As she entered the forest, Taghna felt more alive than ever. Her legs carried her as lightly as if she were a leaf flying in the wind. She had no doubts or fears and her sharp mind was focused on the task she had set herself onto. She was not distracted by the words of Rissar or Séabanh. Only her conviction, linked to her feelings, mattered.
The woods were her domain and she had no trouble finding her way around them as if they were simply a larger version of the village. She took long and deep breaths and drew a mental map of the presence of trees, animal passages and even insects around her. She could detect the familiar traces of her classmates among this crowd of scents. They formed olfactory beacons that she used to follow the paths that opened up before her.
Taghna jumped, leaped and dashed from trace to trace. She didn't need to actively search; nature revealed herself, giving away her secrets. She was led to the clearing where the stroïgil had been held. Taghna was surprised to have reached it in such a short time. In an instant, she spotted the scents of three of her classmates, as well as Færn's. She rushed down that trail.
Her strides lengthened and covered more and more ground, so much so that she entered a part of the forest that was completely unknown. It must have been very far north. The séarach shared their territory with some brich and many ferns were sprouting by their trunks. Taghna walked through the expanses of mosses that dampened her silent steps.
Færn's smell was strong but mixed with those of other animals as well as Ranié's weaker, fainter marks. As Taghna arrived near an uprooted tree with an almost completely rotten trunk, she picked up a repulsive aroma. She could't stop her mind from being filled with pictures of rotten meat and dead bodies.
Determined not to let her imagination take over, she followed the trail by repelling the nausea that was slowly overwhelming her. She easily found its origin. Hidden in the entanglement of a root node lied Ranié, rolled into a ball. Her skin, covered with spots that were turning black, had a bluish tint. At her feet was the unfinished construction of a fire.
Taghna approached with caution. Her nose, filled with the smell of death, turned up in disgust. She touched Ranié's cold body. Her skin had lost its elasticity and Taghna could feel blood clots under the muscles. She looked away from Ranié's face, unable to face her expression frozen in a mask of pain.
Sounds of swarming insects and mandibles doing their job made her turn her heels. Taghna shed a tear that fell on her arm. She realized she was completely naked. In her frantic race, she hadn't realized it. Like adults, she was now immune to the cold. Yet Ranié had wanted to start a fire. Obviously, the girl had not benefited from Lorgá's gift. There had not been enough uisgaïr to fully immerse her body.
While Taghna should have leaped with joy as she was finally being endowed with the same skills as adults, she only felt bitterness and guilt. Ranié was dead because of her. What she had feared so much had finally happened. She let a few tears run down her cheeks but refused to let herself be overwhelmed by sadness. She dried her eyes, wiped them in a rage with her forearm and went on her way, even faster, to find Færn.
After following Færn's trail for a long distance, a scream ripped through the tranquility of the forest. Færn was in danger. She rushed in his direction. She had to get used to her finer hearing as it took a long, desperate while, to reach the source of the cry of distress.
As she approached, louder growls could be heard and a powerful, musty smell permeated the air. Taghna wanted to puke with anxiety. She accelerated her pace for fear that Færn would in turn succumb.
She found herself facing a scene of horror. Her friend was scaling a tree as a bear was about to slash his legs with its long claws. Taghna, her mind blank, threw herself on the beast's gigantic back as it pulled itself up on its hind legs reach its prey.
Taghna struck the most sensitive parts of the animal. She managed to touch its ears and eyes. The bear, disturbed, interrupted its attack. It fell back skillfully on its feet and undertook to shake its coat vigorously to get rid of the insignificant thing that was bothering it. Taghna flew before crashing on the ground.
She got up and made sure that Færn was no longer in danger. The boy had managed to climb onto a branch out of reach of the predator, which began to circle around the tree with a menacing look. The bear didn't care what had just bothered it. It straightened up once more and fell with all its weight on Færn's refuge.
The tree shook with force and made a sinister crackling sound. Færn briefly lost balanced but managed to stay safe. Taghna was thinking about her options. It wouldn't take long for the bear to eventually smash the tree into pieces. The girl was forcing herself to stay calm. She let her anger fall back into her belly to keep her mind clear.
Her instinct was to blindly attack, but she knew that would fail. She looked around and saw a spear on the ground. No doubt Færn had dropped it to take shelter on the tree. She went to pick it up. Fortunately, the weapon was rather heavy. She didn't want the failure that cost Færn his arm to happen again and the bear's skin seemed much thicker than that of the old boar.
Taghna stood in front of the animal and began to wave her arms and shout at the top of her lungs to get its attention away from Færn. The bear didn't even look at her. It was determined to catch its initial prey. Taghna had another idea. She picked up a large stone and threw it with all her might against the beast's snout.
