River of Lost Bears (25 page)

As she got to her paws, she spotted his silhouette in the distance. Yakone was sitting on a wide boulder in the middle of the river. Water flowed smoothly around him, glittering with starlight. Kallik hurried across the beach and slid into the river. The chill of it reached to her bones. She swam to his rock and hauled herself out. “Yakone?”

He tipped his head. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was.” She shook out her pelt. “What are you doing?”

“Thinking.” Yakone lifted his muzzle and gazed at the sky.

Kallik sat beside him. “About what?”

Yakone gestured toward the stars. “Which one is Ujurak?”

Kallik looked up, surprised. It wasn't like Yakone to think about stars. “You see that bright one?”

Yakone frowned, then nodded.

“That's his tail. Can you see the stars near it, making the shape of a bear?”

He squinted. “Not much like a bear.”

“Enough to imagine.”

“That's
Ujurak
?” Yakone sounded unconvinced.

“You don't have to believe he's up there, watching over us.” Kallik looked at Yakone. “But I believe it.”

Yakone jerked his snout toward her. “Believing isn't enough.”

Kallik stiffened. “What do you mean?”

Yakone's growl hardened. “You could have died today. And for what? So you could save a flat-face cub?”

Kallik stared at him. “But I didn't die.”

“Not today!” Yakone's eyes flashed in the moonlight. “But what about tomorrow? Or the day after? How many more flat-face cubs are you going to risk your life for? Or brown bears, or black bears, or any creature that's passing?”

Kallik flinched away, shocked by his anger. “But that's part of the journey,” she exclaimed. “We face danger together!”

“Together?” A growl rumbled in Yakone's throat. “Who do you mean? I thought
we'd
planned a future together! I thought we were going to watch the burn-sky sun and build ice-dens when snow-sky came.”

“We can still do that—”

Yakone cut her off. “You say danger is part of the journey, but it's not
your
journey anymore, is it?” He glared at her. “This is Toklo's journey. And Lusa's.” He flicked his muzzle toward the forest. “We don't belong here! Tripping over bushes, fishing in rivers, melting in the sun! What if something does happen to you? I'll be alone. I'll have to travel back to the ice by myself. And what about the plans we made? You promised we'd live together on the ice.” He was quivering. “I know they're your friends, but I'm scared for you. And for me! This isn't our home, and every pawstep takes us farther from where we belong.”

Kallik caught her breath, astonished. Was he really that unhappy? “I'm sorry,” she murmured. “I'm sorry you feel this way. I can't wait till I'm on the ice again, with you. But I've lost too many bears. First Nanuk, then Ujurak and Kissimi. Now Chenoa. I can't turn my back on Lusa and Toklo.” She searched his gaze. Was he really so heartless he couldn't understand?

“You're not the only bear who's lost someone!” he snarled back. “I left my entire
family
for you.”

Kallik's fur spiked. How dare he throw that at her?
Don't you know how important this journey is to me?
“Don't make me choose, Yakone,” she warned. “Taqqiq made me choose once, and I nearly lost him forever.” She remembered with a pang how she'd left Toklo and Lusa to travel home with Taqqiq. But she hadn't been able to carry it through. She'd had to return to her friends. And she'd do the same this time.

Yakone's eyes widened. “You'd choose them over me?”

Pain seared Kallik's heart. “I'm sorry, Yakone. I care for you, truly. I'd hate being here without you. But I
have
to see Toklo and Lusa to the end of their journey.”

“Even if you die trying?” Yakone's question was hardly more than a whisper.

Kallik closed her eyes. “Yes.”

Yakone dove into the water and headed for shore.

“They'd do the same for me!” Kallik called. “I know they would!” As she watched him pad ashore, fear sparked beneath her pelt. “Are you leaving?” She stared at him as he shook the water from his pelt. “Are you going back to the Melting Sea?”

Yakone gazed at her across the water. His eyes shone like stars. “No, Kallik. I'll stay with you.”

Her shoulders drooped with relief.

“For now.” Yakone turned away and padded back to their nest.

Kallik stayed on the boulder until dawn lit the distant horizon. Then she swam back to shore and settled quietly on the bracken beside Yakone. Ears pricked, she listened to him sleep. His breath rose and fell steadily, rumbling as he snored. She rested her muzzle on her paws, her eyes drooping as tiredness pulled at her. What if Yakone left while she was sleeping? He mustn't go back to the Melting Sea without her. But how could she leave Toklo and Lusa? They were more than friends now; they were family. She wriggled, fidgeting in the nest, trying to get comfortable until finally, she slid into sleep.

She awoke with a start. Sun streamed onto the shore. Lusa was beside her, nibbling leaf dust from her pelt while Toklo stretched at the side of the nest.

Yakone?

Kallik jerked up her head. There he was. Sheltering in the shade of the trees.

“Are you okay, Kallik?” Toklo's growl surprised her. She turned and saw worry in his gaze.

“I'm fine.” She sat up briskly. “Who's hungry?”

She fished, catching enough for them all. Yakone ate in silence, then trekked upriver without a word. Toklo and Lusa exchanged looks as they padded a few bearlengths ahead. They had to know that something was wrong. Kallik wished she could explain, but what would she say?

