Snow clung to the air, stinging Raven Hunter’s face as he trudged toward the mountains forming a high ivory wall. The sky glowed dully with waving curtains of gray clouds. Storm coming.
He staggered under the weight. Rolled in a long tube, the heavy Hide bowed his shoulders where it bent over his back. Step by agonizing step, he climbed up the rocky slope.
He’d avoided the easy trails, pulling his exhausted body over the roughest paths he could find. They’d never follow him here. Never! Wind Woman’s violent breath caught him, almost toppling him over under his burden. Gasping, he grinned into the evening. Wisps of snow twisted out of the mottled sky. He turned in the last light, staring back over the flat, seeing the snow where it blew in streamers along his backtrail.
“Made it! Made it this far.” Puffing his exertion, he threw himself into the last ascent, legs trembling as he topped the ridge and froze. A woman waited, eyes on the trail to the west that he’d avoided.
“Dancing Fox,” he gasped, chuckling. “Dancing Fox!”
She turned, catlike, darts ready to cast.
Hunching his back to redistribute the weight, he reeled forward.
“Raven Hunter?”
“It’s … me,” he wheezed, settling the heavy Hide as he dropped, panting, grinning up at her. In the back of his mind, Ice Fire’s warning about the Hide sucking up his soul rang like a warning shriek, but he ignored it, unable to bear the weight any longer.
She stared at him, chin up, expression cold as the glacial snow blowing down from the cloud-black sky. Wind Woman whipped the thick flakes around, a sheet of snow obscuring the plain below.
He coughed, trying to catch his breath, and waved at the rolled Hide. “There! Look, see! The very soul of the Mammoth People is mine!”
She studied the thick roll of hide indifferently. “So.”
He realized she remained wary, balanced, darts poised for thrusting.
He wiped the sweat from his clammy brow and blew a thick puff of breath into the falling night. “It’s their totem, you see? I went down to die—to kill this Ice Fire of theirs. To show everyone that I was still the warrior of the People … despite Runs In Light’s tricks. Only I stole their most sacred totem, the White Hide, the heart of their people. Now I’m taking it south, through the hole in the ice. With this Hide, I reclaim my place as leader of the People!” He shook his head, snorting condescension. “So much for my brother.”
“You stole a mammoth hide from the Others?” She shook her head, watching him uncertainly.
“Their Sacred Hide,” he corrected emphatically. “Don’t you see? I’ve gutted them, just like that! They can’t stand against us now. I’ve stolen their spirit, their will to resist. Now”—he grinned—“I’ve found you. The visions, you see, they’re coming true. With this Hide, I destroy Runs In Light. I vanquish the Mammoth People. I reclaim leadership, taking us all to the other side of the ice. Then you’re mine. No one else will stand against me.”
She shook her head. “Never.”
“Forever,” he corrected, smiling victory. “I’ll break Runs In Light. Disgrace him.”
“Why? You don’t need to—”
“Yes, I do. It’s part of the Dream. We have to fight and I have to win. It came to me the night after I stole the Hide from Ice Fire. I saw it all clearly then. Yes”—he laughed softly—“clearly.”
She crouched, darts ready, tangles of black hair fluttering before her as her thoughts jumped to Wolf Dreamer’s words. “The cataclysmic …”
He laughed gleefully. “Remember those nights when we shared robes? Remember?”
He patted the shining White Hide. Thoughts of her warm body against his stirred his long-frustrated manhood. Chuckling again, he carefully unrolled the White Hide, the snowy hair gleaming in the faint light.
In a sultry voice, he called, “Come, Dancing Fox. I’ve missed you. It’s been a long time since I parted your legs.
Now the visions are coming true. Come lie with me. My body cries for yours, and I’ve never loved any woman as I love you. You and me, we’re the destiny of the People. Conceived on the White Hide, our child—”
“Will never exist,” she hissed, backing up a step.
He ran his fingers through the long white hair of the Hide, stroking it lovingly. “Yes, it will. I’ve seen. Come. Let’s hurry.”
She turned and ran, jumping lithely down the rocks.
“No!” he shouted, a flush of anger spurring his weary body as he leapt after her. She was outdistancing him, running with a slight limp. On trembling legs, he followed, his lungs barely recovered from the difficult climb. For long moments, the gap remained the same until he slowly drew ahead.
Heart pounding, lungs burning, he closed, forcing every last bit of his energy into the chase. She whirled, hearing him close, darts ready.
He slid to a stop, staring at the desperation in her eyes.
“I’ll kill you, Raven Hunter!”
Slowly, he spread his arms, gasping for breath. “You’ll be mine in the end; the visions say so. You think you can elude me? I’m the best tracker of the People.”
She shook damp hair from her eyes. “I’ve killed Others, Raven Hunter. I’ll kill you. You’ve seen me. I don’t miss what I cast at. Stay back.”
Breast heaving, he smiled. “Kill me. Come on. Do it!” he taunted. “Do it quickly, or I’ll find you. Somewhere, you’ll sleep. You can’t outrun me. You can’t escape me. You’ll slip and I’ll have you and the future. You’ll bear my child.”
She backed away, a step at a time, jaw locked with determination. “Follow, and I’ll kill you.”
“You don’t understand. With the White Hide, no one can stand against me. It’s proof of my destiny.”
“Oh?” She continued to back away. “And where’s your Hide?”
He stiffened, remembering how the evening light had shone off the white hair where he’d unrolled it on the rocks. He shifted nervously. What if someone came along and … No, that was unthinkable!
Seeing his indecision, she added softly, “Sure, you can
chase me down. Finally corner me, catch me off guard, but you can’t while you carry that Hide.”
He considered it—too true. Ice Fire’s words haunted him. “Are you strong enough to carry the Hide? The Power it holds will destroy a man who shirks his responsibilities to it.” Annoyance ate at his resolve. The answer came.
He smiled. “For now, the Hide is enough. With it, all things will come … including you.”
“To plant your seed in my belly, you’ll have to keep me tied like a dog. But, remember, you, too, must sleep sometime—be less than alert. And when you do, I’ll drive a dart through your cursed body. By the Soul Eaters of the Long Dark, I swear. You hear?”
He nodded, turning on his heel. What were the Soul Eaters of the Long Dark against the Power of the White Hide?
“You’ll be mine,” he called over his shoulder as he trotted down the slope toward the gleaming Hide, now partially covered with snow. “I’ve seen it!”