Read Online Oath Breaker by Michelle Paver, Geoff Taylor - Free Book Online
Authors: Michelle Paver, Geoff Taylor
Tags: Fiction, Death, Historical, Voyages and travels, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Prehistoric peoples, Animals, Philosophy, Murder, Friendship, Good and Evil, Adventure fiction, Battles, enemies, Demoniac possession, Wolves & Coyotes, Good & Evil, Prehistory
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but his face felt stiff beneath its disguise. "Do I look so different?"
"You look frightening."
He met her eyes. "So do you." Her smooth green face was disturbingly like her mother's. She even moved differently. Her body, her hands seemed fraught with mysterious power. He thought that if he touched her, he might burn his fingers.
"Do you think it'll work?" she said.
He cleared his throat. "At a distance, maybe. Not up close. The best defense will be--"
"Not getting caught." She flashed him her sharp-toothed grin, and was Renn again.
Dusk fell, and the half-eaten moon rose above the trees. Moths flitted among glowing white campions. High in a spruce tree, Torak heard the hungry cheeping of woodpecker nestlings.
"Now for the charm," said Renn.
In the faint moonlight, Gaup's severed hand turned slowly on its cord. It should have been crawling with ants and flies, but there were none. Such was the power of the curse that no creature would touch it.
Torak stood watch with Wolf, while Renn approached the curse stick, keeping to the shadows and placing her feet on dock leaves to obscure her prints. She clutched a bundle of wormwood and rowan twigs, and as she squatted near the stick, she muttered the charm and
86
struck the spear-shaft over and over with the bundle.
The river flowed more quietly. The trees stilled to listen. Torak felt the curse hanging heavy in the air. He worried that Renn was too close; that it might be seeping into her skin.
She broke off with a gasp. "I can't," she whispered.
"Yes you can!" he urged.
"I'm not strong enough."
He waited.
She went on. At last, she heaved a ragged sigh, rose, and threw the bundle in the river.
"Did it work?" said Torak.
"I don't know. We'll soon find out."
They withdrew, taking care to brush away their tracks. It seemed to Torak that a tension had leached from the darkness.
Wolf padded toward the curse stick and sat gazing up at the bloody hand. Without warning, he seized it in his jaws, worried it to make sure it was dead, and trotted off to eat it in peace. Soon afterward, they heard a flurry in the undergrowth and an irritable growl; then Rip and Rek flew off, each bearing a finger in their beaks.
Torak unclenched his fists. "I think it worked."
"Maybe," said Renn.
They went to fetch their gear.
"We'll go in after moonset," said Torak.
Renn didn't reply, but he knew what she was thinking.
87
They still had no plan for getting past any watching Aurochs.
Above him in the spruce tree, the woodpecker nestlings called tirelessly for food. Torak saw that their parents had been clever, pecking the hole under a bracket mushroom, which made a roof to keep off the rain, and choosing a hollow tree riddled with more holes, so they'd have lots of escape routes if a marten attacked. He remembered Fin-Kedinn's lessons on concealment. The first rule is to learn from other creatures.
The male woodpecker flew in with nightmeal for his children, spotted Torak, and sped to another tree some distance away, where he perched, calling loudly, Kik-kik-kik! Not that tree, this one!
"I think," said Torak, "I've got an idea."
The moon had set; the wind had dropped. The trees stood breathless. Waiting.
Torak knelt beside Wolf and told him in wolf talk that they needed to hide from everyone, but were still hunting the Bitten One. He wasn't sure if he got it across. Rising to his feet, he nodded at Renn. She nodded back. Keeping off the trail, they started upriver. They passed the curse stick. They drew level with the great stone jaws. A squirrel scampered up a tree. A roe buck fled,
88
flashing its white rump.
Good, thought Torak. Maybe the Aurochs aren't so close.
Maybe.
Renn walked beside him, silent as a shadow. Wolf's paws made no sound.
