Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver, Geoff Taylor
Authors: Michelle Paver, Geoff Taylor
Tags: General, Historical, Juvenile Fiction, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Prehistory
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willed it to keep on beating.
Next time Torak wakes, it is to utter blackness. Wolf is gone. Renn is gone. He is alone.
He walks, but he can't feel the ground beneath his feet. He is cold, but he can't feel the wind in his face, or hear the creak of the trees. It is so dark that he can't see his hand when he holds it before him.
This is not spirit walking: he feels no wrenching pain. This is worse. He is still himself, Torak, but something is missing. Inside him there is a terrible, yawning emptiness.
"Renn? Wolf?" he calls, but his voice stays trapped inside his head. There is nowhere for it to go. He is alone in nothingness.
"Renn!" he screams as he spins in endless dark. "Wolf!"
74
***
Wolf woke with a start.
He heard the growls of the Bright Beast-that-Bites-Hot, and the pack-sister whiffling in her sleep. Tall Tailless was gone.
Worry gripped Wolf from nose to tail. Tall Tailless was clever, but he could hardly smell or hear, and in the Dark he was as helpless as a cub.
Swiveling his ears, Wolf caught sounds outside the Den. He heard trees shivering beneath the Bright Hard Cold, and voles scrabbling to break out of their burrows. He couldn't hear his pack-brother, but he sensed that Tall Tailless needed him.
Stepping silently over the pack-sister, Wolf left the Den. Hunger made him weak, but his senses prickled.
Lifting his muzzle, he snuffed the scents. His hackles rose as he caught the smell of demon.
Placing each paw with stalking care, Wolf moved noiselessly over the brittle ground.
Tall Tailless stood a few lopes away, beneath a spruce tree. He was swaying. His eyes were open, but he did not see, and Wolf knew that he slept.
In the tree above Tall Tailless's head, a shadow moved.
In a snap, Wolf took in everything. He saw the tailless cub-demon crouched on the branch above his pack-brother. He sensed its hunger and hatred, he saw the
75
great stone claw in its forepaw, ready to strike.
With a snarl, Wolf sped across the Bright Hard Cold.
Something smashed into Torak and felled him.
He caught the glitter of demon eyes, the glint of a knife--then Wolf-- Wolf- --was leaping at the tokoroth, and it was scrambling up a tree and into the dark.
"Are you all right?" cried Renn, running toward him.
Dazed, he struggled to his feet. Branches cracked as the tokoroth escaped from tree to tree, and Wolf--a silver arrow in the moonlight--raced after it.
Torak tried to go after him, but his knees buckled.
"Come back inside," urged Renn.
"I've got to help Wolf."
"You're not wearing your parka. Inside before you freeze!"
Once they were in the shelter, Torak found that he was shaking, but not with cold. "Wh-at happened to me?"
"You were sleepwalking." In the firelight, Renn's face was ashen. "I woke up, you were gone. I went out, saw you standing beyond the lines of power. You looked right through me. It was horrible. I saw the tokoroth in the tree--it was aiming at your head. Then Wolf came out of nowhere. He saved you."
Torak thought of Wolf chasing the demon.
"I think Eostra made you sleepwalk," said Renn, wrenching him back.
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"How?"
"I don't know. But I think she tried it once before, in the Deep Forest. Remember?"
Torak shut his eyes. That brought the blackness back, so he opened them again. "Why would she?" he mumbled.
"I think," said Renn, "she wanted to make you go beyond the earthblood I'd laid down, so that her tokoroth could get you. But why?" she said to herself. "It wouldn't make sense to kill you, then your power would be lost. It doesn't fit. None of it fits."
Torak rested his forehead on his knees. Renn touched his cheek with the back of her hand and asked how he was feeling, and he said all right. She asked how he'd felt when he was sleepwalking, and he said, "Empty. I was in nothingness. I was lost."
