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could be hidden in that place. Could the Voice have known she would grow so curious about the path of running
water? I think not."
Blind Seer, who had been suffering some from the heat, and so had fallen silent, spoke with a certain amount of
pride. "If the Voice had known my Firekeeper, he would have expected her to look there, but I do not think he knows
her - of her, perhaps, but if he knows her it is through the tools she helped to break. Melina, at least, underestimated
any who stood against her and that was her undoing. Had she been content to visit New Kelvin quietly, we might never
have been sent against her and her hunt for power would have been successful."
Plik raised a paw. "A moment. Our human friends grow restive."
Firekeeper was content to let Plik do the translating. She looked over at Truth. The jaguar's silence was peculiar,
more than could be explained by the fact that the jaguar was traveling by day and over a greater distance than would
usually be her wont.
Firekeeper wished for a sense of smell acute enough to tell her something of the jaguar's mood. Freshly reminded
that there were many who would overhear her should she ask Blind Seer his opinion, she held her questions until they
should be alone.
Alone. Firekeeper went to where Blind Seer was keeping up his steady pace. He was panting hard.
"Rest," she suggested. "You can find us again come nightfall."
"Promise you won't do anything foolish?" the wolf asked, already slackening his pace and veering toward the
shady growth alongside the road.
"Promise," Firekeeper replied. "At least not without you."
XI
WATCHING THE SHAGGY GREY WOLF VANISH beneath the spreading branches, Plik felt a strong desire to
follow. He wasn't habitually nocturnal, but the maimalodalum rarely pushed through the heat of the day as humans
seemed to do at need. But then what need did the maimalodalum have to push and hurry? Their community wasn't
huge. Those of the yarimaimalom who hunted regularly shared their surplus. Remnants of orchards planted long ago
still gave fruit and nuts. Foraging brought in other foods. Their own garden patches rounded out the rest.
Center Island offered ample habitations, either after the fashion of the yarimaimalom or in the towers or other
semi-ruined structures. What maintenance must be done rarely forced the need for working in the heat or rain. Those
of the maimalodalum who were scholarly by inclination, as Plik was, found plenty to occupy their remaining time.
In all his long life, Plik could not ever recall a time when he had continued to move on when he was weary, had
gone without food or drink because there was no time to stop. Indeed, although his body might manage to masquerade
as human, his habits were anything but.
But, he thought as he tried to find at least one part of his backside that wasn't saddle-bruised, there are
compensations for the discomfort of these hours in the saddle. Many compensations indeed. I have heard the eagles
and ospreys talk of human farms and fields, but it is another thing to see them for oneself. And the buildings! I know
we have bypassed the larger towns and villages, but even the temple complexes where we have stopped are
remarkable. No wonder both Harjeedian and Derian referred to the towers on Center Island as "ruins." By their
standards, they were.
As the days of riding passed, Plik was relieved to find that he did adjust to this strange mode of travel. He learned
to adjust to the different gaits of his mounts, and he could let go his death grip on the reins and saddle horn to drink
from his canteen or snack on some of the goodies he started keeping in his pockets. He might never have Derian's
unconscious comfort on horseback, but he no longer felt quite so punished.
Once they crossed the border out of Liglim into the city-states, things changed. The people of the city-states had
heard of the yarimaimalom, many had even seen them, but they did not have the Liglimom's familiarity and trust of
the intelligent beasts. Blind Seer and Truth inspired a certain amount of apprehension. Eshinarvash awakened envy and
covetousness. The ravens simply kept their distance, knowing full well that a raven high overhead was nothing more
than black against sky.
However, Harjeedian and Derian proved very competent in dealing with the authorities in each location. Alone
but for the watchful ravens, they would enter the governing city. The rest of the expedition was left outside, where the
presence of the jaguar and wolf - and Firekeeper poised nonchalantly "in charge" - meant that any local soldiery did
not come close enough to penetrate Plik's disguise.
Occasionally, they were taunted by some of the locals who felt a need to prove that their land was not in awe of
the looming power across the river. In these cases, Plik was fairly certain that Firekeeper alone could not have
guaranteed they remained untouched, but even when they moved farther from the border, stories of the Liglimom's
intense reverence for the Wise Beasts had spread. Not even the most arrogant solider would invite certain war to prove
that he or she was not afraid of a big, spotted cat.
But despite careful research at each stop, they did not find what they sought in the first city-state they visited, nor
in the second, or third. Truth was their guide in choosing each destination, but she was hardly a reliable one.
"How can I guide you to what I myself have not seen? " she snarled one evening when questions at the archives in
the second city had garnered them nothing. Firekeeper was restive, and as was often the case at such times, less than
diplomatic. "I must go by what I feel, and I feel a certainty that we are going in the correct direction. Go back to
Misheemnekuru. Run and howl with the wolves if you do not have the patience for a great hunt."
Needless to say, Firekeeper did not leave, nor did Trudi's harsh words soothe her bruised nerves. She took to
avoiding the jaguar, hinting less than subtly that she felt the great cat knew far more than she was admitting. Plik
agreed with Firekeeper, but he felt it was less than tactful to say so, even obliquely.
Keeping his own doubts to himself, Plik continued his masquerade, wearing a selection of hats and cloaks. He told
Meddler tales to distract his companions. When they needed no distraction, he constructed the stories he would tell
when he returned to Center Island.
But Plik worried as he watched the tensions build. Everyone knew that when a wolf fought a jaguar, the wolf lost,
but what if the combatants were two wolves against one jaguar?
All he knew was that if the matter came to that point, whoever might win the battle, all of them would have lost.
***
DERIAN WAS ASTONISHED to discover how quickly and efficiently he and Harjeedian worked out a routine
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