by Wilson, Tia
“That’s the way he is around humans. He tries to keep the niceties up and sometimes it doesn’t last for very long. He doesn’t do very well with strangers, even one as beautiful as you,” Tom said winking at her.
“When do you go?” Grace asked, dreading the answer.
Tom ground the toe of his boot into the dust and looked off out at the other end of town. “I leave now. The men are waiting for me a mile outside of town. I’m sorry it has to be this way,” he said leaning in to kiss her. Lana heard no swelling of music, felt no rush of tingles as she kissed him. The coiled snake rattled in the gloom of the corner of the room and Grace could feel it begin to stir and look for prey.
The kiss ended and Tom said, “Your apartment is up the flight of stairs through that door,” as he pointed over towards the diner. “The key is in the door,” and he turned and got into his car. As he drove away out of town Grace stood there in the middle of the street feeling numb. What if his last words to her were about a key in a door and their last kiss was the lack lustre one they had just shared. They idea that she might not see him again felt like she was being pulled down into the ground. She couldn’t imagine a world were he never came back and shared this new world of transforming bear shifters with her. She felt utterly alone and like a complete outsider as she walked over to her new apartment.
At the top of the stairs was a small boxy hall with two doors. Her new apartment had a key in the door and the door opposite which was Anne Twills place was covered with a layer of stickers of bears at knee height. Grace leaned against the door once she was inside and looked at her new home. It was a small single bedroom apartment with linoleum covered floors. A kitchen was in a recessed corner with brown painted cupboards and a lime green counter top. A sofa covered in material patches sat in the corner of the room and Grace flopped on it and stared up at the ceiling. The urge to get up and reorder everything in the apartment was strong, she felt the pull of the extreme and knew that it would only give her nothing more than an empty feeling of satisfaction.
CHAPTER FIVE
The First White Bear
The night sky cracked and fizzled with curtains of phosphorescent greens and purples as the northern lights danced in the sky. Tannis and his sixteen year old son Tulimak sped across the open arctic tundra on the back of their sled. The six dogs pulling the sled were exhausted, their coats covered in a white foam around the haunches. Tannis had been pushing them for nearly ten hours straight without a break. He cracked the whip again and the dogs slowed and then stopped. They collapsed onto to the ground, puffs of white breath coming from their mouths.
“Get me the food for the dogs,” Tannis ordered his son.
Tannis took his spear off the mount on the side of the sled and walked a short ways away and looked around. The light show above illuminated the flat tundra they had been travelling across for a few hours. Off on the horizon he could see the shape of the animal that had been hunting them for two days now.
They had been seal hunting along the coast and had two carcasses tied to the back of the sled. The hunt had gone well with seals abundant at this time of year and Tannis had been feeling luckier then usual. That was when he first saw the bear standing atop a hill and staring down at him. He was familiar with the moods of bears all his life, his grandfather and father had taught him the way of the bears and how to best respect and avoid contact with them. This bear seemed different from the first time he saw him. The bear never seemed to pay any attention to the seals basking on the beach below, his focus was on Tannis and his son as they loaded up the sled. It had spooked him the way the bear sat atop the hill unmoving and observing them from on high. Tannis cut the hunting expedition short and told his son to prepare the dogs and get ready to leave.
They were taking a wide flat piece of land leading from the coast and going inland when the bear appeared over a hill and started to pursue them at top speed. Tannis cracked the reins and the dogs sped up. He could already see the dogs begin to get spooked as they smelled the scent of danger in the air. The noise of the bears massive paws moving across the compacted snow at great speed was a sound that would haunt Tannis in his dreams. He dared to look back and the bear was only feet away from him. Its tongue lolled out of the corner of its mouth as it increased its speed. Tannis said a prayer to the gods of the land when he saw the eyes of the bear staring at him. The bear had two emerald green human eyes staring at him in anger as it continued to gain ground. The bear was within a few feet of the sled when it started to slow down and the distance between them increased. Tannis’s victory only lasted for a moment, when he glanced back the bear was still coming after them, only this time at a much slower pace. It had been that way for the last ten hours. The white bear a relentless sight against the glass flat tundra. The bear seemed to know that the dogs would soon tire and they would be easy pickings on the open land.
Tannis’s son cut off strips of dried reindeer and threw it to the dogs. They were starving and barely moved for the food. If it landed in the snow beside them they would stretch out their necks and gobble it up. If the strips were out of reach the dogs did not move for them. This is not good Tannis thought to himself as he gathered up the strips the dogs had not touched. If he had to hand feed the dogs it meant they had crossed the barrier into something past exhaustion and possibly more dangerous. He had seen dogs run to death before.
He was an early teen out with a party of experienced hunters. They had left the village on a three month expedition and were coming to the end. The sleds were loaded down with seal and reindeer carcasses and everyone was in high spirits, that was until two days of early sun started to melt the frozen pass they needed to cross. Usually this pass would remain frozen for another two weeks, all the elder hunters said it was unusual. All agreed that there was only one thing to do. Instead of taking the usual three days to cross, where they would camp out on the ice. They had to do it in one day without any nights of camping. If they didn't get across before it melted they had no way of returning home and people in the village would die without the supplies the hunting party were loaded down with.
