and whipped up the snow on the banks of the Axehandle, where the Raven Clan had pitched camp. It would have woken Fin-Kedinn--except that he was already awake. Since the Willows had given him Torak's message, he'd barely slept.Someone has taken Wolf. We're going to get him back. "But to rush off without thinking," said the Raven Leader. With a stick he stabbed the fire that glowed at the entrance to his shelter. "Why didn't he come82back and seek help?""Why didn't the girl?" said Saeunn in her raven's croak. Without blinking, she met his look of pure blue anger. She was the only member of the clan who dared brave his displeasure.They sat in silence, while above them the wind did its best to waken the Forest. The Raven Mage tented her robe over her bony knees, and stretched her shrunken claws to the fire.Fin-Kedinn gave it another stab--and a dog, who'd been thinking about trying to slip inside, put back his ears and slunk off to find another shelter."I didn't think he'd be so reckless," said Fin-Kedinn. "To head for the Far North ."How do you know he has?" said Saeunn.He hesitated. "A Ptarmigan hunting party saw them in the distance. They told me this morning."Thoughtfully, Saeunn stroked her spiral amulet with a fingernail as ridged and yellow as horn. "You want to go in search of them. You want to find your brother's child and bring her back."The Raven Leader rubbed a hand over his dark-red beard. "I can't risk the. safety of the clan by leading them into the Far North."Saeunn studied him with the icy dispassion of one who has never felt affection for any living creature. "And yet you want to."83"I've just said that I can't," he replied. He threw away the stick, suppressing a wince. The wind had woken the old wound in his thigh."Then be done with it," said Saeunn, shrugging her shoulders like a raven hitching its wings. "The girl has shown herself to be willful and stubborn; I can do no more with her. As for the boy, he has allowed his-- feelings'"
-her lipless mouth puckered--"to get in the way.""He's thirteen summers old," said Fin-Kedinn."He has a destiny," the Mage said coldly. "His life is not his own; he must not risk it for a friend! He doesn't understand that, but he will. When he fails to find the wolf, he'll return, and you can punish them both."Fin-Kedinn stared into the embers. "I was going to foster him," he said. "I should have told him. Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe--he would have asked me for help."Saeunn spat into the fire. "Why trouble yourself? Let him go! Let him go and seek his wolf!"84TENWolf is in the other Now that he goes to in his sleeps. He can lope faster than the fastest deer, and bring down an auroch on his own; and yet, when he wakes up, he's just as hungry as if he hadn't killed at all.This time, he is a cub again. He's cold and wet, and his mother and father and pack-brothers are lying still and Not-Breath in the mud. The Fast Wet did this. It came roaring through while Wolf was exploring on the rise.He puts up his muzzle and howls. On the other side of the Fast Wet, a wolf is coming, coming to rescue him!85Wolf bursts into a frenzied welcome. Then his welcome turns to puzzlement. This is such a strange wolf. Its scent is that of a half-grown male, but it .smells of other creatures, too. It walks on its hind legs, and it has no tail!And yet--it has the light, bright eyes of a wolf; and something in its spirit calls to his. He has found a new pack-brother. A pack-brother who will never abandon him ...Wolf woke with a snap.He was back on the sliding tree, squashed beneath the hated deerhide, jolting over the Bright Soft Cold. He longed for that other Now, in which he was a cub again, being rescued by Tall Tailless.His head ached, and he'd been sick in his sleep, but he couldn't move to lick himself clean. His wounded pad hurt. His trodden-on tail hurt more.Stinkfur came and pushed in another piece of meat--which Wolf ignored. On and on they dragged him, while the Light sank, and
-her lipless mouth puckered--"to get in the way.""He's thirteen summers old," said Fin-Kedinn."He has a destiny," the Mage said coldly. "His life is not his own; he must not risk it for a friend! He doesn't understand that, but he will. When he fails to find the wolf, he'll return, and you can punish them both."Fin-Kedinn stared into the embers. "I was going to foster him," he said. "I should have told him. Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe--he would have asked me for help."Saeunn spat into the fire. "Why trouble yourself? Let him go! Let him go and seek his wolf!"84TENWolf is in the other Now that he goes to in his sleeps. He can lope faster than the fastest deer, and bring down an auroch on his own; and yet, when he wakes up, he's just as hungry as if he hadn't killed at all.This time, he is a cub again. He's cold and wet, and his mother and father and pack-brothers are lying still and Not-Breath in the mud. The Fast Wet did this. It came roaring through while Wolf was exploring on the rise.He puts up his muzzle and howls. On the other side of the Fast Wet, a wolf is coming, coming to rescue him!85Wolf bursts into a frenzied welcome. Then his welcome turns to puzzlement. This is such a strange wolf. Its scent is that of a half-grown male, but it .smells of other creatures, too. It walks on its hind legs, and it has no tail!And yet--it has the light, bright eyes of a wolf; and something in its spirit calls to his. He has found a new pack-brother. A pack-brother who will never abandon him ...Wolf woke with a snap.He was back on the sliding tree, squashed beneath the hated deerhide, jolting over the Bright Soft Cold. He longed for that other Now, in which he was a cub again, being rescued by Tall Tailless.His head ached, and he'd been sick in his sleep, but he couldn't move to lick himself clean. His wounded pad hurt. His trodden-on tail hurt more.Stinkfur came and pushed in another piece of meat--which Wolf ignored. On and on they dragged him, while the Light sank, and
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