Soul Eater (8 page)

out," said Torak. "You're splashing me.""Sorry."Her arms ached, and despite her owl-eyed visor, her head was pounding from the glare. They'd reached the open Sea shortly after dawn, and were now in an eerie world of dark-green water and drifting blue ice mountains. To the east stretched the white expanse of the shore; to the north, the vast, shattered chaos of the ice river."Too slow," muttered Torak. Picking up speed, he steered them behind a floating mountain."I don't think we should get so close," said Renn."Why not? It keeps us out of the wind."She applied herself to her paddle. On the palegreen foot of the ice mountain, three seals lay-basking. She fixed her eyes on them, and told herself not to worry.It was no good. She was worried. Torak's need to find Wolf was all-consuming; she'd begun to wonder where it would lead. And she hadn't yet told him about the Soul-Eaters.127A smaller ice mountain slid past them on its mysterious journey. She felt its freezing breath, heard the slap and suck of the Sea carving a cavern in its flank. The cavern was a searing blue oval. Like an eye, she thought."The Eye of the Viper," she said suddenly."I've been thinking about it too," said Torak. "It can't be anything to do with a real viper; there aren't any this far north--""--and Inuktiluk said, 'if you venture inside.''"He turned to her, his owl eyes making him startlingly unfamiliar. "I think I can guess what he meant.""Me too," said Renn.He shivered. "I hope we're wrong. I hate caves." They paddled on in silence.To keep up her spirits, Renn rummaged in her pack for food. The White Foxes had provisioned them well. Along with half a skin of blubber, she found frozen seal ribs and blood sausages. She cut two slices, and handed one to Torak. It tasted gritty, and she missed the tang of juniper berries. She missed the White Foxes more. "I feel bad about them," she said."Why?" said Torak, with his mouth full."They gave us so much, and we repaid them by running away.""They were going to send us south!"128"But all this gear. Snow-knives. Lamps. Better waterskins. A new strike-fire for me, and a beautiful case for my bow. There's even a repair kit for the boat." She held up a pouch made from a seal's flipper.Torak wasn't listening. He'd lowered his paddle, and was staring ahead."What is it?" said Renn.Ahead of them on the ice mountain, the seals had woken up.Renn was puzzled. "But we've got enough food," she whispered. "We can't stop to hunt now!" He ignored her.Suddenly the seals slithered off the ice and into the water. At the same moment Torak plunged in his paddle and yelled, "Turn! Turn!"--swinging the skinboat hard to the left. A bewildered Renn did the same, and they shot sideways--out from the wake of the ice mountain-- as a rending roar split the sky, and the mountain tilted and crashed into the Sea, sending a wall of water thundering over where they'd been a heartbeat before.Panting, they bobbed up and down. In place of the ice mountain there was now a heaving white slush."How did you know that would happen?" said Renn."I didn't," said Torak. "The seals did.""How did you know they knew?"He hesitated. "They feel it in their whiskers. Last summer I spirit walked in a seal. Remember? "129Uneasily, Renn licked the salt from her lips. She'd forgotten; or she hadn't wanted to remember. She hated being reminded of how different he was.He saw it in her face. "Come on," he said. "Long way to go."They moved off, steering clear of ice mountains. Renn felt the distance between them of things unsaid. She'd have to tell him soon.The wind picked up, blowing cold in their faces. But in her White Fox clothes, she hardly felt it. The seal hide cut out the wind, but was lighter than reindeer hide, while the eider-feather underclothes kept her snug, but let out the sweat, so that she didn't get chilled. The dog-fur ruff around the hood kept her face warm, but never became clogged with frozen breath; and her inner mittens had slits in the palms, so she could slide her fingers out for fine work like opening pouches. The clothes were beautiful, too, the silver fur shimmering in the sun. But they made her feel like someone else.The zigzag tattoos on her wrists also made her feel different, and she wondered just why Tanugeak