon glows down at me. The Earthwatcher must be summoning me to meet her. But I can't. I won't. Beside the fact that I can't peel my limbs from the ground, I refuse to provide her with another weapon to be used against the tribe.

I wince internally as a thought floats into my head. Mother. She'll be discovered; I'll be discovered. The Earthwatcher was right, ignoring her demands will ruin me, ruin the life that I achieved within the tribe. But the opposite is also true — obedience carries a heavy price, the price of the tribe itself.

I bury my face in my pillow. How could things have gone so wrong? Why couldn't things just go back to the way they were before the Earthwatcher?

Papery legs nestle in my hair, brushing the back of my skull. I roll over, and the butterfly flutters up in a circle around my head.

"I'm not going," I whisper, though I'm not sure if it can understand me. It doesn't matter. It feels good to say it out loud, marginally speaking.

The butterfly hovers over me for a moment before whizzing out the cave, blue dissipating into the night. I exhale in relief. The Earthwatcher's presence has left my cave. Exhaustion tugs at my brain, tugs me into a dreamless dark.

***

Pain shudders through my body. I jolt awake to a faceless figure inches away. I try to back up, but fingernails dig into my wrist. The figure blurs in and out of focus. My head spins, and I nearly fall over.

"Where is it?" the Earthwatcher hisses. "Where is the robe of starlight?"

I shake my head. No words form on my tongue. My throat is swollen shut. The only thing I can process is the figure cloaked in black beside me. A hand yanks on my hair, wrenching my head upward. The faceless head looms closer until only fabric fills my visual plane.

"Where's the starlight?"

"Ch-chest. D-n't."

The Earthwatcher releases me, and I slump against the wall. Bile burns up my esophagus. I moan from the vomit sloshing in my stomach. My head throbs like it's been struck with an arrow. Tentatively, I raise a hand to it, but I don't feel any moisture as I run my fingers over my face and hair.

The figure appears in my face again. "Why isn't it complete? We had a deal." The voice is like venom, silent, deadly venom.

"Cou-n't."

"What do you mean? I thought I made myself clear."

My head swims. Thoughts swirl around, unreadable and unprocessed. Pain strikes my skull, and all goes black.