Bear Heart (Klawdia, Book #1)

Chapter Two

Thump. Thump. Thump. Pain throbbed in my temples. Something moved beside me. I sat upright, and the world rushed by as if someone was spinning me about. I shut my eyes and grasped at my aching jaw. My ears ached too, and my nose. I peered to the side. A woman sat nearby, her gaze steady. It was Thixal from the Lion tribe, my Watcher. When I was young, Thixal had told me stories of my mother to help me sleep. I hadn’t seen her in months, and now I knew why.

‘Greetings, Watcher,’ I said through gritted teeth. The ache in my head overwhelmed me.

She moved closer and handed me a square of something fibrous. ‘For the pain. Eat.’

The dry herbs stuck to my mouth, and I swirled my tongue around, trying to dislodge them. She threw a knapsack at me. I searched for water and found a half-filled skin. I slurped at the contents and rinsed my mouth. I gauged my location, recognising the mountains in the distance, the summits nearby, and the trees in the valley. I resumed digging through the bag, hoping to find boots or cloth, anything to wrap around my feet.

Impatiently, I dumped the contents into the snow. I glanced at Thixal hovering over the fire. She ate bread, and her face glowed as she faced the rising sun. I looked down at my body. My shirt and pants had been taken, leaving me with undergarments that did little to cover my skin. I fumbled with the knot of a smaller bag and accidentally ripped its sides. I cursed, took a breath, and slowed my movements. Mistakes were often made in haste.

I lined up my items: dagger, skinning knife, bow, salt, water pouch, small pot, and a piece of parchment with a drawing on it. It showed a bear’s head severed from its body and the picture of the knife that lay on the snow before me. I picked up the weapon and touched the tip with my thumb. A droplet of blood swelled and trickled down my finger. I wiped it on my undergarments, grabbed the cord of the main bag, and slid the blade along it. It split apart in one stroke. A bear’s skin was tough to penetrate, but once it was pierced, only a soft insulating layer remained.

I stared up at Thixal. ‘Anything else? ‘

‘You must kill the bear with the knife. Other than that, no.’ She placed a finger over her lips, signalling the end of any further communication.

I looked up at the blue sky. With the sun peeking over the eastern mountains, long morning shadows stretched across the lands. Clouds were scarce, and the fog had mostly lifted. I was amongst the Death Peaks, close to Death Valley. The bear they’d drawn was specifically a snow bear; other bears could not survive in our harsh climate, anyway. Most of the snow bears would have found caves to hibernate in. The rest would be gathering food at the river. Their bodies would be slowing for the long sleep through snowtime. They’d be slow and sluggish, making them slightly easier to fight.

I put the items back in my bag and headed for the frozen streams. I passed through crevices and scaled mountainsides, supporting myself with pine trees and boulders. Snow shook loose as I swung on the limbs of trees. I’d been here many times before. I knew the quickest way in and out of the valley. I stared up at the incredible mountains, each one higher than the one before it until the tips disappeared into the mountain mists.

 To my right, gently sloping hills created a bowl shape where water collected and turned into a half-frozen river. I placed each foot carefully as I descended. My ankles and toes ached from the cold. I had spent many years exposing my body to frozen lands, but the desire for warmth could never be completely overcome.

At the bottom, fluffy pillows of snow sat on the frozen crust. I took out my dagger and stabbed the ice. Crack. Broken fragments parted, revealing the liquid underneath. I scooped some into my mouth. No unusual flavours registered. After boiling, the water would be drinkable.