Spirit Walker

by Michelle Paver

  On the Crag, no trace remained of Tenris the kindly Seal Mage. That mask had been burned away, leaving nothing but ashes and bitterness.

  Muttering spells under his breath, the Soul-Eater squatted by the altar rock, painting signs on Torak's chest. His brush was a bundle of seal's whiskers bound to the shinbone of an eagle; his paint was a dark, stinking sludge. Torak guessed it was the blood of the 318

  murdered Hunter; that the pale objects set in a ring around him were its teeth.

  A scratching at his ankles told him that the boy tokoroth was back, to finish tightening the bindings. Torak kicked out hard, knowing his only hope lay in wriggling free when the time was right.

  "Hold still," snapped Tenris. He'd been chewing on a foul-smelling paste that had stained the whites of his eyes yellow, and turned his tongue black. He didn't look like a man anymore. Out of the corner of his vision, Torak caught a furtive movement.

  There--beyond the wall of driftwood the girl tokoroth was building, and soaking in seal oil.

  Wolf.

  Torak's heart tightened with dread. Three against one. If Wolf tried to help him, he'd get himself killed.

  "Uff!"

  called Torak, warning him back.

  "Uff! Uff!!"

  Wolf pricked his ears, but did not retreat. He'd found a gap in the wall where the girl tokoroth hadn't yet piled the driftwood high. But it was right on the edge of the cliff. Go back!

  Torak tried to tell him silently.

  You can't help me!

  Fortunately, neither Tenris nor the tokoroth had spotted Wolf. All three were staring at Torak.

  "What

  did you say?" Tenris scowled.

  Torak thought quickly. Jerking his head at the ring

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  of teeth around him, he said, "Those teeth--they're the Hunter's, aren't they? What are they for?"

  Tenris regarded him narrowly. "Spells," he said, dipping his brush in the blood. "When you showed me your father's knife, I suspected that you were the one. But I had to make sure." "And for that a Hunter had to die?"

  "What do I care? They can't hurt me." With his twisted claw he touched the amulet at his throat. "A masking charm."

  Torak thought of Detlan, clenching his teeth in agony as Bale tended his shattered leg. If he lived, he would be a cripple. And all because Tenris had needed "to make sure." Wolf was nosing his way through the gap, perilously close to the edge.

  Quickly Torak spoke to Tenris. "You said you thought I was 'the one.' What did you mean?"

  The ruined face darkened. "The one who destroyed the bear."

  Torak tensed. "The bear."

  "I created it," Tenris said between his teeth. "I caught the demon. I trapped it in the body of the bear. You destroyed it."

  For a moment, Torak forgot about Wolf. "You're lying. Whoever made the bear was crippled. A crippled wanderer."

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  Tenris put back his head and laughed. Still laughing, he rose to his feet and circled the fire, limping piteously. "Easy, isn't it? Although I confess I did get very bored." Tenris had created the bear--the bear that killed Fa. . . .

  Torak thought of the clearing where he and his father had camped on that final night. Fa's face, laughing at the joke Torak had made. Fa's face as he lay dying . . . "What's this?" sneered Tenris. "Tears?"

  "You killed him," whispered Torak. "You killed Fa. . . ."

  At that moment the boy tokoroth touched his ankle. Torak lashed out savagely.

  "You killed Fa!"

  he screamed, fighting his bonds with all the rage and grief inside him. The rawhide held firm.

  Just then, Wolf hurtled out of the mist and leaped at Tenris. The Seal Mage snatched up his harpoon--the tokoroth scuttled like spiders, drawing knives, seizing firebrands and lashing out at the attacker. "Wolf!" shouted Torak, struggling to push himself off the horn of rock, but held back by the bindings around his ankles.

  "Ufft Uffl Uff!"

  Tenris lunged with the harpoon.

  Wolf gave a great twisting leap--and the vicious barbs pierced empty fog.

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  Tenris barked a command, and the girl tokoroth set her firebrand to the driftwood wall. Flames shot up, licking at the sky. The tokoroth lashed out at Wolf with their torches--and he shrank back against the burning wall, snarling, cornered.

