Broken Rock Bay (Clan of the Ice Mountains Book 3)

by C. S. Bills

“I haven’t tried to take Gifts from anyone.” Attu had wanted help and understanding. And now I’m being compared to some ancient Gift stealer?

  “Think about it,” Rika said, leaning in and supporting her bulging abdomen with her hands. “After Tingiyok mind spoke to you from a day’s journey away, you could communicate with me and tell me you were on your way back from the Ravens.”

  “You could hear me, too,” Attu said.

  “But I was helping her,” Tingiyok said. “Remember, she called to me, and I strengthened her.”

  “And afterward I was exhausted for the rest of the day. Weren’t you?” Rika asked Tingiyok, who nodded in response.

  Tingiyok turned to Attu. “Were you?”

  “No. That first time, when you told me you were coming down river, I was exhausted afterward. But not when I called to Rika. I thought I was close enough and perhaps Rika’s Gift wasn’t as strong as mine like I’d always thought it was, that’s all. I didn’t think about it afterward. And you never said anything about it.” Attu looked to Rika. “Why wasn’t I?”

  Rika ignored his question. “And after you dreamed of Keanu and the falcon, you could move your mind into the minds of birds. And now you have to fight constantly not to.”

  “That has never happened with anyone else I’ve drawn to myself in a dream,” Keanu said. “I communicated with the Seers off hunting through dream animals all the time, especially my brother. I pulled them in, and they would follow the animal in the dream. I pulled you in the same way. But none ever entered the animals’ minds like you did. That’s why I was so scared for you when I saw you through the falcon’s eyes in the dream. I somehow pulled you into the mind of the bird without being aware I had done it.” Keanu was studying Attu now, looking thoughtful.

  “And you saw this future event after I’d touched you and showed you the moment in the future at the bonding,” Meavu was thinking aloud. “I’ve tried to show both Rika and Farnook. Neither of them could See. But you did, instantly, as if you already had the Gift.”

  “Is it possible?” Yural asked Tingiyok.

  “I don’t–”

  “Could the stories be true, but not–” Keanu held up her hand as Attu objected to being seen as some sort of evil character stealing Gifts and scaring small children as their Elders told his story. “What I’m asking,” she continued, “is could it be possible Attu might be able to receive the Gifts of someone else simply by experiencing it at work in them and through him?”

  “But–” Attu protested.

  “And it’s not stealing,” Rika interrupted him, resting a hand on Attu’s leg. “All of you still have your Gifts. It’s as if Attu has always had those Gifts as well, but they were sleeping, deep inside his spirit.”

  “And they were awakened when he experienced them through another person with Gifts using them,” Farnook added.

  “Like I said, it was as if he’d always known how to See the future,” Meavu said. She turned and looked at Attu. He saw wonder filling his sister’s eyes. It was as if she were small again, his adoring Kip, throwing her arms around him after he returned from the hunt. Except this time her look filled him with dread.

  I’m just Attu, son of Yural and Ubantu. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be. Why is this happening to me?

  “None of us even considered you might ‘pick up’ Gifts just by being exposed to them,” Keanu added. She turned toward Attu. “And Attu, if I’d known–”

  “You would have done the same thing,” Meavu said, her own voice confident. “Yural and I have been talking. Soantek came to her, and Mother is in agreement with him. You were called by the spirits to come to us.” Meavu stroked the fur she’d wrapped around herself from the chill inside the shelter. “You were meant to save Suanu and Brovik. They would have died on their own. And you are meant to bond with Soantek. Attu has seen it. You will be much needed in the future.” She turned to look at Attu. “I have sensed something evil coming to us at Broken Rock Bay. It is seasons in the future, as you said. But now we have been warned because you, too, now have the Gift. And it appears that when needed, it is stronger than my own.”

  Attu had told the Clan what he was facing that evening around the fire. And he’d felt the looks of sudden distrust from a few, the same few who grumbled when he told them that Keanu and Soantek would be coming with them. Attu had decided to let them grumble for a while. Time would prove the new couple’s loyalty to the Clan. And Attu had decided he himself had nothing to prove to anyone. He would not try to change anyone’s mind about himself.

