SPIRIT WALKER

Chapter 2: Slavers (part 2 of 2)

Nothing can ruin your day like a pack of raptors, Tull thought. They attacked in lunges from three or four directions at once, snapping and feinting, creating openings for others in the pack.

After a hundred yards, he loped back uphill and turned to catch up with his companions. Yet Tull could not rest easy. If the slavers were tracking his people, they might spot the raptors in time and turn back. Or they might not be following at all.

The Neanderthals' ship was up ahead, on the north fork of the Pteranodon River. It was small for a sea-going vessel, but it was too large to hide. Tull worried that the slavers had found it already. The discovery of the ship might have precipitated last-night's attack.

What would the slavers have done if they'd found the ship? Burn it?

No, Tull's men had been filling it with honey. It was not as sleek or sturdy as one of the slaver's vessels, but it was still worth a lot of money. They might not value the ship highly, but they'd want to steal it rather than burn it.

Indeed, if they'd found the ship, they might have set a trap. What better way to catch slaves? Tull's men wouldn't have a backup plan. If they didn't make it to the ship, they might never make it off the continent at all except in the belly of a slave hold.

So they marched all day and all night again, fearing what lay ahead as well as what came behind. As they neared the sea, could taste the salt air, they came to a small hill and looked down to see their sailing ship moored in the channel of a dirty brown river, pulled up between trees. The water had lowered over the past month, so that the ship tilted in the shallows.

Everything looked peaceful. From the hill, they could see grass along the river, golden straw bleached by the sun and trampled by dinosaurs. There were few places where an ambush might hide.

Dimetrodons lay on the riverbank, their sails upright, warming themselves in the morning sun. Giant turtles rested on fallen trees out in the river. A few small egg-hunting dinosaurs, miniature versions of the raptors, loped along the riverbank, hunting for crayfish, snakes and other small game in the shallows.

Little gray pteranodons with soft down and spade-shaped tails glided over the river, snapping at giant dragonflies in shades of green, blue, and crimson.

"We should send one man down to the boat," Tull said. "To make sure that the slavers haven't set a trap."

He glanced about, and saw the jaws drop on some of the boys. Fava peered at him in wonder. The others hadn't considered the possibility of a trap.

He didn't dare send any of them. He didn't want to lose another boy on this trip. "I'll go," he offered.

He dropped his pack, then pulled his shield from his back. He tightened the strap on his leather helmet, drew his sword, and took a step down the trail.

Ayuvah, eyes wide, grabbed Tull's bicep to stop him. Ayuvah's face seemed pale, his mouth parted in surprise.

"Something wrong?" Tull asked. Ayuvah was always the first to spot danger.

A whirlwind whipped through the grass, climbing up the hill. It collided with Ayuvah, then dispersed. Ayuvah stood for a long time, just watching the river.

Fava ventured, "I don't think the animals would be so carefree if the slavers were hiding down in the brush."

"It's not that," Ayuvah said. "I feel strange . . . so strange." His voice trailed off. "I feel as if father is here, as if he has come for us." Ayuvah closed his eyes, breathed slowly. "Yes, he wants us to come home."

Ayuvah's father, Chaa, was a powerful shaman. He served as the Spirit Walker for his people, peering into the paths of the future. Yet a Spirit Walker could not use his sorcerous powers easily. He had to stand at the gate of death, leave his body behind, and send his spirit to travel the twisted paths of the future. Few Pwi who had the power were courageous enough to try, and even then, they only did it in times of deadly peril.

"Yes," Ayuvah said. "There is bad news at home." Ayuvah lifted his chin, cocked his ear as if listening. "It has to do with serpents, dying sea serpents."

Tull pondered. For a thousand years, great serpents had protected his homeland from the dinosaurs that sometimes swam across the ocean from Hotland. Created by the genetic engineers that terraformed Anee, the serpents formed a living wall of protection, an "eco-barrier."

But over the past three years the number of serpents and the number of hatchlings had been decreasing until finally this spring there had been no serpent hatch at all. Everyone wanted to believe that it was only a temporary problem, but it sounded like Chaa had been forced to walk the paths of the future, to use his powers to seek a solution.

Ayuvah said, "Yes, I am sure of it-Chaa wants us to come home. There are no slavers waiting for us at the ship. They gave up the hunt yesterday. We must set sail immediately!"