Tookan Attack: Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals, #4

By Alex Paul

A battle is looming between the Tookans and Arken Freeth's band of Lantish, Tolarian, and Nander warriors. Who will survive?

The Pirate King Yolanta's fleet has fled to Situn, a barbarian settlement on the northern coast of the Circle Sea. Once provisioned, Yolanta plans a return to the River Zash and a final battle that will secure the Necklace of Tol for the Amarrat King.

But before Yolanta can return to crush the Nanders, he will face betrayal and death at the hands of the hostile residents of Situn, the treacherous walled city of the North.

A troubling vision has warned Arken Freeth that Yolanta and his men will soon storm the Nanders' Water Cave. In order to save the Nander tribe and protect the Necklace of Tol, Arken, Talya, and Asher must forge weapons and train the Nanders in the art of modern warfare, an impossible task when the Nanders follow The Way and are so resistant to change.

Mar discovers that Arken is the Jalet-hoi, the one foretold to be the savior of the Nanders. But in order to fulfill this powerful prophecy, Arken must survive a duel with Jen, the tribal chief's son, to save his friend Ord's life.

No one, not even Asher or Talya, believes Arken will win this fight with such a powerful warrior. Even if he does live, will their battle training be enough for them to build a Nander army skilled enough to survive the Tookan Attack?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alex Paul
• Release date: Dec 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540193315

Book preview

Praise of the Arken Freeth Series

This is the next level adventure story you have been waiting for. Brash, rip-roaring, and stunningly original, it is unlike any young adult fiction you’ve ever read.

—Isaac Peterson

My name is Winslow and I am 9 years old. Why I think Alex Paul’s books are good: I think Alex Paul’s books are great. I have read two of them. I have three reasons why I think Alex Paul’s books are great. My first reason is because of the adventures the Toths, Tons, Swordtooths, and Smokers have. Such as when the Smoker attacked the burning ships. My second reason is because it was before the Great Flood many thousands of years ago. That means that weapons like the bow, sword, and spear were very new to civilization. My last reason is because the book is very detailed. I think he did a very good job describing the characters. For example, Arken Freeth is good with a bow, is a commoner, is a neanderthal, is super strong, and is quite short. As you can see that is why Alex Paul’s books are great. I really hope he writes another book.

—Von Trullinger

If you’re ready for an adventure of epic proportions, read on in the Arken Freeth series!

—Cheri Lasota, Author of Echoes in the Glass

A vivid story of action and adventure intertwined with lessons of honor, humility and gracious values. It leaves you anticipating the next in the series in a fantastic manner!

—Giselle Minshull

Tookan Attack

Arken Freeth and the Adventure of the Neanderthals

Book Four

by

Alex Paul

Map of the Circle Sea

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Duel to the Death

Chapter 2: The Duel Begins

Chapter 3: A Secret Revealed

Chapter 4: Healing the Injured

Chapter 5: The Tookan’s Sail

Chapter 6: Victory Celebration

Chapter 7: A Dark Future

Chapter 8: The Truth Revealed

Chapter 9: Yolanta Betrayed

Chapter 10: The Necklace Returned

Chapter 11: Preparation for War

Chapter 12: The Orock Attacks

Chapter 13: Weapon Making

Chapter 14: Blue Sails

Chapter 15: The Tookan Invasion

Chapter 16: The Opening Battle

Chapter 17: The Treeway Ambush

Chapter 18: Mourning

Chapter 19: Night Swim

Chapter 20: Escape

Chapter 21: Death’s Door

Chapter 22: The Tookan Advance

Chapter 23: The Battle of the Water Cave

Chapter 24: Battle on the Zash

Chapter 25: The Sloop Talya

Chapter 26: Yolanta’s Frustration

Epilogue

Glossary

Author’s Note

You’ll find a glossary of foreign words in the novel’s back matter. Just click on any of the Lantish or Nander words underlined in blue and it will take you to the word in the glossary. If you click on the back button of your e-reader or e-reader app, you’ll go back to the page you were on. Enjoy!

