The Ancient One (23 page)

Using her forepaws for bats, the bear took several swipes at the stream, spraying water on the bank and her cubs. Finally, she knocked a substantial silver-colored fish out of the water, which lay flapping in the grass for no more than two seconds before the bear cubs reached it. One of them grabbed it and held it between two black paws. Then, like a child eating a Popsicle, the bear sniffed the wriggling fish and took one enormous bite out of the fleshy midsection. The other cub tried to take a bite of his own, causing the fish to fall on the grass. They rolled over each other trying to get it, finally tumbling over the edge of the bank into the rushing water. The mother, meanwhile, ignored them and continued to smack the water in search of more fish.

Suddenly a white-winged creature materialized in the air just above the bear and settled on her massive shoulders. The bear roared and reared up, spinning on her feet like a dancer.

“Kandeldandel!” exclaimed both Kate and Laioni at once. Arc flapped his wings and whistled in greeting.

The playful Tinnani waved to them, flute in hand. He rode the jumping, twisting bear with the moxie of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. Every time the bear swatted at him, Kandeldandel evaded the blow just in time, losing not so much as a feather. Kate and Laioni were laughing heartily as Jody came up from behind. Seeing the cause of the commotion, the boy merely glowered.

At last Kandeldandel lifted off and landed on the far bank. Grasping the still-flailing fish with his talons, he took flight again just as the bear and both of her cubs came charging at him. He rose barely out of arm’s reach as the mother bear swatted and roared angrily. With perfect accuracy, the Tinnani dropped the fish with a splat precisely on her long, black nose. He then flew off into the trees.

“That was some show,” said Kate with a smile.

“Too bad the bear didn’t get him,” grumbled Jody. He eyed the little owl on her shoulder with scorn. “Or his pet owl.”

Arc flapped his wings and whistled angrily.

“Kandeldandel’s a trickster,” Kate replied. “He just likes a good laugh.” Turning to Laioni, she added, “I don’t know what else he’s good for, though. He’s here and then he’s not here. We sure can’t count on him to help us against Gashra.”

Laioni indicated Arc with a tilt of her head. “Even his owl friend can’t depend on him for a good ride. That’s probably why he decided to perch on you for a while.”

“At least I’m better than a wild bear,” agreed Kate.

“Let’s go,” said Laioni, giving a pull on one of Monga’s ears. “That bear’s so mad now she might decide to chase us instead of him.”

As Kate started to follow, Arc stretched his wings, then opened his beak wide in a yawn. He gave a long, low whistle, apparently announcing it was time for a nap, before closing his eyes tightly. They hiked along the bank for many miles, climbing successive inclines and declines, wading through stretches of marsh grass, jumping across small side channels and muddy ravines. Throughout, Arc slept peacefully upon his perch.

At last the group entered a valley so pristine that if the allies of Gashra had already entered it, no one could tell. The forest here felt peaceful and harmonious. Although Laioni regularly scanned the bubbling stream and waving branches for any signs of disturbance, Kate grew gradually more relaxed. Danger seemed as distant as Gashra’s steaming mountain lair, at least another day’s walk away. Even the memory of Sanbu’s slain deer began to fade.

At one point, Laioni halted and turned to Kate. “We should cross the stream here.” Seeing the sleeping creature on her shoulder, she added, “He looks very comfortable there. I think you’ve made a new friend.”

Kate grinned. “He’s kind of cute, don’t you think?”

Arc suddenly opened his eyes and bobbed his squat head from side to side, as if he were embarrassed.

“I especially like his whiskers,” said Laioni, stepping into the stream.

The small red owl blinked, ruffling his wings proudly. Then, with a chirplike whistle, he lifted off from his perch. His whisker-feathers seemed to flap just as vigorously as his wings as he flew across the stream and vanished into the tall trees.

Kate watched him until he disappeared, then decided to use this opportunity to take a drink. She lowered her head into the rushing water, feeling its coldness cleanse her face. Monga joined her at the water’s edge, lapping eagerly. Jody, with some awkwardness due to his sling, bent down to do the same.

“Ahhh,” said the boy, raising his face from the stream. “Tastes good.” He took another several swallows. “Clear too. I’ve never seen a stream so clear. You could catch fish here no trouble.”

