Free Archon by Lana Krumwiede

killed,” Amma said between breaths.
    “Cha, but look.” Taemon pointed to the saddle.
    The boulder was now blocking the narrow canyon that led to it. Now the saddle was completely and indisputably impassible.
And
impossible.
    And there was no squirrel for dinner.

For a few silent moments, they stared at the pile of rocks that separated them from the saddle.
    “We were so close,” Taemon said. “Now how do we cross the mountain?”
    “Maybe there’s another way,” Amma said.
    “Somehow I doubt that.” One way over the mountain was hard enough to believe. More than one way seemed too much to hope for.
    Amma sighed. “Well, then, maybe there’s a way around the rock slide. Another way to get to the saddle.”
    “Maybe,” Taemon said. “Or maybe we’ll just waste a lot of time looking for something that doesn’t exist.”
    “What do you suggest — that we turn around and go home?”
    Taemon couldn’t believe that he was now the one doubting this plan and Amma was the one pushing them to keep searching. He couldn’t just give up now, not when they’d come this far. So what if his left arm didn’t work very well and he limped a little? He knew now not to use psi unless it was a matter of life or death; he could manage to keep going with a bad arm and a limp.
    “No, of course not,” he said, getting unsteadily to his feet. “Let’s keep moving.”
    They searched among the rocks for their knapsacks and found Taemon’s only a few yards away, covered in rocks and dirt. Amma’s was nowhere to be found.
    “We’ll have to make do with what we have,” Taemon said, although it was a disheartening prospect: only one bedroll, half the food gone, and some of Drigg’s supplies lost as well.
    Amma sat down and put her head in her hands. “All our food is gone.”
    It took him a second to understand what she meant. “No, it’s not,” he said. “I saw that you tried to lighten my load. I repacked both packs. My knapsack has half of the food.”
    But Amma shook her head. “I changed it back right after lunch, when you were off in the bushes. All the food was in my pack. And most of the tools.” She took a trembly breath. “I’m sorry.”
    Taemon knew she shouldn’t be the one apologizing. The rock slide had been his fault, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. It wouldn’t fix anything, and it would only make her more worried about his injury. But they’d have to survive the next few days on whatever they could catch.
    “I guess we’ll have to make sure we get some of those squirrels tonight,” Taemon said. The tools were another concern, but he didn’t bring it up.
    Amma squared her shoulders. “You’re right. We can eat squirrels. And there are some edible plants. The snow hasn’t killed them off yet.”
    “Right,” Taemon said. “Let’s get moving.” He hefted his knapsack, which, though it was filled with blankets, felt more like it was filled with rocks. He forced his numb feet to move forward. They had to go down the mountain in order to look for a way around the rock slide. But going
down
meant they would eventually have to go
up
again. He wondered if he could manage it.
    Amma was unusually quiet, and Taemon wished he could think of something to lift her spirits.
    They came to a stream and a little meadow covered in wildflowers with tiny star-shaped orange blossoms. It was enough to lift anyone’s spirits.
    “Let’s camp here for the night,” Taemon said. “Maybe that stream has fish we can catch.”
    “Good idea,” Amma said. “Camping, that is. But there won’t be any fish in that stream.”
    “How do you know?” Taemon asked.
    “It’s too shallow, and the water’s moving too fast.” She laughed and jabbed him in the ribs, which he was glad he couldn’t feel. “You’re such a city boy. Why don’t you build a fire and get some water? I’ll go set the snares.”
    She left with the snares and a basket, and Taemon struggled to open his pack. He had no feeling