Outcast (21 page)

Roused from his daze, Torak replaced the fire-opal in its nest and wound his headband around the hilt to hold it in place. Only when it was safely concealed did they breathe again.

At last Bale said, "How do we destroy it?"
Torak frowned. How could he think of destroying something so beautiful?
"Torak! How?"
Of course Bale was right. "You've got to bury it," Torak said in a cracked voice, "but only earth or stone will do. And--" He broke off.
"Yes?" said Bale.
"It needs a life buried with it. Or it won't stay dead."
They didn't meet each other's eyes.

Torak thought about Renn, and how, in the Far North, she had been ready to give her life so that the fire-opal would be destroyed. He wondered if he would ever find the courage to do that.

He thought about all the times she'd risked her life to help him.
Suddenly Rek gave a loud
kek kek,
and both ravens lifted into the sky with a clatter of wings.
286
Torak leaped to his feet.
"Listen!" whispered Bale. "There's something down by the Lake!"
Straining his ears, Torak caught a faint trickling of water. Then a dragging sound, as if something were crawling out of the Lake--then a squelching, stumbling tread. Clutching their knives, they crept through the trees.
There, twenty paces below them in a shadowy clump of alders, something moved.
Torak felt Bale grip his arm as the thing lurched to its full height. Weeds dripped from its limbs and its streaming hair.
Bale turned to Torak, his lips bloodless. "What is it?"
Torak glimpsed the pale arms hanging limp at the creature's sides. The band of rowanberries on one wrist. He rose to his feet. "It's Renn!"

THIRTY-FIVE

Renn saw them running toward her, shouting her - name. Her knees buckled and she went down. Bale caught her by the shoulders. Torak took her quiver and bow. "It's coming!" she gasped. A spasm of coughing seized her, and she sicked up swampy Lake water. "Where've you been?" said Bale.

She tried to reply, but more coughing took hold. No time to tell of that terrible moment when she'd foreseen the disaster which threatened them all; of her frantic dash to warn the clans, while the boat did its best to thwart her: spinning, bucking, finally pitching her

 

288 overboard. And now Bale was kneeling beside her with no idea of the danger, while Torak was drying her bow with a handful of grass, and avoiding her eyes. "You're safe now," said Bale.

 

"Nobody's safe!" She clutched his arm. "Listen to me!
The flood is coming!"
They stared at her.

"The ice river," she panted. "All spring it's been keeping back the meltwater!
That's
why the ice wall was so blue,
that's
why the Lake is sinking!" Again she broke off to cough. "I kept seeing twins.
Two
lakes, do you see? This Lake--and the one
behind the ice!
Seshru stole the sacred clay; she made the Lake sick. And now there's a storm coming, and the World Spirit's going to shatter the ice wall! The flood will take us all!"

She turned to Torak. "Whatever you think of me, you've got to believe me! You've got to warn the Otters! Get them into the hills, or they'll never stand a chance!" Still without meeting her eyes, Torak set down her bow. "It's not just the Otters."
"What do you mean?" she said.
"Campfires on the western shore," said Bale. "We think it's the Boar Clan, after Torak. Maybe other clans too."
Renn bit her knuckle. "The Ravens. Fin-Kedinn will have come to find me. They'll be drowned."
289
Torak spoke to Bale. "We'll take the skinboat. It's the quickest way to reach them."
Bale nodded. "But not all of us--that'd slow it down; besides, Renn couldn't make it."
"Yes I could!" cried Renn.
"No you couldn't," said Bale. Then to Torak, "This slope's not too steep. I can get her up to higher ground; we'll be safe there. You take the boat. You warn them." "Me, take your boat? You never let anyone--"
"Torak," cut in Bale, "this is your chance to show them you're not a Soul-Eater!"
"If they don't shoot him first," put in Renn.
Torak ignored her.

Within moments Bale had the boat in the water and Torak was ready, but suddenly he leaped out and ran back to Renn. Untying his knife-sheath, he pressed it into her hands. "Keep it safe," he muttered.

"But it's yours; you'll need it!"
"No time to explain. Bale will tell you." Over his shoulder he added, "She's after me
and
the fire-opal-- she mustn't get both!"

The World Spirit was turning day to dusk as Torak made the skinboat fly across the water. Thunder growled. The air crackled with foreboding. The flood could come at any moment.

In his mind he saw the creatures of Forest and Lake
290

fleeing for safety. Elk, deer, and horses racing for the ridges; beaver and otter scampering up the slopes as best they could; squirrel and marten seeking refuge in the sturdiest oaks. Even the fish would be hiding at the bottom of the Lake.

 

And the wolves? This must be why they'd fled the island, because they'd sensed what was coming. Torak hoped they'd taken the cubs high enough--and that Wolf was with them.

 

In the east, the sky was a boiling mass of storm clouds. Soon lightning would lance the ice river, releasing the awesome fury of the waters behind. Torak pictured the flood engulfing the Lake: devastating islands, washing away the Otter camp and everything in its path.