Introduction

From The Earth’s Secret History: Arken Freeth Scrolls handed down to Knowledge Keeper Arduel

by Arduel

I am the last descendant of the Knowledge Keepers of Lanth who survived the near destruction of Earth by Marduk and the Flood many generations ago. Those who came before me wrote of that destruction of civilization. I now set down my own words on this parchment before burying all our writings in an urn in the desert north of the Amarrat’s Great Pyramid.

My ancestors had scientific instruments developed in the years long after the time of Arken Freeth but before Marduk. They observed the arrival of Marduk and the near destruction of Earth and recorded these observations. We have kept these writings secret because those in power since the Great Flood do not want the world to know the truth. They destroyed the copies of our writings kept in the library of Alexandria. They kill any who dare speak the truth. I hide these parchments in the hope that someday truth seekers will find the writings of my ancestors and tell the world.

The Great Flood was caused by Marduk, the Destroyer.

Though hard to believe, my ancestors said their instruments allowed them to watch Marduk’s journey. Marduk was part of a star that exploded far away in the heavens. By chance, Marduk swept past the planets of our solar system, tipping over Uranus so it spins backward, destroying the planet between Mars and Jupiter by pulling it apart, and almost ripping Mars apart while stealing its water and leaving it looking like a child’s spinning top.

Marduk flew toward Earth, getting brighter and brighter each day until, near the end, it was visible in daylight. Then Marduk almost hit the Earth.

Before Marduk, Earth had a different North Star and there were always twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night everywhere. Without summer or winter, many crops bore fruit year round and the weather was always the same. But Marduk came so close, its pull so strong, it tipped the poles enough to make summer and winter. And the pull of Marduk’s gravity as it flew by raised mountain ranges and lakebeds in a single day while other land masses dropped below sea level and disappeared. Marduk lifted dirt and rocks and many animals up into the sky. Whole herds of toth, ban, anlop, hamps, and ton were raised far above the Earth until they froze instantly. Then they crashed back to Earth as Marduk flew on and released them. Marduk lifted whole oceans, and when they fell back to Earth, the Great Flood gouged out deep basins and canyons in a single day.

But Marduk was not done dealing out its misery and disaster with the Great Flood. The seas of Mars had been pulled from that planet and they followed Marduk as ice crystals through space until much of the ice fell to Earth, causing months of rain. When all the water from Mars had fallen, the skies cleared and sunshine finally made its way down to light up a world piled miles high with ice and mud and stones. Then Earth turned cold, with winters never seen before.

The last remnants of man—barely any survived—emerged from high mountain caves that had offered protection. Some, like my ancestors, kept the ways of civilization and knowledge, but most soon lost their skills and descended into savagery. The survivors who rebuilt civilization told stories of what once had been—stories of the Earth they remembered, though the memory grew fainter with each generation until, eventually, it was only a story of a lost paradise.

Earth truly was once a paradise. Each day was fair and warm. Each night when the moon shone there was light enough to walk, for the moon was closer and therefore larger in the sky. There were no storms of rain or snow anywhere except the poles. Instead, gentle dew fell each night that nourished all the plants, and each day the sun shone without fail. In that world of lush plains and fertile valleys, man once built wonderful cities, high-walled against the ravages of the great cats and giant bears. Great ships sailed the seas with trade.

I am Arduel, last of the Knowledge Keepers of Lanth, the last descendant of my ancestors who survived Marduk and the Great Flood. I was a scholar in the library of Alexandria, but now I flee my pursuers with these precious books to bury them before I am caught and killed. I hope someday my words are found and read.

The city-state of Lanth bred the world’s finest warriors. Of all those great warriors, one was the greatest of all, for he saved Lanth from certain ruin. This scroll tells his story, the story of Arken Freeth, the greatest warrior of Lanth.

CHAPTER 1

DUEL TO THE DEATH

Shadow touches rock. Time for fight to death, Bruton, the Nander tribe’s chief, shouted as he pointed at the dueling rock. The veins on his neck bulged as he yelled, making the tattoo snake on his neck pulse as if it were alive.

Arken Freeth glanced down. The shadow from the hillside above the Water Cave had, indeed, reached the rock, marking the hour when duels were to start. The Nander tribe spread into a wide circle around the yellowgrass meadow.

