The forest is so quiet. Solma keeps her pistol in one hand, the cannister that Dyl gave her clutched in the other. She scans the trees for redbear cubs. They often hunt from above before they get too big to climb, and their claws are sharp enough to kill. So far, the branches are empty. There’s no sound but the crunch of dirt under Solma’s blade foot as she trudges the boundary that Dyl’s made, spraying the trees he’s notched to mark the chemical barrier.
Solma stomps over tree roots, muttering to herself. It’s been just over a fortnight since Tobias disappeared and everyone’s still on high alert, though there’s been no sign of the Fire Makers—or of Tobias—since that night. Norsen put Reya under house arrest, but Bell says the entire village hears her cursing him through the window. Solma