had given them to her. The White Fox Mage had seemed to know things about her that she thought only Saeunn and Fin-Kedinn knew; things that Renn kept hidden in a deep corner of her mind.But it was Tanugeak's final gift that puzzled her most. The swansfoot pouch contained a dark powder that130smelled of soot and seaweed. What was she supposed to do with that?"Look," said Torak, cutting across her thoughts.He'd been steering them farther out to Sea, and now she saw why.To the east lay the glaring white of the ice river. Jagged peaks towered over dizzying cliffs riven with deep blue cracks. Renn heard a distant booming--and saw a great spur break away and crash into the Sea. Clouds of powdered ice shot into the sky. A green wave rolled toward them, rocking the skinboat.If we'd been closer, she thought, we'd have been crushed. Like my father."Try not to think about it," Torak said quietly.She picked up her paddle and stabbed at the water.The sun was low and the ice river far behind them when they finally glimpsed the mountain. From the dead white land it rose: three stark peaks piercing the sky, like ravens perching on ice.Renn had never seen anything so lonely. Two winters ago, her clan had journeyed to the northernmost end of the High Mountains, and she'd felt as if she'd reached the edge of the world. Now she felt as if she'd fallen over it.Torak sensed it too, and slipped one hand out of his mitten to touch his clancreature skin.South of the mountain's western flank, they found the iced-in bay that Akoomik had drawn in the snow. It131was a relief to get out of the skinboat, although their legs were stiff. Once again, they were grateful to the White Foxes. The boat was easy to carry, and their boots' rough soles stopped them from slipping on the ice.Hiding the boat in the lee of a snow hill, they overturned it and propped it up on four forked driftwood sticks. "Inuktiluk called them shoresticks," Torak told Renn. "We can use them to make the boat into a shelter, too."Renn knew better than to suggest that they should do exactly that, right now, since it was midafternoon, and the shadows were turning purple. Already, Torak was scanning for tracks.He soon found them: a broad swathe of churned-up snow. "Two sleds," he said with a frown. "Heavily laden, and heading for the mountain. Quite fresh." He straightened up. "Let's go."Renn shivered. All at once, the Soul-Eaters felt very close. "Wait," she said. "We need to think about this.""Why?" he said impatiently.She hesitated. "One of the White Fox women told me something. I've been wanting to tell you all day." "Yes?"She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Torak. It's the Soul-Eaters. They're the ones who took Wolf." "I--know," he said. "What?"132He told her what he'd seen when he'd spirit walked in the raven."But--why didn't you tell me?" she cried. "You've known for days!"He scowled, and hacked at the snow with his heel. "I know I should have, but I couldn't risk it. I thought you might go back to the Forest." His scowl deepened. "If you'd left..."Suddenly she felt sorry for him. "I've suspected for days, but I didn't leave. And I won't now."He met her eyes. "So--we go on."She swallowed. "Yes. We go on."They looked at the trail of the Soul-Eaters, winding up the mountain.Renn said, "What if this is some kind of trap?""I don't care," he muttered."What if they've heard rumors of the Wolf Clan boy who's a spirit walker? If they catch you, if they take your power, it could endanger the whole Forest.""I don't care" he repeated. "I've got to find Wolf!"She had an idea. "What about a disguise? ""What?""That'd throw them off the scent. And maybe Tanugeak had that in mind, too. At least, she gave me what we need."Torak took a few paces, then turned back to her. "What do we do?"133It didn't take long to change their appearance. Their clan-tattoos weren't a problem, as their cheeks were still so blistered from the snowstorm that the fine marks hardly showed. Renn made a black stain by mixing Tanugeak's powder with water, then finger-painted a White Fox band across Torak's nose. She also cut his hair to shoulder length, with bangs across the brow. He was too thin to make a truly convincing White Fox, but with luck, his clothes would conceal that.She dyed her own hair