He began to wade the shallows, his
sword raised above him. He saw that his brother was crying. The current
welled up around his neck.
Then he saw the body. He fought back a strangling burst of sorrow that
in those waters might well have killed him.
His brother had seen him. Fighting the current, Kalus again found his
footing among the northern shallows, then waded in stubbornly. He
dropped his sword on the bank and went to the body of Shama, still half
in the water, and lifted and carried it gently to the root-covered
ground beneath a willow. Setting it down as he would his own child to
sleep, he stood back. He could not escape the pain. His face was wet,
and he turned to face his brother.
'Who did this thing?' he demanded, with uncontrolled violence in
his hands and in his heart. His brother felt the same emotion.
'The wolves who you protect.' He was not awed by the sword, or by
age.
'Be silent or I will kill you!' flashed Kalus' hands. 'You
know Akar would not do this. WHAT wolves!'
'The Changed One and his guard. I saw them taste Shama's blood
while he yet lived..... Barabbas has gone to find the others.'
'But why was Shama so far from the cave?' He wept outright.
'Why was he here alone?'
At last Komai looked into his eyes, and realized again his brother's
limitless capacity for pain.
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