 

The wind strengthened, and still he paddled. He was almost spent when he reached the western shore and put in just south of the Axehandle river. No sign of boats or people. Only the reeds, flattened by the wind.

 

Leaving the skinboat on the shore, he slipped into a thicket at the foot of the ridge. The trees moaned, warning him back. For all he knew, the whole slope might be crawling with hunters on the lookout for him, and all he had was his axe. Not much use against arrows and spears.

Exhausted, he soon had to stop for breath. He was
wondering which way to go when something leaped from the junipers and knocked him to the ground. At last Wolf had found Tall Tailless!
In a snap his sadness at leaving the pack was chased away, and he was covering his pack-brother's face in snuffle-licks.

I couldn't leave you!
he told Tall Tailless.
I'm back now and I'm never leaving, just like you said!
But Tall Tailless's greeting was rushed and urgent, and Wolf caught his mood. He smelled Viper-Tongue on his pack-brother. He sensed great worry and danger.
What do I do?
he asked.

Find the ravens,
Tall Tailless replied. That made Wolf cross.
Why them? No,
said Tall Tailless,
not the birds. Wolves that smell of raven. Find the pack leader!
Now Wolf understood. Giving his pack-brother a nose-nudge to acknowledge this, he raced off through the trees.
The great denning place of the taillesses wasn't many lopes away, and he was soon in the bracken at its edge. Stealthily, he padded forward to find the pack leader. The denning place seethed with anger, and Wolf heard much snarling among the boar, wolf, and raven packs. Then he caught the quiet, strong tones of the 292
raven leader. This tailless never yowled loudly. He didn't need to. He had the respect of all the others.
Placing his paws with care, Wolf crept closer.

The dogs were restless, but on the way, Wolf had rolled in a pile of auroch droppings, so he approached unsmelled. When he'd got as far as he could, he crouched down to wait.

 

Soon the raven leader felt his stare and saw him.

 

Ah, he was cunning! Like a normal wolf, he grazed Wolf's glance with his own, then looked away, so the others wouldn't notice. A little later, he left the denning place: calmly, so as not to awaken suspicions.

 

When Wolf knew he was following, he headed off to find Tall Tailless.

 

When Torak glimpsed Fin-Kedinn striding through the willowherb, it didn't occur to him to hide. He rose to his feet and stood in the open. The Raven Leader saw him, and his face lit up. Torak's heart twisted. He'd missed Fin-Kedinn more than he'd realized.

 

"Torak!" Fin-Kedinn gripped his shoulder. He glanced behind him. "Come. We're too close to camp, and Aki's nosing around after you." With Wolf trotting after them, they moved into a wind-tossed thicket. The Raven Leader's sharp eyes searched Torak's face, and took in the scar on his chest. "Where's Renn?"

 

293

 

"Safe with Bale on the north shore. Fin-Kedinn, you've got to listen!" As briefly as he could, he told the Raven Leader of the coming flood. Fin-Kedinn heard it without question or interruption.

 

"You've got to get the clans to higher ground," said Torak. "Right now! The flood could come at any moment!"

 

The Raven Leader's face was unfathomable as ever, but Torak knew from the glint in his eyes that his thoughts were racing. "Everyone's in camp," he said, "arguing about the best way to hunt you. That'll make them easier to move."

"I've got a skinboat," said Torak. "I'll find the Otter camp and warn them."
"No. They'd shoot you before you got the chance."
"But someone's got to."
"I'll see to it."
"And the clans?"

"I'll get them up to the Hogback." He jerked his head at the ridge behind them. "You get up there too, fast as you can. Try to reach the south side--there'll be fewer people."

Torak nodded. But as he made to go, Fin-Kedinn held him back. "Where's the Viper Mage?"
"I don't know. On the north cliff, I think."
Fin-Kedinn looked grim. "She hasn't finished with you yet. I know her, Torak. Never underestimate her.
294
Never forget that she might be closer than you think."

Torak hadn't told him of the fire-opal and he didn't now, but as the Raven Leader turned, he said, "Fin-Kedinn. You wouldn't be here--in danger--if it weren't for me. I'm sorry."

A shadow crossed the Raven Leader's face. "I cast you out. You're not the one who should be sorry." He touched Torak's arm. "Get as high as you can. Go!" The wind screamed in Torak's ears as he scrambled up the slope, while Wolf raced ahead. The Forest was dark as night, and the trees thrashed and groaned. He was halfway up when he had to stop, bent double, chest heaving. Slumped against a pine, he told Wolf to go on without him. Wolf hesitated.
Lightning flared. Thunder crashed directly overhead. Rain pattered on the leaves--and swiftly became a downpour.
Torak saw Rip and Rek take cover in an oak tree. Yes. Climb the tree. No time for anything else. Maybe the Forest would protect him, too.
Go!
he told Wolf again, and Wolf--sensing what he meant to do---turned and sped to safety.
In the distance, Torak heard a deeper reverberation behind the thunder: an echoing boom that he'd heard before, in the Far North. The boom of breaking ice. 295

He stumbled for the oak--tripped--and fell headlong in the mud. Lightning flickered on a footprint by his hand. Behind him, a branch snapped. He rolled sideways just as Aki's axe thudded into the root where his head had been.

