People - People of the Wolf Part 49

"If you raid, you'll split the People. Do you want to--"

"Perhaps I'd leave you with a little something on the way, eh?" He suggestively caressed his crotch.

The two youths who followed laughed out loud, eyes gleaming in antic.i.p.ation. Dancing Fox lifted a brow. "More of Raven Hunter's teachings?"

Red Moon took a step closer, leering. "He told us all about you. The way you--"

"Another step and I'll kill you," she replied easily.

Red Moon chuckled, laying his weapons to one side. "Kill me, woman? I've heard the stories that you killed five Others. Five? Not all liars died with Crow Caller."

"Five," the cool voice added behind them. They whirled, eyes wide. Three Falls hobbled out. "I was there. She has more courage than three children who would rape a woman. As if you could rape her."

They started at the scorn in his voice. Red Moon swallowed loudly in the dusk, eyes going uncertainly back and forth, realizing how boxed in they were. The two youths with him sidled into the night, feet scuffing softly on the rock as they backed away.

"What's your decision, Red Moon?" Dancing Fox toyed with a dart. "Will you betray the People? Disobey the Dreamer who destroyed Crow Caller and Raven Hunter with mere words? You'd give the Others reason to raid us when we're ragged and tired? You'd bring their revenge down on us when all we need is another full moon before we can leave this place forever?

Is this what honor means to you?"

In the gray evening, she could see the other two boys leaving. The sound of their feet beating against rock turned to a run. Red Moon s.h.i.+fted, head down, swallowing hard. In a final decision, he threw his darts violently to clatter off the rocks before sprinting off in the direction of his fellows.Dancing Fox closed her eyes, exhaling wearily as she sank down on the rock. "Close one, that time."

Three Falls grunted and shuffled his way over the rock. "But Red Moon was the worst. Stopping him stops the rest. Maybe that's time enough."

She lifted a shoulder. "Maybe. The young men chafe more every day." She shook her head. "How did Raven Hunter do it? Drive them all wild like that?"

Three Falls propped a foot on a boulder. "He gave them a taste of Power.

Let them see how fear could dominate their victims." He paused. "But then Raven Hunter drove you into being who you are today, too." She stiffened, meeting his gaze, finding tenderness there. "Relax, he's gone."

She shook her head. "For me, he'll never be gone." And I can never forget his visions, what he promised so long ago.

At the thought of being dropped in a hole, Raven Hunter's soul screamed within the cage of his exhausted body. His dreams raged unmercifully, his skin crawling at the imagined feel of the ground as it was thrown over his flesh. He could smell the dirt, damp, musty, clogging his nostrils and mouth, the taste of eternal death on his tongue, grit scratching on his teeth. He could feel the chill eating into his flesh, rocks gouging his skin. Cold, eternally black; his soul writhed and howled at the thought. Rot and blackness surrounding him, ic could feel the fire in his lungs as they burned for air. Dirt choked in his convulsing throat, the spark of life draining away while his soul remained, trapped, unable to escape that cage of earth--locked in the roots and rot and cold--forever.

Raven Hunter filled his lungs, opening his eyes, enjoying the feel of the air as it rushed in and out of his body, soothing as it drifted across his skin. The fire glowed dimly red, faint flickers eerily etching the stretched hide of the shelter overhead.

The place had become familiar by this time. He knew the post supports that held up the roof. The bundles of hides, the hanging pouches full of meat, the curious fetishes hanging from the walls, all had been memorized. This silent, warm shelter would become a bedlam of his screams. The mute fixtures of the lodge would bear witness to his excruciating anguish. Now, in the red light, the shelter seemed harmless peaceful.

How long until morning? Until they came to torture him? He swallowed hard, mouth dry and tight. Would he scream as loudly as the Others he'd burned and cut? Would he bellow as wretchedly when they smashed his bones? Would he shriek as vilely when they cut his p.e.n.i.s and t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es off? What sound would he make as they placed sharp obsidian to his quivering belly? How would their hands feel, squirming inside his body as they ripped out his intestines? Could he keep his sanity when their rough fingers pulled his eyeb.a.l.l.s from the sockets? A wailing agony of horror whimpered through his mind.

