People - People of the Wolf Part 45

"Little farther," Three Falls whispered groggily, fighting against the exhaustion and pain and shock. "Just a ... little ..."

"That's right. We're saved. We're here." Dancing Fox collected herself and shouted, "Hey!" It came out as a garbled bark.

Someone turned. Young Moss, a tall straight youth, poked Crow Foot, and together they raced up the path. Dancing Fox blinked her fatigue away, her smile a grimace as they took Three Falls from her shaking arms, supporting his weight. The b.l.o.o.d.y binding on his thigh told it all.

"Others," she whispered gruffly.

"How close?" Moss asked, lifting Three Falls' arm over his shoulder, taking the wounded man's weight.

Dancing Fox puffed, pus.h.i.+ng her hair back. "Two days north."

Crow Foot grunted. "We'll have to get a war party together quickly."

"Not for those we met," Dancing Fox added hoa.r.s.ely, coughing. "Dead.

Killed them all. But more will come. More will always come."

Moss looked over Three Falls where his head wobbled unsteadily. "Nice work, warrior. I, for one, take back the things I said about your courage."

Gla.s.sy eyes met his. "Not .. me." Three Falls smiled weakly. "First dart .. . got me ... good. Fox .. . Fox killed all five. They didn't take her seriously. Bad .. . mistake."

Crow Foot looked over his shoulder to where Fox followed. "You? You killed five?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Quit gawking and see to this man. Where's Wolf Dreamer?"

Moss's expression soured, his voice derisive. "In the witch's hole."

"Hey?" Crow Foot called. "Looks like you stopped a dart, too. You're limping."

She glared at him. "If Three Falls dies, I'll get you next."

Something in the way she said it--in the hot anger reddening her face--stopped his surly reply. They nodded, bearing Three Falls away.

Dancing Fox stopped at the side of the hot pool, barely aware of the curious eyes as she wove through knots of people. In the center of the ring, she could hear Crow Caller's high-pitched voice exhorting.

False Dreams. She smiled wryly.

Bending to the warm water, she washed her face of grime and stale sweat.

Heedless of the whispers hissing behind her, she shucked off her parkas, bathing her upper body. Sponging the water from her flesh, she flapped her skins over her shoulder and walked toward Heron's shelter. Life seeped into her with the chill of the breeze over her wet skin. Thegooseflesh seemed to energize her.

One Who Cries stood there, arms crossed, talking nervously to Singing Wolf. He shot a quick glance her way and nodded as Singing Wolf continued talking. Then he started, head swiveling, mouth falling open.

"So I'm supposed to be on the other side of the ice," she grunted, already in foul humor.

They both rushed at her.

"What're you doing here?" Singing Wolf demanded frantically, trying to keep his voice down. She glared at him from between slitted eyes, voice a low growl. "Trying to save the People. Something wrong with that?"

"Get her away," Singing Wolf pleaded. "Go, now, we may not have much time."

One Who Cries grabbed her arm, whirling her so fast she almost fell.

"What the .. ."

"Hus.h.!.+" One Who Cries appealed frantically. "He's Dreaming! Don't you understand? You know what that means?"

She snarled and ripped her arm away. "No, I don't."

"Heron," he gritted. "If he sees you .. . breaks the Dream .. . If he or the People mean anything to you, you've got to go. Anyplace. Just so he doesn't see you. You'll kill him!"

Through the haze of exhaustion and anger, it began to penetrate.

"Where?" she asked listlessly.

"This way. Hurry." One Who Cries took her by the arm again, steering her through the crowd as the dancers took up the chant, circling.

"I thought my brother would have left his hole by now." Raven Hunter propped hands on his hips as he stopped before Singing Wolf. The man guarded the entrance as though his life depended on it.

"Renewal is almost over." Four Teeth met Raven Hunter's triumphant eyes.

"Runs In Light won't leave the darkness? He won't show himself to Father Sun? There are whisperings that he's a witch. When will he come out so we can see him?"

Singing Wolf c.o.c.ked his head, studying Raven Hunter through narrowed eyes. "When he's finished Dreaming."

Raven Hunter chuckled to himself, looking around, watching the line of dancers circling the birch and willow fire. "One Who Cries went to stick himself into Dancing Fox? I have another rival?"

"Shut up."