Mar looked scared. Bruton’s son, Jen, had challenged Ord, Mar’s son. But Ord lay unconscious back in the cave. Arken Freeth was only fourteen, the same age as Ord and Jen, but he had volunteered to fight in Ord’s place. If he hadn’t, Ord would have been placed in the dueling circle and Nander law would have allowed Jen to cut his throat while he lay unconscious.

Arken understood Mar’s concern. Standing next to Jen, who was half a head taller and at least four times as strong as Arken, it was obvious by the looks on the gathered Nanders’ faces that they believed he would die in this duel and that tribal law would then require Ord to be put to death anyway.

Bring weapons! Bruton roared as he grabbed his son’s shoulder to encourage him. Both of them wore the yellow gastag leather tunic that was the regular Nander garment. As father and son, they looked alike, with long red hair, a golden covering of body fur, and muscles that bulged the promise of power and death. Jen was just a slightly smaller copy of his father, the most powerful Nander in the tribe.

Bruton is eager for this fight, Arken thought as he looked at them. To the Nanders, I’m a short, thin, pale-skinned, blond-haired No-fur, a human barely able to survive in the wild much less able to kill a Nander.

Asher d’Will had carried the weapons selected by Arken. Now Asher responded to Bruton’s call by stepping forward and holding out two longbows and four arrows on his extended arms. The burden of arrows and bows looked almost too much for Asher, since he was even shorter and thinner than Arken. Despite the load in his arms, Asher bent his right arm and scratched at the brown curls of his hair. Arken realized he still hadn’t told Asher he might have fleas. Then Arken realized he might never get the chance if he died in the duel today.

What is this weapon? Bruton roared, spit erupting from his mouth. Asher cringed and blinked at the spit, but stood his ground to show the bows to the chief. Arken was proud of his friend. Asher was thin with hollow cheeks and the skin on his skull had so little fat that the seams of his skull were visible as lines on his forehead beneath his curly hair. Despite being so lean, tiny, and fragile compared to the Nanders, Asher showed his courage by holding the weapons out without shaking.

Weapon is bow and arrow! Mar shouted as he rose to his feet despite his bad left leg. "Arken use bow to kill toth, become Nander bull." Age had thinned Mar’s hair, and the loose bunch of white and brownish blond hair on his head tossed from side to side as if trying to send signals to help his explanation of the weapons Arken had selected.

Mar looked down at his mate Maren for agreement, and she nodded to confirm Mar’s statement. Her waist-length hair was a mix of red and grey, and it moved like a snake up and down over her shoulder and left side as she nodded. Then she turned to place a hand on Eela’s arm to give her daughter support.

Their younger daughter, Eela, sat by Maren and looked so much like her mother that at a distance they could have been twins with their red hair and green eyes. Only a closer examination would reveal the grey in Maren’s hair and the wrinkles of her skin.

Eela looked very worried, and she had good reason. She was the cause of this duel. She looked ready to erupt into tears due to her anxiety, and Arken was amazed she was holding back tears because she had cried nearly all day.

Bruton scrunched his forehead, showing his confusion and making his massive eyebrows even bigger. The Nander’s only battle weapons were the long, heavy, flint-tipped spear and a bone-handled flint knife. The bows Asher held bore no resemblance to any Nander weapon Bruton had ever seen. His showed that he didn’t understand how such a small stick could be so deadly that Arken had used it to kill a toth.

Bruton’s confusion was understandable to Arken. He had learned by living with the Nanders that they were slow to change and followed The Way above all. The Way was their law, customs, and habits.

Even though Arken had used his bow to kill a toth right before Bruton’s eyes, the chief hadn’t noticed during the confusion of the hunt. The huge animal had been swinging its tusk and using its enormous feet and trunk to try and kill Ord and Lon after both had fallen to the ground.

Arken had come to the rescue by climbing a tree and shooting at the toth. His arrow had found the toth’s heart so quickly that it had been almost invisible. Arken had tried to demonstrate how his bow worked when Bruton had said another Nander had killed the toth, but when Arken drew his arrow back, the bowstring snapped.

