'Has the mantis come out yet?'
'No. Akar tried to go to him. I think he hurt his shoulder again.
You can see him---' She pointed just inside the larger entrance, to
the place where the wolf waited on its haunches.
'Yes, but it was not done foolishly. We must move there anyway, and
secure it for ourselves as soon as possible. We will have to work very
hard, and you will have to help me.' Again his emotions had become an
unreadable maze. Sylviana lowered her head and sighed, and the breath
the wind blew back through her disheveled hair was clearly visible.
>From this, as well as other tokens, Kalus knew that the first real
storms of winter were not far off, and tried to gird himself for the
arduous labor to come. He was ready to break his back and his heart to
construct the shelter Sylviana had described, but all pleasure had gone
out of the thought.
It was still morning when the young mantis emerged, looking little
better than it had the day before. From the long ripple in the underside
of its abdomen, both Kalus (who had descended) and the wolf could see it
had not eaten. But when Akar, as best he could, asked if he would not
stay a day longer and partake of the food that Skither had left him, he
was curt to the point of menace.
'I will not dishonor his memory in that way.
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