Kate, her face also dripping, lifted herself to her feet. “That bear back there was having some trouble,” she said wryly.

“Yeah,” answered the boy, raising himself to stand. “Bet she feels the same way I do about pesty owl-people.”

Laioni, who had crossed over while they were drinking, called to them from the opposite bank. Monga obediently marched into the stream. Using the walking stick to give her balance in the fast-moving water, Kate followed.

Step by step, she pushed across the channel. About halfway across, she briefly paused to glance back at Jody, who was just entering the stream. Then, without warning, the earth shifted under her feet. She cried out, fighting to keep herself upright.

With a grinding heave, the stream bed lurched to one side, opening a long chasm that snaked from the trees by the far bank over the grassy meadow and into the stream itself. Kate fell into the water, managed to raise herself, then tumbled backward again as the earthquake shook the ground again, this time more intensely. Her lower back struck a pointed rock jutting up from the stream bed and she shouted in pain.

Then fear flooded her veins. The walking stick was gone! Battling to regain her feet, she saw it floating swiftly down the stream. She struggled toward it, but another series of tremors knocked her face first into the churning water.

“The stick!” she sputtered, toiling to stand. But no one could hear her over the thunderous roar that swelled in the air, drowning out any other sound.

At that instant, she felt a shock of heat on her hand. A new, sizzling sound hissed in her ears and she realized that the water just upstream was steaming like a boiling pot. Fiery fingers of orange lava poured out of the chasm and into the water, sending thunderheads of vapor into the sky. Lava rolled along the stream bottom, consuming anything in its path. Through the rising steam Kate saw the oncoming river of orange only a few feet away.

A set of long talons wrapped around her left armpit and lifted her barely out of the water, just as the molten fluid rolled across the spot. Kandeldandel, flapping furiously, carried her over the stream bank, across the grass, and into the shelter of the trees. He dropped her on a tangle of brush with a splintering of broken branches. Laioni and Monga bounded to them.

“The stick!” she exclaimed. “It’s in the stream.”

Laioni’s jaw fell open and she turned downstream.

Kandeldandel hooted, his yellow eyes widening. Not hesitating another second, he flew off into the billowing steam.

Laioni yanked Kate by the arm to help her stand again. They stumbled together along the bank, searching for any sign of the walking stick. Despite the fact that the tremors had grown milder, they could see nothing in the water but sizzling columns of steam, writhing like wrathful spirits.

“It happened so fast,” moaned Kate.

“Gashra,” said Laioni hatefully. “I should never have taken us back into the open.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Kate, wiping the water from her forehead and eyes. “You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known. You depended on me and I failed you. And failed my people as well. If the stick is lost—”

“There!” shouted Kate, seeing a winged figure burst forth from the mist with a familiar shape clutched in his talons. As the Tinnani settled on the ground next to them, Kate grasped the walking stick again and hugged Kandeldandel. “Thank you, oh thank you,” she said.

“Don’t make a fuss, now,” he hooted gruffly, pushing her away with his arms. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood.”

“I’m still grateful,” breathed Kate happily, running her finger along the shaft. “That was too close. Without this we’d be sunk.”

Kandeldandel’s permanent grin twitched slightly. “You needed a bath, anyway.”

“Hey,” said Kate. “Where’s Jody?”

The grin expanded. “Now comes the fun part.”

Spinning his head atop his neck, the Tinnani turned his gaze toward the opposite bank and flapped off into the steaming waterway. Kate and Laioni barely had a chance to look at each other in puzzlement when suddenly he emerged again from the billowing clouds, this time bearing an ungainly package in his talons. Jody, clasped by the back of his belt, was hanging upside down, kicking his legs wildly and cursing the beast who had kidnapped him.

“Put me down,” he shouted, his face nearly purple with rage. “Put me down, you big birdbrain.”

As soon as they had crossed over the edge of the bank, Kandeldandel obliged. He dropped Jody squarely into a waist-high tangle of skunk cabbage and ferns bordering the stream. With an aerial bow to the boy’s flailing feet, he flew off into the trees, playing a rippling tune on his flute.

Kate and Laioni approached, standing with their backs to the forest. They couldn’t help snickering as Jody’s scraggly red head popped up from amidst the skunk cabbage. He spat out several torn bits of fern. “Bluck. This tastes awful! I’m gonna get even with him yet.”