The group took the decision to cross. They fed the dogs as much meat as they could take and then they were off. Three sleds moving at a blur across the ice sheet, a layer of ice that already had a thin film of water that sprayed up behind them as they rocketed forward. The first day they stopped for little more than an hour each break. The dogs seemed strong and eager to get back to the frantic pace. The men loaded the dogs up again with meat and rubbed their distended bellies. The men stood around while the dogs ate, their faces tightening any time the ice below them creaked or cracked, a living moving entity that could split and break at any time sending the men and dogs falling into the freezing waters. The morning of the second day the dogs began to tire. Excess weight was cut from the sleds, every bit of loose hide rigging cut back to shave off precious bulk. If they could keep the pace up for another half day they would make the trip in what would be half the time of a normal voyage.
The men stopped once more to feed the dogs. Some of them slumped to the ground in the layer of ever deepening thaw water. Don't let them lie down one of the men said and the others started to pull at the dogs riggings, yanking them to their feet. The dogs were glassy eyed and stood on wobbly legs. Their fur was covered in a white foam of sweat at the haunches and around the muzzle. The ice emitted a long screech like a voice calling from beneath the earth. The men looked at each with panicked eyes. We have to go the leader said.
They mounted the sleds and the dogs barely moved forward under shouted commands. The men pulled cruelly on the leash and cracked the whip against the dogs hinds legs. The exhausted animals picked up speed. Men ran alongside the sleds shouting and coaxing the dogs, anything to keep them moving forward. A sound like an explosion went off behind the men. They looked back in fear to see huge sections of ice buckling and cracking. Sheets of ice sticking vertically into the air. A crack as black as soot spread across the ice and spli
ntered outwards like the branches of a tree. Pressure had been released and now the ice was beginning to break off in great wrenching chunks. The mens eyes where wide with horror. The dogs found a burst of energy because of the cracking and exploding behind them, spooking the animals as they pushed on in fear.
The first handful of men made it to the shore and collapsed on to the ground coughing and hacking and some of them vomiting. The three sleds began to slow again as the dogs ran out of energy. They were barely pulling the sleds quicker than walking pace. Water bubbled up in cracks from the ice all around them. The men could feel the shifting sheets of ice through the runners of the sled. The men already safely ashore began to scream and shout as a massive black crack began to spread wide open like the mouth of a demon ready to swallow everything in its path. If the sleds did not make one final burst of sped all would be lost. The drivers screamed and shouted at the dogs, cracking the whips painfully at the dogs hides. The relationship between man and dog that had made it possible for countless generations to survive in the cold arctic winters came to a head. The dogs being true of heart gave it one final push and broke into a jog and the other dog packs followed suit. The sleds made it to the safe ground as the rushing sound of water was heard as the last of the ice broke up behind them.
The dogs collapsed on the ground, legs twitching and backs arching painfully. One by one the men watched as each dog died a slow painful death from exhaustion. The dogs hearts gave out after giving it all and saving not only the hunting party but the whole village for the season to come.
Tannis had never forgotten the sacrifice of those dogs and he could see his own pack was being pushed dangerously close to the limits. He knew he had only two choices left, continue to try and outrun the bear or stand his ground and try to kill it. He looked at his dog lying motionless on the ground and knew they only had one or two hours of hard running in them before they collapsed. He dug his spear into the soft snow and ran his finger across the tip. He looked grimly at his son. Words did not need to be said to him yet. His son knew what to do and grabbed his spear and stood shoulder to shoulder with his father as they watched the approaching bear. It walked on all four with a bouncing gait as it moved easily across the crystal crust of snow.
The tree line was an hour away and across open and exposed tundra. If they ran for it the bear would easily cross the distance and catch them before they made it. Tannis turned to his son and said, “You have to make a run for the trees. I will stay back and hold the bear off.”
His son stood tall and stiff beside him. He had been taught to obey his elders and he knew how dire the situation was and yet he still didn't want to go alone. “Cant we go together? Maybe the bear is after the dogs and once he gets them he won’t come after us.”
Tannis stared off at the bear, not wanting to meet his sons eyes. “This bear is a man eater. I saw it in his eyes, he wont stop until he gets one of us. You can’t waste any more time. Go,” he said shouting in his sons face.
His son turned and began to run towards the trees. The bear saw this and increased his speed. The crunch of his paws in the snow crust spooked the dogs and they started to rouse and bark in the bears direction. The bear did not slow down. Tannis untied the two lead dogs, the strongest and most fearless hounds he had ever owned. As soon as they were freed they turned and ran at the bear barking and snarling as they ran. This left Tannis four dogs still tied to the sled.
