Rain Bear stood beside Dogrib just below the twin pillars of rock and stared down the narrow ridge, over the smoldering village, to the ocean beyond. “For the moment, we wait.”
The rich purple gleam of dusk flashed in Dogrib’s angry blue eyes. “Wait?” he hissed. “For what? I say we track them down! We stalk them like the vermin they are! One by one, we catch them, stake them down, and cut pieces from their bodies as they wail their souls into oblivion!”
Rain Bear lifted a clenched fist and glared. “I know! I understand your anger, but this is my fault, War Chief. I could have killed him when he entered our village. Do you understand? I let him go!”
He closed his eyes, a sick pain in his heart. Evening Star told me to kill him. But he had his son! His son, by Raven! What sort of man would risk a young blind boy?
He watched a petite woman’s body being dragged up the slope by two older women. Her head hung, swinging loosely as her long black hair tumbled in the muck. Her sightless eyes were gray, half-lidded, her mouth agape in a loose, soundless scream. Her sea-grass cape had been ripped away. In an effort at modesty, the women had tried to cover her, but the glistening stains on her pubis, as well as the bites on her one exposed nipple, gave witness to what her last moments must have been like.
Rain Bear wavered on his feet, a tingling lightness in his gut. All he wanted was to sink to the ground, put his head in his hands, and weep.
They had pulled most of the corpses down from the pillars and carried them to the north side of the mountain, but much remained to be done. They still had to search the collapsed lodges but couldn’t until the embers cooled.
Dogrib gripped the shaft of his spear and glowered down into the valley. “This is not like Ecan. Lying so that he could do this within days of one of our most important ceremonies! It’s insane!”
Rain Bear tipped his head back to the wounded sky. “It’s as Rides-the-Wind said. He’s shown us that he’s not afraid of us … or the gods.”
“Then we must teach him different.” Murder lit Dogrib’s eyes.
“Yes, my friend. And no, don’t look at me that way. I will unleash you, but when the time is right. When we can hurt them in a way they’ve never been hurt before.” Rain Bear’s heart felt empty as he watched Roe and Evening Star pull a decapitated body across the ground toward the plaza. Wind Woman’s breath was redolent with the stench of burning human flesh and the coppery tang of blood.
Rain Bear steeled himself. “What about Dzoo? Has anyone found her body?”
“No, but many of the victims were badly burned. Roe searches every corpse, looking for her fluted spear point, a shred of her clothing.”
Rain Bear could see the tiny flame of hope that flickered in Dogrib’s eyes. “If she’s here, Roe will find her. Pitch is going to try to come up this afternoon to help her hunt.”
“My Chief?” Dogrib shifted. “Do you think Dzoo escaped?”
Rain Bear’s eyes traced the shapes of the Cloud People. “They may have captured her. If Ecan is this Coyote, and given the things Pitch told me …”
Dogrib narrowed his odd blue eyes. “I’m not certain which is worse: death, or her fate as Ecan’s captive.”
Rain Bear studied Dogrib from the corner of his eye. “If he’s got her, we will get her back. I promise you. For right now, however, she may actually be exactly where we need her most.”
Dogrib’s gaze fixed on something over Rain Bear’s shoulder.
Rain Bear turned to find War Chief Talon trudging up the hill toward them. Wind Woman tormented the hem of his hide cape and whipped white hair around his wrinkled face. His expression boded ill.
Talon called, “Just as you said, Great Chief. We caught Ecan’s rearguard at the fork in the trail. I killed four, took two alive. The rearguard fought well enough to let the others get away. Sleeper took a small party to track them.”
“How many escaped?”
“Maybe ten. Maybe more.” Talon shoved loose hair away from his sharp old eyes. “There’s another thing you should know.”
“What is that?”
“They definitely took a woman captive. We found her tracks at the head of the party. She was shuffling along between two warriors.”
Rain Bear held Talon’s gaze. “Dzoo is missing.”
“Dzoo?” The old chief’s eyes widened. Then a sour smile came to his lips. “If they took Dzoo, may the gods show them mercy.”
“I know her step. I’ll have the answer for us soon enough, my chiefs.” Dogrib loped off down the trail.
Rain Bear considered for a moment. “Ecan didn’t do this without approval from the Council. Cimmis, however, is no one’s fool. He knows that he plays a very delicate game. He hopes to frighten us into submission, to demonstrate his strength in a way that will ensure the delivery of tribute, even if it means starving our own people in the process. He wants to push us to the edge, but not over it. So, even if the Council ordered her execution, I doubt that Cimmis would carry it out. He knows that coupled with the desecration of the Moon Ceremonial and the raids, Dzoo’s execution would incite rebellion among the slaves. It would drive the Raven People into a frenzy of hatred that would overwhelm his people.”