Shadow World (37 page)

Then his feet were back on the ground, and the echo of the final note floated away into the sky like the smoke of an offering. Mark was breathing harder than he ever had in his life, great, tearing gasps that hurt his chest, but felt wonderful, too.

The circle of Wospind stood in silence. Every eye was on him. Terris' cries were the only sound to be heard. Panting, Mark turned to regard the Wopind leader and stared deep into hin's green eyes.

Then the hin walked toward him, still carrying the baby. The

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leader stopped in the center of the circle, hin's eyes still fixed on Mark's face.

"What is heen's name?" the Wopind asked.

"Mark ..." He struggled for breath, forcing himself not to bend over, swallowing back the saliva flooding his mouth. "Mark Kenner."

"Hin is Hilnar," the Wopind leader said. "And the journey- taker, Liron, who now embraces Wo, received and cherished han's last Mortenwol, Mark Kenner." At this point, Terris, still howling as hinsi clung to the down on Hilnar's chest, turned and saw Mark. Hinsi's wails strengthened.

The Wopind looked down at the baby, then carefully plucked the infant off hin's chest, one-handed because the child did not attempt to cling to hin.

"Terris cries for hinsi's adoptive father," Hilnar said, and handed hinsi back to Mark.

Astonished, smiling incredulously, Mark took Terris and snuggled hinsi against his chest. He stroked the child, whose wails ceased. Exhausted, Terris immediately went to sleep.

Hilnar nodded, hin's green eyes glowing. "The quiet is welcome, is it not?"

"It is." Mark looked over at his friends. Cara was standing there openmouthed, but Eerin was nodding, as though saying, "I knew you could do it!"

"In the quiet," Mark added, "it is easier to talk. It seems to me that we have much to talk about, Hilnar."

The Wopind leader regarded him unblinkingly. "Mark Kenner has shown that it is possible for off-worlders to understand Elpind customs and rites," Hilnar said at last. "Heen's Mortenwol, while different from an Elpind's, still contained the joy that is the essence of our culture. Hin did not think that was possible, not from an off-worlder. Now hin must consider all that hin has seen today."

Hilnar paused, then added, "And after hin has considered, we will talk."

Cara sat amid the shadows, keeping vigil over R'Thessra's body. Her tears had dried long ago, but her heart still ached. I
hope she knew how I felt
about her,
she thought sadly.
My respect, my admiration for her. She always
thought of others before herself. And to think we never exchanged a single
sentence ...

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They'd made no grave for the Apis. "If we can, we'll take her to Lalcipind,"

Mark had said as they wrapped the fragile body first in its own wings and then with a piece of the sheeting. "She would want to rest near her hive-sister."

The "if we can" reflected their current situation. Hours had passed since Mark had performed the Mortenwol, night had fallen, and still they did not know what the Wospind planned to do with them.

Eerin had spoken with their captors and learned that the other parties from the
Asimov
were being held in one of the Wopind settlements, two days'

journey from this small valley.

Hilnar was now the head of all the Wospind groups, having taken the leadership after Orim's death. Eerin's informant had also told her that when Hilnar was informed of the crashed
Asimov,
hin had immediately sent out a party of heen and han (mindful of the dangers of the desert heat to hin) to take water and food to the downed
Asimov.
The Wospind party had orders to escort all the survivors back to Hilnar.

Cara couldn't decide whether Reyvinik and the others would be better off with the crashed ship, or with the Wospind. But from what Eerin had learned, the Wospind had not harmed any of the off-worlders except for R'Thessra and Hrrakk'.

She glanced over into the next patch of shadows. The Simiu slept there, the deep wound he had received from the Wopind's spear now poulticed and bandaged, as Hrrakk' himself had directed.

Cara was still amazed that Hrrakk' had obviously been prepared to die defending her. And yet, the Simiu was still his taciturn self. When she and Mark had finished ministering to his wound, he'd turned his back on them and lain down without a word.

If I live to be a hundred,
she thought, I'll
never understand Hrrakk'!

Now she shivered, rubbing her arms against the chill of the night breeze, wishing they'd lit a fire. It would have been comforting. The Wospind had fires. She could see them halfway across the meadow, small, red hearts of heat.