Bruton’s laughter that day made Arken give up trying to explain how the bow worked because it was obvious that Bruton didn’t want to grant a puny No-fur the right to be a bull of the tribe—especially when Bruton’s own son Jen had yet to kill a Toth.

But when the Nander females were gutting and cleaning the toth and carving off meat to carry back to the Water Cave, one of the Nander females had found Arken’s arrowhead embedded in the animal’s heart, which proved that Arken had killed the toth. Unable to understand how the bow worked, Bruton and most of the Nanders thought the bow and arrow were just smaller versions of the toola and short spear that Arken had shown to the tribe earlier.

How toola throw little spear? Bruton asked as he placed an arrow at one end of the bow as if it were a toola. Bruton had become skilled with the toola Arken had made him. But the arrow fell off the bow when Bruton tried to launch it.

It’s a bow—not a toola, Asher explained in Nander. He turned and his green eyes locked with Arken, who nodded that Asher had said the words correctly. Arken had learned the language of the Nanders more easily during their stay because his Nander grandmother had taught it to him years ago. Asher and Talya were still struggling to learn the language.

Jen not know bow! Bruton whined as he held the bow out like it was some evil object. I not know bow. This not a weapon. Bruton waved the stick around, and the gastag tendon bowstring flopped uselessly from one end. Not the Way to fight with new weapon! Jen must fight with weapon Jen knows.

No! Mar interrupted. Arken prayed that Mar would succeed in his effort to get Bruton to allow the bow as a weapon because the bow was critical to the success of Arken’s plan. Mar shifted his weight and limped from the pain in his bad left leg, ruined years ago in a toth hunt. It was an injury that had forced him to become useful to the tribe as its tribal healer, the Chandon, who was also the tribe’s spirit leader. Jen challenge, Arken choose weapon. That is The Way. If Jen refuse bow, Jen withdraw challenge. No one die.

Please, Kal, Arken prayed, let Jen withdraw so that no blood is spilled today.

Bruton turned to speak with Jen and the Nander bull acting as Jen’s matta, his helper. The matta’s main duty was to carry the dead fighter to his burial. The tribe members spoke in low tones. They knew Mar was right. According to The Way, if a Nander was challenged to a duel and the weapons the opponent picked were not to the challenger’s liking, the challenger of the duel could withdraw without consequences.

Arken couldn’t make out the conversation, even though the wind had died down and the monkeys had stopped chattering. It was as if the jungle itself was trying to listen in on this conversation. Arken could only make out the clicks and starts of irritation and anger that accompanied the speech of angry Nanders. Bruton raised his voice as they argued until Jen shouted back while shaking his head violently. The gathered Nanders cringed, showing their discomfort that their chief and his son were arguing, for Jen would someday be the chief.

Jen not withdraw, Bruton said finally. Jen and Arken fight with bows.

Whispers and groans came from the gathered Nanders like a rush of wind that throws leaves and branches about before the air turns still again. It was time for combat. Now the fight would go on until one person died or yielded. But yielding meant banishment from the tribe because no one could survive alone in the savage, wild forest for long, especially if they had been wounded.

Arken noticed the blood was oozing again from the bite on Jen’s neck. The bite was why Arken was fighting. Eela said that Jen attacked her near the drinking water stream and that Ord had bitten Jen to make him stop. But Bruton had run to Jen’s screams and smacked Ord’s head to make him release Jen. Jen said Ord attacked him and Eela was lying.

Since there were no witnesses, it was Jen’s word against Eela’s, and since Eela had confessed that Ord had bitten Jen, confirming Jen’s story, Jen was allowed to challenge Ord to combat, even if Ord sill couldn’t wake up!

Arken felt sad and scared. His legs trembled uncontrollably now that combat was certain.

Asher, give weapons to mattas, Bruton ordered. Arken repeated the order in Lantish as Lon rose from his place by Ween to stand by Arken as his matta. Ween was pregnant and showed her discomfort as she leaned over to give Lon room to rise. She winced for a second as she leaned over because her long red hair was trapped under her hand.

