Without another thought, Lathwi unsheathed her hunting knife and started toward the tunnel. Taziem barred the way with her outstretched neck.
“It may be that krim will come this way,” she said. “If they do, your new tanglemates will have more need of you than mine ever will.”
“I left Liselle out on the sunning-spot,” Lathwi told her, projecting an image of the boulder. “I must go and get her before krim take her away. If they get her, they get the stone as well.”
What she did not say, not even to herself, was that the stone only accounted for only a portion of her concern.
“Wait,” Taziem said, and turned her thoughts elsewhere. A moment later, her tired amber eyes focused on Lathwi again. “Rue has seen no humans, only two krim. And neither krim is bearing a burden. Liselle must have ta
