Taking the Knife

wrists were free, she faced him, rubbing the chafe marks the cord had left. “You will need a weapon.”
    Did she want him to retrieve a spear so she could use it against him? With her spirit healing, he doubted she needed one. But she was right – a man should not be on the Tox without a weapon.
    With Ana close behind he clambered down the ravine to look for his spear. The river here widened, and the water mumbled against the rocks, as if complaining at being weakened. His weapon had bounced and skittered nearly into the water, and when he lifted the familiar weight his heart fell. The tip had snapped nearly in half.
    Ana danced across the rock toward Armin and grabbed the leader’s spear. Sefe’s breath caught as she steadied the shaft on one shoulder and ran toward him. But she didn’t throw it. When she reached him, she lowered the point and offered him the butt end. The status feathers, weighted with the leader’s blood, clung to the shaft. Sefe took it, and Ana smiled. He caressed the slick wood with both hands. Armin was dead. What would he tell the tribe? Tempted as he was to thrust the body into the river and say their leader had never found him, too many years of hunger prevented him.
    He tilted his neck to peer toward the top of the trail. “I’ll say he was killed in a fall.”
    “And your brother?”
    He scowled, still looking at the cliff. Medo had nearly cost him his chance at life. He h ad cost Armin his. Best to leave him where he lay. Like Ana said, Medo had chosen his path – alone on the Tox .
    “You let him live, and he tells.”
    Her words sliced open the truth as surely as the Knife. Anyone who found his brother, whether they killed him or not, might first learn the secret of the captive flame runna . And although the tribes were enemies most of the year, traders moved freely between them. The secret would escape.
    Medo ! his heart cried in anguish. Just like it had the trade-day his brother had left with the hunters. Had left him and his tribe.
    Medo had ceased being his brother on that day. But Sefe’s feet were still heavy as he ascended the ledge. Outside the thicket, he paused. How could he do this thing? He closed his eyes and took a breath. The intake of air made his spine ignite, and he hunched, a tear leaking from one eye.
    Small fingers gripped his chin, and then her lips were against his. He wrapped an arm around her to pull her close and drank deeply of her magic. When his head began to spin, he released her. She looked up at him with her fathomless dark eyes and nodded. He knew what had to be done.
    He straightened and stepped into the clearing.
    Medo had crawled half into the firepit and now lay with one arm crooked over his eyes. He peeked from beneath his elbow at the rattle of amarantox and grinned at Sefe . “It’s good to see you, brother.”
    Sefe didn’t respond. Pulse thundering in his ears, he approached, spear tip first.
    Medo’s grin faltered. His gaze shifted to where Ana stood behind Sefe . “Brother?”
    Placing the spear’s tip to Medo's breast, Sefe pushed until the blade could sink no further. Medo bucked against the protruding weapon, eyes wide, stirring a shroud of ash about them.
    Sefe leaned hard, allowing the shaft to take his full weight. Only this was no walking stick. This was the weapon of a leader. His weapon. Sefe kept his grip until Medo’s struggles ceased. When the black dust had settled, he looked down at the pathetic, naked corpse.
    "I have attended my brother's Knife."
    With newfound energy and the strength of a warrior, Sefe began to dismantle the shelter to make a travois. He had two carcasses to transport over the Crossing. The Hunger was coming. But not today.

GLOSSARY
    Amarantox — a mutation of a common weed, which secretes toxins into the soil to prevent other vegetation from taking hold. Largely responsible for the Botanicaust.
    Botanicaust — an event 400 years ago during which invasive weeds wiped out most plant life on Earth, including the major food crops.
    Cannibal — people who survive by not wasting any food opportunity. They do not specifically prefer human flesh, but will not waste their dead.
    Flame runna — scientists who developed photosynthetic skin for humans. The chemical reaction of photosynthesis also produces an alkaloid in the bloodstream which acts like a drug and can be passed to others through bodily fluids.
    Hunger, the — cannibal term for time of food scarcity. The Hunger generally occurs