Lon looked upset for causing his mate pain, but he couldn’t help being so large. He was as wide as Bruton and a little bit taller, so as he stepped toward Arken, he loomed over the short No-fur. Lon’s light brown hair framed his wide cheekbones and nose as he winked a blue eye to encourage Arken.

Then Lon and the other matta bowed to both fighters. Nanders respected anyone willing to fight to the death.

Rays of sunlight found their way through the high oaks to dance across the flattened yellowgrass as Asher handed the bow and two arrows to Lon. Asher gave the same weapons to Jen’s matta and then returned to the circle of Nanders to sit by Talya next to Ord’s family.

Talya waved and Arken smiled at her. Talya was sitting next to Eela to give her support along with her mother. Talya’s blue eyes and lean, freckled face were framed by her long, brownish blonde hair, and she looked so brave and beautiful to Arken. He would never see her after today if he lost this fight, and he knew he was fighting for his future with her as well as being Eela’s champion since she had been wronged.

He turned his gaze to Eela and nodded to her. She seemed embarrassed and looked down, her long red hair covering her eyes.

Though he was fighting to save Ord’s life, it hadn’t really sunk into Arken’s brain until that moment that it was Eela who had been viciously attacked by Jen because Eela had rejected his proposal to be Jen’s mate someday. She was the one that Ord had defended, and with Ord unconscious, it was now Arken fighting for her. And, of course, he was fighting for Talya and Asher as well, for without him to protect them, their future in the cave was doubtful.

Arken bowed to Eela to show that he was defending her honor. Birds called and monkeys chattered high in the trees when a pack of hyna howled far away. The animals were signaling that the end of the day was approaching, their cries showing that this duel didn’t matter at all to the lives of the forest creatures.

Lon handed a bow to Arken, and in a flash, Arken spun around so that Jen couldn’t see what to do. Arken braced the bow’s strung end against his left foot, pulled down hard on the top end of the bow with his right hand and lifted the string with the other. The bow was stiff, and he struggled to get the bowstring loop over the bow’s end. Without the bow he was dead!

CHAPTER 2

THE DUEL BEGINS

Arken hung on to the bow’s end and used all his weight to pull the bow down while pushing the string up with his left hand. His arm began to shake, but he managed to get the loop far enough over the bow’s end to slide over the top and drop into the notch.

He released the top of the bow, and then plucked the string to make sure it was secure before turning around and taking the arrows from Lon. Then he faced Jen across the ring.

Fighters ready? Bruton asked.

Jen held the arrows in one hand and the unstrung bow in the other. Arken’s plan had worked. Bruton looked with dismay from Jen to Arken, as it became obvious that Jen had no idea what to do with the bow.

Arken ready? Lon asked. Arken shoved one arrow point first into the ground to make it easy to retrieve, and then placed the second arrow on his bow and nocked it on the string.

Yes.

Arken ready! Lon announced before he walked to the circle’s edge.

Jen ready? Jen’s second asked in Nander.

Yes, Jen replied, though his voice wavered in a tone that said he was not ready at all. The bull acting as Jen’s second walked to the edge of the circle opposite Lon.

Fight to death, Bruton declared as he raised his arm and stepped back from the center of the circle.

Jen roared, dropped the bow and arrows, and rushed across the gap to tear Arken apart with his hands.

Fear gripped Arken, paralyzing him for a second, but all his years of training and practice kicked in. He drew the bow. At ten legs distance, he couldn’t miss, even though his target was sprinting toward him. But as he held his arrow on Jen’s heart, Arken felt time slow down as it had in his sparring match with Gart when he tried to decide if he should strike Gart’s head, an illegal blow, or his back.

In that instant of aiming his arrow at Jen’s heart, the words of Stroebel the Soothsayer came to him. Be good with a bow, Stroebel had commanded during Arken’s reading before going on SeaJourney. A flash of understanding swept over Arken as the deeper meaning of the soothsayer’s words were revealed.

Arken pointed his bow down and away from Jen’s heart and let the arrow fly at the Nander’s left thigh instead.