  Just when Torak thought he was finished, Wolf spun around and scrambled over the last section of driftwood that had yet to catch light--pursued by the tokoroth with their flaming torches. The fire roared higher. The gap closed. The neck of the Crag was cut off by the blaze. Tenris threw down his harpoon and turned to Torak. "He's gone," he said. "Not even a wolf could get past that now."

  "Nor can your tokoroth," said Torak. Both tokoroth were gone, clattering off down the mountain after Wolf.

  Tenris shrugged. "I don't need them anymore," he said as he took up the knife that lay on Torak's chest. "I can manage this part on my own."

  Torak's heart was pounding. Wolf was gone. The wall of flames cut him off from all hope of rescue. He might be able to work his feet out of the bindings--he might even be able to push his wrists over the horn and roll off the altar--but what then? He was trapped on a cliff top, pitted against a grown man with a knife and a harpoon, who meant to kill him and eat his heart.

  But there was one thing he had to find out first.

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  "Why did you do it?" he said as he stared up into the yellow eyes of the Soul-Eater. "Why did you kill my father?"

  Tenris shook his head in wonder. "Ah, you're just like him! Always wanting to know

  why.

  Why, why, why."

  He circled the altar rock, fingers flexing on the knife, mouth twisting as he tasted bitter memories. "He betrayed me," he said. "He was weak. Worthless. And yet he thought that he could--" "He wasn't worthless," said Torak.

  "What do you know?" snarled Tenris.

  "He was my father," said Torak.

  Tenris stood over him and bared his blackened teeth. "He was my brother."

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  Chapter THIRTY-TWO

  Renn craned her neck to see what was happening on the cliff, but the mist was too thick, the overhang too deep. Only when the Soul-Eater moved right to the edge did she glimpse him: dark and sticklike against the flames. "He's got a knife," she said.

  "It's too far up," said the Seal boy beside her. "We'd never get there in time."

  "But we can't just--"

  "Look at that fire--it's right across the Neck! What are you going to do? Fly?"

  Renn shot him a suspicious glance. Despite his

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  professed change of heart, she still didn't trust him. But as she opened her mouth to protest, a wolf howled.

  "What

  is

  that?" said the Seal boy.

  "It's Wolf," said Renn. She cupped her ear to listen. "Oh, this is bad, he's somewhere in the west!

  Why?

  Why isn't he up there helping Torak? If not even Wolf can reach him ..." She thought quickly. "You're right," she told the Seal boy. "We can't get up there in time. Fetch my bow." His jaw dropped. "I won't let you shoot him! Whatever he's done--"

  "How else do we save Torak?"

  "But he's still our Mage!"

  "Bale," said Renn urgently, "I don't want to kill him any more than you do, but we have to do something!"

  Just then the Soul-Eater moved away from the edge, and disappeared. With a cry Renn ran backward, desperate to catch sight of him again. "The overhang's too deep," said Bale. "Quick. The skinboat."

  "What?" cried Renn.

  Bale seized her wrist and dragged her after him. "You can't see the altar rock from the land--only from the Sea!"

  Down they raced toward the water. Bale ducked into a shelter, then came out again, and tossed Renn her quiver and bow. Grabbing his skinboat from a rack, 325

  he slid it into the shallows, practically threw her into the prow end, then vaulted in after her and snatched up
his paddle. Renn had to grip the sides with both hands as they moved off faster than she would have thought possible.

  A wind was getting up: an east wind from the Forest. As Renn turned to face the cliff, the fog blew apart to reveal the Soul-Eater--holding a knife high above his head, like an offering. At his feet lay a figure. It wasn't moving. "I can see them!" shouted Renn.

  With astonishing skill, Bale brought his craft about. Renn lurched and would have fallen overboard if he hadn't taken hold of her jerkin and yanked her back.

  Her hands shook as she whipped out an arrow and nocked it to her bow. Despite Bale's best efforts, the skinboat rocked in the swell. She'd never be able to stand, she'd have to shoot from kneeling. On the cliff, Torak still wasn't moving. A terrible fear seized her that they were too late.

  "We're too far out," muttered Bale. "No one could make that shot."

  Setting her teeth, Renn forced herself to ignore him--to think only of the target, as Fin-Kedinn had taught her.

  Staring hard at the target, she took aim.

