At first this upset him, both for
his sake and its own. But as he entered the ravine and began to
mentally prepare for the lands beyond, he had no choice but to let it
go. It was beyond his control.
'So be it.' But this did not keep him from noting that its tracks
went southward down the gorge, and that if they rose again to left or
right, it was beyond the edge of his sight.
The cub stayed close to him instinctively, and they made their way first
up the steep slope, then out across the rolling white and camel-hair
lands.
*
Kalus returned to the gorge as the sky grew dark and ominous. There was
no sign of the tiger, and his own time in the cold had been devoured.
He shivered and coughed in the growing wind, and the voices of caution
would not be gainsaid. The rules of this new affliction he had learned
the hard way. The rules of the Cold World he knew by heart. And as he
lingered a moment, straining his senses for any sight or sound, even the
cub seemed anxious, looking about it and at the threatening sky.
'All right,' he said gruffly, as much to the nameless as to
anyone. 'Chase me back into my hole again. Tomorrow I'll be
back.' He gained the ledge, and the doorway beyond.
Sylviana greeted him with an embrace that surprised him. He had not
expected it, for one thing, and had forgotten how much this simple
contact was worth.
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