black by combing in more of the stain, which she also used to darken her face. Then she got Torak to turn her into a Mountain Hare by painting her forehead with a zigzag band tinged with earthblood from his medicine horn.He seemed disconcerted. "You don't look like Renn anymore.""Good," she said. "And you don't look like Torak."They stared at each other, both more unsettled than they cared to admit. Then they set off on the trail of the Soul-Eaters.The sleds had been dragged up a ridge that snaked around the western flank of the mountain, just as Akoomik had said. As they climbed higher, the shadows deepened from purple to charcoal. Often they paused to listen, but no living thing stirred. No eagles wheeled, no ravens cawed. The air grew colder. The wind dropped. Their boots134creaked in the stillness.Then--with appalling suddenness--they came upon the sleds, casually piled at the side of the trail.After so many days of following the faintest of clues, it was a shock to find solid structures of wood and hide. It made the Soul-Eaters solid too.Sensing they were nearing the end, they hid their packs and sleeping-sacks in the snow a few paces from the sleds. Renn saw what a wrench it was for Torak to leave behind his father's blue slate knife. "But it's too dangerous," she told him. "They knew him; they might recognize it."They decided to take the waterskins the White Foxes had packed for them, a little food, and knives. Renn would also take her bow, and she wanted to take the axes as well, but Torak feared the White Fox vision too much to risk it.Twenty paces beyond the sleds, the trail rounded a spur--and they halted.Above them reared the gaunt mountain, lit" crimson by the last rays of the sun. In its flank, a black hole gaped. Before it, like a warning, stood a tall gray pillar of stone. -White mist seeped from the darkness of the cave. Clammy tendrils reached for them, stinking of dread and demons. Hope fled. If the Soul-Eaters had taken Wolf in there ...135Glancing over her shoulder, Renn saw the shape of the whole mountain for the first time. She saw how it rose out of the snow like the head of some giant creature. She saw how the ice river uncoiled its sinuous bulk east, before twisting around to lose itself in the Sea.Torak had seen it too: "We've found the Viper," he whispered."We're standing on it," breathed Renn.They turned back to the mountain: to the glaring black hole split by the standing stone."And there's the Eye," she said.Torak took off his owl visor and stowed it in his medicine pouch. "They're in there," he said. "I can feel it. So is Wolf."Renn chewed her lower lip. "We need to think about this.""I've done enough thinking," he snapped.Taking his arm, she drew him behind a rock, out of sight of the Eye. "There's no sense going in," she said, "unless we know for sure that--that Wolf is still alive."He didn't reply. Then--to her horror--he put his hands to his mouth to howl.She grabbed his wrist. "Are you mad? They'll hear you!""What if they do? They'll think I'm a wolf!""You don't know that! Torak, these are Soul-Eaters!"136"Then what?""There is another way." Slipping her hand out of her mitten, she fumbled at the neck of her parka, and brought out the little grouse-bone whistle he'd given her once. She blew on it--and no sound came, as they had known it wouldn't; but if Wolf was alive, he would hear it.Nothing. Not a breath of wind stirred the dead air."Try again," said Torak.She tried. And again. And again.Still nothing. She couldn't meet his eyes.Then--from deep inside the mountain--the faintest of howls.Torak's face lit up. "I told you! I told you!"The howl was long and wavering, and even Renn could hear its misery and pain. It rose to a peak ...And cut off.137SIXTEENWolf!" cried Torak, throwing himself forward. Renn yanked him back. "Torak, no! They'll hear you!""I don't care, let me go!" He pushed her away with such force that she went flying.She landed on her back, and they stared at each other, both shocked by his violence.He offered her his hand, but she got to her feet unaided. "Don't you understand?" she hissed in a furious whisper. "If you go into that cave, you might be walking right into their hands!""But he needs me!"138"And how does it help if you get yourself killed?" She dragged