The Shore of Women by Pamela Sargent

time until I could hear no more screams, only the hum of the globes and the crackling of the fire. The humming grew faint and then died away.
    Slowly, I got to my feet. The globes were gone. Bodies were strewn about on the reddened snow. I staggered toward Bint. He was on his back, his chest burned open, his face stiff with terror. Geab lay next to him. Truthspeaker’s face was frozen in a snarl.
    The huts continued to burn. Each blackened structure caved in with a creak until there were only charred mounds.
    I felt that I must do something for the wounded and stumbled from body to body until I understood that all were dead and that I was alone on cursed ground. The settlement’s sheep milled about and bleated in the distance, having escaped through a breach in their enclosure. Two wild-eyed horses near me whinnied and then galloped away.
    I looked down toward the plain. A few men were riding southeast, and I guessed that they had escaped from the caves we had passed earlier. I could not have caught up with them, and perhaps they would not have accepted me, thinking that my band had somehow brought this punishment upon them. Perhaps we had. I could not know the Lady’s mind.

    I moved as if under a spell. I took charred meat from one of the spits and packed it in my pouch. Near one hut lay a pack. I put more meat inside it and tied it to my back, then picked up my bow and spear.
    I prayed for the dead, hoping that the Lady, having punished them in this world, might show them mercy in the next, but the words seemed useless. I wondered if the few who had escaped, instead of repenting, would only harden their hearts against Her.
    Eagle Eyes had taught me the lore of mushrooms and how to forage for wild plants. Arrow had shown me how to shape my weapons and which stones were best for them. Hawk had gazed at the stars with me. Stel would never grow large enough to challenge me when I chided him. I had hunted with the men of my band, and they had shown me how to make fires with my flints and how to make clothes out of hides. Now they were gone, and I had no band. After praying, I took Geab’s metal knife, for there was no one else to claim it, and thrust it into my belt with my own.
    I could not remain on unholy ground. I left the plateau, crept down along the path, and wandered aimlessly until dusk, when the bitter wind of evening bit into my face and brought me back to myself. I could not remain out there alone. If I could make my way north, I might find Tal when he returned from the enclave there, but I would have to avoid the scavengers near the wall. Then it came to me that Tal might leave the wall before I could reach him, and that I might never find him.
    I was near Hecate’s shrine. Tal had told me always to stop and pay my respects, and no man could harm me there. But the Lady had judged my new companions and had destroyed their camp; She might strike me down as I prayed.
    At that thought my numbness vanished, and I knew terror. I clung to a tree and moaned, trying to hold back my tears. In that state, I somehow cleared my mind. If the Lady knew I was alive, She could take me at any time. I could not hide from Her, so She had to know where I was, and that meant She had decided to spare me. If I did not stop at Her shrine and thank Her for my life, She might be angered.
    I went into the shrine.

    I knelt before the Witch and prayed until my knees were sore and my forehead hurt from striking the floor before the altar. The image glared at me but did not speak, and I began to hope.
    I got up, went to a couch, and put on the Lady’s crown, knowing what I had to say.
    I prayed silently, below a whisper, shaping the words of the holy tongue as I had been taught to do by Tal. “Lady, please speak to me. Our Headman led us to the plateau where You struck down the sinners who sought to challenge Your way. I was given to another man by my guardian Tal, and had to follow that man, for I am only a boy. But I am still Your