The news spread like a winter blizzard the following morning: a party of Beastcallers had made their way into the fourth level of the Storm Horse totem late the night before. What was more, the mana veil had withdrawn deeper into the totem upon their achievement, meaning the Elders of the Storm Horse were free to explore the lower levels of the totem without danger of having their mana sapped from them.

“We should be in there,” Shani said to Kellen when they heard the news from the other Companion strength Beastcallers who shared in the watch and patrols with them. At first, they’d been viewed as bad luck to be around, but with the opening of the totem now seen as a great blessing, the others had warmed up to them a little. Their presence was tolerated and people no longer stopped talking when they approached or behind their backs when they left.

Kellen hadn’t told Shani about Coyote Lady’s offer. He knew she would have told him he’d been a fool not to take up the primeval on the opportunity to explore the totem first, even if he and Vex had to go in alone. “Maybe we’ll at least be able to go inside now?” Kellen offered.

Inferi growled. “And for what? There is nothing left in the lower levels. All the artifacts and enemies are gone. What good will that do for our advancement?”

“Maybe we can sneak to the higher levels once we get inside?” Vex suggested. “I’m willing to risk it if it means getting out of another day of patrol duty.”

Whenever a wild Mana Beast at Guardian strength or above made its way toward the camps—which was a rarity—the Storm Horse always sent a party of stronger Beastcallers and Mana Beasts to drive it away or defeat it. That left Kellen, Shani and the other Companion strength patrols fighting over the scraps of Companion strength enemies, which were few and rarely offered anything of value when defeated.

After the whirlwind of adventures rescuing Allison and the event surrounding the opening of the totem, Kellen had thought he was ready for some peace and quiet. Now, he was almost as restless as the others. He’d tried to reach out to Coyote Lady, to see if she might allow him to bring Shani, at least. Surely things were different now with so many Beastcallers inside the totem. But either he didn’t know the proper way to contact a demi-god or Coyote Lady hadn’t been bluffing when she’d said her first offer might be his only chance.

“And why should either of you be invited into the sacred totem?” One of their fellow Companion strength Beastcallers had apparently been listening in on the conversation. His name was Iokunish. He was around fifteen or sixteen, Kellen guessed, but seemed much more than four or five years younger than Kellen. Wherever he walked, he wore an expression of constant irritation, like the whole world bugged him and he couldn’t wait for his next fight. Both Shani and Kellen found him annoying at the best of times, when they were forced to patrol together.

His Mana Beast was a light blue hare that stood on its back two legs and came to waist height. It bounced at his side in constant motion, shifting from one foot to the other like a boxer warming up. Kellen had seen it fight with its fists and huge, snowshoe-sized feet. Sometimes it also spun itself into a whirlwind to attack enemies.

Shani gave him a long stare. She might have been new to being a Beastcaller, but she’d grown up a warrior. She knew how to handle idiots like Iokunish. When he said nothing else, she turned away from him.

“Don’t ignore me, freak,” Iokunish said with a cold laugh. By now, a handful of others were gathering around to watch, though nobody took sides in the looming confrontation. Iokunish wasn’t popular with the others and no one wanted to associate themselves with Shani and her Mana Beast that was shadow, not storm, like the rest.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Shani said. “Go away, little boy.”

Iokunish’s face reddened and his dark eyes glinted with anger. “I am a man grown and you will show me respect.”

“I do not see a man, do you, Inferi?” Shani asked.

Inferi raised her nose and sniffed at the air. She also pricked her ears forward as if listening. “I do not hear one or smell one, either. I hear a loud child and smell the fear of a boy parted from his mother.”

Several chuckles broke out from the surrounding group. Iokunish gritted his teeth and swirling storm mana surrounded his clenched fists.

“Let it be, Iokunish,” a young woman said. “The Elders have commanded that there is no fighting between Beastcallers in this time of turmoil.”

Iokunish ignored her, staring at Shani and Inferi. “She’s not Storm Horse. She’s a freak.”

Inferi let out a low growl, the hackles of her spiky line of hair bristling.

“Oh, you should not have said that,” Vex said.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” Iokunish’s hare Mana Beast said, bounding forward, still bobbing and weaving from side to side. “She’s a shadow Mana Beast. How could that ever happen if she was a true Storm Horse?”

Kellen glanced at Shani. Her jaw was set, eyes frozen in a gaze of hatred, locked on Iokunish. The fact she wasn’t talking made Kellen more worried than if she’d been yelling obscenities at the younger boy.

He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “He’s not worth it. Just some punk kid. Let’s just get out of here.”

Shani twitched beneath his touch and never took her eyes off Iokunish. Meanwhile, Vex had placed himself between Inferi and the hare. Iokunish watched, apparently not sure if he wanted to insult a second Beastcaller and a spirit traveler on top of things. For a split second, Kellen thought it would all blow away.

“Are you a coward too, freak?”

Inferi vaulted Vex, mouth gaping as she struck the hare full-on and drove it to the ground beneath her. Shoving Kellen away, Shani thrust her hands forward, unleashing a howling wind that collided with Iokunish’s dust devils, forming an explosive wind that blasted out in every direction.