Raven Hunter's face twitched. The time had long pa.s.sed when a man could speak to him like that. He smiled threateningly. "I hear she killed five Others on the way here. Then she saved Three Falls' life. Practically carried him. Quite the woman, isn't she? And you hustle her away from my brother? Afraid he'll be diluted if his manhood throbs and erupts?""You don't understand," Singing Wolf said through clenched jaws. "I've seen him. I have some idea about what he's doing. There's a--"

"Quit stalling!" He gestured around. "You've heard the talk. The People think he's afraid--unwilling to meet Crow Caller face-to-face. Now here you stand, guarding his hole."

Singing Wolf shook his head slowly, a smoky haze of anger in his eyes.

"You don't know what he's risking in there. You, you're his brother! And you don't understand what he's doing? He's Dreaming, even as we speak."

"He's hiding," Four Teeth grumbled. "His credibility's gone, Singing Wolf. Gone. Three days now since you told us he'd begun to Dream. Three days! And where is he? Huh? Where? I took your word."

"You don't understand the Power of the--"

"Bah!" Four Teeth spat to accent his disgust. "He's buried in those rocks there! Locked away. Under the ground. His soul's trapped. That's what he's done. Trapped himself."

Singing Wolf's face tightened, a pain in his eyes.

Raven Hunter took the opportunity. "Grandfather, don't chasten this hunter and warrior. He shouldn't suffer for my brother's delusions. Runs In Light is calculating, capable of twisting truths and men's loyalties.

Singing Wolf isn't...."

The hanging moved aside. He stood there, arms raised to the sun, eyes closed as his lips moved in a wordless chant. He walked on unsteady legs, eyes opening.

Raven Hunter met those eyes--and unconsciously stepped backward, a cold chill tracing his backbone. His brother seemed someone else completely, eyes wide and gleaming. Wolf Dreamer pa.s.sed him, pa.s.sed him as if he didn't exist. Shooting a quick look at Singing Wolf, he caught the wors.h.i.+p, the absorbing devotion.

A rustle disturbed the fringes of the spectators watching the dance.

Mutters and whispers grew on the air as people shuffled, clearing an avenue. Those who met the Dreamer's eyes hushed, awed.

Raven Hunter heard Singing Wolf whisper, "Wolf Dreamer," and chafed at the adoration in his voice.

Raven Hunter flexed his muscles, calming himself. "There's still Crow Caller," he reminded as he followed in the wake of his tottering brother. "And if Crow Caller hesitates --I'll be there."

Chapter 53.

Dancing Fox watched him from the cover of Singing Wolf's tent. Situated slightly above, she could see him as he stepped out, pus.h.i.+ng past Raven Hunter and Four Teeth as if they didn't exist. Father Sun, at the peak of the Long Light, illuminated his face with a shaft of ocher light.

Even over the distance, she could feel his vibrating presence. The People stepped back in fear.

Dancing Fox watched him, heart pounding. He'd drawn the wolf on his forehead, just as he had that day so long ago in Mammoth Camp. That day, he'd gone from her. And again, she saw the Dream in his eyes--a living ecstasy.

A dull ache filled her. A sense of premonition. This man, this Dreamer, she didn't know. "I .. . am .. . alive!"

Like mist, he rose in the darkness, feeling the pulsing soul of the rock around him. Each of the tremors of the geyser surged through him, its waters like the blood in his veins. A shared reality--Oneness.

He walked in a Dream, pa.s.sing the worn caribou flap into the light. Low now, hanging on the horizon, Father Sun blinded him with a painful brilliance despite his closed eyes. He lifted his arms, feeling the warmth--living in the Light.

"Born of you," he whispered, feeling the warmth on his skin. Before him, the Renewal pulsed, the souls of the People gleaming and glowing in their bodies. They s.h.i.+mmered and blazed like breakers in the moonlight.

He saw them, knew them, felt them with his very soul.

The Light pervaded everything.

Like a spirit himself, he floated toward them, feeling them, their mutterings of awe sputtering disjointedly in his mind. Raven Hunter he recognized, curious at the Power of his brother's soul. As he approached, his brother retreated, surprised by the Power he projected.

Already Raven Hunter had regrouped, strengthened himself. Then he pa.s.sed, finding his way among the People.

"The earth is renewed," he explained, the tightness of their efforts heady within him. "You've shown Father Sun your grat.i.tude. About you, the souls of the animals smile, warm, happy as they rise to the Blessed Star People."

A blackness, a foul corruption, stirred the silent crowd. Wolf Dreamer girded himself.

"Come forth, darkness! Our time is now. Our place is here. That which you've sought stands before you."

