People of the Nightland(152)
Nashat crept closer, holding his lamp behind him to shield the light, and peeked past the hanging. Ti-Bish sat, back straight, eyes closed. He had a slight smile on his lips, and wore a ragged-looking hide shirt.
Nashat could see no one else as he slipped his head back and forth. Relieved, he let the flap fall, calling, “Guide? Are you there?”
“Y-Yes?”
Nashat pulled the hanging back and stepped into the room, satisfied that his first impression was correct. No woman waited to ambush him.
“I’m surprised to find you still alive. I would have thought Skimmer would have murdered you by now.”
Ti-Bish stood, then gave a small shrug. “She’s off with Raven Hunter.”
“Oh, is she?” He fought the urge to smile.
“Are the people ready?”
Nashat paced idly around the room, staring in disdain at the shabby hides, the piles of clothing. “They have most of their things packed. In fact, that’s what I’ve come to discuss with you.”
“We can leave in the morning. Raven Hunter told me the water is coming.”
“Water?” Nashat frowned. He had no interest in water.
“We don’t have much time to get everyone into the tunnels.”
“Yes, well, Ti-Bish, that’s the problem.”
“H-How?” He swallowed hard. “The Councilors told them, didn’t they?”
“Oh, yes. Everyone is excited. Ready to go. Even the Lame Bull People are gone. The Sunpath have fled west to the Tills. All of the south is open. Ewin sent a runner with that information, and Karigi arrived last night with a large contingent of slaves.”
Ti-Bish frowned. “Then what is the problem?”
Nashat reached down to his belt, fingering the handle of a stiletto crafted from an elk’s brow tine. “The caves, Guide. We don’t want to go starve ourselves to death in some hole in the ice that leads to who knows what kind of disaster.”
Ti-Bish gave him a look of absolute incomprehension. “But that was Raven Hunter’s Vision.”
“I’m sure it was.” Nashat smiled. “But it is certainly not mine.”
Ti-Bish’s confusion grew. “But, you heard—”
“Of course, and it worked splendidly! We have opened the entire south, driven the Sunpath People out. All of those nice forests are ours for the taking. The people are packed, just ready for their Guide to walk out and give them a new vision.”
“I don’t … What new vision?”
“The one where you raise your arms and tell them that Raven Hunter has changed his mind. That instead of into the ice, we’re headed south, to spread the word of Raven Hunter throughout the great forests of the south.”
“That wasn’t the Dream.”
“Ti-Bish, it doesn’t matter. They will believe anything you tell them.”
Ti-Bish closed his eyes, shoulders slumping. In a voice little more than a whimper he said, “You have never believed.”
“Oh, I believed. I believed in you. Now, come, like a good Guide, and tell the people we are headed south.”
Ti-Bish shook his head. “It’s too late, Nashat. The water is coming. A fast warrior might make it, but women and children carrying loads, and the elderly and frail, they’ll be washed away.”
“We can take the high trails,” Nashat mused. “It might even make the tale easier to accept.”
Ti-Bish opened his mouth, but words seemed trapped behind his tongue.
“It’s not so bad,” Nashat told him, his finger tapping on the stiletto top. “You will have everything you need. Just do as I say and you can even keep Skimmer. What do I care who you fill your bed with? As long as she keeps a decent tongue in her mouth and stays out of my way, I won’t even insist on taking a turn or two with her myself.You’ll have more—”
“No!”
“What did you say?”
“I said no, Nashat. I am going up and telling the people to pick up their packs and start into the tunnels.” Ti-Bish crossed his skinny arms.
“That is your final word?”
“It is. You’ve worked your poison long enough. You’ve broken the Dream, muddied the Vision, and I have let you.”
“I’d reconsider,” Nashat said as Ti-Bish walked past him.
“No. Raven Hunter protects me.” Ti-Bish reached for the door hanging as Nashat spun on his heel and drove the sharpened tip into Ti-Bish’s back.
Nashat watched Ti-Bish stiffen as he twisted the antler cruelly, pulled it out, and drove it in again. Then he grasped Ti-Bish’s collar, thrust the stiletto in a third time, and jerked the man back into the room.
Ti-Bish sprawled on the hides, staring up in pain and disbelief. His mouth hung open in a surprised circle. With one hand, he reached around and felt the crimson rush that poured from the punctures in his back.