«What you are, no one has told me, not even Those Who Went Before. So we must learn for ourselves. As for you, Awgal, there is nothing strange about you or what you have done. However, I must still be as wise about you as I can be, before I give judgment. In the presence of the Spirits, I must find out if you were truly weak. Now take this.» She picked up a handful of what looked like dried red peas from a bowl in her lap and handed them to Awgal. He seemed reluctant to take them.

«Will you eat of the kerush as you're told, or do you ask that I pronounce judgment without knowing all I should?»

Awgal grunted. «What have I to lose?» Teindo and the other hunters glared at him for this defiance.

«If you think you have nothing to lose, then you are not only weak but foolish, Awgal. You know how the Great Hunters kill. «

Awgal grunted again. «I do. But I would rather lose my life to them than to you.»

That defiance was too much. At a signal from the Wise One, Teindo and the other hunters knocked Awgal down and rolled him over on his back. For a moment Blade thought Awgal really was going to lose his life to the Wise One; she had a knife in her hand.

She only used the knife to threaten him, holding it against his neck. Then she held his nose until he had to open his mouth, and popped a handful of the kerush beans into it. He choked, gasped, tried to spit them out, but finally swallowed them. A moment later his nostrils flared, then the pupils of his eyes began to contract.

By the time they'd constricted to pinpoints, his breathing was slow and shallow. The Wise One hitched up her skirt and knelt astride his torso, almost as if she were planning to ride him sexually. Instead she placed one hand on each temple, closed her eyes, and controlled her own breathing until it was exactly in time with the hunter's.

Blade's attention was on the Wise One when Cheeky interrupted his thoughts. The mental picture he sent left Blade sure what was happening. According to Cheeky, the kerush was making Awgal send his thoughts telepathically, and the Wise One was reading them.

Suddenly the Wise One's pet hopped up on her stool, hissing, squeaking, lashing her tail, and waving her arms furiously in the direction of Cheeky. The hunters who were free to move stared at the two animals, then started to move toward Blade. He dropped into karate stance and got ready for a fight.

The Wise One jumped to her feet, so abruptly that her knees rammed into Awgal's stomach. He doubled up, gasping and wheezing. Her sharp gesture to four of the hunters made them pick up the helpless man and carry him out. The Wise One turned to face Blade, glaring at him but holding her knife as if she wasn't entirely sure she was still in control of the situation.

«My pet and I heard you and the Cheeky doing wizard work or kerush-magor in my presence!»

Blade shrugged. «I don't know what you mean by this. Would the Wise One of the Rutari, an honorable people, accuse me of doing something I did not do?»

«I am the judge of the honor of the Rutari, Blade!»

«Then speak as a wise judge, and not as one who fears spirits roaming in the night. If I did wrong it was without knowing that it was wrong. If that means nothing among the Rutari, then I ask myself-are they an honorable people?»

Blade knew this blunt appeal to the Wise One's notions of honor might be taken as an insult, and if it was, he'd have a devil of a fight on his hands. Teindo and the other two hunters were armed, and the Wise One herself was no weakling. Blade doubted he could fight without someone getting killed, which would mean he'd have to leave the Rutari, not to mention the secret of the kerush and its effects on telepathy. It seemed that every time he was on the edge of discovering something vital, he ran into someone's hot temper or tribal taboo!

Apparently unable to think of anything better to do, the Wise One sat down on her stool again, then laid the knife in her lap and crossed her hands over the hilt. The silence lasted so long that Blade wondered if she'd withdrawn into a telepathic trance again. Finally she looked up.

«I judge that you did no harm, and indeed did not know that you were doing wizard work, or kerush-magor. Still, you must be cleansed by the Great Hunters before you come to kerush-magor in my presence. And Awgal, the Red Hunter, has shown weakness in the presence of the Spirits of the Hunt; the Spirits demand that he be cleansed before he is allowed in their presence. Those Who Went Before demand the same.»

«And I shall be cleansed as Awgal? If that is your judgment, I would rather die here. I think I can do a better job than he did of defending myself.» He'd measured the distance to all of his prospective opponents and knew he could have two of them down before they could move.

The silence dragged on, and the tension mounted. Just as Teindo seemed about to open his mouth to shout for help, the Wise One's pet began squawking and hissing indignantly. Then it hopped up on its mistress's shoulder and put both paws on her forehead. They stayed like that for a minute, reminding Blade very much of himself and Cheeky having a particularly intimate telepathic conversation.

In fact, that was probably what they were having. Blade only hoped that Cheeky could resist the temptation to eavesdrop again, even though the «pet» had to be the Wise One's «First Friend,» Moyla, and could let them in on some important information.

Finally the Wise One smiled thinly. «You will face your cleansing from the Great Hunters as you came from your mother. But you will face only one, and you will face him on your feet, with all your strength and wits as they are.»

So he was not going to be tied up or drugged until he was helpless, then devoured by the Great Hunters. That was something. Maybe quite a lot. And if he could secretly carry a weapon…

«May I have the Cheeky standing beside me, so that he may be cleansed, too?»

«Is he your First Friend?»

«No.»

«Teindo says you told him he wasn't. But-if he is not your First Friend, then what is he?»

«A friend of a sort not every man has. I can say no more. «

«I hope he is a very rare sort of friend indeed. Otherwise he shall be hardly more than a mouthful for a Great Hunter.» She waved her knife at Teindo. «Take them to the caves. «

Blade let the hunters lead him and Cheeky out. So far, so good, was his feeling. He'd proved that he was ready to fight for his honor and for just treatment. He'd even given himself a chance of learning more about the telepathy of the Rutari.

Now all he and Cheeky had to do was survive a barehanded duel against one of those hairy nine-foot monsters. Or almost bare-handed, at least…

Chapter 5

The morning of Blade's cleansing before the Great Hunters was his fourth in the village of the Rutari. The two hunters and two young women who guarded him awoke him even earlier than usual, and offered him a lavish breakfast. Boiled eggs, porridge, fried beans, a thick stew, dried fruit, thin beer to wash it all down-enough for three hungry people Blade's size.

He couldn't quite keep out of his mind thoughts about the condemned man eating a hearty meal. He'd worked out his plans carefully and in as much detail as he could, using every scrap of information gleaned on the Great Hunters and the place of the cleaning.

Only when Cheeky could be persuaded to stop thinking of Moyla was Blade able to work things out with him. The feather-monkey understood what was at stake, but Blade could only hope Cheeky's odd «crush» on the Wise One's familiar wouldn't affect his loyalty.

It also wasn't reassuring that Blade didn't know if the Wise One could hear his telepathic conversations with Cheeky. If she overheard him, she certainly would know a good deal Blade would rather she didn't.