  “At first light tomorrow, mighty hunter of mine,” Rika said, “we leave for our new home!” She laughed as she grabbed the cooking spoon out of Attu’s hand. He was trying to stuff it into the bag holding Rika’s healing supplies. “I need that for tonight’s meal.”

  “Oh.” Attu picked up another of her tools, and she snatched that one from him as well. “I appreciate you trying to help me, but I can do this on my own. I’ve been packing our entire shelter ever since we were bonded, whenever we moved.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before pushing him out the shelter door flap. “Go finish readying your skin boat.”

  “But I thought you might need–” Attu turned as the door flap fell in front of his face.

  “Women,” he said under his breath.

  “Especially ours right now,” Suka said. He stopped beside Attu. “Farnook isn’t ready to leave yet, either. But she won’t let me help her. ‘The skinning knife does NOT go in the same bag as our sleeping fur!’” Suka imitated Farnook’s high voice, then shook his head. “I got shoved out, too.”

  “Let’s go fishing,” Attu said.

  Suka’s face brightened, and he turned toward their skin boats where the fishing tools were stored, ready to leave the next sun. “Bet I catch the biggest one!” He raced off.

  “Oh, Suka. Same old Suka.” Attu grinned. He ran down the beach after his cousin. Thoughts of the future still swirled in that place in his mind where they would never leave, but he wanted to at least try to stop thinking about it all for a while. “As if just getting everyone north to our new home and all these babies brought into the world safely wasn’t enough,” he said to himself.

  “What?” Suka turned from his skin boat. “What did you say?”

  “I said, ‘The bet’s on, Cousin.’ I’m bringing home the biggest sunset fish you’ve ever seen.” Attu grinned and leaped into his boat, beating Suka into the water for once.

  The Nukeena came to see them off the next morning.

  It feels strange to be leaving this place, paddling away from the ones we saved almost three moons ago. So much has changed.

  Farnook clung to Caanti, saying their goodbyes. Several others were embracing and talking, exchanging gifts, and some were crying. Attu thought about his decision that day to risk their own lives to save the Nukeena men. Six had died. But those who lived had proved worthy of the risk he’d taken with his own hunters. And the Nukeena had given them a destination, which Attu hoped would finally put an end to their journeying. He now knew it would be a place with its own dangers to face.

  But everywhere we’ve gone has had both enemies and friends we must deal with, Attu reminded himself. There is no place like the Expanse anymore, where only Expanse Clans dwelled and the most dangerous enemy was the Expanse itself.

  Besides, if Meavu was right, it’s because of the Nukeena that Suanu came, to be bonded to Bashoo and have a strong hunter for her son. It was so Keanu could find Soantek, a man who understood her and would be a good match. They were not yet bonded, but would wait until the first full moon when they reached Broken Rock Bay.

  And soon Keanu will be needed, along with Elder Nuka, Suanu, and the two unbonded young girls. They are the only women not bearing children in the next few moons. At that thought, Attu felt the weight of responsibility on him like a full-grown nuknuk on his shoulders. So many new lives coming into my Clan. How will we manage?

  Ubantu approached Attu. Seeing his face, his fa
ther said, “I cannot read your thoughts, my son, but still I know them. You have many strong hunters at your side, all who look to you with respect and honor. We will be fine. You must stop going to that dark place in your spirit where you think you are the only hunter responsible for the welfare and safety of our people.”

  Ubantu studied his son’s face. “I know the feeling well, my son. When I was first called to lead, I spent many, many moons worried about my Clan. I felt like everything depended on me. It was a difficult time. But, with your mother’s help, I finally realized I was being arrogant to think so. She would say, ‘So Ubantu, mighty hunter, when do you think you grew stronger than the spirits and hunters gone Between, that you could shoulder the burden of this Clan by yourself?’ It made me angry at first, until I realized she was right. I was thinking too much of myself. Once I realized that, things got better.” Ubantu grinned at the look of surprise on Attu’s face.