The scheme worked. The bear turned around, noticed the girl and immediately began to charge at her. Its reaction was much faster than Taghna had imagined. The gigantic size of the predator did not prevent it from being agile and fast. As the bear approached at full speed, Taghna felt the vibrations of its steps on the ground echoing through all the fibers of her body.
She didn't have time to think and threw herself on the side just before the hit. The muscle ball barely scraped her but Taghna felt the pure power of the animal. She couldn't make any mistakes. If she was to be hit, she wouldn't have a chance to get away with it.
Still disoriented by her dodging, she struggled to restore her balance, but the bear had already turned around. Unable to jump to avoid the attack, Taghna raised her spear and aimed at the eye of the beast that didn't have time to change course. The point sank into the large globe with ease.
The bear roared in pain and walked back a few steps. With its valid eye, it observed Taghna and rubbed its wound with its oversized paw. A glimmer of intelligence and determination shone through its gaze. It had misjudged its opponent, but now it was a fight to the death between it and the girl.
A shiver of fear crossed Taghna but she did not let herself be confused. As the animal slowly paced around her, she thought about what she could do. This was not the first time she had been attacked by a wild animal, but her experience was still quite limited, especially when she took into account the result of her first encounter.
The bear was very fast but Taghna had confidence in her body's abilities. She knew she could dodge the blows. Her biggest problem was how to get rid of the animal before she no longer had the strength to escape it. Even if she didn't feel out of breath, she wasn't fooled. The endurance of the wild animals was much higher than hers. The village hunters didn't get many catches for a good reason.
Short of ideas, Taghna began to lose patience. She couldn't help but wonder why everything was so difficult. The weapons she had been taught to make didn't guarantee a certain victory and Lorgá's gifts were not enough to kill the preys that inhabited the forest. Why was she still struggling to survive? When she saw Færn clinging to the branch, helpless, she was boiling with anger.
The bear however had not waited for her to find an answer to her questions. It leaps on Taghna. Just before the impact, the girl escaped again by diving to the side. She thought she would have time to think about her next move, but her blood froze when she realized her mistake.
The beast had faked it. Instead of leaving its back uncovered, it had stopped and raised to its full height. It was now facing Taghna, its large claws forming like a cage to cut off any possibility of retreat.
It was only then that the bear, certain that it had trapped its prey, came down upon Taghna. The hairy mass was getting closer to her. She could see in the beast's eyes that in its world, it was kill or be killed. Such must have been its life from birth. The bear had been smarter than her and made sure it left nothing to chance to win.
Taghna was going to die, she was sure of it. She could do nothing but apprehend the animal's shock against her fragile body. And if she died, Færn would also die. Or maybe he could use her death to escape. In a way, Taghna didn't care. She was detached from the situation. She perceived the fall of the animal and the end of her life with extreme slowness.
It was only then that she felt in her hand the smooth and still wet wood of the spear she had picked up. Her body acted by itself. She dropped to the ground while planting the base of the long wooden branch firmly in the soft ground. All she had to do was point the sharp tip towards the bear's chest.
She didn't register what happened next. She only felt the enormous mass of the animal fall on her naked body and crush her with all its weight.
The bear didn't understand what was happening. It had won yet was unable to get up. Blood was flowing out of its gaping mouth from which indistinct rales were escaping. It choke as it tried to catch its breath. Its fur was taken by uncontrollable tremors that recessed before eventually dying out.
The predator had just impaled itself on Taghna's spear, its own weight playing against itself and allowing the seemingly fragile weapon to penetrate its thick coat. Taghna used her last breath to call Færn. The boy had already jumped from his branch to join his friend. He took Taghna's free hand and shouted unintelligible words.
She noticed how much he had changed. These few days during the stroïgil had been enough to transform him into a man. She could finally decipher what he was saying:
- Taghna, I have to get you out of here! Hang in there, don't die. Taghna, oh Taghna!
He pushed with all his might on the bear's carcass but it didn't move. Taghna didn't really fully realize the state she was in. She couldn't move her body but she didn't feel any pain either, only a slight discomfort from her ribs down.
- Don't move, I'll be back soon, said Færn.
She couldn't help but smile. She couldn't have made a single motion even if she had wanted to. Færn came back with a big branch. He saw a large stone nearby and rolled it near Taghna and operated the lever with all his might.
Little by little, he succeeded in moving the remains. Færn made one last grunt of effort and the beast rolled on its back, freeing Taghna from the bloody mass. Taghna felt a wave of pain that drew a few tears from the corner of her eyes. When Færn saw his friend's condition, he felt bile fill his mouth and threw up.
