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children had paid the price of their sins. LifeCrier paused for a
breath.
The converts yelled their enthusiastic responses.
Slowly, lovingly, LifeCrier looked over the crowd. His ears relaxed;
his expression softened. In a gentler tone of voice, he continued.
Thus has it been for a thousand generations. We are born. We suffer.
We die. Our pups go hungry, our old ones fall victim to the
sharpfangs, and our best and brightest hunters fight tooth and claw
for the right to lead, for but a summer or two. While through the ages,
the faithful have waited for the sign that we are at last forgiven.
Through flood and famine, through the raging fires of autumn and the
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bitter frosts of winter, even when hope seemed as hard to find as a
redwing s teeth, generations of kin have lived and died in the belief
that the OldMother would send the Chosen One again, and we would
once again live in harmony in the Forest of Dawn.
Some have said that the believers were fools. Some have said that we
waited in vain. LifeCrier paused to look the crowd over one more
time, an enigmatic smile playing on his lips. The only sound from the
converts was a disorganized mumble.
Then the old kin puffed his chest, raised his ears, and loosed a joyous
bark. Brethren, friends, members of the Great Pack: I am here today
to tell you that the wait has not been in vain. For I bring you good
news; the Chosen One has been sent among us, and her name is
SilverSides!
The crowd went up in another tumult of yipping and barking.
Strained shouts of Praise the OldMother! mingled with shouts of
Praise SilverSides! For a moment, watching the fervor of the crowd,
WhiteTail wondered if her father really had any idea of the kind of
energy he d tapped. Then she put the question out of her mind. There
were enough little problems to handle without confronting the big
one.
Listen. Listen! In a bit, the crowd settled down again, and LifeCrier
continued. Look around you. Look at your neighbors. A year ago, this
humble place, this PackHome, was a desperate and dying place.
Hemmed in by other packs, we faced an invasion from the Hill of
Stars. The WalkingStones were terrible enemies: Tall and swift, able
to kill with a glance, they were as deadly as silent sharpfangs and
twice as hard to kill. The game was driven away, and our young
hunters were slain without honor. If ever there was a place that
needed the OldMother, surely PackHome was it.
Now, some have said that the OldMother has grown deaf to the cries
of the kin, and her heart has long since hardened against us. But
brethren, I am here to tell you that she listens to us still. For the
OldMother heard the lamentations of PackHome; she saw the hungry
pups, she smelled the unburied dead. The OldMother s heart was
moved, and in our darkest hour she sent us her sign and her help, and
the name was SilverSides.
LifeCrier s voice dropped to a whisper. Remarkably, the crowd fell
silent to listen. For a moment all WhiteTail heard was the wind
rustling the leaves of the whitetrees and the distant call of a lonely
bluecrest.
I was there. oh my brethren, LifeCrier whispered. You and I, we
were born from our mothers. But the mother of SilverSides is the
OldMother, who lives in the sky, and SilverSides was born from a
fiery star. These old eyes saw her come down from the sky, trailing
flame and glory.
She was as a cub, but she was formed fully grown. As soon as she
could move, she felled a mighty sharpfang with one bite. LifeCrier
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looked around the clearing, gauging his audience s disbelief. With
one bite, brethren. Even before she could speak, she saved an entire
hunting pack. And when she could at last speak, did she challenge
KeenEye for the leadership of the hunt, as was her right under the law
of the FirstBeast?
No. She said, I am here to serve you.
He paused to let that thought sink in and catch his breath. After a few
quick pants, he resumed speaking in his normal voice. That is the
first lesson, O members of the Great Pack. She accomplished great
things; she fought with valor. But all these things she did to serve the
pack.
She hunted with the pack, and she was a mighty hunter. She led us
against the WalkingStones, and drove them back in defeat. He leapt
to his hind feet and held his amulet high. The sunlight twinkled and
flashed on the broken circuit board. This is the token she gave me, to
remind me of my faith. It is a piece of the brain of a WalkingStone,
and it does not decay!
LifeCrier flashed the amulet around so all could see it. When the
wondrous gasps had settled down, he hung the amulet around his
neck again and dropped down to all fours. That was just one of her
miracles. There were many more, and in time I will tell you about
them. But for now-for you who are taking your first trots down the
path of faith-I leave you with these four promises, which she gave
unto me. Let these be the four legs upon which your faith stands:
SilverSides will protect us.
SilverSides will serve us.
SilverSides came once, to awaken us.
SilverSides will come again, to lead us back to the Forest of Dawn.
Abruptly, LifeCrier turned and began descending from the rocky
knoll. The crowd exploded in a tumult of barking and howling. Shouts
of Praise LifeCrier! went up from one side of the clearing, and
Praise SilverSides! from the other. A small fight started in the back
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