The spruce trees waited for them, their arms dripping with dark clots of moss.
Torak paused. He thought of the Oak Mage. He thought of Bale. He took a breath and entered the Deep Forest. 89
TEN
Wolf's hackles rose. Torak glanced at Renn to make
"You look frightening."
He met her eyes. "So do you." Her smooth green face was disturbingly like her mother's. She even moved differently. Her body, her hands seemed fraught with mysterious power. He thought that if he touched her, he might burn his fingers.
"Do you think it'll work?" she said.
He cleared his throat. "At a distance, maybe. Not up close. The best defense will be--"
"Not getting caught." She flashed him her sharp-toothed grin, and was Renn again.
Dusk fell, and the half-eaten moon rose above the trees. Moths flitted among glowing white campions. High in a spruce tree, Torak heard the hungry cheeping of woodpecker nestlings.
"Now for the charm," said Renn.
In the faint moonlight, Gaup's severed hand turned slowly on its cord. It should have been crawling with ants and flies, but there were none. Such was the power of the curse that no creature would touch it.
Torak stood watch with Wolf, while Renn approached the curse stick, keeping to the shadows and placing her feet on dock leaves to obscure her prints. She clutched a bundle of wormwood and rowan twigs, and as she squatted near the stick, she muttered the charm and
86
struck the spear-shaft over and over with the bundle.
The river flowed more quietly. The trees stilled to listen. Torak felt the curse hanging heavy in the air. He worried that Renn was too close; that it might be seeping into her skin.
She broke off with a gasp. "I can't," she whispered.
"Yes you can!" he urged.
"I'm not strong enough."
He waited.
She went on. At last, she heaved a ragged sigh, rose, and threw the bundle in the river.
"Did it work?" said Torak.
"I don't know. We'll soon find out."
They withdrew, taking care to brush away their tracks. It seemed to Torak that a tension had leached from the darkness.
Wolf padded toward the curse stick and sat gazing up at the bloody hand. Without warning, he seized it in his jaws, worried it to make sure it was dead, and trotted off to eat it in peace. Soon afterward, they heard a flurry in the undergrowth and an irritable growl; then Rip and Rek flew off, each bearing a finger in their beaks.
Torak unclenched his fists. "I think it worked."
"Maybe," said Renn.
They went to fetch their gear.
"We'll go in after moonset," said Torak.
Renn didn't reply, but he knew what she was thinking.
87
They still had no plan for getting past any watching Aurochs.
Above him in the spruce tree, the woodpecker nestlings called tirelessly for food. Torak saw that their parents had been clever, pecking the hole under a bracket mushroom, which made a roof to keep off the rain, and choosing a hollow tree riddled with more holes, so they'd have lots of escape routes if a marten attacked. He remembered Fin-Kedinn's lessons on concealment. The first rule is to learn from other creatures.
The male woodpecker flew in with nightmeal for his children, spotted Torak, and sped to another tree some distance away, where he perched, calling loudly, Kik-kik-kik! Not that tree, this one!
"I think," said Torak, "I've got an idea."
The moon had set; the wind had dropped. The trees stood breathless. Waiting.
Torak knelt beside Wolf and told him in wolf talk that they needed to hide from everyone, but were still hunting the Bitten One. He wasn't sure if he got it across. Rising to his feet, he nodded at Renn. She nodded back. Keeping off the trail, they started upriver. They passed the curse stick. They drew level with the great stone jaws. A squirrel scampered up a tree. A roe buck fled,
88
flashing its white rump.
Good, thought Torak. Maybe the Aurochs aren't so close.
Maybe.
Renn walked beside him, silent as a shadow. Wolf's paws made no sound.
The spruce trees waited for them, their arms dripping with dark clots of moss.
Torak paused. He thought of the Oak Mage. He thought of Bale. He took a breath and entered the Deep Forest. 89
TEN
Wolf's hackles rose. Torak glanced at Renn to make
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