me, and do exactly as I say!"Burning with frustration, they followed--and were soon absorbed in the difficult task of simply staying upright."Keep to the white ice," called Inuktiluk."What's wrong with the gray ice?" said Renn, eyeing a patch to her right."That's new ice. Very dangerous! If you ever have to cross it, stay apart--and keep moving?Torak and Renn glanced at each other, and widened the gap between them.Even the white ice was wind-polished to a treacherous slipperiness, and they slowed to an anxious shuffle. Inuktiluk's boots seemed to grip the ice, allowing him to stride ahead, and the dogs' sharp claws proved best of all; but the puppy slithered about in his seal-hide boots, reminding Torak painfully of Wolf. As a cub, he'd been forever tripping over his paws."How deep is the lake?" asked Renn.91Inuktiluk laughed. "It doesn't matter! The cold will kill you before you can shout for help!"It was a relief to reach the shore and climb onto solid snow. While Inuktiluk checked the dogs' paws, Torak drew Renn aside. "There's more cover up ahead," he whispered. "We might be able to get away!""And go where?" she replied. "How do we get around the ice river? How do we find the Eye of the Viper? Face it, Torak, we need him!"The land became harder to cross, with jagged ridges and swooping declines. To help the dogs, they jumped off and ran up the slopes, leaping back onto the sled as it sped downhill, while Inuktiluk slowed it by digging in the tines of a reindeerantler brake.The cold sapped their strength, but the White Fox man was tireless. Clearly he loved his strange, icy land, and he seemed troubled that they knew so little about it. He insisted that they drink often, even when they weren't thirsty, and he made them carry their waterskins inside their parkas, so that the water inside them wouldn't freeze. He also made them ration the amount of blubber they ate or smeared on their faces. "You'll need it for melting ice," he said. "Remember, you only have as much water as you have blubber for melting ice!"Seeing their puzzled expressions, he sighed. "If you're going to survive, you need to do as we do. Follow92the ways of the creatures of the ice. The willow grouse burrows a shelter in the snow. We do too. The eider duck lines her nest with her feathers. We do the same with our sleeping-sacks. We eat our meat raw, like the ice bear. We borrow the strength and endurance of reindeer and seal, by making our clothes from their hides. This is the way of the ice." He squinted at the sky. "Above all, we pay heed to the wind, which rules our lives."As if in answer, it began blowing from the north. Torak felt its icy touch on his face, and knew that it was not appeased.Inuktiluk must have guessed his thoughts, because he pointed to the far shore of the lake, where one of the stone men stood. "We build those to honor it. Sooner or later, you'll have to make an offering."Torak worried about that. At the bottom of his pack lay Fa's blue slate knife, and in his medicine pouch, his mother's medicine horn. He couldn't imagine parting with either.Around noon they came to an eerie land where giant slabs of ice tilted crazily. From deep within came hollow groans and echoing cracks. The dogs flattened their ears, and Inuktiluk gripped an eagle-claw amulet sewn to his parka."This is the shore ice," he said in a low voice, "where land ice and sea ice fight for mastery. We must93get through quickly."Renn craned her neck at a jagged spike looming overhead. "It feels as if there are demons here."The White Fox looked at her sharply. "This is one of the places where Sea demons get close to the skin of our world. They're restless. Trying to get out.""Can they?" said Torak."Sometimes one slips through a crack.""It's the same in the Forest," said Renn. "The Mages keep watch, but a few demons always escape."Inuktiluk nodded. "This winter it's been worse than most. In the Dark Time, when the sun was dead, a demon sent a great island of ice surging
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