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She hissed at us and shuffled closer to the body. My breath caught. The man on the ground was Na-lynied, one of the tribal king’s eight sons.
“Shit, Cody. That’s Na-lynied,” I said, aware that Yamania wouldn’t understand what I said.
“Yes, I noticed.” His fearful gaze swept toward me.
This isn’t good.
“Is he alive?” I studied Na-lynied’s chest until finally, he took a shallow breath. “Oh, thank God, he is. Ask Yamania what happened.”
“Não é bem-vindo aqui,” Cody asked.
“Saia! Saia!” Yamania screeched.
“She’s demanding we leave them alone.”
My breath hitched as I noticed a massive bunch of Inocea berries next to Na-lynied’s lifeless body. “Cody, look behind his back. What are they doing with all those berries?”
“Looks like he was picking them,” Cody said.
“But why so much?” Frowning, I shook my head. It didn’t make sense. Tribal people only picked and hunted what they could eat within two days. They didn’t have refrigeration or sealed containers to keep food fresh. However, the quantity of berries Na-lynied had gathered was excessive.
I’d learned about the Inocea berry through the tribal women who told me they used the berries to heal wounds. They didn’t eat the berry as it was bitter and full of unpalatable seeds.
For months and months, I’d had failed trials and tests. But two days ago, I recalled a comment that Arninadaal, Yamania’s mother, had made several months ago:The berry dies quickly.
I had seen proof of how quickly the berry shriveled up. What I hadn’t considered was if the medicinal properties in the berry rapidly diminished or even changed somehow once they were picked. It was a theory I was keen to test. Finding the berries and getting them back to the lab in time was the hard part.
“We need those berries, Cody.”
He bulged his eyes at me. “We can’t just grab them.”
“Ask Yamania if we can take them.”
Cody pushed his glasses up his nose as he translated my question.
“Vá embora! Você não é bem-vindo aqui!” Yamania's eyes flared as she screamed at us, her voice raw and enraged.
“Come on, Layla.” Cody clutched my arm, pulling me away. “We need to go.”
“What’s she saying?”
“She says we have done enough.”
“Done enough? What does that mean?”
Yamania shuffled behind Na-lynied’s body, picked up something, and pegged it at us. A rectangular bottle landed in the mud at my feet.
“Son of a bitch.” I picked up the tequila bottle.
“What the hell?” Cody’s face contorted with confusion.
“Fucking Neville! I’m going to kill him.” I undid my pack and slid the bottle inside next to the berries. “He must have bribed Na-lynied with alcohol in exchange for him hunting for the berries. No wonder we didn’t find any in this area.”
“Tell Yamania we didn’t know. Tell her how angry I am at Neville.” I spat my words, unable to contain my fury.
Cody desperately tried to convey my apology to Yamania.
She lunged sideways and picked up a stick. But it wasn’t a stick; it was a spear. At the end of the spear was a dead monkey.