“Don’t be too hard on him,” said Kate. “He did save me, and also the stick. Now he’s just having a few laughs.”

“So are we,” Laioni whispered in her ear, bringing on another fit of giggles.

Jody tried to stand, but his good arm slid on a mat of slippery stalks and leaves and he tumbled backward in a helpless heap. “Quit laughing and give me a hand, will your” he pleaded.

Kate laid her walking stick on the grass and stepped forward to help pull him out. Laioni moved in the same direction, when a violent jolt from behind sent her sprawling forward. She crashed into Kate, bowling her over. They both landed on Jody, who fell back again into the mass of greenery.

“What kind of a joke—” Kate’s words evaporated as she saw a huge man lifting the walking stick from the grass. “Hey, put that down!”

The man who had plowed into Laioni from behind stood, holding his heavy flint-tipped spear in one hand and the walking stick in the other. His hair, tied on top of his head in a knot skewered by a sharp bone, was as black as Laioni’s. Two diagonal slashes of black paint cut across each of his cheeks. But for a simple deerskin loincloth, he wore nothing.

“Sanbu!” shouted Laioni, clambering to her feet.

The muscular man started toward her, when Monga snarled ferociously and charged at his leg. Sanbu whirled around, fury in his eyes, and kicked the dog forcefully in the ribs. Monga flew through the air and landed with a bone-crunching thud on the edge of the stream. Pawing frantically at the loose soil, he slid over the edge and into the still-steaming water.

Laioni screamed, throwing herself in the direction of the yapping dog.

“Put that down,” cried Kate, pointing at the walking stick.

The big Halami raised his spear over his head with his other arm, preparing to thrust it into Kate. As he lifted the weapon into the air, a sudden whooshing sound, like concentrated wind, emerged from the forest. Just before he brought it down, six or seven large spotted owls soared out of the trees and directly at him, talons extended.

“Aaaarghh,” groaned the warrior as the pack of owls descended on him, screeching angrily.

With amazing agility, Sanbu leaped to one side and swung both the spear and the walking stick wildly over his head, causing the owls to change course and dodge him. They soared past without inflicting any harm. Spear still held high, the warrior took aim once again at Kate. He leaned back, gathering his strength for the kill.

Just then a lone rust-colored owl, much smaller than the others, came sailing out of the woods, whistling wrathfully. It was Arc. His brown eyes, disproportionately large for his small body, focused on Sanbu and sized up the situation. With all the speed he could muster, Arc lowered his head and flew straight into Sanbu’s chest.

Sanbu cried out in surprise as the small missile made contact. The force of the impact knocked him back a step and caused him to drop the spear, while Arc fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. Before his fellow creatures could regroup for another attack, Sanbu whipped the walking stick around and brought its heavy handle down with all his might on the helpless owl, crushing the bird’s feathery chest.

“Arc!” screamed Kate, eyeing the lifeless owl as she rose to her feet.

She dove at Sanbu, trying to grab the stick. Simultaneously, Jody leaped onto Sanbu’s back, wrapping his good arm around the warrior’s neck.

Sanbu shrieked and snapped forward at the waist, sending Jody hurtling to the ground. He then easily twisted free of Kate’s grip. Stepping back, he swung the stick at her viciously.

Kate ducked as the shaft whizzed just over her head. As Sanbu raised it for another attempt, the screeching pack of owls descended again. This time they circled close, talons scraping and scratching him wherever possible, trying to get near his head.

As one talon gouged deeply into the flesh of his forehead, Sanbu cried out in pain. He spun around and retreated into the forest, with the owls in close pursuit. Kate watched him vanish into the dense growth, her stomach clenching. For in his hand he held the Stick of Fire.

XXII:
T
HE
B
URIAL

A somber rain began to fall as the bedraggled group moved away from the exposed stream bank to find protection under the tall trees. Wordlessly, they gathered at the base of a mighty Douglas fir. From somewhere out of sight, Kandeldandel played long, low notes of mourning on his flute, notes that sounded vaguely like the call of an owl, but mellower, deeper. The slow lament filtered through the trees, one note following the next like a funeral procession.