Risu backed toward the designated tree, taunting and shouting in her broken Mausfjorder. When the approaching fighters came close enough for Risu to see the whites of their eyes, she turned and scurried up the tree. Reaching the top, she scanned the area as nonchalantly as possible. The Llygodeners marched forward in the distance, with Meiyo in front. Only a few more seconds.

  Risu readied her poison vials and paper-wrapped bombs as Blodtorstig shouted something, a word she’d heard a few times before.

  “Chop!”

  Risu’s heart stopped.

  The dull chops began. Battleaxes lacked the thickness to fell a tree as easily as a chopping axe, but the tree would fall with that many working on it. Risu scanned the area, desperate for a solution. On her right sat the abandoned field which once belonged to Trevlig. Snaking vines from young root vegetables poked through.

  Itansha and Marsvin were out of sight. Maybe she wasn’t a complete failure. Those crops grew because she taught others how to farm. Itansha had rescued Marsvin because she taught him how to be the Ghost. Risu sighed. At least she’d gotten to see some green before someone threw a spear and impaled her.

  The tree shook beneath her. The trunk would fall in seconds.

  Good teachers don’t quit.

  Risu braced herself and darted toward the end of the branch, increasing the distance from the boats, the shore, her freedom. She glided from the canopy; Blodtorstig and his remaining twelve warriors gave chase below. She outpaced them in her glide, but it was taking her farther from her goal. In her descent, she glanced to the side; the Llygodeners and Meiyo had reached the Brekkatown docks. Risu banked hard to turn toward the town.

  Blodtorstig shouted something, goading the other fighters into rushing her.

  Whatever he said, it couldn’t have been good. Risu skidded to the ground. She had nowhere to run, except to the weakened tree. Risu doubled back toward it.

  Blodtorstig’s crew stopped in their tracks and did an about-face to continue pursuit.

  Along the way to the tree, Risu grabbed a discarded axe blade from the previous fight. She only had one chance to make it count.

  She whirled around, waiting for the Mausfjorder closest to her to get near enough for a swing, and then she flung it.

  The blade sailed through the air, cracking into his battleaxe’s shaft, snapping it in two. This left eleven more fighters, and finally Blodtorstig, who had disappeared from her sight.

  Not good.

  The damaged tree wobbled in the breeze, barely hanging on.

  The other fighters caught up to her, so Risu sprinted behind the damaged tree and shoved it toward them. It fell with a crack, scattering the soldiers and providing her some cover.

  Sprinting toward the town, Risu spied the Llygodeners filling the boats. She ran to join them, zigzagging through Brekkatown.

  When she had a clear line to the docks, she stopped dead in her tracks. Blodtorstig had cut her off in the middle of the lane. The giant rodent sauntered to her, smug as ever, brandishing two battleaxes.

  “You can’t hide, girl,” Blodtorstig snarled. “You’ll get a warrior’s death.”

  His simple speech allowed her to understand. She called back in Mausfjorder, “I’ll pass.”

  “Ha!” He lunged, bringing down his left battleaxe with a thud.

  The blade came so close it cut a chunk of her fur, peeling off some arm skin with it.

  Risu grabbed her last smoke bomb, but Blodtorstig kicked her paw. His boot was bigger than her head, and her patagium might have been the only thing keeping her arm attached to her shoulder. Sinking to her knees, she saw past Blodtorstig’s legs one final glimpse of hope. The boats took off from the docks.

  “Don’t try your tricks on me, girl. You can’t use your smoke magic against me twice, ya.”

  The bomb poofed harmlessly in the parched grass, smoke billowing up from it as if pointing to the harbor.

  Loud pawsteps thudded nearby, approaching from behind. “You don’t get to kill her!” It was Meiyo.

  Risu gasped.

  The gray squirrel, running in her full suit of Ironheart armor with her new steel sword, all forged by Hagane, lunged at Blodtorstig.

  Blodtorstig blocked Meiyo’s sword strike with a battleaxe. “Ha! Two little girls. This is the best Kinooms can offer? You look like the old man who attacked me.”

  Risu withdrew her sickle blade and attacked Blodtorstig from the other side.

  “Two children aren’t enough to fight me, ya.” He wheeled on Risu, swiping with his other battleaxe.