Kellen raised a hand, blocking the dirt with a small sun mana shield. When he lowered it, Iokunish and Shani whirled around one another, trading punches, kicks and gusts of wind. As two Beastcallers who’d yet to reach Guardian strength, their storm mana attacks were similar and not overly dangerous to one another: whirlwinds and strong breezes with crackling bits of lightning here and there. Kellen hoped their lack of power would keep anyone from being seriously hurt as he looked for a window to intervene without being blasted by both sides.

The hare leveraged its powerful legs beneath Inferi and shot the hyena backwards and into the air. By the time she landed and corrected herself, the opposing Mana Beast was in her face, striking out with a flurry of jabs. Inferi’s eyes took on an inky black and purple flames swirled from her bared fangs. She let out a terrible bark that struck the hare in the face and sent it reeling backward.

Iokunish staggered back, holding his eyes as if he’d been blinded by the attack as well. It was all the time Shani needed to step inside his defenses. She caught him across the face with a sideways forearm strike, followed by a knee straight to the stomach. Iokunish doubled over and collapsed on the ground, his hare following suit. Inferi leaped on top of it, snarling and barking like a rabid dog off its chain.

A sickening feeling hit Kellen as Shani lifted Iokunish up by the front of his shirt and backhanded him across the face. Inferi’s powerful jaws grabbed the hare by its shoulder and neck and shook it like a rag doll.

“Stop her!” Kellen shouted to Vex while he rushed for Shani. He lowered his shoulder and blind-sided her in the back just as she raised her fist to strike Iokunish again. Somewhere to his right, he heard yipping and yelping as Vex fought off Inferi.

Kellen drove Shani to the ground. She twisted like a snake in his arms and struck him hard in the ribs with her knee. He gasped and grunted in pain but refused to let go. A fist connected with his other ribs, followed by a palm to the side of his head that left him dazed. With his arms pinned beneath her and refusing to fight back, he could only take the blows. Another knee knocked the wind from him and Shani shoved him away when he reflexively curled over himself.

He rolled over and found Vex and Inferi staring each other down. Behind Vex, the hare had scurried away to the spot where its owner lay on the ground, groaning and holding his face. The Mana Beast was half the size and ran on all fours. Inferi’s viciousness had reduced it to Ward strength.

Each of Kellen’s breaths came out in wheezing gasps. The pain faded, hopefully meaning Shani hadn’t broken any of his ribs. Seeing Kellen in such a state, Vex rushed to his side.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he grunted, pushing himself to his feet.

Shani still stood before him, both hands clenched into fists. Her eyes were wide and wild and her breath came in shuddering gasps. The rest of the Companion strength Beastcallers and their Mana Beasts stood in a half circle behind her, staring.

“The next time you do that, I will kill you,” she said.

Kellen shook his head, ignoring the threat. “What were you thinking?” he asked, waving a hand at Iokunish. By the look of it, the boy had a broken nose and would soon be sporting a nasty black eye. Blood oozed down a cut on his cheek as well. “You could have killed him! And for what? Your pride? What did you prove?”

Shani’s eyes darted to Iokunish and his Mana Beast and then to Inferi. Kellen thought he saw them shift from wild rage to horror as she saw the extent of the hurt she and Inferi had given the pair.

“I wish you had never come to me,” she whispered to Inferi. Turning, she walked through the middle of the onlookers, who all parted to give her a wide berth.

Kellen look at Inferi to see her reaction. He couldn’t imagine ever saying something like that to Vex and knew what the damage would be. The purple and gray hyena stared after her Beastcaller, emotions unreadable.

“Inferi, wait. She didn’t—”

Ignoring Vex’s call, Inferi loped off in a different direction than Shani.

By the time they made their way back to the Gray Dawn camp, dusk settled over the Wind Bones. The Great Storm Horse Totem cast a long shadow over the crooked spires and canyons of the Wind Bones and the sun fired the rock in an orange glow where snow didn’t drape over it. When they reached the outskirts of their camp within the Goroshu’s perimeter, they found Kiypu and Shakraa waiting for them.

“Tell me what has happened,” the mummy asked.

Kellen and Vex recounted the fight with Iokunish and Shani’s words to Inferi at the end. Kiypu listened without interrupting until Kellen finished.

“This rift between them will only grow worse,” he said. “They are heading down a dangerous path.”

“Danger!” Shakraa cawed. “Darkness!”

“Did Inferi come back to camp?” Vex asked.

Kiypu shook his head. “No, there has been no sign of her from what I know. Nokom is with Shani now. I would suggest you leave her be until the morning. If Inferi is still gone then, we may help them seek her out.”

“Shouldn’t Shani be able to tell where she is?” Kellen asked. He and Vex were never far apart but he always had a sense of where is Mana Beast was and felt relatively confident he could have picked him out anywhere within the enormous gathering if it came to it.

“Shani’s words have wounded Inferi deeply,” Kiypu said. “She has likely blocked herself off from Shani for the time. It is a rare occurrence and a terrible thing but it can be mended. Have heart, little brother. We will help however we can.”

When morning dawned, however, Shani had vanished as well.