"Got you at last!" bellowed the Boar Clan boy. With his good arm he tugged at his axe, which he'd buried in the root.
"Aki, are you mad?" shouted Torak against the wind. "The flood is coming! We've got to get into the trees!"
"I said I'd get you and I will!" yelled Aki.
More lightning, more thunder. The ice river boomed across the Lake.

As he struggled to his feet, Torak saw that Aki wasn't driven by hatred, but by fear of failing his father--and against that there was no reasoning. Leaving him yanking at the axe, Torak raced for the oak and leaped for the lowest branch. Desperation lent him strength, and he was soon ten paces up.

"Aki!" he shouted. "Leave the axe! Climb!"
Another boom from the ice river--and suddenly Aki let go of the axehandle and ran for the oak. But he was heavier than Torak, couldn't reach the lowest branch. "Grab my hand!" Torak leaned down as far as he could.
Not far enough. And Aki couldn't climb with only one arm.
296
Through the rain, Torak saw the Boar Clan boy's right arm strapped to his chest: the arm that he, Torak, had broken when he'd sent Aki crashing into the rapids. With a snarl, Torak leaped from the tree and linked his hands to make a step. "Quick, climb!"
Aki was aghast. Then he put his foot on Torak's hands, and Torak boosted him into the tree with the last of his strength.

The roar came again, but this time it wasn't ice, Torak realized; it was the flood. Far in the distance he saw it: a giant wall of water powering across the Lake-obliterating islands, uprooting trees, coming for him.

Aki was shouting and leaning down to give him his hand, but now it was Torak who couldn't reach. He wasn't going to make it.
In the moment before the flood hit, he saw Wolf racing toward him. Torak staggered to meet him--he flung his arms around his pack-brother's neck ... ... and the wave took them both.
297

THIRTY-SIX
Torak came to his senses lying on his back, with rain pattering on his face. A dead fish hung in the birch tree above him. The storm had passed. The flood had thrown him onto a stony hillside strewn with broken saplings. There was no trace of Wolf. Torak prayed that he'd found his way to safety.

He raised himself on one elbow. He was battered and bruised, but otherwise unhurt. He was also surrounded.
Behind a forest of spears--all pointed at him--he saw a throng of Boar and Wolf and Raven, maybe eighty
298
strong. Some of them he knew--Thull, Raut, Maheegun--but they stared at him as if he were a stranger. To a man, they were filthy, frightened, and eager for the kill. An arrow thudded into the mud by his thigh. He got to his feet. He was alone and weaponless. The flood had taken his axe.
Then he saw Wolf on the slope behind them, preparing to leap to his aid.

Stay away!
Torak barked.
Too many!
Wolf didn't move. Agitated murmurs. They didn't like him speaking wolf. A stone struck his temple. He managed to stay standing. If he went down now, it would be the end.

"No stones." A familiar voice spoke, and the spears parted to let Fin-Kedinn through. Leaning heavily on his staff, he moved toward Torak, then faced the throng, shielding him with his body.

"Stand aside, Fin-Kedinn," cried the Boar Clan Leader. "I found the outcast! To me goes the honor of the kill!" "No!" Aki pushed forward. "You can't do this! He saved my life!" The Boar Clan Leader turned on his son, and Aki quailed--but stood his ground. "He could have saved himself, but instead he helped me! Father, you 299 can't kill him; it's not right!"
"Not right?" With his fist, the Boar Clan Leader struck his son a blow which sent him flying. "He's an outcast! That's the law!"
"How can you say that?" shouted Bale, shouldering his way through. "Torak saved you all!"
"He warned you of the flood!" panted Renn behind him. She looked bedraggled and furious. "If it weren't for Torak, you'd have drowned, every last one of you!" "Don't listen to her!" cried an Otter man, the only one Torak could see. "All this is his fault! The outcast angered the Lake;
he
caused the flood!" "No, Yolun," said Fin-Kedinn. "Not Torak. The Viper Mage."
"The Viper Mage!" sneered the Boar Clan Leader. "So you say, but where is she?
There's
the Soul-Eater!" He jabbed his spear at Torak. "He's no Soul-Eater," said Fin-Kedinn. "He cut out the mark; you can all see the scar."
But the Boar Clan Leader had the support of the crowd, and it lent him courage. "He's an outcast. The law says an outcast must die!"
"Then the law must change!" retorted the Raven Leader.
"Why? Because you say so?"
"Because it's right."
"He's a Soul-Eater and an outcast--"
300
"He's my foster son!" roared Fin-Kedinn.
Ravens flew up from the trees. People shrank back.
Nervously, the Boar Clan Leader licked his lips. "Since when?"
"Since now," snapped the Raven Leader.