  “But you always made leading seem so easy.”

  “By the time you were old enough to remember, I had grown used to the task.” Ubantu shielded his eyes as he looked over the water and the numerous people and skin boats surrounding them, ready to move out at Attu’s direction.

  Ubantu waved his hand over the scene before them. “All this and added to that, Gifts you must use in the Here and Now, not just in the dreaming as was the long-neglected practice of our people until the Warming. Our experiences are new every day in this new world, and there are so many decisions to make. You feel the weight of leadership because you recognize how hard this is and that you do need to make the right choices.”

  Attu nodded, unable to speak, his heart filled with gratitude for his father’s understanding.

  “But you forget that others will tell you if you are heading off in the wrong direction,” his father added. “You have many wise Elders here to help you lead, not just me. And you have the help of the spirits like no other leader our people has ever had. It is all right to feel this weight of responsibility. It means you are a good leader, remember that. But you are young still, my son, and your youth can sometimes be a hindrance to you. One moment you may feel invincible, like the hunter walking on thick ice, and then the next you may feel like you are falling through a break in that same ice, about to disappear into the dark waters forever. All young Nuvik hunters experience such moments.”

  Ubantu looked far out to the horizon, and he stiffened for a moment. “I remember...” he let his voice fade as his face grew stern. Then, coming back to himself, Attu’s father said, “Nuvikuan-na is a dangerous place. And this new part of it has new dangers no one can predict.”

  “Do you think you should lead now, instead of me, as we travel to this new place?” Attu heard the uncertainty in his own voice.

  “The spirits have chosen well, my son. I am proud of you.” Ubantu spoke with the confidence Attu did not feel. “You are our leader. You lead well and do not need me for anything other than advice when necessary. And I will give advice, like I’ve always done, whenever I think you need it.”

  Ubantu put his hands firmly on his son’s shoulders, laughing as he had to reach up far to do so. “You are still growing into the task,” he said. “That is what I wanted you to understand. The day you no longer feel unworthy of it will be the day you must hand your leadership over to the next hunter called by the spirits to lead our people.” He squeezed Attu’s shoulders.

  “Thank you, Father,” Attu said and grasped Ubantu in a quick hunter’s embrace before stepping back.

  “It is time to tell Mother to begin the traveling ritual.” Attu looked to see where Yural was.

  “Yes. These people will stand here all day, crying and clinging to each other, if you don’t,” Ubantu agreed. “It does no one any good.”

  Attu motioned for his mother to begin, and as she stepped forward, the Nukeena stepped back to watch this ritual as Attu’s Clan climbed into their skin boats to begin their journey north.

  It had been harder to say goodbye to the Nukeena than Attu had thought it would be. Broken Rock Bay lay less than a moon’s journey north, even at their slow pace with the women and children, but instead of thinking about getting there and starting what Attu hoped would be a permanent settlement for his people, Attu found himself thinking about Cray and Caanti, making a new life for themselves in the place Ubantu had found. He thought about the poolik Caanti had rescued and what a rich life he would have, growing strong, learning to hunt the giant whales like his new father.

  I could never hunt a whale, either the giant grey ones, like the one we met while on the floating ice, or like the killer whale fish. Both seem sacred to me because of how each helped in a time of great need... still... I pray the Nukeena have good hunts and that their lives with their new families are blessed by their spirits of fire and water.

  “I am feeling sad at our parting.” Rika dipped her paddle in the water as she spoke what Attu had been feeling. “It’s making the continuation of our journey north less exciting than I thought it would be. And I’m tired.” She flexed her arms, balancing her paddle between her legs as she stretched and rubbed her upper back.

  “Stop paddling for a while. Rest,” Attu said. “We’re going so slowly I can keep up without your help for a while.”

  “All right.” Rika surprised Attu by agreeing, letting her head fall back on the pile of furs behind her. She said nothing more, and Attu hoped she would sleep. He paddled on, his thoughts turning now to Rika and how large she had grown. He thought of Veshria, who’d rarely stepped from her shelter since Attu announced that Keanu and Soantek were coming with them. She had been silent as they’d started out.

