Soul Eater (15 page)

kind of noises?"She shuddered. "I stayed awake to keep watch. Then I heard Wolf. He was howling, the way he does before he goes hunting. After that they were gone."He took a few paces, then turned back to her.256"We've got to get rid of it.""How? We'd have to bury it in earth or stone--and there isn't any out here, there's only ice!"They stared bleakly at each other.Renn opened her mouth to speak ...... and an earsplitting crack split the air, as a fine black line zigzagged across the ice a hand's breadth from her boots.She stared at her feet.The sea ice gave a sudden heave, and she staggered back.The black line was now a channel of water as wide as a paddle blade."A tide crack," said Torak in disbelief.Time seemed to slow. He saw that he stood on the landfast ice--the side that held the boat and their provisions--while Renn stood on the other side: the side that was breaking away. "Jump," he told her.The floe lurched. She braced her legs to keep from falling."Jump!" he cried.Her face was blank with shock. "I can't. It's too late."She was right. The crack was already more than two paces wide."I'll get the boat," he said. He raced over the ice toward the skinboat--stumbled--staggered upright257again. Why couldn't he see properly? Why was everything taking so long?He'd nearly reached the boat when it rocked-- teetered--and slid gracefully off the ice, into the Sea. With a cry he lunged for it--but the waves sucked it just out of reach. He howled with rage--and the Sea Mother splashed salt water in his eyes, laughing at him."Torak!" Renn's voice was muffled by the fog.He got to his feet--and was horrified to see how far she'd drifted."Torak!"He ran to the edge of the ice--but he was powerless; he could only watch as the Sea bore her away, and the breath of the World Spirit closed in around her.Then there was nothing left but silence.258THIRTY-THREEThe ice gave another lurch, jolting Torak to his senses. He had to get away from the edge, or he'd be next. The fog was so thick that he could hardly see; or were his eyes getting worse? Even this weak light felt like hot needles drilling into his skull.In a blur he cast about for their remaining gear. Apart from what he had on him, there was a snow-knife, the sleeping-sacks, and no food. He thought he remembered seeing Renn stowing a food pouch in the skinboat, and hoped he was wrong, hoped she had it with her-- The sleeping-sacks? He had both?. Oh, Renn.259At least she had her bow with her, but...He stopped short. She had the fire-opal. The demons would be after her.As he recalled how he'd shouted at her, he burned with shame. Taking the fire-opal had been the bravest thing she could have done. Then she'd stayed awake all night, keeping Watch. "And all you could do was shout," he said in disgust.The fog whirled before his eyes, melting into a searing red blur. He squinted. Put his hand before his face. The red blur didn't change. He couldn't see."Snow-blind," he said aloud--and the fog reached icy fingers down his throat. He'd never felt so vulnerable.He did the only thing he could. He put his hands to his lips and howled.Wolf didn't come. Nor did he send back an answering howl. Which must mean that he was out of earshot--and knowing Wolf's ears, that was a long way away indeed.Again Torak howled. And again.Silence. No wind. Just the insidious lapping of the Sea, and a horrible, waiting stillness. He pictured dark shapes flitting from ridge to ridge. He sensed that he was not alone."Get away from me," he whispered to the demons.He thought he heard laughter.260"Get away!" he shouted, waving his arms. More laughter.With a sob, he sank to his knees. Tears stung his eyes. Angrily he dashed them away.If Renn were here, she'd be reaching for her medicine pouch.That kindled a tiny spark of courage. Slipping off his mittens, he fumbled for his own pouch, found some elder leaves by their smell, and chewed them. They stung terribly when he pressed them to his eyes, but he told himself they were doing him good.Then he had another idea. He found his mother's medicine horn, and shook a little powdered earthblood into his palm.Suddenly, the air around him crackled with tension. Maybe the demons didn't like earthblood.Mixing the red powder to a paste with spit, he daubed what he hoped was the sign of the hand on his forehead--remembering too late that he should have rubbed off the owl blood first. He didn't know if that would stop it working. He only knew that you made the sign of the hand to protect yourself, and he needed all the protection he could get.He struggled to his feet--and this time he heard a hiss, and the scrabble of claws. Maybe they were shrinking back from the mark of power."Get away from me," he told them shakily. "I'm not261dead yet. Neither is Renn."Silence. He didn't know if they were listening or mocking.On hands and knees, he found the sleeping-sacks and strapped them on his back; then stuck the snow-knife in his belt. He forced himself to think. The thaw was coming, so he had to get farther inland. Then head off and find Renn.The day before, the current and the wind had carried , them south. The ice floe, too, had carried Renn south."Head south," he said out loud. And maybe the floe would get stuck in landfast ice, and she'd find her way ashore.But where was south?He took a few steps, but kept stumbling. The ice was so uneven, all these little