People of the Wolf (67 page)

Ice Fire stood placidly, looking at him through narrowed eyes. "Of course. The clans of the Mammoth People needed a powerful excuse to follow you south through the ice. Only the White Hide would drive them to it."

Raven Hunter stiffened, weaving on his feet. A nauseated cramping gripped his stomach.

Eagle Cries and the rest shifted slowly away from the jittery Others. Dancing Fox stared about nervously, seeing the lines drawn, aware of the darts being fingered by both sides. Only Ice Fire seemed calm. He smiled serenely.

"There is still time," Eagle Cries added. "We kill the Others, take the White Hide back through the ice. If we left it there, maybe they'd leave us alone. Maybe—"

"No!" Red Flint cried out, ripping loose from Singing Wolf's arms and taking a step, only to crumple to the ground crying out as he reached for the White Hide. "It's not for Enemy hands. It's for the clans . . . the clans alone!"

"I say kill them." Eagle Cries had backed away, Crow Foot and the rest doing the same. The Others dropped into a defensive circle around Ice Fire, Dancing Fox pointedly outside their ring.

"Stop this!" she cried, stepping forward, arms uplifted.

"Our oath ends here," Eagle Cries reminded, a hard set to his lips. "We've brought them safely without raising weapons. But now they're here. My oath is dead!"

Mutters of agreement followed, darts clicking as eager fingers nocked them.

"Others." Raven Hunter sneered. "Brought to a camp of the People." He raised his fist over his head, shouting,
"Kill them!''

Arms arched back, ready to cast their darts; the Others gripped their weapons for release. Raven Hunter laughed hysterically as he danced from foot to foot, the Power of the White Hide hazing the images of carnage in his mind.

"Wait!" Dancing Fox cried, hands up, standing between the sides. "Wait."

"Die!"
Raven Hunter roared.

"He is here?" Wolf Dreamer asked softly as the hurried steps crunched on the snow.

One Who Cries lifted the black flap of the sweat lodge Wolf Dreamer had built of bowed willows and covered with hides. A white gout of steam rolled out.

"He's here," he assented. "You'd better come quick. Bro-

ken Branch sent me for you. She says there's going to be trouble. You've got to come."

Wolf Dreamer cocked his head, seeing the worried patterns of One Who Cries' soul; yellow, red, and orange, they wove together through the man. The bitter taste of the mushrooms coursed in his veins as he watched in fascination.

"It doesn't matter," he pronounced seriously. "Raven Hunter's trouble will pass."

One Who Cries reeled back, stunned, the colors changing in his soul. "Of course it matters! What of pain and hurt
now!
What of the People suffering? Curse you, Wolf Dreamer, don't you remember? You were one of us! You're our Dreamer! You've got responsibility. We
need
you!"

"Tell me why you need?"

One Who Cries gasped frustration. He shook his head suddenly. "Are you so far from us? We're here because of the Dream. For all I know, we are the Dream! We—"

"Yes, now you see."

"And—and if that's so, you've got to come Dream it all right again!"

"Illusion has no right." _

One Who Cries stifled an anxious cry. Futilely, he beat his fist into the ground. "Look, I can't argue with you. I just want to hunt in peace, huh? That . . . that's
my
Dream. You must come drive Raven Hunter—"

"Then you should Dream for yourself. Hunt within the illusion to find—"

"Hunt within . . . Great Mammoth!" One Who Cries exploded. "Can't you understand we need your Power!"

"You don't need me."

"Yes, we do! Raven Hunter's coming with some sort of Power . . . some White Hide. You have to go and—"

"It won't matter in the end."

One Who Cries sputtered and stopped, a dot of blue growing in his soul. Fascinated, Wolf Dreamer watched the blue expand, seeing One Who Cries' desperation become all-encompassing.

Through a strangled voice, One Who Cries choked, "For the spirals maybe. I don't know." And he was gone, steps pounding away across the snow.

"For the spirals," Wolf Dreamer repeated, seeing inside

the illusion, feeling Wolf's call. "The spirals of the web. Yes . . ."

He smiled into the blackness, gazing gratefully at the remaining withered black mushrooms resting on the hide in the corner. He got to his feet, walking as if he were a mist. Around him, he could see the colorful souls of the animals, of the trees, each reflecting their own existence in this realm.

Time slipped and bent around him, making each step a journey into a different world, like looking through sections of swirled ice. Images bled into each other, forms shifting, lines bubbling out of shape. Before him, the People stood like a wall of blue-green color. Fear there, anxiety, anger, it all mixed in splashes of vivid colors like the Monster Children battling in the sky, or sunlight through a haze of mist, breaking into bars of colors.

He wove around them, his soul touching theirs, feeling the straining anxiety. Color everywhere, even the fire rose red and yellow from the glowing bed of coals. Two groups separated, the Spirit Power they'd breathed into their darts clinging to the keen stone points. Their souls twisted in red-orange anger and greenish violet fear. Here were souls about to be" severed from the body and they couldn't stand it.

There stood Raven Hunter, a weird black swirl lit by a red yellow within, streaked by the spring green of pleasure and ambition. Muscles moved along the warrior's arms, poised to release their darts.

"If you cast against each other, you'll break the spiral," he said softly, projecting his voice to their very souls. "We can't do that and survive."

They froze in their places, turning to stare at him. A white shimmering of curiosity softened their images, all uneasy except for anxious Dancing Fox and the man. The . . .

Wolf Dreamer stopped dead in his tracks.

"So," he greeted, noting the shimmering white fox hides on his shoulder. "We meet, you and I. I offer greetings, Father."

The man nodded, a Power within him, his soul tight and controlled, balanced between spirit and body. "Wolf Dreamer."