The obsidian-tipped, wooden shaft sliced into Jen’s leg as easily as a jumping fish diving back into water. The arrow made a wet, slapping sound as it buried itself in Jen’s leg. With a scream of rage and pain, Jen tumbled forward in the grass and rolled head over heels, his body had reacting naturally by collapsing the wounded leg to prevent the injured muscles from taking any load. Jen ended up on the ground less than five feet from Arken.

To Arken’s astonishment, Jen ignored his pain, rose, and then lunged forward using only his good right leg to push himself while dragging the wounded leg behind him.

Arken grabbed his second arrow from the ground as he jumped to his left, away from the side of Jen’s bad leg. Jen tried to push with his left leg as he grabbed at Arken, but the leg failed him, and Jen sailed past Arken’s right shoulder. Jen landed clumsily on his side and he let out a scream of pain as Arken retreated even further away. When Jen looked up, Arken was at a safe distance, pointing his second arrow at Jen’s chest with the bow fully drawn.

Yield, Jen! Or next arrow kills you, Arken warned. Jen looked down and whimpered in pain, then looked at Bruton.

Father! Jen yelled with fear in his voice.

A scream of rage and frustration came from the edge of the Nander circle surrounding the combatants. Arken glanced to his left to see Bruton stepping forward with his spear. The chief raised the spear and flipped it in his hand, preparing to throw. The symbol of being a bull of the tribe for killing a toth, the spiraling tattoo that climbed Bruton’s neck, bulged and turned red from his pent-up anger.

Stop. Arken shifted his aim to Bruton as he stepped further away from Jen.

The sight of the arrow pointed at him made Bruton pause.

Drop spear, Arken shouted. He glanced around and saw that Jen had dropped the other bow and two arrows where he’d first stood.

Before Bruton could decide what to do, Arken ran toward Bruton until he reached the arrows Jen had thrown to the ground.

Drop spear, Arken warned again, but Bruton was frozen, unable to decide. Arken sighted his bow at a tree close behind Bruton. He let the arrow fly. As it swept by the Nander’s head in a blur, Arken bent over, picked up one of Jen’s arrows, nocked it, and came to full draw seconds after his loosed arrow struck the tree.

The arrow buried itself in the tree trunk behind Bruton with a loud crack. Nev was standing below the point where the arrow landed and dark brown bark showered her red head and shoulders, making her yelp in surprise. The arrow vibrated from the impact, the shaft sounding like an angry wasp with its stinger plunged deep into its victim.

There was an audible gasp from the Nanders surrounding the circle. The arrow had passed close to Bruton’s head. Their Chief had just missed being killed.

I not miss, Bruton! Arken shouted in Nander. That is warning. Next arrow goes in you, Bruton. Now, put down spear. Arken held his fresh arrow nocked with his bow drawn, the arrow pointed at Bruton’s chest. In that moment, Jen began to lunge toward Arken, so Arken quickly shifted his aim back to the Nander youth.

Jen, stay still or you die! Arken roared, his arrow now pointed at Jen. No one moved. It was clear to all present that one Nander would die, and probably both, if Arken willed it.

Eaagghhh, Nev, Bruton’s mate and Jen’s mother, cried out, a sound of terror torn from the center of her chest, a sound that told everyone she could imagine the next arrow crashing into her son or husband’s heart and sticking there as easily as in the tree trunk. The rest of the Nanders responded to her cry of anguish, and they started making noise, some shouting and others crying out in fear.

Yield, Jen, or die! Arken shouted in Nander above the noise of the Nanders. The Nanders in the meadow went dead quiet.

Jen stared at the glistening black obsidian arrowhead on Arken’s bow ten paces from his head. Tears streamed from his eyes from the pain in his leg. One hand was on the arrow in his thigh. He looked down at it, and then spat on the ground before looking at his father with an expression of terror in his face.

Submit, Jen. Yield and fight no more, Bruton’s deep voice advised as he dropped his spear and bent his head in defeat.

Father! Jen screamed, for he knew his life had ended. Arken knew as well, for Mar had explained the consequence of yielding in a duel. Jen would be turned loose in the jungle with supplies and a spear.