"Life can be most precious, don't you think? Especially when the end is near."

Raven Hunter jerked his head around to see the tall Dreamer they called Ice Fire. This was his father? No! Impossible! "Walrus is asleep. That drink I mixed for him contained a priceless root. Comes from the farwest. Getting scarce now with all the different people moving."

"Why?" Raven Hunter croaked.

"Time to talk." Ice Fire moved to squat to one side. "I wanted to find out who you are. Why you do what you do." He c.o.c.ked his head. "Heron told me you were born in blood."

"Heron." Raven Hunter closed his eyes. "The Dreamer." He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose Runs In Light let you know I was coming."

"Your brother?"

Raven Hunter nodded miserably.

"No."

"Then--"

"Why did you come? Just to kill me?"

Raven Hunter moved his tongue. "They'd have laughed. Joked about me. I ... I had to show them. Let them see that Raven Hunter could die as he'd lived. Unbowed, a leader worthy of their respect."

"Doesn't look like it will be that way." Ice Fire casually twisted one of his long gray braids. "But then, why did you drive the People to fight us? What did you gain from that?"

Raven Hunter smiled grimly. "I made them warriors. Until Runs In Light stole them with his tricks, I was the man who led them. I led the People! You hear? And I would have remade them, strong, powerful. Then we would have come and faced you, and pushed you back. That's what I offered them. I gave them my strength, my visions."

Ice Fire nodded seriously. "Power."

"Of course," Raven Hunter rasped. "What else is there? Respect? Another word for Power. Wives? A powerful man has as many wives as he needs--and his children have more than any others. Power is life! It's control of that which is about you. And I saw! Understand? Unlike my weak brother's foolish Dreams of holes in the ice, I saw the People saved! Saved!"

"Why cut up our warriors when you caught them?"

Raven Hunter twisted against the bonds, lips tightly pressed. "Because I wanted your heart and soul to fear us. Fear me! That's why I came here.

I came to kill you, their greatest Dreamer. Then, even in death, they'd fear me! I'd have them!"

Ice Fire leaned back, brow furrowed. "You know what the coming four days will be like? Do I have to tell you?"

Raven Hunter filled his lungs, battling for sanity as his imagination pulled up details of the tortures of his captives. "I ... I could probably teach your people a thing or two about pain. Yes, I know what they will do."

Ice Fire nodded soberly. "All things considered, I guess you do." He paused. "But suppose there were another way?"Raven Hunter stiffened, a frantic leaping of hope in his chest.

Ice Fire resettled himself. "What would it be worth to you if I gave you the 'heart and soul' of the Mammoth People?"

Raven Hunter narrowed his eyes, sensing a trap. "I .. It doesn't make ..

. Why? Why would you do such a thing?"

Ice Fire smiled. "You're cunning. You don't leap at the chance."

Raven Hunter chewed his lip as he considered. How long until morning?

"You'd let me kill you?" Ice Fire spread his hands wide. "I'm not the heart and soul of the Mammoth People. I'm only the healer for the White Tusk Clan. No, the heart and soul is the White Hide. A mammoth calf who came to us and gave us Power. Each year one clan or another earns the honor of holding the Hide. Without it, the Mammoth People would be less than nothing. Forsaken by the Great Mystery."

Raven Hunter shook his head slowly. "No, this is a trap. Some way to make me foolish, or to dishonor me. You wouldn't do this to your people."

Ice Fire studied him from slitted lids, chin propped on steepled fingers. "Wouldn't I? What if by the Mammoth People losing the Power of the White Hide .. . my Power became more? Hmm? What if I could fill that gap?" Raven Hunter smiled as it came clear. "And of course, you'd get no blame." Raven Hunter nodded.