"Kill them!" Raven Hunter bellowed from the side. "I am the future of the People. Here lies destruction! Death at the

hands of the Others! I have the Power of the White Hide. I'm born of Father Sun! Come to lead—"

"You're born of me," the man said, tone leaving no doubt.

Wolf Dreamer smiled, cocking his head to watch the whirls of white light dance in his father's chest.

"Why did you lie to me?" Raven Hunter insisted.

"To save you." Ice Fire sighed. "I let the White Hide pass judgment on you. You did what you did to yourself. Your soul is—"

"Powerful!" Raven Hunter hissed.

"Your soul is a darkness, brother," Wolf Dreamer said sadly. "You're not whole, Raven Hunter. You have no sharing of the soul."

"Shut up! What do you know of souls, of Dreams? I've seen, seen the future, me and Dancing Fox. My child taking the People south into—"

"You've seen no future of yours," Wolf Dreamer murmured. "You saw only a glimpse of your father's."

Ice Fire frowned, staring. "Mine? What—"

"No, it was mine!" Raven Hunter insisted, slamming a fist into the White Hide.

The Other warriors mumbled in fear and rage, easing forward on cat feet.

Wolf Dreamer bowed his head and watched the flames dance for what seemed an eternity. His thoughts drifted away, images of Heron's visions floating through his mind. Sights, sounds, rising mounds of dirt along a winding muddy river. Rock-walled shelters rising five stories high, the corners of the rooms sharp against the sky. Long shelters, built of bark, all centered around tended fields of long-eared grass, its yellow kernels spilling life upon the mats of the Peoples.

Hunters came, long-limbed men, bearing darts as they stalked the buffalo. As the plains dried, women slapped desert plants, knocking the seeds into woven containers. A long thin creature crawled on its belly, fangs in its head, tail hissing in a buzz. Far to the south, men built mountains of stone while Father Sun descended to earth, plumed in feathers and scales.

"It can be saved." Ice Fire's voice penetrated the Dream. '
'Saved . . . saved . . . saved
..."

Wolf Dreamer nodded. "Yes. That which has been sundered must become One again.''

"Let me help you," Ice Fire offered, striding slowly closer to Wolf Dreamer.

In a shimmering fog, he saw him stop. Wolf Dreamer gently reached out a hand and touched his father's chest, the place the white light flowed from. It warmed him, sending tendrils of harmony rushing through him. Before he realized what had happened, Ice Fire had enfolded him in strong arms and hugged him tightly to his breast.

"My son, you've done well for the People."

Wolf Dreamer's gazed at Dancing Fox. She stood rigidly, though her eyes lay warm on Ice Fire. He widened his eyes, seeing the tiny dot of white light growing in her belly.

"A son . . . for a son," Wolf Dreamer breathed, "now I understand, Heron."

Wolf Dreamer floated in the bliss of Oneness with his father, eyes blind to the world of illusion fluttering around him.

Through his haze he faintly heard Raven Hunter say, "So, the fawn has lain with the bear. Look, warriors! This will be the death of the People!"

A rumble of hostile voices pierced the stillness.

Reluctantly, Wolf Dreamer pushed Ice Fire away, breaking the embrace, and focused on his brother. Raven Hunter stood tall, chest thrown out arrogantly. His feet straddled the dead body of an old man.

"You killed Buffalo Back," he said softly.

Raven Hunter laughed. "And I'll kill you—as I should have years ago."

As Wolf Dreamer stepped forward, Dancing Fox reached to pull him back.

"Don't do this! He's not worth—"

He smiled at her, and tenderly reached down to lay his hand on the new life that sparkled in her belly. She started, but didn't pull away, gazing up questioningly. "You hold the strands of the web. Did you know? From you it will shoot forth, spiraling across the face of the world."

"What?" she asked feebly.

Tired, he felt suddenly very tired. From the corners of his mind, he heard the faint call, an eerie familiar howl. He turned slowly, looking over his shoulder to the south. From out of the forest, Wolf loped to stand at the edge of the gathering, one foot raised, nose up scenting the air. A tremor shook him. "Is it time?"

"You've shown them the way, man of the People. Come. "

Wolf Dreamer swallowed hard and closed his eyes, nodding. Then he turned back to Ice Fire. "Let no one interfere."

"But you can't—" Dancing Fox cried.

Ice Fire's arm restrained her as she started forward. "No one will interfere."

"I call you witch, brother!" Raven Hunter roared, eyes gleaming in hatred. "I'll kill you before you destroy the Peo-' pie!"

Behind him, he heard Dancing Fox plead with Ice Fire, "Let me go, he's not strong enough! Raven Hunter has—"

"No."

Raven Hunter circled the fire cautiously, his good hand gripped into a tight fist. A surge of young warriors followed him, ready for the battle to break out.

"Stop them," One Who Cries shouted, running forward.

"No!" Ice Fire caught him by the shoulder, whirling him around.

"They're
your
sons! You can't let them—"

"It's the Dream!" Ice Fire whispered urgently. "Don't meddle in what you don't understand!"

"But your sons!"

Wolf Dreamer stood serenely, feeling the gaze of Wolf on him as Raven Hunter charged, roaring like a wounded bull, "I'll kill you, brother!"

Wolf Dreamer listened to the words, his soul still reeling from Wolf's presence. For a brief moment, he'd almost for-

gotten the Dance. Now he whispered with the mushrooms singing in his blood.

"Don't do this, brother," he implored, opening his arms as Raven Hunter stopped in front of him, glaring. "Come, come with me. Our time with the People is over. Come, follow me to the south. Let me cleanse you, let me teach you to Dream."