Lincoln made his way quickly toward the Sacred Hunting Grounds. If his people had already managed to kill Bellamy, one of the leaders, Lincoln worried of retaliation by the Sky People and that they would do more than burn down a village next time. It would escalate until one side wiped out the other.
The Sky People were loud and clumsy and Lincoln easily tracked them back to where the other girl had been speared earlier by Vik. Once Lincoln saw Bellamy was still alive, he turned away, heading deeper into the hunting grounds, knowing how he could save them. The Sacred Hunting Grounds fell within the yellow shadow of the Mountain, making it generally off-limits for humans but a sanctuary for animals. As long as the Woods Clan respected the land, the yellow cloud would remain at bay and they could come in and freely hunt at certain times of the year. Lincoln needed to make his people believe the Sky People were disrespecting the hunting grounds just as they had disrespected the Mountain a week earlier, causing the yellow storm that took his angel's first kiss away from her.
He unhooked his horn from his belt and blew it twice, long and hard, the code to warn his people of an incoming yellow fog, before doubling back to where he had last seen the invaders. Caliban, Vik, and Tomac wouldn't be returning any time soon because their current mission was now over; they would assume the yellow fog either killed the remaining Sky People or allowed them to escape. The Sky People, on the other hand, had made an improvised shelter under a tarp. They just needed to remain under there long enough for Lincoln to retrieve his angel and return her to her people.
When he entered the cave, he found her hunched over with her back to him. He crouched down silently behind her with the key to the lock in his hand. He paused, wanting to touch her, to comfort her in some way. She turned her head and Lincoln saw a peculiar glint in her eyes moments before he felt a blinding pain knocking him sideways. His lovely angel had found herself a rock and was now raising it above his head a second time. His last thought before everything faded to black was that he had managed to underestimate her strength and resourcefulness once again.
As Lincoln came to, his first sight was his angel free and reunited with her brother. He wondered for how long he had been unconscious as he tried to gather his wits about him and keep them from realizing he was awake.
"How did you find me?" His angel asked.
"Followed him." Another voice sounded behind Lincoln as he carefully inched a poisoned blade out from its sheath strapped to his forearm. It was his own fault; he should have been more aware when he had left the hunting grounds. He could blame it on lack of sleep but he knew it was the tiny thrill of excitement at seeing her again that had hastened him back to his cave without him taking his normal precautions.
"We should go. Now. Before he wakes up," his angel said.
"He's not going to wake up," Bellamy replied and there was more movement behind Lincoln as he recognized the sound of a spear tip scraping along the cave wall. They were grabbing weapons. Lincoln palmed his poisoned blade as he assessed his surroundings. In addition to his angel, there were three others in the cave.
"Bellamy, stop! He didn't hurt me. Let's just go." His angel was trying to protect him. Lincoln held still, wondering if there might be another way out of this where he didn't have to kill anyone or die himself. But then one of the other two approached Lincoln from behind and he readied himself to fight.
"They started this," Bellamy replied. "Finn, move."
Finn, the one hovering behind him, reached for the horn on Lincoln's belt and Lincoln reacted swiftly, striking fast and stabbing with his blade. If he were to die today, it would not be alone. Before the first one fell, Lincoln swung his leg around, knocking Bellamy's legs out from under him. Lincoln jumped quickly to his feet as Bellamy recovered and came after him with a spear. He grabbed hold of it, yanking it from Bellamy's hands, and pinned Bellamy to the ground.
"Stop! That's my brother!" His angel cried out to him. He hesitated. Could he do it? Kill him? He pressed down harder into the man's throat with the tip of his spear. Something heavy landed on the back of his head and everything dissolved into darkness.
