The Standing Dead - Stone Dance of the Chameleon 02 (73 page)

Poppy
looked
at
Fern
and
then
back
at
Carnelian.
Sil put
a
hand
on
Poppy's
head.
They'll
take
care
of
each other.'

The
girl
looked
up
at
Fern.
'You
promise?' 'I
promise,'
said
Fern.

As
Carnelian
rose,
Sil
looked
at
him
with
a
question
in her
eyes.
He
gave
her
a
nod
in
answer,
then
put
his
hand on
Fern's
shoulder.

'Come,
paint
me
for
war.'

The
Ochre
warband
had
a
ferocious
aspect.
Swarthy sinews,
midnight
faces
and,
already,
something
like
the joy
of
battles
had
come
upon
them.
Seeing
them
round him
laughing,
even
Carnelian
began
to
believe
in
the possibility
of
victory.

'Who
can
stand
against
such
prowess?'
one
man
cried, and
was
greeted
with
much
punching
of
the
air.

As
they
mounted
up,
Carnelian
looked
among
the women
searching
for
Osidian
and
was
puzzled
when
he could
not
see
him
anywhere.
Searching
among
the warriors,
he
saw
Ravan
and
Krow.
He
frowned.
It
was strange
to
see
them
separated
from
Osidian.

'Our
prayers
go
with
you
all,'
Ginkga
cried,
making
the best
of
a
bad
situation.

Take
your
strength
from
the
Earth
and
your
courage from
the
Sky,'
cried
Harth,
looking
morose.

Akaisha
was
trying
to
conceal
her
worry.
'May
the Mother
and
the
Skyfather
bring
you
back
safely.'

Cacophony
broke
out
as
women
called
out
their
men's love
names;
mothers
the
names
of
their
sons;
daughters their
fathers'.
Catching
Akaisha's
eye,
Carnelian
gave
her a
salute
and
she
replied
with
a
curt
nod.
Sil
was
there beside
her
and
Poppy.
He
waved
at
them
and
they
waved back.

The
warband
rode
out
on
this
swell
of
anxious
love, perhaps
two
hundred
of
them,
following
the
trail
their enemies
had
left
churned
into
the
mud.

The
pace
dropped
as
the
camp
fell
out
of
sight.
Word
was passed
round
that
they
must
conserve
the
strength
of
their aquar
for
the
coming
battle.
Their
ardour
seemed
harder to
keep
alight
once
they
were
all
alone
cantering
across grey
desolation.
Even
the
sky
seemed
to
be
against
them, dashing
its
downpour
mercilessly
against
their
faces
as they
rode
along
the
muddy
trail.

Sharing
the
increasing
feeling
of
unease,
Carnelian looked
to
the
Elders
who
were
riding
up
ahead.
For
a while
now
they
had
been
in
discussion
amongst
themselves,
often
looking
back
with
anxious
faces.
At
last
they broke
apart
and
began
falling
back,
calling
a
halt.
It
was Galewing,
frowning,
who
announced
that
they
had
chosen Crowrane
to
be
their
leader.
Loskai
looked
smug
as
his father
surveyed
the
warband.

'Organize
yourselves
according
to
your
hunts.'

As
everyone
moved
their
aquar
in
the
direction
of
their hunt
leader,
a
mele
e
ensued
in
which
unease
flared
to anger
and
loud
recriminations.
Shouting
commands, the
Elders
rode
round
the
edges
trying
to
untangle
the situation.

Eventually,
Carnelian
found
himself
with
Fern,
Ravan, Krow
and
the
others
of
his
old
hunt
in
a
clump
in
front
of Crowrane.
Loskai
regarded
them
with
satisfaction.
One of
the
youngsters
asked
if
their
raid
was
going
to
be
like hunting
and
Crowrane
slapped
him
down
in
a
way
that only
served
to
betray
how
thin
was
his
composure.

'What
do
we
do
next?'
asked
Ravan,
loudly.

Crowrane
fixed
him
with
a
scowl.
'We
send
scouts
to locate
the
enemy.'

All
the
Elders
who
had
been
auxiliaries
wanted
to
go. Confusion
reigned
once
more,
until
Galewing's
hunt
was nominated
to
go
scouting.
The
rest
remained
behind under
Crowrane's
authority.
With
Loskai
as
his
lieutenant,
the
Elder
busied
himself
making
all
manner
of elaborate
arrangements
that
seemed
to
serve
no
purpose but
to
make
them
acknowledge
he
was
their
commander.

As
they
waited,
they
dismounted
and
walked
about. Carnelian
surveyed
the
people
round
him
with
foreboding.
Even
through
their
warpaint,
the
youngsters seemed
pale
and
sick.
Most
of
the
men
were
convincing as
warriors
only
when
they
were
conscious
they
were being
looked
at.
There
was
nothing
to
do;
nothing
to
think about
except
the
coming
battle.

Carnelian
noticed
Krow
kept
scanning
the
blank horizon.
What
was
Osidian
up
to?
He
was
amused
to
see the
youngsters
drawn
to
Fern,
whose
brass
collar
perhaps lent
him
a
military
aura.

When
the
scouting
party
was
sighted
returning, Crowrane
gave
in
to
the
pleas
of
the
youngsters
that
the warband
should
ride
to
meet
them.
As
they
closed
on the
scouts,
whose
faces
were
swathed,
Carnelian
could tell
by
the
cast
of
their
shoulders
that
they
were
not
bringing
good
news.