People of the Mist(181)

“Come forward!” came the reply. “You will not be harmed if you are telling the truth.”

Panther took two steps before Nine Killer matched his pace. “What are you doing, War Chief? Go back before some glory seeker pins you with an arrow.”

“You’re not going out there alone, Elder. Sun Conch isn’t here. If something happens, you’ll need me to cover your back.”

“But if it goes wrong, you’ll be needed to coordinate and lead the defense. One can’t very well attend to that duty when he’s lying facedown on the ground with his skull split open.” “Maybe, after last night, I don’t have much to live for.”

“Fool! You’ve got White Otter and the other Greenstone Clan children to see to.” As Nine Killer matched him, pace for pace, Panther gave in. “All right, then, we’ll be fools together.”

“Indeed,” Nine Killer muttered out of the side of his mouth. “We’ve actually done fairly well together, haven’t we?”

Panther smiled, the first hope glimmering in his breast. “No matter what, War Chief, I want you to know that I value your friendship.”

“And I yours, Elder.”

At that Panther squared his shoulders, walking forth with a renewed sense of pride despite the quivering in his legs. After all the trials in his life, his soul hovered on the verge of dissolution at facing his family. So many Comings of the Leaves had passed. What would they think of the coward who’d run off so ignobly? CouJd he stand to look them in the eyes?

As they plodded across the bumpy field, warriors materialized from the mist, as if suddenly sprung to life.

Panther’s toe caught in a withered vine, and Nine Killer reached out a hand to catch him. That grip, reassuring, steadied more than just Panther’s body. Nine Killer smiled as he asked, “Are you all right?”

Panther’s mouth had gone dry as old leaves. “Yes. Thank you, War Chief.”

A wary warrior approached, squinting through the mist. He wore a stuffed blackbird tied to the right side of his shaved head. “Nine Killer? That’s you, all right. No other is shorter than a woman, and twice as dumb.” “Intelligence has never been your strong point, Winged Blackbird. Now, stop jabbering like your namesake and take the elder to the Mamanatowick. He has important things to discuss.”

“Like the destruction of Flat Pearl Village, and everyone in it?”

“Mind your tongue, warrior,” Panther barked, “or I’ll have your head on a stake!”

Winged Blackbird started at the commanding tone, his frown deepening. “This way.” Then he hesitated. “Nine Killer, leave your weapons here.”

“He’ll carry them,” Panther said, “just as an escort for an elder of the Sky Fire Clan should. And, if you disobey me once more, I shall have more than your head!”

Winged Blackbird chewed his lip in indecision, frowned, then started off at a rapid clip.

Panther had to rely on Nine Killer’s steadying hand as he struggled to walk over the uneven ground. The thick knot of warriors closed in around them, blocking any retreat.

“Still think this was a good idea?” Nine Killer murmured.

“Better than the alternative.”

“First incest, and now this! Okeus has condemned us!”

“Gull droppings! This is nothing more than bad timing.”

“The fate of my clan hangs in the balance, and I’m stuck with a heretic.”

Panther raised an eyebrow. “I could leave?”

Nine Killer smiled in resignation.

The Mamanatowick was seated on a blackened stump, a deer hide shelter propped over him to keep the moisture off. He wore a bobcat hide over his left shoulder, a great copper gorget on his sunken chest. The breech clout sported the design of a bobcat in peak and copper beads.

He was an older man, his face deeply lined, and his long hair streaked with silver. Chin propped on his palm, he studied Panther pensively as he and Nine Killer stopped before him.

“Greetings, nephew.” Panther nodded politely. “You’ve done well for yourself. You have your father’s look. Your mother would be proud.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you are Eight Rocks? The mysterious Eight Rocks who vanished into thin air so long ago? I see only a withered old man. I am to believe that the witch called The Panther is my long-lost uncle?”

“I didn’t disappear. I left.” Panther crossed his arms. “The reason why is my own.”

“Why?”

“I told you, that’s my business.”

Water Snake glanced at Winged Blackbird. “Go on, attack the village and kill them all. Start with these two.”