[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
uncertain if it was her subconscious or the wolves that put the thought in
her head. Away from what? She could not turn her back on the howl that
haunted her nights the howl that was not Hishn alone. Even if she wanted
to, she was locked to Hishn by the gray threads that tightened like cables
when they were threatened. She felt them, breathed with them, sang her
voice into their packsong. Aranur might have her heart, but, as sure as the
nine moons rode the sky, the wolves had her soul. She was as caught in
their joys and sorrows as any other member of the pack; so that now, when
the grief and anger of the pack across the river rasped its way into the full
echo of the mental packsong, Dion reacted as a member of the pack
unable to see beyond it, unable to act; able only to feel and reflect their
grief, to sense their anger building deep within herself.
It was not Dion, or Sobovi, or any of the other wolfwalkers, who would be
able to see beyond the betrayal of that echo. She knew, not with rancor, but
with relief, that it would be Aranur, or one of the strategists, or the Lloroi
himself, who would see beyond, think through that echo. That there was
someone to analyze, not just to feel, the Gray Ones gave her hope. Aranur
would find the way to help the wolves. He must.
Thinking? a voice asked softly, and she glanced up to see him.
She nodded slowly.
About the wolves?
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
She bit her lip. Tonight, at the council&
He leaned across and touched her hand. You must be there, he said,
recognizing her hesitation. She had never gotten used to crowds, even the
small ones of his town, but tonight would be important the entire village
would be there to hear the news. He met her eyes, smiling slightly as he
watched her body sway so gracefully in the saddle. She must be feeling as
lousy as if she had a nine-day hangover, but as usual, she neither
complained nor fussed. She would not waste time with it. No, instead, she
was thinking ahead, ignoring her own discomfort for the sake of the wolves,
trying to think of ways to tell him what to say, to describe what she had felt
through them. She was not relaxed in large groups, and especially not
comfortable speaking in front of them. It never failed to amaze him how
this woman, who had such a gift with the words she did speak, was so
afraid to use it with more than one person. Give her a broken body, and she
could heal it. Give her a sword or staff, and she could wield it. But ask her
to speak before a room of elders, and she was as awkward as a boy in
puberty. Sometimes, he thought fondly, she preferred trees to people. It
will be short, he reassured her. News like this always is. Then everyone
goes home to talk and argue. We do not have to stay beyond that.
She nodded reluctantly. It s just that
What?
She hesitated. I keep thinking, she said finally, that the problem with the
wolves is greater than I can see. I go round and round and I cannot think
anything new, but I still worry at it, like a dog on a bone.
You mean what you hear across the river?
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Tara%20K.%20Harper%20-%...er%20-%20Wolfwalker%203%20-%20Storm%20Runner.html (255 of 421)22-12-2006 1:37:04
Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
She nodded. They call me as if they think I can help, but it s as if I am&
caught.
Aranur frowned. By what?
She looked forward, out at the forest, her eyes unfocused as she slipped
back into the echoes that rolled across her brain through Hishn s link to the
wolves on the other side of the canyon; their song, caught, held tight by
their own bonds. Their grief reached out, changing the howl so that it hung
on a precipice of pain. Caught, she whispered slowly, in threads of
gray. She looked at him then. I cannot see clearly, cannot separate my
reason from their howls.
Dion, he said slowly, don t get so caught up in the bond that you forget
what we have to do.
But that is just it, she protested. I know what you and I want to do; I
don t know what it is I should do. I hear the wolves, I sense them. They are
part of me, and they are hurting, and I do nothing.
He shook his head. You cannot decide, alone, how to help them. It is not
your job to do so nor your obligation. He stopped her automatic protest.
What is your obligation is helping the council understand what is going on
so that the resources of our county can be used to help.
But I do not even know what is needed, she burst out. I cannot reach the
wolves myself not those on the other side of the river. Sobovi has had no
more luck than I. And their pain is growing, Aranur.
One ninan, Dion, that is all we need.
Nine days? How much more pain will they suffer in that time?
Have we a choice? No, we do not, he stated, answering his own question.
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Tara%20K.%20Harper%20-%...er%20-%20Wolfwalker%203%20-%20Storm%20Runner.html (256 of 421)22-12-2006 1:37:04
Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
You are not ready to run trail again, and neither is Sobovi. The only other
wolfwalkers that have bonded this year are neither scouts nor fighters
they could not do this even if they wanted to. Give yourself a ninan to heal.
Give us a ninan to plan.
What if one of the wolves dies? What if they have already died for the
raiders?
You sound like Moira talking about her people, he returned wryly.
She gave him a strange look. The Gray Ones are as much my people as the
Randonnens of my own county.
He regarded her for a long moment. Yes, he acknowledged. But what
would you do for them? How do you want us to proceed?
She shrugged helplessly. I know you are right, Aranur; I just feel that we
have to do something anything now.
Something anything could get us killed, he said shortly. It could also
do more harm to the wolves than good. We need to think about this, Dion.
And you need time to rest before you can act.
She bit her lip. Perhaps not& Her violet eyes grew dark with her frown.
Aranur watched her through narrowed eyes. What is it?
Sobovi and I are in town tonight, but what about the other wolfwalkers?
she asked.
