Read Mercedes Lackey - Anthology for Free Online Page A

Arikan, "We meet. Join us. Now."
                 No
choice in the matter, eh? No chance to see if any would give him a place to
rest, food or drink in welcome? Granted, the shaman had never been one for idle
chatter, but this . . .
                 Wondering,
Arikan took his place among the others, seated on the ground in a circle about
the village's central hearth, and acknowledged the stares with polite dips of
his head: Yes, he was back.
                 Courtesy
demanded a complicated ritual for one who'd been away from the People so long—
particularly, Arikan thought, for one who'd gone off in search of a vision. Of
course no one asked if he'd actually found one; that would have been
unthinkably improper. But the ritual was little more than the briefest of
blessings from old Wenketh, who dusted him with pollen there in the central
meeting place, then fixed him with an alarmingly intent stare. And there was
such tension radiating from everyone that Arikan burst out, even though it was
not his place to speak first, "What has happened?"
                 "The
eagles are gone," the shaman told him, almost accusingly.
                 For
an astonished moment, Arikan could do nothing but stare. There had always been
eagles, a mated pair, whether the same or their descendants, living in a
cliffside nest overlooking the village; beautiful birds with a vast wingspan
and a glint of gold over the brown of their plumage, they were the tangible
sign of the People's name!
                 Even
if one no longer believed in the guiding Spirit behind them . . .
                 "Gone
how?" Arikan insisted. "There's been no storm so mighty it could tear
down the nest, and no one could climb that cliff!"
                 "No
one human," someone said darkly.
                 "Aie, nonsense!"
                 But
his voice was drowned out by the others. "What does it mean?"
                 "Has
the Eagle Spirit abandoned us? Have all the gods?"
                 "The
village still stands," Arikan pointed out.
                 "But
without the eagles, how can the Eagle Spirit stay?"
                 Arikan
bit back an impatient, There is no such being!
"We can hardly pack up and leave. Besides, the water here never fails, and
the soil is rich enough—"
                 "For now!"
                 "Without
the eagles, the land will reject us!"
                 "We
cannot stay!"
                 Only
Shaman Wenketh said nothing, continuing his disconcerting stare at Arikan.
Arikan shifted uneasily. "Where would you have us go? To
the Wolf Spirit People? They would let us pass, yes, but never settle.
And the Owl Spirit People . . ."
                 "It
is their doing," the old shaman said, and Arikan winced, expecting an uproar from the others. But ... no one said a thing.
Wenketh's mouth almost turned up at the corners. "The others cannot hear
me. But it is the Owl Spirit People who are behind this. Come, Arikan. Walk
with me."
                 They
left the circle unnoticed, walked on in silence for a time. Then Wenketh,
eyeing Arikan slyly, said, "Speak."
                 Arikan
held up a helpless hand. "What would you have me say? They are only
birds."
                 "You
believe that no more than do I. They are only birds even as we are only people.
And we both know that people need their symbols."
                 "What
are you saying?"
                 "How
went your vision quest, Arikan?"
                
                 Arikan
stopped short. "Forgive me, shaman, but that is a question not even you
may ask."
                 "That badly, eh?"
                 "I—you—"
                 "The
people need their faith, Arikan, even if you think you have lost your own. They
need the Eagle Spirit watching