Kimi continued on Lone Man’s Walk—she knew the name from the sign next to one of the boulders at the beginning of the path—while adjusting the splint on her wrist. She’d taken one of the tip-ups, ripped the cross-pieces apart, tore off a good length of fishing line, and fashioned a crude splint. It wasn’t pretty, it was awkward, but it was all she had. She thanked The Great Spirit for providing what she needed.
As she had approached the path back on the ice, traces of The Fear still lingering in the mists of her mind, Kimi had felt a distinct sensation of being drawn in the direction she was now headed. Standing at the beginning of the path, between the two boulders, she had studied the tree for a few moments. Massive, solid, an imposing figure among the tall, skinny pines, it had towered over her, its knotted trunk and gnarled branches a testament to the years of withstanding whatever storms Nature in all Her fury and wisdom had thrown at it.
The tree reminded her of what her father said to her a long time ago. Kimi, it matters little whether you win or lose the war. It matters more how you fight each battle, and how you stand at the end, whether in victory or defeat. Remember that, my sweet song, and you will do well in this life.
She did remember that. And so much more.
Kimi blinked away the memory and wiped her eye. Dwelling too long on her father would not bring him back. Yet, in spite of his absence, his life was entwined with hers, and she sensed it would forever be that way. She smiled at that thought.
Her stomach growled. She needed food—a squirrel, a stray cat, even a bird. It didn’t take much to sustain her strength. Hopefully she would come across an animal to kill. Kimi continued following the path that tunneled its way deeper into the dense forest, the snow crunching under her deerskin-covered feet. Ten minutes later the path opened up to a clearing. Twenty yards from the opening Kimi stopped, her eye scanning the forest for the slightest movement, her ears attentive to the faintest sound.
Silence. Empty silence in the forest. It should have been quiet with a foot of snow blanketing everything, but what she heard—what she felt—was total and complete silence. That frightened her.
In her eighteen years, Kimi had learned that silence in the forest was never a good sign.
She started walking again. She paused every few steps. Looking. Listening. Always and especially listening. As she got closer to the clearing, a palpable apprehension emanated from the ground beneath her feet. It rose up through the hardened, crusty snow, slithered and twisted around her legs and slid its icy tentacles into her chest. She stopped. It was not The Fear this time. It was a sense that someone was watching her.
Someone…or something.
Watching…waiting.
Kimi moved forward, each step more hesitant than the previous one, each fraught with more danger. Standing at the edge of the clearing, she surveyed what was in front of her and found nothing unusual. There was a circular clearing covered in a smooth blanket of white, no more than fifty yards in diameter. Nothing else.
The icy tentacles curled around her heart and squeezed.
Kimi held her breath as she lifted a foot to step into the clearing. She hesitated, unable to shake the feeling that she was standing in full view of someone that had been waiting for her, and was now ready for her.
Achak?
It couldn’t be. If it was her brother, and she was close enough to sense him, there would be stronger emotions swirling through her. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Now, she felt two distinct, contradictory impressions within her. One was of sitting in an open field, holding a flower, her eyes fixed on her mother who was by her side. The other was of being trapped on a rock in the midst of a wide, raging river, the night shrouding her surroundings in shadowy, violent blackness.
Safety. Danger.
Kimi let out her breath.
Whatever it was that awaited her here, it had the uncanny ability to mask itself, simultaneously filling Kimi with a sense of safety and danger. But how could that be? Kimi raised her head. Pewter clouds marched across the sky above her, darker than they were earlier. Snow was coming. Kimi lowered her head and closed her eye. Silence surrounded her. Safety. Danger. How? What could possibly…?
The Totem. That’s what could do this. Whatever the Totem was, it was the only thing that could make her feel conflicted feelings of safety and danger at the same time. That had to be it. The feeling of being beckoned to this place and the apprehension and anxiety she now felt. It had to be the Totem. Her heart started beating faster. The Totem was here. In the clearing, or on the edge of it, it was here. She couldn’t believe she found it so soon.
But she hadn’t really found it yet. Even when she did, she still didn’t know how to use it. Kimi gazed across the clearing, hoping she would see something that would lead her to it. She searched the edge of the clearing, scanned the trees surrounding it, and peered at the white, undisturbed snow that blanketed the open space. She wanted to enter the clearing, but at the same time felt that would be dangerous. The clearing bothered her. What if—
A noise, in the distance behind her. A high-pitched, mechanical humming.
A crash.
A scream.