The first dog reached the bear who reared up tall on his hind legs. The dog jumped for the bears throat and the bear swatted the dog out of the air, ripping its jaw off in a stringy mess of blood and bone. The dog fell to the snow as blood spurted from its fatal wound. The second dog didn't hesitate and leapt into the air, jaws open wide as it lunged towards the bears neck. The bear caught the dog by the back of the neck, its long snout snapping shut and breaking the dogs neck. The bear stood tall on hind legs and held the twitching corpse of the dog in its mouth and shook it before dropping it in the snow before it.
The fur around the bears snout was covered in blood. The bear looked to the sky and growled deeply and then dropped to all four and began to cover the distance to Tannis. He tried to move his leaden fingers and his hands shook as he fumbled to untie the last four dogs. He released the bind holding them altogether and the four dogs peeled out towards the bear. This would be his only chance Tannis thought, if the dogs could distract the bear enough he might be able to fatally wound it with his spear.
The bear stood its ground as the dogs got near and it reared up tall on its hind legs The bear looked over towards Tannis and growled. The first dog leapt at the bear and the dogs jaws snapped shut around the bears wrist. The other dogs saw a chance and rushed forward to attack. This was Tannis’s opportunity, he ran forward as the dogs charged at the bear.
The bear roared in pain and surprise as a second dog bit into its leg. The bear shook off the dog on its wrist and dropped onto all fours. Blood sprayed from the bears wounds, covering the pristine white snow. The bear swiped at a dog running in from its left side and the bears front paw disemboweled the dog as it tried to jump on to the bears back. The dog fell to the ground dead and quivering.
The bear swung around wildly as the three remaining dogs circled it. Blood poured from the bears front and back legs. The bear turned to snap at a dog and Tannis saw an opening. He plunged the spear into the bears side. The bear immediately reared up yanking the spear up and out of Tannis’s hands and causing him to fall back into the snow. The bear wheeled around with the spear buried up to the handle and hanging from his side. Tannis back peddled through red and bloody snow and tried to free the small skinning knife from his belt. His fingers fumbled at his belt and wouldn't obey his commands. A dog charged the bear from its left and the bear pivoted and caught the snarling dog in mid air and then fell forward crushing the dog under its weight, The dry snap of bones could be heard over the thump of Tannis’s heart in his ears.
The final two dogs circled the bear. Blood poured from the bears side and the spear still hung there. In quick succession each dog charged and jumped for the bears throat. The bear ripped out the throat of the first dog and dropped it steaming into the snow. The second dog managed to land on the bears shoulder and tried to close its snapping jaws around the bears thick neck. The bear shook the dog off its back and ripped its belly open with its razor sharp teeth. The dogs lifeless body dropped to the snow with steam rising off it. The whole area around the bear was drenched in bright red blood.
Tannis freed his knife from his belt and his legs skidded under him as he tried to stand up. All power was gone from his lower half as the bear walked towards him on its hind legs and looked at him with its green eyes. Tannis waved the knife at the bear and shouted a curse at the evil creature. The bear tilted its head and looked at Tannis scrabbling attempts to stand up. It slammed down on him and pinned the hand with the knife under its huge paw. Tannis heard the bones in his arm snap like twigs before the pain shot through his body. The bear looked down at him, his face inches from Tannis’s. The smell of torn and destroyed flesh came out of the bears mouth as it breathed directly onto Tannis’s face.
Tannis tried to twist away from the bear and the broken bones in his arm ground against each other in an explosion of pain. Tannis knew it was over for him, he said one final prayer to the spirits of the land to save his son. The bear opened its jaws wide and snapped them closed over Tannis face as he screamed in terror and pain. The bear wrenched the head back and to the side and Tannis screams stopped as his life faded away. The bear feasted on what was before him.
Tulimak stopped as he drew close to the tree line. A scream like no other echoed out through the crisp night air. It was a scream of ultimate pain and anguish as a man faced death square in the eye. He turned and looked in the direction of his father. He knew he was dead, he could feel it without having to witness the carnage. Tulimak stood still and tried to make out any movement from where the sleds were. Nothing stirred, no dogs howling, no roar of ma
n or bear. Tulimak stuck his spear in the snow and waited for the bear to start tracking him. Time passed and yet still no movement and soon the warming spark of hope began to flicker to life within him. What if his father had bested the great bear he began to think. My father could be injured and needs my help. Tulimak grabbed his spear and hesitated for a minute. He could be walking towards death if he went back instead of escaping from it and warning his village. The draw of his father being alive was too much and he headed back towards the sleds. He was a few minutes away and he could already see the carnage. The snow was trampled and churned in a large swath up ahead. The snow was dark with blood as he passed the carcasses of the first two dogs. He could make out a mass of crumpled figures in the snow up ahead and when a bank of clouds parted overhead he got his first proper look.
Dogs lay ripped apart and dead in the snow, the snow beneath them a deep crimson. Tufts of matted fur blew across the snow in drifts carried by the light breeze. He counted the carcasses and every pack dog had been killed. In the centre of the carnage in snow that was completely drenched in blood was a tangle of bone, fur and guts. The bears body was spread out in a circle as if it had exploded from the inside. Laying in the centre of the steaming mess was his father, naked and covered in a thick slime of drying blood.