Renn sucked in her breath. Torak asked her what it meant, but she wouldn't say. He knew she was keeping things from him. He didn't care. Wolf
Next time Torak wakes, it is to utter blackness. Wolf is gone. Renn is gone. He is alone.
He walks, but he can't feel the ground beneath his feet. He is cold, but he can't feel the wind in his face, or hear the creak of the trees. It is so dark that he can't see his hand when he holds it before him.
This is not spirit walking: he feels no wrenching pain. This is worse. He is still himself, Torak, but something is missing. Inside him there is a terrible, yawning emptiness.
"Renn? Wolf?" he calls, but his voice stays trapped inside his head. There is nowhere for it to go. He is alone in nothingness.
"Renn!" he screams as he spins in endless dark. "Wolf!"
74
***
Wolf woke with a start.
He heard the growls of the Bright Beast-that-Bites-Hot, and the pack-sister whiffling in her sleep. Tall Tailless was gone.
Worry gripped Wolf from nose to tail. Tall Tailless was clever, but he could hardly smell or hear, and in the Dark he was as helpless as a cub.
Swiveling his ears, Wolf caught sounds outside the Den. He heard trees shivering beneath the Bright Hard Cold, and voles scrabbling to break out of their burrows. He couldn't hear his pack-brother, but he sensed that Tall Tailless needed him.
Stepping silently over the pack-sister, Wolf left the Den. Hunger made him weak, but his senses prickled.
Lifting his muzzle, he snuffed the scents. His hackles rose as he caught the smell of demon.
Placing each paw with stalking care, Wolf moved noiselessly over the brittle ground.
Tall Tailless stood a few lopes away, beneath a spruce tree. He was swaying. His eyes were open, but he did not see, and Wolf knew that he slept.
In the tree above Tall Tailless's head, a shadow moved.
In a snap, Wolf took in everything. He saw the tailless cub-demon crouched on the branch above his pack-brother. He sensed its hunger and hatred, he saw the
75
great stone claw in its forepaw, ready to strike.
With a snarl, Wolf sped across the Bright Hard Cold.
Something smashed into Torak and felled him.
He caught the glitter of demon eyes, the glint of a knife--then Wolf-- Wolf- --was leaping at the tokoroth, and it was scrambling up a tree and into the dark.
"Are you all right?" cried Renn, running toward him.
Dazed, he struggled to his feet. Branches cracked as the tokoroth escaped from tree to tree, and Wolf--a silver arrow in the moonlight--raced after it.
Torak tried to go after him, but his knees buckled.
"Come back inside," urged Renn.
"I've got to help Wolf."
"You're not wearing your parka. Inside before you freeze!"
Once they were in the shelter, Torak found that he was shaking, but not with cold. "Wh-at happened to me?"
"You were sleepwalking." In the firelight, Renn's face was ashen. "I woke up, you were gone. I went out, saw you standing beyond the lines of power. You looked right through me. It was horrible. I saw the tokoroth in the tree--it was aiming at your head. Then Wolf came out of nowhere. He saved you."
Torak thought of Wolf chasing the demon.
"I think Eostra made you sleepwalk," said Renn, wrenching him back.
76
"How?"
"I don't know. But I think she tried it once before, in the Deep Forest. Remember?"
Torak shut his eyes. That brought the blackness back, so he opened them again. "Why would she?" he mumbled.
"I think," said Renn, "she wanted to make you go beyond the earthblood I'd laid down, so that her tokoroth could get you. But why?" she said to herself. "It wouldn't make sense to kill you, then your power would be lost. It doesn't fit. None of it fits."
Torak rested his forehead on his knees. Renn touched his cheek with the back of her hand and asked how he was feeling, and he said all right. She asked how he'd felt when he was sleepwalking, and he said, "Empty. I was in nothingness. I was lost."
Renn sucked in her breath. Torak asked her what it meant, but she wouldn't say. He knew she was keeping things from him. He didn't care. Wolf
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