The black lesion among the People wavered, s.h.i.+mmering, changing shape as a s.p.a.ce opened around it. The Dream spinning fire around the edges, Crow Caller's shape solidified.

Wolf Dreamer tensed, aware of those eyes, one black, one white. One of sight, one of darkness, opposites crossed. Each a lie.

"You have no purpose here, witch man," Crow Caller's ancient voice rolled in Wolf Dreamer's mind. "Go, boy. Leave us. You interrupt theRenewal. We've tired of your games and claims. We ..." Wolf Dreamer reached forward, grabbing the darkness with his hands, feeling the horror of the darkness, the confusion, the fear of such a corrupt soul.

Like the sucking mouths of the Soul Eaters of the Long Dark, the blackness reached for him, trying to encircle his soul, to choke it away, drown it in the shadows of corruption. Wolf Dreamer weaved, darting this way and that, spearing the blackness with shafts of Light, driving it back, forcing the insidious feelers from his soul, his life.

The corrupted filth staggered away, seeking to flee, but he held it, surrounding the shapeless ma.s.s with Light, exposing it to Father Sun.

The shadows s.h.i.+vered and writhed in the brilliance. He twisted it, and heard a cry of agony before he cast the thing down before him.

"Recognize yourself for what you are, Crow Caller!" he thundered. "Go!

Cleanse yourself of the filth and rot which have possessed you. It is not too late to save your soul. Purify it for Father Sun."

The blackness s.h.i.+vered, backing away, crawling slowly to its feet. "I curse you," came the voice. Hate battered at Wolf Dreamer's mind. A vile stench of wrongness tainted his nostrils. The blackness waved arms, tracing symbols for which Crow Caller had no understanding.

"I condemn your soul to be buried! I condemn it!" Crow Caller shrieked, frantic.

Around him, the People flooded back, as if washed by the waves of hatred.

"You have nothing within," said Wolf Dreamer's voice. "No strength, no Power of soul. Only blackness and rot power your words." As he spoke, the soul of Crow Caller split open before his eyes. "Ah ... I see. Look within yourself, Crow Caller. See the lies? See the fear? Look what you have done to yourself. See what you would do to others! Look inside yourself!" "No!" Crow Caller protested, the voice forced. "I condemn you! Hear me? Condemned to be buried--your soul lost in darkness!

Trapped by the earth to ... to ..."

Wolf Dreamer closed, the Dream spinning out, showing him the way. Crow Caller danced back, the blackness quivering, fearing exposure. "Look, within," he repeated. "You fear only yourself, Crow Caller. Your greatest death is ridicule. See the mockery you've made of yourself?

Don't fear me, Crow Caller. Fear yourself. Fear what you've made your soul into. The lie you live is that of a coward--a man who's never faced himself!"

"No!" Crow Caller growled, his soul ripping at itself, growing angry. "I curse you, Runs In Light! Curse you!"

Wolf Dreamer straightened. "Runs In Light is no more."

Before him, Crow Caller produced a white bone, seemingly from out of thin air. The People gasped.

"With this, I curse you, Runs In Light!" His voice wavered, the cracks weakening it, causing it to tremble. "I blow your soul to the Long Dark!"

Crow Caller leaned forward, blowing hard through the hollow tube of bone.Wolf Dreamer backed at the stench of the breath, hearing a horrified outcry from the People. He waved at the foul putrid air, fighting the sudden urge to vomit from the corruption.

From his pouch, he took a handful of the yellow crusted rock that formed along the banks of the geyser stream. Like Heron had showed him, he offered it to the four directions. At the top of his lungs, he shouted, "I clear the corruption from the air!"

He threw the yellow-caked stone into the fire, a stinking puff of yellow-green smoke arising. People backpedaled.

"And I blow it away!" Wolf Dreamer took the white crystals, laboriously gathered from under the dung piles, and poured them into the fire. They sparkled, hissed, and flared in an explosion like water on coals. "You are darkness!" Crow Caller hissed. "Dark and bad. You are death for the People! Go back to darkness, witch"

"Darkness?" Wolf Dreamer smiled. "I am Light. I am one with fire. You are illusion." So saying, he bent, driving his fingers deeply into the bed of coals, hearing the cries of the People as he lifted them high.

"I cleanse myself of your corruption, Crow Caller." The Dream spun coldly around him as he rubbed the blackness Crow Caller had blown on him away, willing it into the coals as he scrubbed his arms and face.

Around him, the souls of the People wavered in a rainbow of colors, s.h.i.+mmering in horror and doubt and awe.