ridges....Ridges. The wind blowing the snow into ridges. Blowing mainly from the north!"Thank you!" he shouted. He thanked Inuktiluk, too, for advising him to make an offering. The wind must have liked those boar tusks, or it wouldn't be helping him now.Groping with his mittens, he felt the shape of the ridges. Then he stood up, and squared his shoulders. "Not dead yet," he told the demons. "Not dead yet!" he shouted.He started south.262***It was agonizingly slow going. At times he heard a shuddering crunch, and the sea ice bucked beneath him. He probed the way ahead with the snow-knife. But if he did hit a patch of thin ice, it would probably be too late.What had Inuktiluk said? Gray ice is new ice, very dangerous.... Keep to the white ice. Not much use when he couldn't see--when his next step might take him onto thin ice, or down a tide crack.He struggled on. The cold sapped his strength, and he began to feel weak with hunger. How he was going to find food when he had neither harpoon, bow, nor sight was beyond him.After a while he heard the sound of approaching wings. The sky was a pinkish blur; he couldn't even make out a darker blur flying toward him.Owls fly silently, so it couldn't be the eagle owl; and these wingbeats had a strong, steady rustle that he recognized.Wsh, wsh, wsh. The raven flew lower to inspect him. Then, with a short, deep caw, it flew away.His belly tightened. That caw had sounded muffled, as if the raven had food in its beak. Maybe it had found a carcass, and was flying off to hide its cache. Maybe it would be back for more.Not long afterward he heard it return. He strained to263listen. He ran toward it.Just when he was giving up hope, he heard the bark of a white fox, and the sonorous caws of ravens at a kill-site. Meat! From the clamor, there were lots of them, so it must be a big carcass. Maybe a seal.His foot struck something solid, and he fell. The ravens erupted into the sky in a wild clatter of wings, and the white fox uttered short barks that sounded suspiciously like laughter.Torak groped for what had tripped him. It wasn't a wind ridge, but a smooth hummock of ice, twice the size of his head. Puzzled, he found another, a little farther off. Then more of them, in a curving double line.His heart began to thud. These weren't hummocks. They were tracks. The tracks of an ice bear. Inuktiluk had told him how the bear's weight packed the snow hard, then the wind blew away the surrounding snow, leaving perfect, raised paw prints.In his mind Torak saw the seal basking in the sun beside its breathing hole, oblivious of the ice bear stalking it downwind. Noiselessly the bear creeps closer, hiding behind every ridge and hummock. It is patient. It knows how to wait. At last the seal slips into a doze. The bear gathers itself for the silent charge.... The seal is dead before it knows what struck.At the carcass, the ravens had noisily resumed their264feast, having apparently decided that Torak posed no threat.They wouldn't be feeding if the bear were still close--would they? He was desperate to believe that. And by the sound of it, there were a great many ravens, as well as that fox; which must mean that the bear had left plenty of meat. Inuktiluk had said that when the hunting was good, ice bears take only the blubber, and leave the rest.But what if it was hungry again? What if it was stalking him right now?Suddenly the ravens burst skyward. Something had frightened them.Torak's breath hammered in his chest. Reaching inside his parka, he drew his father's knife.He pictured the great bear hunting him: placing its huge, furred paws soundlessly on the ice.He got to his feet. The silence was deafening. He braced himself, and waited for the White Death to come for him.Wolf knocked him backward into the snow, and covered his face in snuffle-licks.Wolf loved surprising his pack-brother. No matter how often he did it, Tall Tailless never knew he was coming, and Wolf never tired of it: the stalk--the pounce--the head-over-paws tumble.265Now, in an ecstasy of play-biting and tail-lashing-- with his newly shortened tail, which he was fast getting used to--he clambered over his pack-brother. He was so happy he could howl! All thought of demons and bad taillesses and stranger wolves was chased away. After being crushed and cramped for so long, he was free to stretch and leap and lope! To feel the Bright Soft Cold beneath his pads, and clean wind in his fur! To play with his pack-brother!As often happened when Wolf ambushed him, Tall Tailless was both cross and delighted. But Wolf sensed that this time, he was also in pain.Where was the pack-sister? She'd been with Tall Tailless when they'd set off in the floating hide. Had she got lost on the Great Wet?And Tall Tailless was being strangely clumsy. After his first joyful greeting, he'd made an awkward lunge at Wolf's muzzle, missed,-and tried to lick his ear. Which was odd. Now his forepaw swung out and biffed Wolf hard on the nose. Wolf was startled. He hadn't done anything wrong.Going down on his forelegs, he asked Tall Tailless to play.Tall Tailless ignored him.Wolf gave an aggrieved whine, and cast his pack-brother a questioning glance.Tall Tailless stared--he actually stared--right past Wolf.266Wolf began to be worried. To stare like that must mean that Tall Tailless was extremely displeased. Perhaps Wolf had done something wrong without knowing it.