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  The arrow came arching out of the sky, and thudded deep into Tenris's palm. With a howl he fell to his knees, and the knife clattered away across the rock.

  Torak seized his chance and wriggled out of the bindings around his ankles, then used his heels to launch himself forward. His arms felt heavy and bloodless, but he managed to hook his wrists over the horn-- and rolled off the altar.

  On the opposite side, Tenris was still on his knees, clutching his wounded hand. Rising to his feet, he staggered away from the cliff edge--out of range of further arrows.

  Torak struggled to stand, and circled out of reach. His shoulders were burning, his wrists throbbing from the bindings. They were on opposite sides of the altar; the edge of the cliff was directly behind him.

  With a hiss, Tenris grasped the arrow and wrenched it from his palm. Sweat coursed down his face, scouring rivulets through the ash to reveal the scorched red flesh beneath. "Give up, Torak," he panted. "It's over!" More wolf howls.

  The demons are gone!

  called Wolf.

  "He's far away," said Tenris, snatching up his harpoon. "He can't help you anymore."

  "He's helped enough," said Torak.

  Tenris snorted. "You're on your own now, Torak. Your friends can't try another shot at me, or they'd risk hitting you."

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  Torak did not reply. He needed all his strength just to stay standing.

  "Give up, Torak," urged that beautiful, powerful voice. "You've done well, but it's time to pass your power to one who knows how to use it." Torak glanced over his shoulder. The east wind was strengthening, blowing away the fog. A shaft of silver light was pouring down onto the Sea. "I'll make it quick," said Tenris. "I promise."

  Far below him, Torak saw the restless, shimmering Sea. He felt the wind from the Forest on his face; he thought of Wolf and Renn and Fin-Kedinn, and of all the clans he'd never even met. If he let Tenris take his power--if he let the Soul-Eater become the spirit walker--then none of them would ever be safe. "You have no choice," murmured the Soul-Eater. "You know that."

  Torak squared his shoulders, and met that intense gray gaze.

  Too late, Tenris realized what he meant to do--and his eyes widened in disbelief.

  "There's always a choice," said Torak, and walked backward off the cliff.

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  Chapter THIRTY-THREE

  Down, down he fell--into the splintered Sea--into the golden forest of kelp--down into darkness. Down he sank, kicking feebly at the water with what remained of his strength. It wasn't enough. His wrists were bound so tight that he couldn't slip free; his sodden leggings were dragging him down. He would never reach the surface. But he had known that when he stepped off the cliff. He had known that this time there would be no friendly guardian; no Wolf leaping in to save him. This time there was only Torak and the hungry Sea. This time he was going to die. 329

  He turned his face for a last look at the light--and saw, impossibly far above, a figure darkening the sun. It was swimming toward him, swimming faster than an eel. Hope kindled. Was it Wolf? Renn? Bale?

  Tenris seized him by the hair and yanked him upward.

  Torak struggled and kicked, but the Soul-Eater was too strong. With both hands, Torak grabbed the kelp around him--jerking Tenris backward in a flurry of silver bubbles. Furiously they fought till their lungs were bursting, till the water flooded scarlet with blood from the Soul-Eater's wound. The Seal Mage wrenched Torak's hands free of the kelp, and they rose again--locked together like vipers as they spiraled up toward the light. Together they burst from the Sea.

  "So you'd rather kill yourself, would you?" gasped Tenris. "How noble! But I won't give you the chance!" Still gripping Torak by the hair, he struck out for the shore, swimming one armed, but powering through the water with swift, sure strokes. Torak tried to bite his hand--but Tenris lashed out with his free arm, landing him a savage blow on the temple.

  Stunned, Torak went under. As he surfaced, he heard a deafening

  kwshsh!

  --and saw an enormous black fin slicing toward them.

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  Terror turned his limbs to water.

  Tenris hadn't seen the Hunter; he was bent on reaching the shore. Torak had an instant in which to act. . . .

  With one final burst of strength, he twisted around and lunged at the Soul-Eater, ripping the masking charm from his throat.

  Tenris grunted in surprise, and lost his grip on Torak. Torak kicked with all his might, and swam out of reach.

