Hunter fought to steady his nerves.
Deer Killer gave him a weak grin. “Try not to throw up. Everyone is watching.”
Hunter grabbed him by the cape ties. “From now on, you’re leading the way.” Then he shoved Deer Killer ahead.
Deer Killer glanced over his shoulder and said, “I was just joking!”
Tsauz lay in the cold windswept darkness, listening. All around him, fragrant branches whispered in the moving air, the sound mixing oddly with the snores of tens of warriors.
They had traveled for two days through the forest and up into the alder thickets west of Eelgrass Village. Rides-the-Wind slept beneath the hides to his left, his back to Tsauz. The rest of the camp was behind them, scattered across the slope.
Tsauz reached out and put a hand on the old Soul Keeper’s shoulder. He just needed to touch someone.
Each step he took, he was getting closer to home, but he had to keep reminding himself that he wasn’t going home. Fire Village would never be his home again.
Rides-the-Wind patted his hand and whispered, “Are you all right, Tsauz?”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“What’s wrong?”
Tsauz blinked at the darkness. “Chief Cimmis could still win the battle, couldn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“What will happen if he does?”
Rides-the-Wind yawned. “The North Wind People will probably continue their march to Wasp Village, where they will live until the Raven People finally overwhelm them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Some things are inevitable.” Rides-the-Wind put a warm hand on Tsauz’s arm. “You’ve done everything you can, Tsauz.”
He sucked in a deep breath and held it. He’d flown on Thunderbird’s rain-scented back, diving and soaring through the glistening Cloud People. He had glimpsed the future, but Thunderbird had told him they were just things that might be.
He looked up and searched the blackness.
Father once told him that Mother had become a tiny point of light in the belly of Old Woman’s enormous sky. He tried to imagine where she would be shining. Every day since she’d died, he’d longed for her. Tsauz closed his eyes and lifted his hand, holding it out to her.
If I die, Mother, will you please come for me?
“Tsauz, you mustn’t dwell on these thoughts. They siphon your strength. Bad thoughts are like tiny holes in a water bucket. Pretty soon they’ll make you dry and empty.”
Tsauz closed his eyes. He tried to calm himself by imagining the countryside. “I know.”
He smelled water.
They hadn’t traveled long enough to be near Whispering Waters Spring. They must be on Water Storage Plateau. He and Father had camped here on the way north. The flat expanse of lava was covered by wind-carved potholes. When it rained or snowed, the holes filled and served as cisterns.
Rides-the-Wind flipped onto his side. His hair smelled of wood smoke and sweat. It had been a long hard march, and Rides-the-Wind had held his hand the entire way, guiding him around brush and away from holes where he might fall and break his leg.
“Where are we? Would you tell me what you see?”
Rides-the-Wind sighed and lifted his head. “Tens of black humps.”
“Sleeping warriors?”
“Yes. And more stand on the high points, keeping guard over Water Storage Plateau. Every so often the obsidian points of their spears glint in the night.”
“Elder, do you think …” He paused, hating to ask, unable to help himself. “Do you think Thunderbirds can lie?”
“Why do you ask?”
Tsauz smoothed his cheek over the soft buffalohide. “I’ve just been wondering, that’s all.”
“Well, I’ve never heard of a Spirit Helper lying, though they often play tricks on people.”
“No, I mean, would a Spirit Helper try to turn a battle in favor of one side?”
“Of course he would.”
Wind Woman breathed across the plateau, and the foot of their buffalohides flapped. Cold air ate at Tsauz’s bare feet. He didn’t say anything for a while, just breathed in and out as he remembered what Thunderbird had said about his father.
Apprehensively, the old Soul Keeper asked, “Which side do you think Thunderbird might be favoring?”
Tsauz swallowed hard. “The North Wind People.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I—I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.” He rubbed a hand over his aching heart. “Right here. It hurts. Like I can already feel a spear point lodged in my lungs.”
Rides-the-Wind put his hand over Tsauz’s heart. “I wouldn’t worry. That’s probably the dried fish you had for supper. I swear Rain Bear has had that fish for cycles. It looked a little green to me.”