"And your visions?" Ice Fire lifted an eyebrow. "If you returned among your people bearing the White Hide, wouldn't it make you a man of status again? Wouldn't the young warriors look up to you? This Wolf Dreamer would be discredited. What's a Dream compared to deeds? What's a Dream compared to a warrior who has escaped the Others--with their sacred Hide?"

"And you gain what?"

"I become the most powerful man among the Mammoth People. All I need is for you to take the White Hide beyond the Big Ice. No, don't look at me that way. I know Wolf Dreamer found a way. But do you think my people would pa.s.s through such a hole?" He shook his head, a grim smile on his lips. "Like our Singer said, we're not ground squirrels. No, I want the White Hide gone. I don't want any party of warriors stealing it back again, returning triumphantly with it over their shoulders. That would be ... well, a definite embarra.s.sment."

"You've got this all thought out?"

Ice Fire nodded. "It works the best for all of us. Your people are beyond the ice. My young men don't die. I have peace and become the ultimate Power among the four clans. You have your status as the greatest of your warriors. You've broken the spirit of the Mammoth People, stolen their greatest totem, and left them behind." He spread his hands. "We both win."

Ideas raced in Raven Hunter's head. The bits of vision coming together in a whole. Wolf Dreamer destroyed, Dancing Fox would be his--forever.

Her Power would be growing now, a fitting mate for him. A flush of excitement surged through him. Perhaps the vision wasn't false afterall!

"She'll bear me a powerful child," he whispered, nodding to himself.

"Who?" Ice Fire asked. "You have a wife?"

Raven Hunter chuckled. "No, but I will."

"You sound excited by the prospect."

Raven Hunter squinted calculatingly. "I've seen her path, Other. I don't know what it means yet, but Dancing Fox's child will create a new future for the People. Some molding of something new .. . something great.

She's a key fig urea Power among the People--and I intend that she be mine and mine alone!"

"You can bend this great woman to your will?"

Raven Hunter nodded. "Oh, I've done it in the past. I'll find a way in the future. It hurt me to let her go. Hurt like nothing else ever has.

But I saw it, even then. She had to be tested--shaped by suffering. That deep essence of her soul had to be hardened, like a dart shaft over a dry fire. But it was worth it. Now, she's ready to help me change the destiny of the People."

"And she's not for Wolf Dreamer?"

Raven Hunter barked a laugh. "He's locked in his Dreams. I've heard the story. He turned her down. Turned her down! The fool doesn't realize how important she is for the future!"

Ice Fire nodded, eyeing him curiously.

"Free me!" Raven Hunter demanded, heart pounding. "I'll take your White Hide. I myself will lead the People through the ice hole. You have a bargain, Ice Fire. Your people for mine."

Ice Fire rocked back on his heels, hard eyes veiled. "I must warn you, the rest is up to you. The Hide is in the small shelter in the middle of the camp. Four young men, one from each clan, sleep around the Hide. Are you skilled enough? Can you get in silently and get out again without waking them? No, you can't kill the guards. Do that and my warriors will hunt you to the end--no matter where you run. Kill the guards, and you also destroy the Power of the White Hide."

Raven Hunter nodded, brow lined. "I am the best hunter among the People.

I can do anything."

Ice Fire's smile spread, crinkling the lines around his mouth. "I'll also warn you, the Hide is heavy. One man can carry it with difficulty.

You'll be sore-pressed. Among my people, the young men train constantly, hoping they're worthy of the honor of bearing the Hide. Drop it, treat it roughly or without respect, and the Hide will suck up your soul, little by little, until you find yourself floundering like a beached whale. Are you strong enough to carry the Hide? The Power it holds will destroy a man who s.h.i.+rks his responsibilities to it."

Raven Hunter glared his disdain. Who did this Ice Fire think he was?

"I'm ready to take the Power. I'm the greatest of my people. I fear no test. I'll be more than worthy."Ice Fire nodded. "Yes, you're everything I'd feared you'd be." He reached down with a sharp chert flake and severed the bindings on Raven Hunter's arms.