him down the trail, out of sight of the Eye. "We have to think! He's down there. We know that. But if we blunder in, who knows what might happen?""You heard that howl," he said through his teeth. "If we don't go in now, he may die!"Renn opened her mouth to protest--then froze.Torak had heard it too. The crunch of footsteps coming up the slope.Of one accord, they ducked behind the sleds.Crunch, crunch, crunch. Unhurried. Coming closer.Quietly, Torak drew his knife. Beside him, Renn slipped her hands out of her mittens and nocked an arrow to her bow.A thickset man came into view. He was clad in mottled sealskin, and carried a gray hide pouch over one shoulder. His head was bowed. His hood concealed his face. He bore no weapons that they could see.As Torak watched, rage choked him. His eyes misted red. This was one of them. This man had taken Wolf.In his mind he saw Wolf standing proudly on the ridge above the Forest, his fur limned golden by the sun. He heard again that agonized howl. Pack-brother! Help me!Crunch, crunch, crunch. The man was almost level with them. He stopped. Looked over his shoulder, as if reluctant to go on.It was too much for Torak. Scarcely knowing what he139did, he leaped forward, head-butting the man in the belly, sending him crashing into the snow.He lay winded, but then--with astonishing speed-- rolled sideways, kicked Torak's knife from his hand, and grabbed his hood, twisting it backward in a vicious choke hold. Torak felt strong legs pinioning his arms, squeezing the breath from his chest; flint digging painfully into his throat."I wouldn't," Renn said coldly. She took a step closer, her arrow aimed at the attacker's heart.Torak felt the grip on his ribs loosen. His hood was released, the knife withdrawn."Please," whined his attacker, "don't hurt me!"With her arrow still poised to shoot, Renn nudged Torak's knife toward him with her boot, then told her captive to get up."No, no!" whined the captive, cowering at her feet. "I may not look upon the face of power!"Torak and Renn exchanged startled glances.The captive groveled, scrabbling for the pouch he'd dropped in the attack. Torak was
surprised to see that he wasn't a man, but a boy about his own age, although twice as- heavy. He bore the black nose tattoo of the White Foxes, and his round face glistened with blubber and terror sweat."Where is he?" said Torak. "What have you done with him?"140"Who?" bleated the boy. He saw Torak's tattoo, and his mouth fell open. "You're not one of us. Who are you?""What are you doing here?" snapped Renn. "You're no Soul-Eater!""But I will be!" retorted the boy with unexpected ferocity. "They promised!""For the last time," said Torak, advancing with his knife, "what have you done with Wolf?""Get away from me!" squealed the boy, scrambling backward like a crab. "If--if I scream, they'll hear. They'll come to my rescue, all four of them! Is that what you want?"Torak stared at Renn. Four?"Get away from me!" The boy edged up the slope. "I chose to do this! No one can stop me!"He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself. It gave Torak an idea. "What have you got in that pouch?" he said, to keep the boy talking."A--an owl," stammered the boy. "They want it for sacrifice.""But an owl is a hunter," said Renn accusingly."So is a wolf," said Torak. "And an otter. What are your masters doing in there? Tell us or we'll--""I don't know!" cried the boy, moving farther up the slope.As they followed him, the Eye came into view.141"Your masters," Renn said quietly, "do they talk of the one who is a spirit walker? Tell the truth! I'll know if you lie!""A spirit walker?" The boy's eyes widened. "Where?""Do they ever speak of this?" demanded Torak."No, no, I swear it!" He was sweating freely now, stinking of blubber. "They came to make a sacrifice! That's all I know, I swear on my three souls!""And for this you'd break clan law by catching hunters for sacrifice?" said Renn. "For an empty promise of a power that will never be yours?"Sheathing his knife, Torak took a step toward the boy. "Your mother wants you back," he said.He'd guessed right. The boy's body sagged.Renn was puzzled, but Torak ignored her. If she got an inkling of what he meant to do, she'd try to stop him. "Get out of here," he told the