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Authors: Mette Ivie Harrison
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to give him back some of her inheritance of aur-magic. Her mother had refused to accept it when she was wounded, but the hound had not been in such danger of dying. The bear most definitely was.
“Father!” she shouted at him to get his attention.
She only succeeded in making him roar at her and swing a paw in her direction. It would have hit her in the face if she had not ducked. This massive, threatening bear was not anything like the gentle father she had always known.
She could feel how the aur-magic had been cut from him at his neck. But when it poured out, it disappeared as if it had never been. It did not return to the forest. Livacould not understand how this could be.
Blood still flowed from the bear’s wound. If she could bring the edges of the wound together—gently, so that her father’s system was not shocked, perhaps he could hold enough aur-magic inside him to heal the inner wounds.
Liva let her aur-magic flow out of her like a breeze. She waited for it to make the bear calm, no more than that. Once he could stop threatening her, she could give him more.
But the aur-magic moved right past him, not rejected as it had been with her mother—simply reabsorbed back into the woods behind him.
Panicked, Liva shaped her aur-magic like an arrow that was aimed for the bear’s heart.
Again, the magic simply went through him.
Just as it had with Jens, no matter what she had tried.
Liva’s face stung with tears. The effort she’d used made her feel sick. Her balance was gone, and she had to put a paw out to a nearby rock to hold herself steady.
Trying to calm herself, Liva tried a third time.
She blasted out all the aur-magic she could in one burst. But as soon as it was gone, she knew it had been in vain. She watched as the trees behind the bear grew buds on their branches, brief bits of spring that would not last.
She felt as weak as a new cub. She had to breathethrough her mouth to get in enough air to keep herself from blacking out.
She ambled close to her father and put a paw on his leg.
But he threw her off and fell to the ground, rolling from side to side, as any ordinary bear in a rage might. This could not be her father!
Liva stood back and watched him with her magic senses acutely alert. The bear had bled off so much aur-magic that he tasted to her as empty as Jens had been, and the state was irreversible. But it made no sense, for Liva had become convinced by Jens that what had happened to him was a fluke of birth, like a snake born with two heads, or a moose calf born without its two hind legs. She had not thought there was any hand behind it.
Now she knew better. Humans had changed aur-magic to tehr-magic. They must have done this as well.
In a flash of heat, Liva knew she wanted revenge. She wanted to make whoever had done this moan as her father did. Not so long ago she had been proud to think herself grown up. Now she wanted to weep and to be held by her mother and comforted like a baby. This was too much for her.
She was supposed to have great aur-magic for some grand purpose, but Liva could think of nothing that would make her father’s sacrifice worth anything.
She called out in the language of magic for help,though she did not have any reason to believe she would be answered. But somehow it seemed only a few moments before she heard the bark of a hound.
She looked up and felt hope once more.
Her mother had come.
C HAPTER T EN
Jens
E IGHT BOYS WERE made men in the celebration the day after the hunt. Torus and Harald were among them. Jens was not. And he did not argue, for he did not care anymore.
The others painted themselves with the blood of the animal they had killed, then swallowed the vital organs raw. Liver, heart, lungs, and eyes. The tongue was reserved for last.
Afterward the newly made men linked arms and danced in front of the villagers. Then the girls and women were asked to leave, and it was time for a night of swaggering battles.
The youngest boys who
“Father!” she shouted at him to get his attention.
She only succeeded in making him roar at her and swing a paw in her direction. It would have hit her in the face if she had not ducked. This massive, threatening bear was not anything like the gentle father she had always known.
She could feel how the aur-magic had been cut from him at his neck. But when it poured out, it disappeared as if it had never been. It did not return to the forest. Livacould not understand how this could be.
Blood still flowed from the bear’s wound. If she could bring the edges of the wound together—gently, so that her father’s system was not shocked, perhaps he could hold enough aur-magic inside him to heal the inner wounds.
Liva let her aur-magic flow out of her like a breeze. She waited for it to make the bear calm, no more than that. Once he could stop threatening her, she could give him more.
But the aur-magic moved right past him, not rejected as it had been with her mother—simply reabsorbed back into the woods behind him.
Panicked, Liva shaped her aur-magic like an arrow that was aimed for the bear’s heart.
Again, the magic simply went through him.
Just as it had with Jens, no matter what she had tried.
Liva’s face stung with tears. The effort she’d used made her feel sick. Her balance was gone, and she had to put a paw out to a nearby rock to hold herself steady.
Trying to calm herself, Liva tried a third time.
She blasted out all the aur-magic she could in one burst. But as soon as it was gone, she knew it had been in vain. She watched as the trees behind the bear grew buds on their branches, brief bits of spring that would not last.
She felt as weak as a new cub. She had to breathethrough her mouth to get in enough air to keep herself from blacking out.
She ambled close to her father and put a paw on his leg.
But he threw her off and fell to the ground, rolling from side to side, as any ordinary bear in a rage might. This could not be her father!
Liva stood back and watched him with her magic senses acutely alert. The bear had bled off so much aur-magic that he tasted to her as empty as Jens had been, and the state was irreversible. But it made no sense, for Liva had become convinced by Jens that what had happened to him was a fluke of birth, like a snake born with two heads, or a moose calf born without its two hind legs. She had not thought there was any hand behind it.
Now she knew better. Humans had changed aur-magic to tehr-magic. They must have done this as well.
In a flash of heat, Liva knew she wanted revenge. She wanted to make whoever had done this moan as her father did. Not so long ago she had been proud to think herself grown up. Now she wanted to weep and to be held by her mother and comforted like a baby. This was too much for her.
She was supposed to have great aur-magic for some grand purpose, but Liva could think of nothing that would make her father’s sacrifice worth anything.
She called out in the language of magic for help,though she did not have any reason to believe she would be answered. But somehow it seemed only a few moments before she heard the bark of a hound.
She looked up and felt hope once more.
Her mother had come.
C HAPTER T EN
Jens
E IGHT BOYS WERE made men in the celebration the day after the hunt. Torus and Harald were among them. Jens was not. And he did not argue, for he did not care anymore.
The others painted themselves with the blood of the animal they had killed, then swallowed the vital organs raw. Liver, heart, lungs, and eyes. The tongue was reserved for last.
Afterward the newly made men linked arms and danced in front of the villagers. Then the girls and women were asked to leave, and it was time for a night of swaggering battles.
The youngest boys who
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