One lives in the town; the other two live north and east of here too far to
travel in time to the meeting at such short notice. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
uncertain if it was her subconscious or the wolves that put the thought in
her head. Away from what? She could not turn her back on the howl that
haunted her nights the howl that was not Hishn alone. Even if she wanted
to, she was locked to Hishn by the gray threads that tightened like cables
when they were threatened. She felt them, breathed with them, sang her
voice into their packsong. Aranur might have her heart, but, as sure as the
nine moons rode the sky, the wolves had her soul. She was as caught in
their joys and sorrows as any other member of the pack; so that now, when
the grief and anger of the pack across the river rasped its way into the full
echo of the mental packsong, Dion reacted as a member of the pack
unable to see beyond it, unable to act; able only to feel and reflect their
grief, to sense their anger building deep within herself.
It was not Dion, or Sobovi, or any of the other wolfwalkers, who would be
able to see beyond the betrayal of that echo. She knew, not with rancor, but
with relief, that it would be Aranur, or one of the strategists, or the Lloroi
himself, who would see beyond, think through that echo. That there was
someone to analyze, not just to feel, the Gray Ones gave her hope. Aranur
would find the way to help the wolves. He must.
Thinking? a voice asked softly, and she glanced up to see him.
She nodded slowly.
About the wolves?
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Tara%20K.%20Harper%20-%...er%20-%20Wolfwalker%203%20-%20Storm%20Runner.html (254 of 421)22-12-2006 1:37:04
Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
She bit her lip. Tonight, at the council&
He leaned across and touched her hand. You must be there, he said,
recognizing her hesitation. She had never gotten used to crowds, even the
small ones of his town, but tonight would be important the entire village
would be there to hear the news. He met her eyes, smiling slightly as he
watched her body sway so gracefully in the saddle. She must be feeling as
lousy as if she had a nine-day hangover, but as usual, she neither
complained nor fussed. She would not waste time with it. No, instead, she
was thinking ahead, ignoring her own discomfort for the sake of the wolves,
trying to think of ways to tell him what to say, to describe what she had felt
through them. She was not relaxed in large groups, and especially not
comfortable speaking in front of them. It never failed to amaze him how
this woman, who had such a gift with the words she did speak, was so
afraid to use it with more than one person. Give her a broken body, and she
could heal it. Give her a sword or staff, and she could wield it. But ask her
to speak before a room of elders, and she was as awkward as a boy in
puberty. Sometimes, he thought fondly, she preferred trees to people. It
will be short, he reassured her. News like this always is. Then everyone
goes home to talk and argue. We do not have to stay beyond that.
She nodded reluctantly. It s just that
What?
She hesitated. I keep thinking, she said finally, that the problem with the
wolves is greater than I can see. I go round and round and I cannot think
anything new, but I still worry at it, like a dog on a bone.
You mean what you hear across the river?
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Tara%20K.%20Harper%20-%...er%20-%20Wolfwalker%203%20-%20Storm%20Runner.html (255 of 421)22-12-2006 1:37:04
Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
She nodded. They call me as if they think I can help, but it s as if I am&
caught.
Aranur frowned. By what?
She looked forward, out at the forest, her eyes unfocused as she slipped
back into the echoes that rolled across her brain through Hishn s link to the
wolves on the other side of the canyon; their song, caught, held tight by
their own bonds. Their grief reached out, changing the howl so that it hung
on a precipice of pain. Caught, she whispered slowly, in threads of
gray. She looked at him then. I cannot see clearly, cannot separate my
reason from their howls.
Dion, he said slowly, don t get so caught up in the bond that you forget
what we have to do.
But that is just it, she protested. I know what you and I want to do; I
don t know what it is I should do. I hear the wolves, I sense them. They are
part of me, and they are hurting, and I do nothing.
He shook his head. You cannot decide, alone, how to help them. It is not
your job to do so nor your obligation. He stopped her automatic protest.
What is your obligation is helping the council understand what is going on
so that the resources of our county can be used to help.
But I do not even know what is needed, she burst out. I cannot reach the
wolves myself not those on the other side of the river. Sobovi has had no
more luck than I. And their pain is growing, Aranur.
One ninan, Dion, that is all we need.
Nine days? How much more pain will they suffer in that time?
Have we a choice? No, we do not, he stated, answering his own question.
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Tara%20K.%20Harper%20-%...er%20-%20Wolfwalker%203%20-%20Storm%20Runner.html (256 of 421)22-12-2006 1:37:04
Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
You are not ready to run trail again, and neither is Sobovi. The only other
wolfwalkers that have bonded this year are neither scouts nor fighters
they could not do this even if they wanted to. Give yourself a ninan to heal.
Give us a ninan to plan.
What if one of the wolves dies? What if they have already died for the
raiders?
You sound like Moira talking about her people, he returned wryly.
She gave him a strange look. The Gray Ones are as much my people as the
Randonnens of my own county.
He regarded her for a long moment. Yes, he acknowledged. But what
would you do for them? How do you want us to proceed?
She shrugged helplessly. I know you are right, Aranur; I just feel that we
have to do something anything now.
Something anything could get us killed, he said shortly. It could also
do more harm to the wolves than good. We need to think about this, Dion.
And you need time to rest before you can act.
She bit her lip. Perhaps not& Her violet eyes grew dark with her frown.
Aranur watched her through narrowed eyes. What is it?
Sobovi and I are in town tonight, but what about the other wolfwalkers?
she asked.
One lives in the town; the other two live north and east of here too far to
travel in time to the meeting at such short notice. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]