  Risu and Meiyo lunged, parried, and assaulted Blodtorstig, but each blow was blocked. More footsteps approached, and Risu worried the scattered fighters had returned.

  “This wasn’t the plan,” Risu hissed.

  Meiyo slid back. “He killed my master.” She ducked under an axe swing. “I’m not about to let him kill my rival. I still need to beat you one-on-one.”

  Blodtorstig vacillated between haughty laughs and snarls. Each swipe came closer to Risu’s face or Meiyo’s neck. Their combined efforts still weren’t enough. With a roar, Blodtorstig kicked Risu in the chest, sending her spiraling into the ground a few meters away.

  Blodtorstig continued his assault on Meiyo. She wouldn’t last long without help, but Risu could barely keep her eyes open. Her lungs burned, and every fiber of her body begged her to roll over and let Blodtorstig finish her.

  Two sets of hindpaws appeared in front of Risu. Gasping for breath, Risu lifted her head, blinking hard.

  Itansha and Marsvin had arrived.

  Itansha brandished the sword Hagane forged for him in one paw, his trowel-knife in the other. “We’re here, Risu.”

  Unarmed, Marsvin helped Risu stand. “We arrived together, and we’re leaving together.”

  “Huskers,” Risu wheezed. They were so close to the docks. Seeing her friends renewed what little strength she had left.

  The trio ran forward toward Blodtorstig, whose axes were pressing on Meiyo’s sword, pushing her into the ground.

  “You stay away from her, you brute!” Itansha charged.

  The High Snarl of Mausfjord spun away from Meiyo and kicked Itansha in the stomach.

  “Get his leg!” Risu shouted, flanking Blodtorstig.

  Meiyo thrust her sword while Risu stabbed—both connected with his leg but snagged in his thick animal-hide armor.

  “Wait!” Marsvin spoke in Mausfjorder, but Risu understood his words. “You see the tenacity of the Kinoumis. You don’t want to fight a whole army of them.”

  Blodtorstig swiped at the girls with each axe, missing by centimeters. “I already killed an armored gopher Kinoom.” He slashed again, connecting with Meiyo’s armor and denting the pauldron. “They’re small. Weak.” He snarled and lifted his axe toward Risu. “They deserve to be under my paw.” He descended on her.

  Risu rolled away from the attack and found a new opening. His armpit. She readied both poisoned darts and waited until Itansha and Meiyo struck. While Blodtorstig swatted at them, Risu jumped, jabbing both darts into his armpit.

  Blodtorstig snarled and grunted. A double dose didn’t affect him. She’d exhausted her special weaponry, and he still remained standing. He threw a battleaxe at Itansha, and the weight pushed him down. Blodtorstig reached in his pouch and grabbed a pair of crusty mushrooms, the same color and shape as the ones poisoning this island, the same ones she thought she’d destroyed in Forstor’s laboratory.

  “Risu!” Marsvin shouted as he helped Itansha stand. “Don’t let him eat those!”

  Meiyo attacked his paws, but she was too slow.

  The colossal Mausfjorder stuffed the mushrooms down, and within seconds, his demeanor changed. A green tint flared in his eyes, flecks of froth appeared on his lips, and he gripped his battleaxe with both paws.

  Blodtorstig swung at Meiyo, steel axe impacting against her stomach with a crunch, denting the armor and sending her to the ground.

  She stopped moving.

  “Meiyo!” Itansha shouted. He ran to her, and Blodtorstig kicked him in the chest, sending him rolling into the dirt.

  Marsvin grabbed Meiyo’s sword. Iron in his eyes, he turned on his uncle.

  Howling, Blodtorstig held a battleaxe aloft, his long shadow enveloping Marsvin. Risu sidestepped and jumped toward Blodtorstig’s exposed armpit, stabbing the unprotected area with her trowel-knife.

  Marsvin dodged his uncle’s attack with the sloppiness of an untrained kid holding a too-heavy sword. The brave fool.

  Panting, Risu called out to him, “He doesn’t feel any pain. Attacking is pointless. Just dodge.”

  Meiyo still hadn’t moved.

