saving Chula. She started to head along the shoulder, keeping to the shadow of the pines.
âLook!â Ossi hissed.
The side of the blue firebeastâs head swung open. A flat-face climbed out, pulling a limp, bleeding flat-face after him. A moment later, the side of the orange firebeastâs head opened and another flat-face jumped out. It raced to help. Together, they half dragged, half carried the injured flat-face to the orange firebeastâs head, then pushed him inside. Climbing in, they pulled the opening shut. Smoke billowed from the firebeastâs tail as it rumbled to life. With a shudder, it jolted forward, its massive head rolling straight for the bears.
Ossi backed toward the brambles. Lusa leaped alongside him as the firebeast lurched toward them, the three flat-faces locked inside. Crashing over bushes, snapping branches with its shoulders and haunches, the firebeast slowly turned itself around. It churned mud from the edges of the BlackPath as it straightened up and headed back the way it had come.
âThat flat-face was hurt!â Lusa yelped. The sight of blood had unnerved her. Chula might be bleeding, too.
Ossi was crossing the BlackPath, his snout twitching as he approached the abandoned firebeast. Lusa followed him reluctantly. When he reached the firebeast, Ossi reared up on his hind legs, pawing at the trees stacked on its back. Lusaheard him whimper, and felt a stab of pity. The swirls in the bark of the trees showed the countless spirits of black bears, helplessly taken from the final resting places they had chosen for themselves.
âWe canât save them,â Lusa whispered. âBut we can help Chula.â
Ossi swung his head toward her, his paws still resting on the side of the firebeast. âWe canât just leave them!â
âWe have to!â Lusa insisted. âChula needs us now !â She grabbed Ossiâs scruff between her teeth and hauled him down. âYou have to help me.â She turned away, not giving him time to argue, and began to run along the shoulder in the direction the firebeast with the injured flat-face had come from. She glanced over her shoulder. Ossi was lumbering after her, his eyes glittering with grief.
Beyond the curve in the BlackPath, Lusa glimpsed the shiny skin of another firebeast. She skidded to a halt, confused. It wasnât roaring. It wasnât even on the BlackPath. It had rolled onto its side and lay helpless on the shoulder, black paws hanging in the air. Split trees spilled from its back.
Ossi pulled up beside her, a wail rumbling in his throat. âOh, those poor spirits,â he rasped, staring at the jumble of logs crisscrossing the ground. âI can hear them crying.â
Lusa pricked her ears. He was right. Moans drifted from the cut trunks, wails of pain and terror. Just like my dream. Had Ujurak sent her here to witness the suffering of the tree spirits?
Then Lusa smelled blood. She stiffened. There was thescent of death, too, and more fear than sheâd ever smelled before. âThatâs not the crying of spirits,â she breathed. âThatâs the sound of real bears.â She stopped, feeling sick as she glimpsed black fur showing between the spilled trees. âOssi! There are bears trapped under the logs!â
CHAPTER FIVE
Lusa
âHelp!â The thin cries were getting louder.
Lusa raced forward. Ossi pounded after her. She spotted Chula at the edge of the spilled trees, lying in the long grass with a log crushing her hind leg. Lusaâs heart lurched. But as she reached the injured bear, she noticed a rock jammed beneath the trunk, lifting some of the weight.
Chulaâs eyes rolled with pain and fear. âI canât get free!â
Ossi was already pushing his paws beneath the tree, grunting as he tried to heave it away from his sisterâs leg. Lusa dug her claws into the bark and tried to help. The tree didnât budge. âWeâre not
Stop in the Name of Pants!