Chapter 3

I know it's blasphemy, but I can't help thinking it: the tribe is stupid.

All my life I have been the smartest member of the tribe. The problem is, they all know it. I have keen senses, am capable at the hunt, and know how to gather all of the plants for eating and for medicine. I learn the ways quickly, and remember what I learn.

The only thing I ever wanted was more knowledge. I listened carefully to the shaman when he told the stories. I watched carefully as he prepared the dead for their journey into the other world. I learned the ways of the weather, and the movements of the herds.

Even Glenlu was accepted as an apprentice in his tribe, and he doesn't know half as much as I do. They didn't even make him take a challenge.

However, because I am a girl, when I petitioned for apprenticeship, I was given the harshest test I have ever heard of.

I was exiled for a year.

In a year, if I still live, I can return to the tribe, and they will have to accept me as an apprentice shaman. The message has been spread to all the tribes, so I have no refuge.

I suppose I could give up and just admit defeat. After all, no one that I have ever heard of has survived a year alone. The rest of the tribe knows it's impossible, too.

It's the punishment I receive for wanting to be a shaman, rather than a dutiful mate. I always knew my stubborn nature would lead me into trouble. It has a hundred times before. I never expected it to lead me to my death.

I was allowed to take my sling and my furs, and was left for the Spirits to test.

This first week has been relatively easy. Rabbit and squirrel, berry and tuber, there is always abundance in this season. It is the coming cold I fear. I know I must travel south; however, I see no reason to leave as the herds do. My people have always followed the herds, but to me they are useless. I can't take down a deer with a sling. Anything that large would draw predators, even if I could.

Wolves, cats, bears, all grow hungry in the cold season. A human alone is easy prey for them. All three will follow a scent for much of a half-day, if they think it means possible food. They would much prefer chasing off a smaller predator and scavenging to the risk of the hunt.

I know the dangers of the forest. I was told many times that I should give up the dream of being a shaman, and accept a life as a hunter. I was smart enough to see the inherent trap in that choice as well. While I was unmated, I was accepted among the men as a hunter. My skills were used, and appreciated.

Once I was mated, things would change. I would not be allowed to be a better hunter than my mate. I would be relegated to flushing game, and more often left behind. I would rather this death than that life. Living amongst the other women, discussing who was mating with whom, and who had turned into a bad mate after all does not appeal to me at all. I simply want a larger world than that. I just can't bring myself to care about the petty things that they subsist on.

Enough woolgathering. I have been watching the animals from this tree for most of the day, and night is coming. I must decide whether to build a fire to keep the animals away. It is much work, but as the nights are getting colder the warmth is often worth it.

I think I will. A fire will give me a chance to make some marking coal, and an opportunity to try a little of the dream herb. I have several times watched the shaman pick and burn the dream herb, inhaling the smoke. It was spoken that the visions he received from it helped him plan the migration. Time to find out if that was true.

Hopping down from the tree, I headed north, looking for the stream I knew was there. The dream herb often grew along the edges of the forest, near streams. I remember being chastised for knowing these things, as they were secrets of the shaman. Bah. The shaman's secrets were there for the learning, by anyone with an eye not blinded by tradition.

A scent of smoke and meat caught my attention. Strange indeed. This is not the season for natural fires, and the tribes are already heading south. I should be the only human in these woods. Stopping to listen, I heard the faint sounds of rustling, and breaking twigs. Like a large creature, blundering through the woods. Even the bear makes less noise than that!

I slipped quietly through the woods, toward the smell and sound. Could it be a creature on fire? I had never heard of such a thing. After a few moments, I realized that the noise was headed south. Perhaps the source would pass near me.

I shimmied up a tree, hiding amongst the leaves, watching and listening carefully. From the midst of the darkening forest I saw a light, like a bright star, moving towards me. I checked my memory to make sure that I hadn't already taken the dream herb.

As it got closer, I could see that this was a human being.

Flanked by two wolves wrapped in some bright skins, unlike any I have ever seen.

Carrying a small star.

Clothed in skins as strange as the ones wrapping the wolves.

Carrying a gray stick with some wood on the end, strapped to his back.

Reeking of smoke, and meat.

Blundering through the woods.

I almost fell out of the tree staring. The wolves should have smelled me, but the smell of smoke and meat must have distracted them. He passed within a stone's throw of me, and never even looked up. Whatever sort of human this is, he won't live long. The smell he is carrying around will draw predators.

It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but I decided to follow him. After letting him get a couple of stone's throws away, it seemed safe enough for me to climb down out of the tree. From the ground I could see that he was very tall. Taller than anyone I have ever met, perhaps.