Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder Page B

clan meeting. The jungle creatures have been restless and disturbed and
    we can’t pinpoint why. When the two scouts failed to return, the clan decided
    everyone should stay close to our homestead. Each night we gather in the common
    room to make sure everyone is safe. Esau was only supposed to be gone a few
    hours.” Tears tracked down her cheeks.
    Her face reflected the hours of worry and fear. Her long hair had more gray than
    black. I couldn’t leave her alone, yet I needed more information.
    “I have to talk with the clan elders,” I said. “You can come along only if you
    promise not to get too upset.”
    She agreed, but uncertainty filled her eyes. Her hand went to her throat. Maybe
    taking her with me was a bad idea. Perhaps Nutty could stay with her?
    Perl stiffened as if with a sudden realization. “Wait,” she said before bolting
    toward the lift.
    As I watched her pull the ropes and ascend to the second floor of the apartment,
    my heart filled with dread. Esau had invented that lift, using vines from the jungle and
    a pulley system. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if anything happened to him.
    Panic made me fidget, and just as I was about to call out to Perl to hurry, the lift
    moved. My mother had splashed water on her face and had tied her hair back. She
    also wore my fire amulet around her neck. I smiled.
    “For strength,” she said, and she met my gaze. This time only stubborn resolve
    radiated from her. “Let’s go.”
    I thought about the fire amulet as we made our way to the homestead’s meeting
    room. Winning an acrobatic contest during an Ixian fire festival, I had achieved a
    moment of pure joy in the midst of hell. Reyad—one of my captors, the first man
    I’d killed—had tried to keep me from participating, and I was severely punished for
    my disobedience, but I knew I would do it again. I now realized the stubborn streak
    from both my parents had kept me fighting despite Mogkan and Reyad’s efforts to
    control me.
    Our clan name might be Zaltana, but our family name was Liana, which meant
    vine in the old Illiais language. Those vines grew everywhere in the jungle, pulling
    down trees in their search for the sun. When cut and dried, the vines turned rock

    hard.
    Looking at the firm set of my mother’s shoulders, I knew she had reached the
    point where she would no longer bend to her emotions, but do what was needed to
    help find her husband.

    The common room was the largest area of the homestead. Big enough to hold the
    entire clan, the round area had a stone fire pit at its center. The black ashy remains of
    the fire drifted in the sunlight, streaming from the smoke hole in the room’s wooden
    ceiling. Benches made of branches and hardened vines ringed the pit. The scent of
    many perfumes lingered in the air and I remembered the first time I stood here.
    The entire clan had filled the room then. Curious to see the lost child returned
    from—according to their viewpoint—the dead, they peered at me with a mixture of
    hope, joy and suspicion. My hopes for an uneventful reunion dissolved when my
    brother declared to all that I reeked of blood.
    Chestnut interrupted my reminiscence by introducing me to the clan elders. “Oran
    Cinchona Zaltana and Violet Rambutan Zaltana.”
    They bowed in the formal Sitian greeting. Their dark faces creased with worry.
    These two dealt with the day-to-day problems of the clan when our clan leader,
    Bavol, was at the Citadel. Missing scouts plus unexpected guests equaled big
    problems.
    “Your friends have reached the palm ladder,” Violet said. “When they climb up,
    they will be escorted here.” A slight smile flickered across her face.
    Relieved they had arrived safely, I projected my awareness to encourage Leif to
    hurry. When Leif opened his mind to me, his annoyance was clear.
    You should have taken me with you to search for the Vermin, he said. Leif’s
    muscles ached from the day-long march through the jungle. The trails tended