The sounds of many feet pursuing her urged Dai’Larri to hide. No one could catch her or both she and her child would die. The men who had raided her home would not be merciful to anyone belonging to the families of the Snow Dragon Clan.

“How could Ban’Tarral and his friends have been so stupid? Why would they endanger us like that?” Dai’Larri asked of nobody in particular but her daughter of only two summers old answered her, “I don’t know Maima.”

Looking down at the child in her arms Dai’Larri smiled, “I know you don’t Dove, I know.” Her mother’s use of her nickname soothed the child and she settled in closer to her mother. As she continued to look at the child, Dai’Larri memorized her features. Her pale blonde hair the color of sunlit clouds and skin the color of new milk along with her high cheekbones and small fine nose would always mark her as one of the Ban’Badr. Her emerald green eyes flecked with gold were her mother’s though and the dark crescent mark on her ankle she got from her father.

The sound of pursuit suddenly stopped outside the cave Dai’Larri had hidden in. She held her breath as she heard angry voices outside, “You fool, how could you have lost her? She can’t run very fast carrying that brat of hers. You are going to find her and bring her to me, understand?”

“Yes Ban’,” answered a second voice. This one was older and filled with what Dai’Larri thought was resentment at being ordered around by a younger man.

“Good, hurry up then. I’m going to wait in the sun by that cave.”

Hearing this Dai’Larri tried not to panic, but to think. She was cornered and the raiders would surely find her and the child unless… Unless she could somehow hide them. Scrambling to the back of the cave as quietly as possible Dai’Larri began to feel along the wall for something, anything they could hide in. Suddenly the wall disappeared from under her searching fingers. Feeling around the edges of the hole Dai’Larri’s heart broke; there wasn’t enough room for both of them. Hugging her child close one last time Dai’Larri then placed her carefully into the hole. She had turned to head back towards the front of the cave when something caught at her sleeve. Looking down She saw her daughter’s tiny hand trying to keep hold of her. Her gaze followed the arm back up to the shoulder, neck and head where Dai’Larri saw the tears streaming down her daughter’s face.

Be quiet now Dove, came the voice in the little girl’s mind. Everything will be all right. Maima is going to go talk to the men outside but you need to be quiet now. Play seek and hide with those men okay? Stay quiet and hold still. Maima loves you Dove, goodbye.

Looking into her mother’s eyes the little girl saw things there that she had never seen before: fear and hopelessness. These were things a two year old child would never understand but they frightened her all the same. The little girl wanted to cry out but instead nodded and answered her mother, Okay Maima, Sarra be quiet. I love you too Maima, bye-bye. Opening and closing her chubby little fist Sharra waved good-bye and watched her mother disappear towards the front of the cave. When Sharra could no longer see her mother she closed her eyes and settled in for the game of seek and hide her Maima had told her she would be playing.

With her daughter safe for the moment Dai’Larri crept to the front of the cave. Looking around quickly she saw one of the raiders; the one that gave orders she thought. He was sitting with his back to the cave wall and his face to the sun. Dai’Larri knew she wouldn’t be able to sneak up behind him. Looking for some other option Dai’Larri noticed the large moss covered boulder in the middle of the cave entrance. The boulder blocked most of the raider’s view of the rest of the cave opposite where he sat. All Dai’Larri had to do was get behind the boulder and then she could move to the front of the cave and, hopefully, take him by surprise that way. Not knowing what she would do even if she did manage to catch him off guard, Dai’Larri inched up to the boulder and then behind it.

---

Ban’Fajir jumped when a shadow fell across his legs so to cover his surprise he demanded, “Everybody else is out looking for that stupid woman. Who are you and why aren’t you looking for her too?” Squinting into the glaring sunlight Ban’Fajir could make out the shape of a woman, a somewhat familiar shape.

Then the owner of the shadow spoke, a slight edge in her voice, “I believe I can answer both of you questions at once.”

Snarling, Ban’Fajir jumped to his feet and grabbed for the fighting staff from where it sat out of view in a shadow cast by the gigantic boulder in the middle of the cave entrance. The pole was six feet tall, as thick as a man's wrist, and made from a stonewood sapling. When he pulled the staff from the shadows he saw the woman cringe. Taking that cringe as a good omen for his victory Ban’Fajir grasped the staff firmly in both hands and stalked towards his prey.

---

Nooo! Dai’Larri’s heart wanted her to scream. The staff that the raider had just pulled from the shadows wasn’t his! It had been made by her mother for Ban’Tarral when she and Ban’Tarral had been mated. It had been spelled with protection, strength, agility and accuracy and those spells shouldn’t have been coming off yet but she could feel her mother’s spells coming off in waves. The only way those spells should have been coming off were if the maker or the owner of the staff were dead. Even with two possibilities, there was only one for why the raider was holding it now. Ban’Tarral was dead.

The grief Dai’Larri felt was completely overwhelming. Blind with rage, Dai’Larri charged the raider, all thoughts of her little girl in the cave behind her disappeared as she attacked the man holding her mate’s staff.

---

Sihr stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the awful yell filled with anger and hate. Looking to his companions he knew that they too had heard the primal yell.

“Sounds like Ban’Fajir found the woman,” snickered one of the other pale haired, pale skinned men of the Ice Hawk Clan.

“Should we go back and help?” asked another. “She isn’t exactly helpless remember.”

Thinking back to the raid Sihr did remember. The woman had stood beside the men of her clan fighting, defeating just as many Ice Hawk warriors as they did; sometimes more. Her hand-to-hand combat skills were all that she used and no weapons could touch her it seemed. The woman wouldn’t have left the fight, or her post beside the staff wielding man, if it hadn’t been for the crying of a small girl child who had wandered into the fray. The staff wielding man’s gaze had followed the woman, which was his first and last mistake. Before he could look back to his opponent another Ice Hawk warrior had snuck up behind him and smashed his fist into the unsuspecting man’s temple dropping him unconscious to the ground.

“No, lets wait,” replied Sihr coming back from his daydream. “How many of you want to face her right now? I think our glorious leader just showed her the staff he snatched and from the sounds of things I'd say that he must have been right about who it belonged to.”

Most of the men nodded their heads in agreement but one asked, “So what do we do now?”

Sihr thought about this for a moment and then answered, “We’ll head back but at our own pace. Ban’Fajir is a decent fighter so he shouldn’t get beaten too badly by the woman.” Sihr was rather pleased with the way things should have turned out but when one of the men sniffed and turned to run back to help Ban’Fajir, Sihr knew he would be in trouble. Shrugging, not really caring, Sihr and the rest of the men enjoyed their nice stroll through the woods back to the cave.