Cara knew there were guards surrounding them, there had to be. But the Wospind had been careful to stay out of their way,

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allowing their captives to move as they wished about their own small, separate camp, permitting them to come and go freely to the stream for water. The journalist's first thought when evening fell had been that perhaps they should try to escape, but upon further consideration, she hadn't even brought up the suggestion.

For one thing, Eerin was still too weak to walk far, and Hrrakk' could no longer carry her. Cara, having seen the Simiu's wound close-up, was frankly surprised that the alien could move at all. But they'd already known Hrrakk'

was tough.

And Mark, of course, was exhausted. No sleep last night, and then the Mortenwol today. He lay close beside her as she sat on their one remaining piece of sheeting, curled on his side, deeply asleep.

Remembering the way he'd danced the Mortenwol, the journalist smiled faintly, ruefully. The spectacle of a lifetime, and she'd totally forgotten to activate her camera!

Shadows shifted again as tiny Inid climbed higher still in Elseemar's sky.

Cara looked up at the four moons, watching them silently, remembering R'Thessra, then thinking of Eerin and her face as she'd watched the human's Mortenwol.

Mark stirred in his sleep, and Cara glanced down at him. His hair glimmered ghostly silver in the moonlight. How ridiculous he'd looked, with Eerin's feathers jammed down over his head! And that awful beginning, that first awkward leap, the stumble ... she'd wanted to close her eyes and not have to watch. But somewhere during that first long measure, he'd suddenly begun to dance, really
dance. Then something came alive in him,
Cara thought.

Not for one minute had Mark's dance been Eerin's. But what Mark's dance had lacked in grace and airiness had been more than balanced with ... Cara searched for the right word.
Passion,
she decided. It had been the difference between the wafting dance of a feather and the leaping-up of a fierce flame.

They'd all felt it.

Waves of joy had radiated from the whirling figure, waves that had eased Cara's grief as she'd crouched by R'Thessra's crumpled body. She felt sure that, in finally understanding the Mortenwol, Mark had made peace with himself.

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Cara sat staring up at the moons, thinking of all that had happened since she had first set out for StarBridge Academy so many months ago. The thought of the school, of going there to learn about other species, made her pulse quicken a little.

I've certainly gotten a crash course in the Elspind,
she mused.
And
tomorrow, all of us are going to get a crash course on the Wospind ...
Her unintentional choice of words made her smile grimly.
I just hope that "crash"

isn't the operational word again.

Mark stiffened, then jerked in his sleep, mumbled something indistinct in Elspindlor, then moved restlessly against her hip. His legs drew up, then thrust down, as though he were leaping.

He's dreaming,
Cara realized.
Dancing the Mortenwol in his sleep ...
Gently she stroked his hair, his cheek, her touch as light as one of Eerin's Elseewas feathers. Final y he relaxed and slumbered deeply again.

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Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19

The Interrelator

Mark awoke the next morning when Terris began squawking hungrily in his ear. He sat up, reaching automatically for the canteen containing the sestel broth, and fed the baby. As he changed hinsi, he examined the downy little form, and decided that the child was definitely larger than when he'd first seen hinsi.

"You're growing, Terris," he whispered. "Getting big."

The thought that his days with the child were now definitely numbered made his throat tighten painfully. He was glad of the distraction when he heard his name called.

Looking up, he saw Eerin coming across the meadow toward him. A male Wopind walked close by her side. Yesterday the Elpind had been so weak, so drooping, but today she moved with all Eerin's old energy--and more. The heen at her side could scarcely keep his eyes off her.

Mark scrambled up and stared as she stopped before him. In the warm light of early morning, the Elpind seemed positively luminous--han's peach-colored skin had a definite sheen to it, a glow that almost matched the one in the golden eyes. Eerin seemed radiantly alive in a way he'd never seen before.

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"Eerin, you ... you look so different! You're ... glowing!" Mark stammered. He couldn't get over the difference from the wan, feeble creature of yesterday.

Eerin bounced happily. "Han will be desirable to a heen now, will han not?"

At first the human thought her question was rhetorical, but then he caught her sideways glance at the heen.

