The first week went by too fast, leaving only one more until the dreaded Hunter's Moon. Rick had taken to pacing anxiously across his cell, a habit, he said, he developed before every Hunter's Moon. Ali continued to give both Rick and Cathie the silence treatment, occasionally shooting dark stares at Cathie whenever she tried to engage her. She had taken off the splint and would occasionally test her arm, clenching and unclenching her hand. The Hunt loomed over them in obvious ways, to the filling up of the cells all around them with worn out humans to the Yautja walking up and down the length of the cells, surveying the humans. Cathie always got the impression that they were sizing the humans up, as if to decide which ones would make for an interesting hunt. It always creeped her out.
Finally, when there were only four days left, Cathie couldn't stand it. "Ali! Please! We haven't made any plans at all! How do you expect to pull off an escape if you sit there in silence all the time?"
Ali didn't answer, instead, her head shot up and her body tensed. Cathie looked down the row of cells and saw three Yautja approaching. She was confused, two days ago the Yautja paroling the cells had started dwindling down and finally ceased. What were the three of them doing here now? The one walking in the center was different from the others; his mask was more lavish than the others, more decorated and scarred. He wore a flowing dark red cloak and carried an ornate staff. Cathie also saw instantly what had caught Ali's attention, one of the flanking Yautja was Na'sval.
"That's an Elder," Rick whispered to Cathie. There was fear in his voice and when Cathie looked into his eyes she also saw surprise.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
The Elder stopped in front of Ali's cell and gestured to the Na'sval and the other Yautja at his side. Na'sval stepped forward to open the cell door while the other Yautja stepped inside. Ali attempted to back up, but the Yautja caught her by her wrist and dragged her out into the hallway.
"What's going on?" Cathie demanded, but Rick wouldn't answer.
However, Cathie didn't need to ask again, the Yautja holding Ali forced her to her knees, twisting her arm behind her back to hold her in place. The Elder moved forward and gripped Ali's chin, forcing her face upwards. She struggled, but the Yautja's grip on her was tight. The Elder rotated Ali's face left, then right, studying her like a judge would a prize dog, then gave a satisfied growl.
"Rick, please tell me what's going on!"
Rick only shook his head, his eyes wide as he watched the Elder pull a small device that looked like a pen from his belt. The Elder pushed a button, causing the device's tip to glow bright orange. Ali started struggling again as the Elder moved back and gripped her face again with its free hand. Ali began screaming as the Elder pushed the tip of the device up against her cheek. The smell of burned flesh filled the air and Cathie felt herself gagging as the Elder started drawing a symbol on Ali's cheek. When it was done, the Yaujta tossed Ali back into the cell and Na'sval shut the door.
"I'm going to kill you," Ali whispered in a quiet voice. She hadn't moved from the spot where she landed, "I swear that when I find you out there I'm going to kill you."
It was no mystery to whom she was talking about and Cathie could have sworn she saw a shudder pass through Na'sval as he turned and stalked away. Ali watched Na'sval retreat before flying around to stare Rick down.
"What was that?" she demanded.
It was the first time she spoke to either of them in two weeks.
"I'm so sorry," Rick said, not directly answering Ali's question, "I think this is the first time a human has been marked. Usually it's a Hard Meat, or something else."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, Elders don't usually take part in these kinds of hunts; they'd rather hunt prey in their natural habitat, but every now and again one of them will take part in the hunt. The thing that makes them different from the other Yautja is that they mark their prey to ensure that they're the only ones that are allowed to hunt that particular prey."
"Okay," Ali said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal.
"You don't understand, whoever the Elder marks is dead by the end of the night."
As soon as they stepped outside the compound, Na'sval received the cold shoulder from the Elder and his companion. His shoulders slumped and he turned away, not even bothering to go the Pre-Hunt Festival. Even though Ali had been recaptured and his mistake had been reversed, he was still thrown dark glares and spoke of when the others thought he was out of earshot. The younger hunters, the ones who didn't know better, still looked up to him as an experienced hunter, but his fellow hunters, the ones he went to schooling with and rose through the ranks with, despised him for what he had done. Even his own mate gave him dark glances and would constantly remind him of the fact that they weren't mated for life.
"Na'sval!"
Na'sval glanced up, surprised that he was being addressed, especially by an Elder. He didn't respond, merely placed his fist on his chest and bowed his head, waiting for the Elder to speak.
The Elder didn't say anything for the longest time, finally he said, "Where you planning on taking part in the Full Moon Hunt?"
Na'sval shook his head. "No."
"Join me."
Na'sval's head shot up and he stared at the Elder in surprise, as did those who were listening in on the conversation. "Me?" he questioned.
"You were responsible for the ooman's release, now you will take part in her killing," the Elder said.
At that moment Na'sval knew the Elder wasn't including him because he had been redeemed, no, rather it was the opposite. This was further humiliation; he was to assist in the Elder's achievement of a trophy. However much he wanted to say no, however much he wanted to walk away, he knew that he couldn't refuse.
"Yes, sir," he said, bowing his head.
The Elder growled before turning his back once more and stalking away, leaving Na'sval alone once more to reflect on his mistake.