  With a heave, Itansha hoisted himself upright and limped toward Marsvin. “If there’s any connection with the rabid ones, he’ll get dehydrated soon. Tire him out!”

  “Kinooms!” Blodtorstig bellowed, mouth frothing. He slashed at Itansha.

  Risu eyed his pouch. It looked like he had a few of those mushrooms left in it. Temptation bubbled inside her. Maybe she could have one herself. Gain his power. Level the field. And she’d take care of those warriors, who couldn’t be too far away. Meiyo was the only one of them willing to kill, and she was either unconscious or dead.

  Risu jumped forward, snatching the pouch.

  One mushroom inside. Red cap with white crusty protrusions. She’d destroyed dozens in Forstor’s lab.

  “Don’t eat it, Risu!” Marsvin called.

  She held the mushroom aloft and waved it in Blodtorstig’s direction. “You want this, oaf?”

  Blodtorstig wheeled on her and snarled.

  “Marsvin, give Itansha the sword!” Risu shouted, backing away from the rabid guinea pig.

  Blodtorstig’s axe descended with enough force to crush a tree stump, smashing into the dirt, just missing Risu. Marsvin pawed Itansha the sword behind Blodtorstig’s back.

  Grunting, Itansha plunged the sword into Blodtorstig’s calf.

  Risu crushed the dried mushroom in her paw, then clenched her fist to keep all the powder inside. When Blodtorstig stumbled toward her, she threw the dust into his green-tinted eyes.

  The colossal guinea pig yelped and staggered. He sank to his knees, eyes closing. He was snoring by the time he hit the ground, right as his warriors arrived. Itansha ran over to his sister.

  Risu’s throat dried. She couldn’t fight anymore, especially without Meiyo.

  “She’s breathing,” Itansha muttered, “but unconscious.”

  Marsvin put his paw on Risu’s shoulder and addressed the warriors. “We’re leaving. You can save the High Snarl or pursue us. Some vegetables are starting to grow in the abandoned field. With the Llygodeners gone, you might want to start making your own food.” Smiling, he turned to Risu and switched languages. “Let’s go home.”

  The warriors gathered around their fallen king.

  After lifting Meiyo off the ground, the friends turned toward the docks, approaching the last boat with a dragon’s prow, where Hagane was waiting for them, bow in paw.

  44

  A Ghost is a seed

  Growing confusion for foe

  Growing hope for friend

  Gentle water lapped against their Serpentboat, warmed by the sun and sped by the wind. Crouched over Meiyo on the deck, Risu and Itansha nudged her to consciousness, while Marsvin piloted. In the distance, Blodtorstig’s army gathered on the beach around their fallen commander, with no boats of their own to pursue Risu’s friends or the Llygodeners.

  Meiyo only groaned.

  Risu rose and watched the flotilla of boats carrying refugee Llygodeners. “She just needs some time. You can undo her armor and check, but I don’t smell any blood.” Plopping onto the bench, Risu faced Hagane. “Don’t take this as me being ungrateful, but why’d you stay behind? You could’ve died with the secret of steelmaking.”

  “We only needed one boat, and I saw the green roots in Trevlig’s field, so I needed to congratulate you.” Hagane smiled. “I also wrote down my recipe and instructions for steel. I gave it to five different Llygodeners who speak a few words of Kinoumese, all on different ships. I needed to stay with you because someone needs to stop you from pushing the boys over the edge of the boat, and I don’t know if Meiyo would.”

  Marsvin glanced over his shoulder. “That’s really smart.” Clearing his throat, he added, “Was that the only reason?”

  Hagane trotted to Marsvin across the narrow vessel and hooked a muscled arm over his shoulders, kissing him on the cheek. “We don’t leave friends behind. I’m proud of you for standing up to your uncle. I’m sorry things got weird.”

  Marsvin pulled her in for a hug. “You had good reasons to be worried about Itansha turning. I shouldn’t have been so defensive.”

  Two young rodents in love, embracing without worrying about breaking any code. Risu couldn’t watch, even though she was happy for them. She plodded to the boat’s stern and stared at the receding coastline, watching the tall soldiers shrink to dots. “We aren’t ready for war. I don’t know how much time we bought, but even with years to prepare, we can’t get all Kinoumi ready, especially with Llygoden under Blodtorstig’s control. Things are growing on Mausfjord again, but I don’t think that’s enough.”