Mark studied the male Wopind. He was about Eerin's height, with thick, tan-colored fur and eyes just a shade darker than his friend's.

"This is Reenor," Eerin introduced, giving her escort a dazzling glance.

"Heen changed the same night han did. Mark remembers."

He certainly did. "It's nice to meet you, Reenor," Mark said, feeling rather like the older brother of a teenage girl being introduced to the first serious boyfriend. The air between Reenor and Eerin fairly sizzled with mutual attraction.

"We came to ask Mark to dance the Mortenwol with us," Eerin invited.

"Are you sure you're up to it already? Yesterday ... "Mark trailed off, shaking his head and smiling. From the joyous look on Eerin's face, han was up to anything.

The Elpind nodded. "Once again it will be done every morning, just as before Enelwo. Come, dance with us!"

"I couldn't," Mark protested. "I'd feel silly. Yesterday, when I started, I was so clumsy, and ..." He trailed off. "And I don't have the same need driving me today."

"Mark is learning. From what han saw yesterday, heen will learn very well indeed. And, remember, it is not the steps, but the feeling as one does them that makes the Mortenwol." A challenge shone in the golden eyes.

"Yesterday, Mark
understood
the Mortenwol, han could tell. Has Mark forgotten everything heen has learned?"

The human smiled slowly, remembering. "No, I haven't." He took a deep breath. "Eerin, I would
love
to dance the Mortenwol with you two."

"This time, my camera's going to be on," Cara announced, having just come back from a wash at the stream. "I'm not missing the chance of a lifetime twice!"

Mark grinned. "Okay, 'everybody,' let's go."

Minutes later Mark stood between the two Elspind in the

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middle of the grassy meadow, beneath the dawn sky. At the first high, sweet note of the kareen, Mark's heart rose within him. Together, he and his pair partner--and, he suspected, Eerin's soon-to-be mate--spun and leaped and wove the patterns.

As they finished Mark realized that several of the Wospind, drawn by the sound of the kareen, had come to watch. He recognized Hilnar. The leader beckoned to him. "Hin is ready to talk," Hilnar said. "Mark Kenner will please bring heen's companions."

As Eerin and Mark walked back together to fetch Hrrakk', the human hesitated, then blurted, "Eerin, I don't mean to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but Reenor--heen's a Wopind!"

"Han knows that," Eerin replied, her golden eyes bright. "But Mark must understand ... the fire of the rizel burns, and there is no denying it. The fire within han awoke the moment han saw Reenor, and it burns even now."

Suddenly Eerin was reciting. "The hunger
before
Enelwo is first one of preparation, then of strong need, and, finally, a craving that beats like a pulse through the body. The hunger that rises
after
Enelwo is many times more a craving: deeper than the bone, swifter rushing than the fevered blood, and sweet, very sweet."

The Elpind gazed at Mark. "The Telling continues to describe rizel, the act of mating. Rizel is the next great adventure, and han is eager for it." Eerin's golden gaze deepened, as han searched Mark's eyes. "Mark did not understand the Mortenwol until heen danced it. This feeling is one that Mark can perhaps never completely share, but han asks Mark to accept."

The human remembered how the blood had rushed through his body,

remembered that shining moment when he'd felt able to love all the worlds and beings in the universe. He smiled at his friend and nodded.

Eerin skipped happily. "Mark Kenner is a great interrelator," han said, repeating her favorite declaration.

Mark took a deep breath and squared his shoulders as he looked up the hill at the Wospind leaders who awaited them. "Well, I'm going to do my best,"

he said softly.

The travelers gathered with Hilnar and the other Wopind

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leaders (including, Mark was interested to note, Reenor) beneath several large trees in one corner of the meadow. Armed Wospind stood guard outside the perimeter of their small circle, as they all sat on the ground.

"Hin received a messenger bird this morning," the Wopind leader began as soon as they were all settled. "The group hin sent to reach the ship has arrived there. They will depart tonight with the survivors of the crash to begin the journey into the mountains." The Wopind gazed around the circle. "Hin has given orders that the prisoners are to be well treated, and that they must not be harmed."