When the village square had cleared and the dust had finally settled, the last two people standing were Mara and her guest.
"Is there anything you'd want to say to me?" she asked, coming closer to him.
"What was that?" he asked indicating the cave on the cliff.
"Who, not what...he's a person, not an object...he's just obnoxiously large and notoriously slow on the uptake." She paused and glanced at the spot where Theo previously stood. "He's not normally violent...unless provoked."
"I'm guessing Vanir provoked him."
"He does that. He aggravates nearly everybody when he's in a bad mood."
No thanks to me, he wanted to say but instead he slipped the tip of his tongue between his incisors and bit down. He looked down at the ground for a moment, trying to think of what to say next, at the same time wondering if women in general had this effect on him before. Being this close to her made his heart do somersaults in his chest. The palpitations got worse whenever he notices her looking at him.
However, he hadn't noticed that she was saying something to him. Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away. "What?"
"I was asking you how you did it."
"Did what?"
"There was no way you could've made it there on time...you were too far."
"What are you talking about?"
"When you ran...when you grabbed me...you couldn't've made it on time...there was no way."
Before he could answer, the little girl returned and pulled at Mara's tunic. She bowed once more and beckoned for her to bend down so she can whisper in her ear. She spoke behind a cupped hand and Mara nodded, saying, "We'll be right there." The child bowed hastily and ran off.
"We?"
"Yeah, we." Mara walked past him and ducked back into his hut. A moment later, she returned and threw a pair of worn shoes in his direction. He caught them deftly in his hands and put them on.
"Are you planning on telling me where we're going or is it some kind of surprise?" he asked as he slipped the shoes on.
"I still don't know you well enough to want to surprise you."
"So where?"
Mara didn't reply. Instead she grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. He shortened his stride to keep up with her as she dragged him across the square. Small puffs of sand rose around her feet as she stomped across it. Slowly the hem of her bright red tunic began taking on a pale-brown hue. From behind her, he watched the end of her braid bouncing merrily off her lower back.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked again.
She halted so suddenly, he nearly collided with her. "You don't have a name."
"I did, but I lost it on the way here."
"We need to give you one. Otherwise, he'll never trust you."
"Who?"
She turned to face him. "Our leader."
"I thought you were the leader."
