“Don’t leave me!” Fighting panic, Dani scrambled after his uncle. It was hard to hold a thought while his insides churned, and he could scarce feel his fingertips. The paralyzing roar sounded again. Glancing behind him, Dani saw the Fjel drawing closer. They wore nothing over their coarse hide, and their leathery lips were drawn back to reveal long tusks. Small yellow eyes glinted with ruthless cunning under their bulging brows. “Uru-Alat,” he whispered, freezing.

“Come on!” Uncle Thulu shouted. At the bottom of the gorge, he had made his way to the fallen spruce and was wrenching at its uppermost branches, breaking them loose. “Dani, come on!”

Half-sliding, half-falling, the Water of Life banging against his chest in its clay flask, Dani made the descent. The plunging Spume boiled like a cauldron, then snarled and raged in its narrow bed, spitting geysers in his path. He stumbled across rocks slick with spray to his uncle’s side.

“Hold these.” Sparing a quick glance up the gorge, Thulu thrust a load of spruce branches into his arms. “No, like so. Good lad.”

“Are they … ?”Dani clenched his jaw to still his chattering teeth.

“Aye. Fast.” As calm as though he were braiding thukka-vine in the desert, Thulu wove a length of rabbit-hide rope amid the branches, deftly knotting and tightening. “We have to try the river, Dani. It’s our only chance.” He met Dani’s gaze. “Whatever happens, hold tight to the branches. They’ll keep you afloat.”

Dani nodded, understanding.

“Good lad.” With a single, quick motion, Thulu stooped and grabbed his digging-stick, shouldering past Dani. “Now go!”

The Fjeltroll were on them.

The path was narrow, and even the sure-footed Fjel could only attack two at a time. Uncle Thulu fought like a tiger at bay, wielding his stick in a blur. The unarmed Fjel hissed in fury, swiping with their terrible talons, unable to get within reach. The largest among them barked a guttural order, and two pair split away, clambering up the gorge in order to flank the older Yarru on his left. Dani, clutching his makeshift float, stared in horror. The one who had given the order grinned, a malicious intelligence in his yellow eyes.

“What are you waiting for?” Thulu shouted over his shoulder. “Go, Dani! Go!”

“No.” Deep within him, an unexpected wave of fury surged. Dani dropped the spruce bundle and reached for his sling. “Not without you!”

Busy fighting for his life, Uncle Thulu grunted.