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Akar was still in great torment of mind and body, and it was all he could do to raise his head to the pack, which he must now rule, and tell them: 'You must go to the South alone. I will follow when I can. Be cautious, hunt together, and hold fast to hope. And Kalus, limping but proud to walk, with his brother behind him carried the stretcher down the hill. The others followed. The Cold World
Right now you should eat, then I'll check your bandages and you can sleep a while longer. He nodded gratefully. Sitting weakly on one of the steps, Kalus let his mind go blank. Sylviana went to prepare a meal as best she could, and the he-wolf retired to a favorite corner to lie down. For the moment, at least, all was as it should have been. A very rare moment, indeed.
For Kalus knew the tiger had set out the night before, and he had only the daylight to find it. If only its hunt had been successful. It was perhaps midday when he stood at the top of the same long hill, looking down with lesser eyes upon the valley and the clearing by the stream.
And the fact that he himself had emerged from the recessed traits of three hundred generations, to be born fully human..... They knew nothing yet of the Machine or the Visitors, only that for most of his life Kalus had possessed no spoken language, had been an outcast and object of suspicion because of his appearance and greater intelligence, had met and shared deepest communion with a young woman and fellow creature of the twenty-first century.
And the rising walls to either side of them, the quickening current they now entered, turned the world ominous and forbidding once more. Almost she resented him for it, as if his actions had somehow changed the very nature of the stream. As for Kalus, he had said his prayer, and now set out with every weapon at his disposal to make it unnecessary.
Sylviana lowered her head and sighed, and the breath the wind blew back through her disheveled hair was clearly visible. >From this, as well as other tokens, Kalus knew that the first real storms of winter were not far off, and tried to gird himself for the arduous labor to come.
Clutching with hand and foot both the dorsal and pectoral fins, his limbs spread spider-like against the surging torso, he rode as if he had been born to it. In fact, he had. 'Kalus! The girl came running to the place where he stood tacitly shaping a net, surprised he hadn't heard her shouts. He saw her but did not immediately react, half knowing what she was going to say.
The Mantis appeared at the entrance of his cave about an hour after sunrise. Kalus and the wolf had waited by the opening of the smaller enclosure, and knew without being told that he was ready with an answer. Seeing them high above, Skither raised one foreclaw and summoned them to come down. As they drew closer he stepped out slowly toward the center of the ledge.
It was Sylviana who spoke first, feeling more acutely the need to talk that comes after tension and danger. Kalus, conversely, remained with his jaw set, trembling and pale, but with the spear clasped firmly in his hand. He did not at first seem to hear her. 'I was never so scared in my life, she said. No reply. 'Kalus?
'No, but I will be soon, with as much chance as he. And you can live on sebreum. 'He knows I will not let her starve. I'm sorry, Sylviana. But his place is with his own kind. 'It's not fair. Her eyes would not stop filling. Kalus picked up the fur she had discarded, and gently replaced it around her shoulders. He put his hand on her head shyly, feeling unworthy, and unable to do more.
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