boy. "Go back to Akoomik while you still can."Terror and ambition fought in the blubbery face. "I can't," he whispered."If you don't go now," said Torak, "it'll be too late. Your clan will make you an outcast. You'll never see them again.""I can't" sobbed the boy.From deep within the Eye, a voice boomed. "Boy! It is time!"142"I'll make it easy for you," snarled Torak. Wrenching the pouch from the boy's grip, he pushed him down the trail. "Go on, go!" He hoisted the pouch over his shoulder. "Renn, I'm sorry, but I've got to do this."Realization dawned in her face. "Torak--no--it'll never work; they'll kill you!"Turning his head, he shouted an answer to the Soul-Eaters. "I'm coming!"Then he raced up the trail and into the Eye of the Viper.143SEVENTEENAfter the twilit mountainside, the darkness hit Torak like a wall."Shut your eyes," said a voice in front of him. "Let the dark be your guide."Torak just had time to draw down his hood before a figure lurched toward him bearing a sputtering pine-blood torch.From the voice he expected a man, but when he stole a glimpse from under his hood, he was startled to see a woman.She was heavy and squat, with legs so badly bowed that she rocked as she walked. Her features were at144odds with the rest of her: small, darting eyes in a sharp-snouted face. Pointed ears that reminded Torak of a bat. He didn't recognize her clan; the spiky tattoo on her chin was unknown to him. What drew his gaze was the bone amulet on her breast: the three-pronged fork for snaring souls."You were a long time," said the Soul-Eater. "Did you get it?"Hiding his face, Torak held up the pouch. Inside, the owl wriggled feebly.The Soul-Eater grunted, then turned and hobbled farther into the cave.Glancing back, Torak saw that the last glimmer of daylight was far behind. He slung the pouch over his shoulder, and started after her.The Soul-Eater moved fast, despite her bowlegs, and in the swinging torchlight he caught only flashes as they went deeper. Ridged red walls like a gaping maw. A tunnel as pale and twisted as guts. Yellow handprints that flared, then faded in the gloom. And always the echoing drip, drip of water.As he stumbled on, the folly of what he'd done sank in. When the Soul-Eaters saw his face, they would know he wasn't the White Fox boy. Maybe, too, they would detect some trace of his father in his features. Or maybe they already knew who he was, and this was all a trap.Down, down they went. An unclean warmth seeped145from the rocks and clung to his face like cobwebs. An acrid stink stole into his throat."Breathe through your mouth," muttered the Soul-Eater.Fa used to give him the same advice. It was terrible to hear it repeated by the enemy.Above him, Torak saw thin sheets of reddish stone hanging down like flaps of bloody hide. In their folds, unseen creatures shrank from the light.His head struck a rock and he fell, crying out in disgust as his fingers plunged into soft blackness seething with thin gray worms.A strong hand grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. "Quiet!" said the Soul-Eater. "You'll startle them!" Then to the darkness, "There, there, my little ones." As if in answer came the squeak and rustle of thousands of bats."The warmth makes them wakeful," murmured the Soul-Eater. Laying her palm on the tunnel wall, she made Torak do the same.He recoiled. The rock had the lingering warmth of a fresh carcass. He knew only one reason for that. The Otherworld."Yes, the Otherworld," said the Soul-Eater, as if she'd heard his thoughts. "Why do you think we came all this way?" -He didn't dare reply, which seemed to irritate her.146"Don't let the bats see your eyes," she snarled. "They go for the glitter."Abruptly, the tunnel widened into a long, low cavern the color of dried blood. It had the eye-watering stink of a midden in high summer, and Torak's gorge rose.Then he forgot about the smell. The walls were pitted with smaller hollows, some blocked with slabs of stone. From inside one he caught the hiss of a wolverine.His heart quickened. Where there was a wolverine, maybe there was also a wolf.He gave a low grunt-whine that Wolf would be sure to recognize. It's me!No answer. Disappointment crashed over him like a wave. If Wolf was still alive, he wasn't here."Stop whining," growled