How Power Grows

The tea had helped with the pain enough to allow her to eat. Which meant that the problems with her stomach had been from that more than anything. As she had really no idea if the bounty hunter had done any real damage to her stomach. The fact she could eat when the pain was lessened was a relief.

However it wasn't helping her sleep. As she rolled over, again, it was becoming clear she couldn't lay there forever.

Getting up, she first checked on Hunter. The man seemed to be sleeping alright, so she was careful to not disturb him, as she made her way outside.

It wasn't hopeless but it wasn't looking good for them. Each hour, each minute even that passed with no antidote for Hunter was a bad thing. That was her first concern, it was far from her only one.

The tea had helped her pain, and she figured some of the bruising. The young woman figured her stomach was mostly sore and bruised. Probably the same thing with her back, or that's what she'd tell herself. Having been able to walk and move, it couldn't be that bad. Her left arm however she wasn't sure what was wrong with it. Being no expert, all she knew was that it didn't feel right. It probably would feel better if she had rested it, maybe not used it for at least a day, but it wasn't a luxury the huntress had.

They had just run, tomorrow it would be more of the same. They couldn't warn their friends about the so-called Alcuin though she was sure he was headed straight for her and Hunter. As for Voah and Tarmen, all Islana could do, at this point, was hope for their safe return.

Sitting with her knees bent up and her forehead down against them. A wave of all the emotions, Islana had held on to all day, caught up with her and she felt a few tears fall.

The sound of flapping could be heard, the woman looked up to see Kaithak had landed right in front of her. The bird turned his head to one side.

"Well, hello," Islana wiped some tears from her eyes.

Taking some of the rabbit she had saved for just this occasion, the huntress threw it at the bird. It looked at the food then at her.

It had been wishful thinking that the falcon had understood more advanced thinking from her but it had understood her call for help, and the horses had understood her when she was under duress. It would be nice to have a shift in her abilities, like that, without it being a life or death situation.

Eat. Let's try something simple. Kaithak went about eating the meat.

If that worked then maybe… standing up, she held her arm out. Come That took no concentration. Kaithak landed on her arm.

Then go Kaithak flew back to the ground and continued eating the food. She had used "come" and "go" with other birds so it wasn't a surprise that it worked but "eat" was definitely new.

Answers, apparently, she was getting some. Changing herself probably wouldn't have made a difference, given what had happened. Her powers were growing no matter what she did. Which left her with the answer that the young woman had tried to avoid until now. Islana would have to build her abilities so she could control them, before it got out of control. There didn't seem to be another option, at this point, the young woman wasn't sure she even wanted one.

Plan: start with Kaithak and maybe River, animals that knew her. Ones she already had a connection with. Work from there. Work as quickly as she could to gain more control over her power. If the bounty hunter found them, a surprise of one bird or a few horses would no longer be a surprise. Islana needed something more, something bigger. There was no way to tell if it would work but it was their best shot, at the moment.