  Tenris turned to catch him--and saw the Hunter. His hand flew to his throat to grasp the masking charm, and clawed naked skin. He saw the charm in Torak's hand-he strained to grab it. Torak dodged and hurled the masking charm across the waves. Tenris gave a shout of rage and plunged after it--but it had sunk. Now they were both at the mercy of the Hunter, with no help in sight.

  Torak saw Notched Fin bearing down upon them, shooting spray high into the air. At the edge of his vision he glimpsed a skinboat racing toward them--but it would never reach them in time. . . . And now Sea, sky, skinboat--were blotted out by the Hunter. Through the green water Torak saw the great blunt head looming closer . . . At the last moment the Hunter swerved, showering him with spray as it made for Tenris.

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  A sudden stillness came over the Soul-Eater's ruined features as he watched his doom slicing toward him.

  In the final heartbeat he turned his head and met Torak's eyes. "Ask Fin-Kedinn about your father!" he shouted. "Make him tell you the truth--" Then he was lost in a flurry of silver water.

  Torak heard one terrible scream, abruptly cut off-- as the great jaws dragged the Soul-Eater down into the deep.

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  Chapter THIRTY-FOUR

  The fire on the Crag was burning low, and gray smoke was rising into the sky as the skinboat reached the shore.

  Bale hoisted his craft on his head and went to put it on the rack, leaving Renn and Torak in the shallows. Neither spoke as they trudged up the beach to the nearest shelter. Renn wiped the spray off her bow and hung it from a rafter, then went inside to rummage for food.

  Torak took driftwood from a pile and started waking up a fire. He felt shaky and cold, but at least the Sea

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  had washed the markings from his chest. Inside his head, however, the marks would not so easily be washed away.

  He wanted to tell Renn everything: about what had happened on the Crag; about being a spirit walker. But it was still too raw. Instead he said, "I'm sorry. I really thought you were sick. You looked sick."

  Renn set a bowl on the ground, and sat down. "Well," she said, "I thought you were dead. Seems we were both wrong." She pushed the bowl toward him. "I found some whale meat. No juniper berries, I'm afraid, but it tastes all right without." Both of them looked at the bowl, but neither made a move to eat.

  Then Torak said, "Renn. There is no cure. What he said about the selik root. He made
it up."

  Renn clasped her arms about her knees and frowned.

  "Did you hear what I said?" said Torak.

  "There is no cure."

  Suddenly Renn stopped frowning and straightened up. She stared at Torak, then at the meat. "The juniper berries," she said.

  "What?" said Torak.

  "When I was in the cave. Bale gave me some food, and Wolf leaped at me, and knocked it over. I thought

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  he'd gone mad. But he was--Torak, he was

  saving

  me! Warning me off the juniper berries!"

  She sprang to her feet and started to pace. "That's how the Seal Mage caused the sickness! He sent the tokoroth to poison the juniper berries! And then the juniper berries went into the salmon cakes, and people got sick." She stopped. "That's why Wolf stopped me eating the food, because it was poisoned. And--that's why I didn 'I get sick before, even though I was eating salmon cakes, because I'd stolen Saeunn's, which were left over from last summer--"

  "--and that's why I didn't get sick either," put in Torak. "Because I didn't take any with me."

  They stared at each other.

  "So if everyone gets rid of their juniper berries," said Renn,

  "and

  their salmon cakes--"

  "Maybe they'll get better--"

  "Maybe we won't

  need

  a cure."

  This was the answer. Torak could feel it. It had the kind of elegance that would have appealed to Tends.

  How he must have laughed as he watched them striving to find a cure that didn't exist! How clever he must have felt! How powerful.

  And yet even now, Torak couldn't hate him. Tends had been his bone kin. Torak had

  liked

  him. He'd wanted Tenris to like him back.

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  Bowing his head to his knees, he tried to shut out the pain. But that handsome, ruined face was still before him; that voice still rang in his ears. Ask Fin-Kedinn about your father! Make him tell you the truth!

  What truth? What had he meant?

  At that moment, Bale ran up. "Come quickly!" he panted.

  He led them to the south end of the bay and across the stream to the foot of the waterfall.

  The tokoroth lay on the rocks where they had fallen. Spray misted their grimy faces and their broken stick-limbs.