Anger surged through her.
I want to go home, too!
She kicked at the pebbles as she walked.
I hate this stupid terrain. I hate the trees and the sun. We're so far from the ice, and I don't know how far we have to go!
Every day they were moving farther from where she belonged. But she
belonged
with Toklo and Lusa. Her mind whirled. How could she leave them?

As the shore narrowed, Toklo halted. The river was curving away toward sunset-sky. Lusa hurried on, heading to where the forest reached the water's edge. She climbed over the line of rocks edging the trees and peered farther around. “There's no shore for ages,” she called back. “Just forest.”

Kallik scraped her claws against the ground. They were going to have to travel through the woods. She glanced at Yakone.
He'll hate it.
She bristled.
What can I do about it?
Was she supposed to apologize? It wasn't
her
fault the shore disappeared!

Huffing, she followed Toklo through the sedge and into the forest. Lusa trotted ahead. The two woodland bears moved easily between the trees, following trails as though they'd traveled this way every day of their lives.

Yakone pushed through a bramble, leaving hunks of white fur snagged in its thorns. “I'm sure I can smell firebeasts.”

“You're imagining it.” Kallik could only smell sickly sap scent. She followed him through the thorns, growling as a tendril tore her pelt.

Yakone's back dipped suddenly, and he lurched. “Great spirits!” His paws had disappeared into watery peat. Scrambling out of the boggy soil, he tripped on a tree root. Kallik darted forward to steady him.

“If firebeasts or flat-faces don't kill us, the forest will!” he complained.

A pine twig jabbed Kallik's sore flank. She gasped with pain. “There are no firebeasts here,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “The forest is too thick.”

“We should be swimming upriver, not trekking through this stuff,” Yakone growled.

Kallik swallowed back anger. Yakone was miserable. She'd chosen her friends over him. “We can't swim all the way,” she reasoned gently. “Lusa wouldn't be able to fight the current for that long.” She froze as a distant rumbling touched her ear fur. Yakone pricked his ears.

Lusa came charging toward them. “There's something big ahead.” She skidded to a halt, Toklo at her heels.

Kallik listened harder. Had Yakone been right about the firebeasts? A deep, ominous rumbling throbbed through the forest. She opened her mouth. Sour air touched her tongue.

Toklo struck off into thicker undergrowth. “We should head around it.”

“Great,” Yakone growled.

Kallik plunged into the bushes, screwing up her eyes as twigs lashed her snout.

Ahead, Lusa slowed her pace. “It's getting louder.”

The rumbling shook the air. The trees seemed to tremble around them.

“I thought we were avoiding it,” Yakone muttered.

“It's everywhere.” Fear edged Toklo's growl.

Kallik barged through a clump of bracken. Suddenly the air was thick with firebeast stench. The roaring came from every side. Her belly tightened as the ground shook beneath her paws.

Lusa's fur stood on end. “What's happening?”

Toklo swung his head, scanning the forest.

Trees creaked, howling through the thunder of firebeasts. Lusa's eyes widened in terror. “The trees are screaming!” she wailed. “They're all screaming!”

Yakone marched ahead. “Let's find out what's going on.”

“Be careful!” Kallik hurried behind him. Toklo and Lusa crowded at her heels. Light streamed through the trees. The noise was coming from a clearing.

Yakone stopped, and Kallik slid in beside him. In front of them, tree stumps rose like a bed of thorns, stretching away toward the riverbank. Flat-faces pointed and shouted, signaling to massive firebeasts.

Kallik swallowed. The firebeasts were huge—bigger than she'd ever seen. They churned through mud on fat, black paws. Their long, flat backs were heavy with the bodies of trees, stacked high like fresh prey. Rumbling like thunder, one rolled toward the riverbank. With a terrifying roar, it lifted its shoulders and let the trees slide from its back. The trees tumbled into the river, crashing together as they splashed down into the water.

Lusa moaned in horror. “They'll drown.” Her words were no more than a gasp. “The bear spirits will drown and be lost forever!”

Kallik closed her eyes. Was this how their journey was going to be forever? This world was filled only with horror and grief. She longed for the ice more desperately than ever, wishing she were back there, with Yakone beside her.

Lusa charged forward, her mind blurring
with panic.

Teeth snagged her scruff. “Lusa! No!”

She gasped as Kallik hauled her back.

“Get off!” Lusa scrabbled at the ground, struggling to free herself. “I have to save the trees!”

Toklo loomed over her. “Lusa! How are you going to fight that many flat-faces? Look at those firebeasts! They'd crush you! And what if the flat-faces have firesticks?” His eyes blazed.

Lusa stopped struggling and fell limp in Kallik's grip. “But the spirits,” she wailed. “The flat-faces have cut down their trees, and now they are
drowning
!”

Kallik gently let her go. “We can't help them.”

Lusa stared at her friends. Were they really going to let the spirits drown?

Yakone headed away. “Let's look from the shore.”

“Will that help?” Lusa hurried after him. Did he have a plan? Toklo and Kallik swished through the undergrowth behind her.

They skirted the clearing and emerged from the forest a little way downstream. The riverside sloped away from them, sandy underpaw, with great boulders lying here and there. Yakone padded past them, slowing as he reached a stretch of beach where the flat-face clearing opened onto the river.

A firebeast was turning at the top. It hunched its back and tipped another haul of logs down the slope. They rolled into the water, clattering against the mass already jammed between both shores. Lusa stared, horrified. The river was hidden under countless logs.