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fact, than they had the first time. She was as chemically bound and devoted to
Maka as the rest, and if Maka suddenly proclaimed that they would build the
tribe, remain,
and forget the mission, it would have been instantly accepted. That devotion,
and the collective mind-set of the tribe, had almost trapped Vulture here the
last time.
Already Maka had fallen prey to one of the potential traps in the Uraa-based
program and the language. She had begun first to refer to, then to pray to the
various spirits and demons of the world. These had been left in the
programming because to edit them out would have marked them as somehow
different and could have betrayed them; now the theology was taking on a
shadowy reality of its own.
About nine weeks out, they had taken shelter in a lushly overgrown lava tube
against one of the incredibly frequent and very violent storms that swept the
world. They had caught a tuka early and had drunk its blood for strength, and
so were well prepared to sit out the rest of the day. Often they had seen, but
managed to avoid being seen, by other tribes, although sometimes that had
meant hiding in deep water using the blow guns to breathe or covering
themselves in mud and lying very still. In spite of the complications that
would result, Maka would have been impossible to stop from taking a smaller
group than they, but these were all much larger which, at least, made them
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easier to detect.
In the cave, considering the storm, they had risked a small fire to cook the
meat, a rare luxury in this life. Fires caused smoke, of course, but in that
sort of storm it was a reasonable risk.
But a lone figure did approach through the roar of the storm, and Midi, who
was on guard at the mourn of the tube, didn't see her until the stranger was
almost inside. Then she leaped upon the figure and wrestled it to the ground
in the rain, while barking a single word of warning to her wife-sisters
within. They responded instantly, dropping whatever they were doing and
running to Midi's aid.
Midi had the stranger well in check, arm around her throat and stone ax poised
to bash in a head if any resistance was offered. None was, and it was soon
clear why when Maka arrived, looked down, and ordered Midi to release the
prisoner.
"Hold, sisters!" The newcomer gasped, rubbing her throat. "Truth-bearers serve
all tribes."
She was quickly offered a hand up and taken inside the cave. Maka was
undecided just what to do and looked to Vulture for advice, but got none. The
leader decided that it was a good, and perhaps inevitable, test, and that the
traveling priestess could always be killed later if she proved a problem.
So they offered some tuka and examined the stranger. Truth-bearers were the
only
Matriyehans who wore any sort of real clothing, although it was more of a
great cape than a robe or true garment, made out of what looked like tuka hide
dyed a dark red. Her face and her entire body were covered with tattoos of
varying colors and designs, although a bird and bee seemed to recur in many
themes and variations. She also had a polished bone ring in her nose running
through a perforation and with no visible break, and similar earrings,
although a carved charm hanging from the left earring was a tree and the one
from the right, the bird. She had no hair save eyebrows; the head didn't look
shaved, either. It
genuinely appeared that no hair had ever grown there.
When Silent Woman saw the incredible tattoos covering the newcomer's body she
gave something of a gasp, and thereafter couldn't take her eyes off the
truth-bearer. Warlock saw it and was unnerved by it, but could do nothing.
"What spirits bring truth-bearer to Maka tribe in storm?" she asked. This was,
after all, decidedly not the normal way you got one.
"Maka tribe near spirit ground next hill," the stranger explained. "We go to
spirits to get" strength, storm come, know cave, Maka tribe here." It was as
simple as that.
Matriyehan society wasn't really made for small talk, and there was little to
talk about. The truth-bearer asked about the unusually small size of the tribe
and Maka gave the official story, that she and two others had been separated
in a storm from a larger tribe far to the south Uraa's tribe, which was real
and where they said it was and had not been able to contact the tribe. They
managed to survive, and Maka began developing the chief's aspects stimulated
by the mental acceptance that they would not again find their chief. She then
"took"
the other two, and they began to wander, picking up other isolated people from
various tribes until they had the current eight. Neither Maka nor Vulture
liked the skillful interrogation, although the individual cover stories seemed
to stand up. The mute Silent Woman was not considered all that odd; this sort
of mental withdrawal was relatively common, particularly among individuals of
a tribe separated from it and their children for great lengths of time. It was
attributed to being alone against an onslaught of demons; no single person was
strong enough to ward them off for long.
Vulture glanced uneasily at Silent Woman, who continued to stare at the
visitor and show no other expression. What was going through the strange
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woman's mind when she saw someone rather ugly and tattooed in a way that had
to bring back memories of her old self? But Vulture also continued to check
Maka for a signal.
Here was a gift from the gods a truth-bearer alone and close to one of the
holy places, the sort of place Vulture would love to get a look at. She
suspected that Maka believed the gift too good to be true; that this might be
some sort of trap. Vulture hoped her suspicion was true. The other alternative
was that
Manka
Warlock had gone so native that she could not bring herself to order a mortal
sin and ultimate heresy. That could be a real problem, since in this form,
Vulture was committed to obedience and service, yet because it was not a
mindprint, she also was more aware than the others of their true nature and
mission and was thus more critical of their current situation..
"Good spirits guide truth-bearer to Maka tribe," the truth-bearer was saying.
She took out her magic sack, which was wet and muddied but appeared dry
inside, and brought out a handful of what looked like volcanic sand and ground
leaves.
"No danger here," she said. "Truth-bearer protect Maka tribe. Bring wonder of
gods." Without waiting, the priestess sprinkled the material in her hand
slowly in the small fire. Smoke billowed forth, which startled them all at
first, but which they could not avoid breathing in the closeness of the cave.
It was neither acrid nor unpleasant; indeed, breathing it in brought a sudden
rush of great pleasure, and after the first inhalation, they settled down and
wanted
only to breathe in more. All pain was gone, all cares, all thought they felt
as normal as before, but knew the joy of the gods.
They rose out of their bodies, and their souls stood upon the face of the
Earth-Mother and became aware of all the spirits and demons of the Testing
Place. The Earth-Mother was below them, holding them with mystical bonds that
were beautiful and erotic to the touch, and above them the Great God's hand [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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