the Soul-Eater, "and keep up! If you get lost down here, we'll never find you again."More tunnels, until Torak's head whirled. He wondered if the Soul-Eater had chosen a winding route on purpose, to make him lose his bearings. Behind that sharp face, he sensed a quick mind. Twisted legs and flying thoughts. That was what the Walker had said.They emerged into a vast cavern--and Torak faltered. Before him loomed a forest. A forest of stone.Shadowy thickets reached upward, seeking sunlight they would never find. Stone waterfalls froze in an147endless winter. As Torak followed the lurching torchlight, a sickly warmth made the sweat start out on his brow. He heard a furtive trickling; glimpsed still pools and twisted roots. He caught nightmare flashes of figures draped in stone: some crouching above him, some half hidden in water. When he looked again, they were gone, but he felt their presence: the Hidden People of the Rocks.The Soul-Eater led him to a massive trunk of greenish stone that looked as if it had been hacked to a stump by some act of unimaginable violence. He heard movement, and knew he was being watched.His foot caught on a root, and he tripped and fell. Laughter rang through the cavern."What's this, Nef?" said a woman's mocking voice. "Have you brought us your fosterling at last?"Torak's heart began to pound. He'd managed to deceive one Soul-Eater. He'd need all his wits to deceive the others.Groveling where he lay, he began to whine. "No, no, don't make me look upon the face of power!""Not that again!" grunted Nef. "He won't even dare look at me!"Torak felt a flicker of hope. If they hadn't seen the White Fox boy's face ...A cold finger slid down his cheek, making him flinch. "If he daren't look at Nef the Bat Mage," a148woman whispered in his ear, "dare he look upon Seshru the Viper Mage?"She drew back his hood, and he found himself staring into the most perfect face he'd ever seen. Slanting lynx eyes of fathomless blue; a mouth of daunting beauty. Dark hair, drawn back from a high white brow, revealed a stark black line of tattooed arrowheads, like the markings on a snake.Fascinated yet repelled, he met the peerless gaze, while the Viper Mage studied him as a hunter regards its kill.Her lovely features tightened with contempt--but nothing more. She didn't know who he was. "He's thin for a White Fox," she said. "Nef, you disappoint me. You've found us a runt." Her chill fingers slid inside the neck of his parka, and she smiled. "What's this? He has a knife!""A knife?" said the Bat Mage.The knife that Fin-Kedinn had made for him hung in its sheath from a thong about his neck. Now it was gone: lifted over his head and tossed to Nef."He has a knife!" jeered a man's voice as rich and deep as an oak wood. An enormous figure loomed from the darkness, and before Torak could resist, he was seized, and his arms twisted so viciously that he screamed.More laughter, blasting him with the eye-stinging tang of spruce-blood. "Should I be frightened, Seshru? "149mocked the man. In his bulky reindeer-hide clothes, he seemed to fill the cavern. "Does he mean to threaten the Oak Mage?"Torak stared into a face as hard as sun-cracked earth. The beard was a twiggy thicket, the mane a russet tangle. The eyes that bored into his were a fierce leaf green. "Does he mean to threaten?" repeated the Oak Mage in a tone of menacing softness.Torak felt as helpless as a lemming trapped by a lynx."Thiazzi, leave him!" snapped the Bat Mage. "We need him alive, not dead of fright!"The Viper Mage arched her white throat and laughed. "Poor Nef! Always so eager to play the mother!""What would you know about mothering?" Nef threw back at her.Seshru's beautiful lips thinned."Let's see what it's brought us, shall we?" said Thiazzi, grabbing the pouch from Torak's hand. He pulled out a small, half-grown white owl, and shook it until its eyes darkened with shock. From that moment, Torak hated Thiazzi the Oak Mage, who delighted in tormenting creatures weaker than himself.The Bat Mage didn't seem to like it either. Shambling forward, she snatched the owl from the Oak Mage and stuffed it back in the pouch. "We need this one alive too," she muttered. Then she turned to Torak,150indicated a birchbark bowl on the floor, and told him to eat.To