Chapter 58.

Dancing Fox stood uncomfortably at the edge of the hot pool, watching the bright water swirl and splash against the yellow-crusted rocks.

Overhead, another gray day promised freezing rain. The billowing cloud of geyser steam rolled out, pushed toward the Big Ice by the cruel wind.

Dismal weather; the misty air reflected her own emotions--damp, shadowed, without joy or light, or warmth.

Behind her, the camp of the People looked worn and frayed. As they scuttled back and forth, bundled figures worked at stuffing berries into bags before the humid air could spoil them. Drying racks were hurriedly stripped of the remaining meat. A reality of famine had reared its head as hunter after hunter returned empty-handed. So few caribou had been slain. Only the old bull mammoth paced the hills now, trumpeting his loneliness to the wind-blasted rocks. The musk ox had been hunted out long ago.

"It's the ice--or nothing," she told herself again, irritated by the growling of her stomach. She'd restricted her meals, setting an example of abstinence for her people. They watched soberly, rationing their intake.

A bitter gnawing ate inside her as she glanced at Heron's shelter, seeing One Who Cries emerge and head straight for her. "He'd like to see you."

Dancing Fox nodded, a knot tying at the base of her throat. "I'd hoped to be back and gone again before he found out."

One Who Cries chuckled softly. "Not anymore. You've become too important for your own good." He c.o.c.ked his head, bland features bending into a puzzled expression. "You and Green Water related?"

She smiled at him and shook her head, turning down the path, winding through the shelters. Children ran around her legs, laughter reserved as they chased each other, dogs barking at their heels. One Who Cries followed her. To still the violent spasms in her heart she asked, "I take it that he's feeling better?"

"He's healthy as a musk ox in rut. I ..." At her tightening expression he added, "Bad choice of words." She waved it off, dread building.

"Anyway," One Who Cries added too briskly, "he came out of it fine. Just woke up and looked around and said he was hungry. Ate like a mammoth bull in spring. Then he got up and walked out into the light. He climbed up to a high spot and sat there for a day. Dreaming, I guess. But he said he was being One."

"Dreaming," she growled to cover her conflicting emotions. At the flap, she stopped short, unsure. All the confidence fled as she stared at the stained and worn door hanging. A tremble made her heart light. He was there. Just beyond that cracked bit of leather. So close, yet an eternity away.

She closed her eyes, frozen with indecision. I don't really have to see him. I could just say no and walk away.

"Go on," One Who Cries urged gently.It took all her nerve to lift the flap and step in. A bright fire crackled in the oxidized fire pit. He looked up, eyes meeting hers, melting her where she stood. The flames cast a reddish gleam over his handsome face, touching his tan leather s.h.i.+rt and turning it into a flickering ocher mantle. His waist-length hair hung loose over his broad chest, brus.h.i.+ng the dirt floor. "I hear you've practically been running the camp," he greeted, expression warm and concerned.

She shrugged, steering her thoughts away from him, back to the People, and finding refuge in the problems. "The worst part has been keeping Raven Hunter's warriors in line. The younger ones keep trying to sneak off to raid the Others."

"And the Others?" "From what we can gather, they're involved in the fall hunt. Making meat for the winter."

"Will you sit?" he asked.

She settled herself hesitantly on a caribou hide, muscles tense, hands clasped to still the need to fidget, and looked across at him. His tall body had gained some perfection in the past months; a serenity and grace pervaded his every movement. And his eyes .. . even when he looked at her, he seemed to be staring into some distance in his mind.

"I approved all the suggestions you made. I know Four Teeth is your mouthpiece, but Singing Wolf and One Who Cries back you up. I didn't ..

." He smiled wistfully. "I didn't know what the Dreaming could do to a person. How it affected the mind and body and soul. Or I would have been here to help you." "I know you would have," she whispered, heart thudding sickeningly. If only I could reach out and touch you ...