But Ord had explained to Arken that it was difficult to bring game down while hunting alone with the heavy Nander spear. And to make things impossible for Jen, his leg was badly wounded. Jen would suffer horribly alone in the jungle until he died. Jen’s only chance to survive after leaving the Water Cave would be to travel quickly and reach another tribe of Nanders to take him in and heal him before green rot or starvation killed him. But how could he travel quickly with an injured leg? Impossible. Sweat covered Jen’s grimacing face while many of the Nanders who were supporters of Bruton cried out in dismay.

Arken held his bow on Jen and recalled his friend’s struggle to survive in the jungle after he and six other cadets had made it to shore the day the Sea Nymph ran aground. Arken and his friends had been very healthy, yet they had barely survived starvation and attacks by predators such as the bur and lin.

Only by combining their skills and hunting together had Arken and Asher managed to kill a picar and get food for their group.

He’s doomed, Arken thought as he looked at the blood dripping from Jen’s wound onto the yellowgrass meadow. Arken’s obsidian arrowheads were just too sharp and lethal. The arrow had done too much damage to Jen’s thigh. I can smell that blood from here thanks to my Nander grandmother, thought Arken. A jalag will smell that blood from far away and eat Jen during the night.

Yield, Jen. Leave tribe forever, Bruton advised his son in a soft voice. "Tonlot will watch over you in the forest. It is The Way."

No! Arken said in Nander. He shouted so loudly that it startled Bruton, making him jump back as if Arken was going to loose an arrow at him after all.

Mar! Arken shouted. If Jen yields he will die in forest. Tribe needs Jen. Jen mighty warrior. Tribe need all warriors.

It is The Way, Arken, Mar argued in a sad voice. No one can save Jen. We have to obey The Way. Even Bruton knows that.

The Nanders around the meadow nodded and muttered, It is The Way.

Then The Way should be changed, Arken yelled. Or I should give Jen a merciful death now instead of letting him suffer. He pulled the string back to full draw and aimed at Jen’s heart.

Arken, no, don’t kill Jen, Mar said as he stood up. There is one who can change The Way.

Who? Arken barked. His arm trembled, but he held the bow back at full draw, determined to administer this last mercy to Jen.

"Jalet-hoi, the one foretold. Only he can change The Way and spare Jen." Mar spoke into the dead silence after the gasp that had followed Arken’s words.

Who? Arken eased the bow’s tension because the strain of holding it at full draw had gone on too long. But he kept his eye on Jen as he relaxed so that he could fire if Jen made another rush at him. Mar, if there’s any way Jen can be spared, then you should do it, Arken said. Because we will need his help when the Tookans attack.

Why will the Tookans attack us? Mar asked. He shifted his weight from side to side as a look of confusion crossed his face.

They are going to return soon for the Necklace of Tonlot that we buried not far from here, Arken blurted out.

Mar gasped. You know where the Necklace of Tonlot is? You buried it near the Water Cave?

Yes! Arken exclaimed, shocking himself at the secret he let slip. He had foolishly revealed to the Nanders that their greatest spiritual treasure, the necklace stolen years earlier by the Tolarians, was within their grasp.

Arken sucked his breath in as if someone had thrown cold water on him. He had betrayed Asher. Even worse, he broke his oath to return the necklace to the King of Lanth. Arken looked over at his friends, glad that they didn’t understand the Nander language. He would have to explain to them, but first there was still the matter of Jen.

Arken Freeth is the one foretold, Mar exclaimed as he looked around the circle of nearly two hundred Nanders. He looked at Bruton. Arken Freeth has returned the necklace. He is the Jalet-hoi, Mar said in a loud, clear voice. It is a miracle. He can spare Jen’s life!

How Mar know Arken is Jalet-hoi? Bruton’s face was a blend of grief, disbelief, and hope, for his son’s life hung in the balance.

"Only Jalet-hoi can return Necklace of Tol to Nanders, Mar said. Despite his crippled leg, Mar bent to the ground and bowed to Arken. People of the Water Cave, bow down to your savior, Arken Freeth! Mar shouted. When the Nanders didn’t move, Mar yelled out, He is the Jalet-hoi. He has returned the Necklace of Tonlot to us. Now bow down to him, all of you."

Mar bent forward while on his knees and touched his forehead to the