They had hardly finished dragging their earther into position under the Bloodwood Tree before Ravan and the others were telling the women the story of the ravener slaying. Laughter broke out among them, swelling to a general cry of disbelief, but this was quickly silenced when the hunters produced the fangs they had gouged from the monster's jaws. Passing the blood-crusted trophies among them, one by one the women lifted their eyes up to the Master. Carnelian watched Osidian receive their awe with indifference while Loskai and his father tried to hide their hatred behind smiles.
Carnelian's gaze returned to Fern, whom he had been watching. He had the appearance of a peeled man and was the only one still working. As Carnelian approached him, he became aware of the stench coming off him and his halo of flies, but he forced himself to move closer.
'Fern.'
As the Plainsman looked up, his eyes were the only things that seemed alive behind his mask of gore. He resumed his work. After some moments, Carnelian turned to walk away, not wishing to increase Fern's humiliation.
Girls and women brought them water to wash under the Old Bloodwood Tree. If Crowrane had not insisted that they clean themselves carefully, many of the hunt would have rushed through it so as to get to their hearths more quickly. Leaves were kneaded into balls. A youth hurled one at a friend, soon involving everyone in a battle.
At first Carnelian remained as aloof as Osidian and Crowrane, but it only took the sting of missile to release the boy in him and he joined in. Before Crowrane managed to calm them, Osidian's disapproving gaze had already taken all the fun out of it for Carnelian. When Krow offered to clean him, he chose to return the favour just to irritate Osidian, however childish that might be. It was only when he noticed the way Loskai was looking at Krow that Carnelian realized he had got the youth in trouble.
'Perhaps you should do someone else.'
Krow must have seen where he had been looking, for he glanced at Loskai and shrugged. 'I've given up caring what they think.'
The pleasure of being clean and in the shade made
Carnelian remember Fern's situation and he pitied him. Ravan was working at cleaning Osidian as carefully as a slave might. Much as he wished to, Carnelian knew he must not return to share Fern's work.
Their hearthmates were waiting on the edge of the rootearth for the return of the hunters. None dared speak to the Master as he walked towards the sleeping hollows. By the way they looked at him, Carnelian knew the news of the ravener slaying must have already spread through the Tribe. Poppy ran into his arms. He laughed, lifting and nuzzling her as she clung to him.
'I've looked for you every day, Carnie.'
Whin nodded in their direction and Carnelian returned the gesture. Akaisha released Ravan from a hug and advanced on Carnelian. Still holding Poppy, he stooped to receive a kiss and an embrace.
'Welcome home, sister's son,' she whispered in his ear, then stood back, the joy in her face as she regarded her hunters making them grin like boys.
'You must all be hungry,' she announced.
'Ravenous,' growled Ravan and everyone laughed.
Holding Leaf, Sil was standing watching Carnelian. She twitched a smile as he approached her and kissed both her and the baby. People were moving back to the hearth, their arms weaving them into couples around which the children chattered. Carnelian hung back. Akaisha glanced round.
'Aren't you coming, Carnie?'
‘I’ll wait for Fern.'
Akaisha frowned as she saw Sil's face. As they all moved away, Carnelian felt that he had handled the situation badly, but convinced himself that it would only make it worse for him to back down now.
Sitting on a root of the mother tree, Carnelian watched the twilight thicken in the Grove. He wriggled his toes in the prickly needle loam. The feeling of being safe and at home swelled up in him. The interplay of voices coming from the hearth made his heart surge with a wish to join them. He grew sombre, considering what Sil might be feeling.
It was almost night before he saw a lonely figure coming up the rootstair. He rose. 'I waited for you, Fern.' 'You needn't have.' 'I wanted to.'
Fern's face was a vague shadow. 'It's good you and the others have returned safe.'
Carnelian reached out to take his shoulder, wanting to say something. Working out words, confused, he just said the first thing that came into his head. 'I'm missing you.'
Fern shrugged his shoulder free. That's nice.' He pushed past, leaving Carnelian feeling like a fool.
Yet again Carnelian considered proving how he felt by returning to work with Fern, but fear of what Osidian might do made him stay with the hunt. He took his turn on the brow of the Crag: a long languid day observing the headache dazzle of the land through narrowed eyes. He escorted the women gathering fernroot from the Tribe's ferngardens. When the hunt collected together in the Newditch, he took his place with them earthworking in the dust and stifle. Then it was out once more onto the plain to fetch water from the bellower lagoon.
That day, on their way back, the air began to haze from the east as if it were swarming with flies.
'Sporewind,' cried many voices and Crowrane had them redouble their pace.
By the time they reached the Koppie, the air was so thick with fern spores it seemed like dusk. Even through their ubas, it was hard to breathe. Lumbering blind over an earthbridge, one of the drag-cradles slid off, so that they had to cut it loose for fear it might pull its aquar down into the ditch.
For days the Tribe hid in their sleeping hollows while the sporewind choked the world. People moaned that it was the worst they had ever endured. Shrouded in his blanket, Carnelian ventured out only for water and to relieve himself as others did. For food there was a coil of djada in their hollow which he shared with Osidian and Poppy.
On the first morning when the air was clear, Carnelian unwrapped the uba from his head and pumped great, clean lungfuls. The world seemed much as it had been. As he resumed his tasks with the rest of his hunt, he might have considered the sporewind a dream if it had not been for the dust blanketing the plain.
It was on his third hunt that Carnelian witnessed his first earther hornwall. It was Osidian's impetuosity that startled the herd. Defended by the older cows, the saurians fell back into a closed ring facing out, their horns and armoured heads forming a fearsome rampart within which their calves were safely corralled.
'Fascinating,' said Osidian in Quya. 'This behaviour may well have been the model for the shieldwalls favoured by the levies of the Quyan cities.'
He glanced over at Carnelian and pointed. 'Behold the horns like spears, their crests like interlocking shields.'
Loskai rode forward and let his uba fall from his mouth. 'For all his legendary prowess, the Master has ruined this day's hunting with his babble.'
Krow's aquar moved towards Loskai's. 'Did you never cause a hornwall when you first started hunting?'
'Shut your mouth, Twostone.'
Krow advanced on him scowling.
Crowrane closed on the two of them. 'Back down, Twostone.'
Carnelian tried to redirect Krow's rising defiance. 'Surely they'll move apart if we ride away.'
His comment was greeted with disdainful looks but it did have the effect of breaking up the confrontation.
When Carnelian returned to the hearth, he discovered a stranger about his age sitting next to Fern on the root-bench. Akaisha introduced him as being Father Galewing's son, Hirane, who had married Whin's sister's daughter, Koney, while Carnelian had been away hunting. Carnelian kissed the young man and called him hearth-brother and received a look of thanks from his wife, who was sitting beside Sil.