  Mother has said nothing about cramping, and the other women seem fine, but it will be more difficult for them to sit in the skin boats all day. I will need to call more breaks in the day. I hope we can find suitable beaches when we need them...

  “You seem deep in thought.” Keanu paddled near with Soantek in the skin boat Tingiyok had helped Soantek build. They’d worked in haste, and the boat sat unevenly in the water. But it was keeping them dry, and the two didn’t seem to mind it was crudely made.

  “I have decided to try to start teaching you tonight, after we make camp. We will begin by me making sure I can repel your mind when you try to enter mine. Then, once I’m sure I can do that, we’ll have you move in, just for a moment, before I kick you out.”

  “Do you think I’ll be able to do that?” Attu asked. “All my mind has tried to do is move me into the minds of birds. I feel no pull toward human minds.”

  “I’m quite sure you will have no problem doing it. Then if, and I mean if, Attu, I become confident in my ability to remove you from my mind when necessary, I will begin teaching you how to control yours,” Keanu said, glancing at the softly snoring Rika and keeping her voice low, their skin boats almost touching as they glided along.

  “Thank you,” Attu said. “If I weren’t struggling so much, I would ask you to wait until we get to our new Home, but I think the risk of learning now is less than the risk of waiting. I want you to know how grateful I am that you are willing.”

  “I want Soantek to be a part of it as well,” Keanu said. “We’ve been talking, and I think because he has the ability to blend with the spirits of fire and water, he might have the Gift to blend with the minds of animals. I won’t let him try anything until I know I can control your mind and it’s safe to work with his.”

  Attu looked at Keanu in surprise.

  Keanu laughed lightly, careful not to wake Rika. “I might as well eat the whole fish, as my grandmother used to say. And I hope you don’t mind, but I told Soantek about your ability to gain Gifts by experiencing them through others. He says he is willing to share his hoshkra with you. That is what his people call the ability of a human to communicate with their spirits.”

  “Wouldn’t I have to be a believer in his spirits to hear from them?” Attu asked. “I don’t wish to offend Soantek, but... talking to spirits of water and fire? That is far from wh
at I believe. Can you ask him about that?”

  Keanu asked Soantek. He answered her.

  Keanu has caught on to the Nukeena language quickly, Attu realized. I wonder how she did it?

  “Soantek has let me into his thoughts. He thinks in images, not words like I do. It makes it easier for me to understand him, because I can see what he’s trying to tell me about.” Keanu smiled at Soantek.

  “Oh,” Attu said. He thought he’d had better control over what he’d been thinking, but once again, he was letting his thoughts broadcast. It was embarrassing.

  I think it will stop once you get control of your mind-blending Gift. It’s not your fault, Attu. Keanu mind spoke.

  Attu felt himself redden, but he said nothing.

  “The spirits exist and would speak with you whether you believe in them or not, Soantek says,” Keanu continued. “His people thought our belief that every animal, bird, fish, and plant around us possesses a spirit was strange. They thought such a thing impossible. But Soantek has seen how these same beings respond when you speak with them, when you encourage the fish to not scare away the other fish, when the rabbits, water birds, and even the seals seem to appear out of nowhere, as if they’re coming to you because they know you will kill them with honor and that their bodies will strengthen your own, but never be wasted. The way Soantek sees it, it’s as if they accept this sacrifice, as if they bring honor to themselves and their kind when, after their death, their spirits are born again in another body as we say they will be.”

  Soantek nodded as Keanu was speaking. He looked out over the vast ocean to the west. Attu followed his gaze. The sun was nearing the horizon. They would need to make camp soon.

  Soantek whispered a few words into the wind, his hand trailing in the water for a moment, before he said in Nuvik, “Nuvikuan-na, you call world, calls all things, Attu.” He gestured as if calling someone to himself. He reached out as if snatching a bird from the air, then down, pretending to grasp a fish from the water they were traveling in. He pulled these invisible beings to himself, speaking to them in Nukeena, but Attu understood. He was imitating the Nuvik way of speaking to the game they had caught.