  Itansha cleared his throat. “But Risu, when we left Kinoumi, your family members were at the coastal cities, fortifying defenses.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not how the Mausfjorders fight,” Risu said. “Marsvin, I didn’t see any catapults or battering rams at all when we were on the island.”

  Marsvin cocked an eyebrow. “Cat pulled?”

  “See?” Risu said. “Marsvin’s never heard of one before. The Mausfjorders don’t do siege weapons. They’ll attack the countryside and let everyone in the cities starve.”

  Meiyo grunted and coughed.

  Relieved Meiyo was conscious, but disappointed because that meant she’d start talking, Risu joined Marsvin at the helm. “Our weapons won’t work. With their hide and steel armor, we can’t use cutting weapons if we want to win.”

  “When Mausfjorders fight armored opponents, they use heavy maces and clubs. Uncle Blodtorstig was strong enough to use an axe like a mace.” Marsvin spoke as if the words tasted bitter.

  Risu snorted. “Brute force. Figures.”

  Scratching her chin, Hagane mumbled, “Brute force? Big club? I have some ideas.”

  “See?” Marsvin asked. “It’ll work out.”

  Risu shook her head. “The real problem is Blodtorstig is going to wake up. He doesn’t mind being king of a dead island as long as he gets to fight.” She joined Itansha in helping Meiyo rise to a sitting position.

  Rubbing her eyes, Meiyo looked around and sat bolt upright. “We’re on a boat?”

  “Blodtorstig incapacitated you,” Itansha said. “We dragged you here for our escape.”

  “You should’ve woken me up on Mausfjord.” Meiyo scowled at him. “Or at least let me sleep all the way home.”

  Close to the water’s surface, fish sped away from the boat. They must truly be out of Mausfjord’s waters now with signs of life. The realization calmed Risu.

  She put a paw on Meiyo’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t you have kept fighting Blodtorstig?”

  “Of course.”

  Itansha clicked his tongue. “Hence, we brought you to the boat. We didn’t have a wide window of time to escape.”

  Risu sat beside Meiyo. “Anyway, I need a rematch with you. Just to spar.”

  The siblings both stared at her, identical eyebrows raised.

  “Well, I think I can learn from you,” Risu said. “And it’s not like Itansha is a worthy opponent.” After a chuckle, Risu added, “His training is almost done, though. And I think it’s time for me to learn some new moves. I don’t like how my temper got the best of me.”

  A softness caressed Itansha’s smile. “Training almost done? Thank you.” The pain which had coursed through his voice through the last few weeks abated. She’d almost forgotten how his voice really sounded outside the stress of a mission.

  Risu had a whole book’s worth of words to say. But not now. Not here. “I think you’re right, Itansha.”

  “Did Blodtorstig hit you in the head? What was I right about?” he asked, and the other pairs of eyes trained on Risu.

  “About Lord Castyr. Even though he agreed to fund defense of the coastal cities, he’s weak-willed. He appeased Blodtorstig with tributes—that’s why he taxed my townsrodents so heavily in the first place. We need a stronger leader on the throne. If we really want to save our island, we have to figure out a way to depose Lord Castyr.”

  Risu scanned the sea spreading out before them. The Serpentboats carrying the freed Llygodeners weren’t too far away. She might not have saved Mausfjord’s soil entirely, but if nothing else, those rodents could write their own destinies now.

  War loomed on the golden horizon—it would rise with the sun, cross the Great Sea, and descend on her home like a hawk. She couldn’t stop it while on Mausfjord, but back home, with her friends, they could end it.

  Mausfjord has its first patch of green, and Blodtorstig lost his ships, but Risu and friends know he won’t rest for long and will follow them to their home. Risu returns to Kinoumi in Shadows Protect Them.

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review and tell a friend!

  Book Club questions

  1. Risu used to make fun of Marsvin for his trouble with her language, and now the shoe is on the other hindpaw. What do you think Risu learned about herself?

  2. Marsvin felt abandoned after his parents’ shipwreck, but seeing them again, he felt a new kind of abandonment. Why do you think his homecoming wasn’t what he’d hoped for?

 

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