Taghna's legs were twisted in many places and her knees were pointing inwards. From her bare belly and pelvis emerged white, sharp pieces. Her stomach was completely flattened and blood was escaping from open wounds. The liquid formed a small scarlet river that would join the bear's pool of blood that had formed.
Taghna was panting. Seeing the expression on her friend's face, she understood the seriousness of the injuries. Her vision was blurry. She could only feel Færn's warm palm on her shoulder and the fresh breath of the wind on her damaged body.
The pain was decreasing. Taghna thought she was leaving this world. At least she managed to save Færn. As she wanted to say one last word to him, she felt an increasingly intense tingling sensation spreading from her stomach to her feet.
Færn's face changed abruptly. A heat was diffusing throughout Taghna's body.
- It works, it works! Lorgá is with us! shouted Færn.
Taghna got up. She took a long look at her body and noticed that the blood had stopped flowing. Her lacerated skin was resorbed and smoothed and her limbs had returned to their normal shape. The next moment, she had completely recovered. Only the blood-soaked earth attested to her wounds.
Færn threw himself in her arms. He was overjoyed and kept repeating:
- It's incredible, incredible. I can't believe it. Taghna, that's incredible!
Taghna thought that Færn had lost his mind, but she could not blame him, nor did she know what to say. She got up and inquired about his health.
- Can you use your arm?
- Huh? Oh, yes, look, he said, moving it in all directions. Lorgá's gifts have healed me, just like they did with you!
- But how is that possible?
- It's the uisgaïr, I'm sure, said Færn. Our Mother's water has made us stronger. Even my arm took a night to heal, but then you... It's incredible.
Taghna was happy to see her friend in great shape. She took him in her arms in turn and they remained in this position for a long time, embraced, still shaken by what they had just experienced. She ended up asking Færn to tell her about the last few days.
After diving into the uisgaïr, Færn said he had walked deep into the woods. His shoulder was still too painful to use, so he decided to wait a while and fell asleep. To his amazement, he was not only able to use his arm when he woke up, but also felt full of energy.
He then set out to find game. He had found the trail of a small group of deer and had followed it for a long time, but was eventually unable to catch it. That's when he found the bear and started running. Shortly afterwards, Taghna had arrived.
Taghna asked him if he knew what had become of their comrades. When Færn told her that he had seen no one else but her, she told him Ranié was dead. She saw the shock on his face.
- Dead of cold, you say? But that's not possible. Since I entered the uisgaïr, I can't even feel the wind anymore. It is as if sacred water allows us to survive. Thanks to Lorgá, we...
- Lorgá, Lorgá, Taghna interrupted him. Will you stop with it a moment?
She suddenly felt angry. Færn backed a few steps. Taghna realized he didn't know what had happened to her so she told him briefly what she remembered.
- Um, so you absorbed it all?
- I don't know, I just told you.
- But that would explain your quick recovery... he said. Thanks to the uisgaïr, we can finally help the village to collect enough food for the Hir. It's as if everything we have learned has prepared us to receive and use Lorgá's gifts.
- Færn, do you understand what I'm telling you? Because of me, they're going to die.
She had screamed with all her might. Did he not see that she was the cause of their misfortune and that, despite all her efforts, she was only endangering her friends and the entire village? She didn't want to hear about Lorgá let alone the great gifts she was supposed to bequeath to them. She only wanted to find a way to fix what she had destroyed.
Færn finally asked:
- But what are you going to do?
- I'll find them, and I'll help them pass the stroïgil, as I just did for you.
Færn's enthusiasm disappeared.
- You know it's forbidden. The survival of Séaroën depends on it.
- You can say that now, but you were less sure about it when the bear was chasing you, she viciously replied.
- Yes, you're right... But I'm still going to try to hunt my own prey. We have to.
- Færn, this is all nonsense. How do you want to do that?
- But, you forget I got into the uisgaïr before you did. I can do it. I have a little time left before the séarach bud.
It was at that moment that she remembered the words spoken by Séabanh while she was still half unconscious. The dean had told Dorséanan that the village should find another place to settle. The séalyar were aware of the seriousness of the situation. Taghna said in a cold voice:
- The village is condemned. There is no more uisgaïr. It's not just for us, it's for the next generation. We have to do everything we can to get out of this.
- Maybe Lorgá will have brought back some uisgaïr for next season, I don't know...
- How stubborn you can be! I'm going to get the others, and that's the end of it!
Full of rage, she left Færn, who remained mute, arms by his sides, and disappeared from his field of vision.