his surprise, he saw that the bowl contained a strip of dried horse meat and some hazelnuts."Go on," urged Seshru with a curious sideways smile. "Eat. You have to keep up your strength." Her glance slid to Thiazzi, and Torak caught a flicker of amusement between them.He pretended to eat, but his throat had closed. It seemed as if only a moment ago, he'd been out in the snow with Renn. Now he was in the bowels of the earth with the Soul-Eaters.The Soul-Eaters. They had haunted his dreams. They had killed his father. Now, at last, here they were: mysterious, unknowable--and yet more real than he could ever have imagined.Thiazzi the Oak Mage sprawled on the rocks, chewing spruce-blood, flecking his beard with golden crumbs. He could have been any hunter in the Forest-- except that he tortured for pleasure.Seshru the Viper Mage moved to lean against him: slender, graceful, her supple seal-hide tunic shimmering like moonlight on a lake. The emptiness of her smile made Torak shudder. When she licked her lips, he glimpsed a little, pointed black tongue.Nef the Bat Mage puzzled him most of all. Her small eyes darted suspiciously from Thiazzi to Seshru,151and she seemed at odds with them both--and with herself.Far away, an owl hooted.Seshru's smile faltered.Thiazzi went still.Nef murmured under her breath, and put her hand to the dusky clan-creature fur on her shoulder. The torchlight dipped.With a start of terror, Torak saw that a fourth Soul-Eater sat in the deep of the cave--where before there had been only shadow."Behold," whispered Seshru, "the Masked One is come.""Eostra," said Thiazzi hoarsely, "the Eagle Owl Mage."Nef grasped a stone sapling and rose to her feet, hauling Torak with her.The Masked One, thought Torak. He remembered the pain in the Walker's face. Cruelest of the cruel.Through the gloom he made out a tall gray mask. From it glared the unblinking eyes of the greatest of - owls. Owl feathers covered the head, from which rose two sharp owl ears. Long coils of ashen hair hung about a feathered robe. Only the hands could be seen. The nails were hooked, and tinged with blue, like those of a corpse. The flesh had the pale-green sheen of rotting meat.152"Bring it close," said a voice as harsh as a death rattle.Torak was pushed nearer, and thrown to his knees. He caught a whiff of decay, -like the smell of the Raven bone-grounds. Dread froze his heart.With appalling slowness, the owl mask bent over him, and he felt a fierce and evil will beating at his mind.Just when he could bear it no longer, the mask withdrew. "It is well," it said. "Take it away."Torak breathed out shakily, and crawled back toward the light. The torches flared. When he dared look again, Eostra the Eagle Owl Mage was gone.But the change in the cave was palpable. The Oak Mage and the Viper Mage moved with sharpened purpose among the stone trees, fetching baskets and pouches whose contents Torak couldn't see."Come, boy," said Nef. "Help me feed and water the offerings. Then you and I will make the first sacrifice."153EIGHTEENThe dread of Eostra's presence clung to Torak as he followed the Bat Mage through the forest of stone. Nef handed him the pouch that held the owl. "Put it there," she said, indicating a ledge near the altar, "and follow me."As he set down the pouch, Torak loosened the neck a little, to give the owl some air. Nef barked mirthlessly. "It makes you uneasy to harm a hunter. You'll have to do worse if you want to be a Soul-Eater." Snatching a torch, she set off through the twisting tunnels. "You'll have to take on the burden of sin for the good of the many. Could you do that, boy?"154"Yes," Torak said doubtfully."We'll find out," said Nef. "Tell me. How old are you?"He blinked. "Thirteen summers.""Thirteen." Her brow furrowed. "My son would have been fourteen, if he'd lived."For a moment Torak almost felt sorry for her."Thirteen summers," repeated the Bat Mage. With a faraway look, she reached into a pouch at her belt and brought out a handful of dead flies. On her shoulder the clan-creature fur stirred--stretched its neck--and snapped them up. "There, my beauty," she murmured. She caught Torak staring. "Well, go on," she said, "let her sniff you!"He offered it his finger. The bat's crumpled ears quivered, delicate as new leaves,