She put the pipe to her lips and blew into it quickly. Tryss barely saw the missile, but a moment later the black stone bounced off the rock and disappeared over the other side.

Tryss stared at Drilli in surprise. She’s not just pretty and strong, he thought. She’s clever as well. She looked back at him and grinned, and suddenly he didn’t know what to say. He felt his face beginning to heat.

“So is this where you disappear to?” she asked, her gaze sliding to the harness.

He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

She moved over to the harness and gazed down at it. “This is how you caught the yern, isn’t it?”

So she believed he’d actually caught one. Or was she just saying so to be nice.

“Um…yes.”

“Show me how it works.”

“It’s…it’s…” He waved his hands uselessly. “I’m changing it. It’s all in pieces.”

She nodded. “I understand. Another day, then. When you’re finished.” She sat down beside the harness. “Mind if I watch you work?”

“I suppose. If you want.” He dropped into a crouch and, conscious of her attention on him, rummaged in his pockets for more gut strings. She watched silently, and soon he began to feel uncomfortable.

“How long have your people been using blowpipes?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Years. My grandfather came up with the idea. He said we have to go backward instead of forward. Rather than trying to find a way to use swords and bows like the landwalkers, we should go back to simpler weapons.” She sighed. “It didn’t help, though. The landwalkers still drove us out of our village. We got a few with poisoned darts and traps, but there were too many.”

Tryss glanced at her sideways. “Do you think it would have turned out differently if you had been able to attack them from the air?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe; maybe not.” She looked at the harness. “Don’t know until we try. Are you…are you going to the Gathering tonight?”

Tryss shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’ve heard a landwalker arrived last night. Climbed over the mountains to get here. He’ll be at the Gathering.”

“They didn’t kill him?” Tryss asked, surprised.

“No. He’s not one of the people taking our land. He’s from far away.”

“What does he want?”

“Not sure exactly, but my father said something about this man being sent by the gods. To ask us to join something. If we do, other landwalkers might help us get rid of the ones taking our lands.”

“If they can do that, then they can take our lands themselves,” Tryss pointed out.

Drilli frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that. But the gods sent him. Surely Huan wouldn’t allow that if it meant we’d all be killed.”