“But Gammage does not believe we will have such time undisturbed?”
“He is increasingly fearful of the Demons’ return. Though just why he fears this so strongly he has not told us. If there were more of us— You see, brother, Gammage believes one thing. When our people fled from the lairs and the torments of the Demons, they were not all alike. Oh, I do not mean different in color and length of fur, shape of head—the usual ways one differs even from a litter brother. No, we differed inside. Some were closer to the old Ancestors who were born for generations here in the lairs, whom the Demons controlled and used as they pleased.
“But others had the change working more strongly in them. And so their children, and children’s children differed also. Though all the People grew in knowledge and were different from their older kin, still they were so in varying degrees.
“Gammage himself differed greatly, so greatly he was almost’ cast out as a youngling from the caves—until he proved his worth. But he believed early that there was a way to learn more and that that lay hid-den in the very place of horrors his people shunned.
So he came back. And to him from time to time came those who also had seeking minds, who were restless, unhappy for one reason or another in the life of the outer tribes. It was this very restlessness that he put to service here. And those who settled, took mates, who absorbed more and more of what the lairs had to offer, and produced the In-born, still more changed. It is Gammage’s belief that no warrior is drawn to the lairs unless he has that within him which reaches for what is hidden here.
“It is his hope, his need, to bring all the People here, to make open to all the ways of learning, of healing”—Foskatt’s hand went to the wound seal on his leg—“so that we can be as much masters here and elsewhere in this land as the Demons were. But mainly so that we can stand firm and safe when the Demons return, and not be hunted for their pleasure. For that was how they served our Ancestors.”
As he talked they went from the chamber with the twisting lights on the walls through a series of further rooms. These were furnished with more than just beds and tables. There were hangings on the walls with pictures on them, many seats, and even large pads, as if someone had heaped up five or six thick-nesses of bed pallets to make soft puffs. And crowded in among these were a great medley of things—boxes, containers, other objects Furtig did not know.
It reminded him of the crowded state of Foskatt’s quarters. Here, too, there had been an ingathering of things found throughout the lairs.
Among these moved several of the Inborn, though none of them paid any attention to the two newcomers threading a path here. These workers were females. Some sat on the chairs or puffs intent on bits and pieces laid out on low tables before them. Others stood over devices which purred or clinked or made outlandish noises.
“All small strange devices are brought here.” Foskatt needlessly informed him. “First Gammage and his Elders, those who have worked the longest and know best the dangers which might exist, inspect them. In the early days there were accidents. Dolar has no hand on one wrist because of an incautious examination of a new find. So each is tested. When they are sure that it is not dangerous, it is given to those who try to unravel its secrets. For these gathered here have the best hands for that.”
Furtig saw what his companion meant. The fingers of those at work here were indeed as unlike his own stubby ones as Liliha’s—longer, less clumsy in movement.
It was Liliha herself who stood in the doorway of the third room. She folded, with quick, graceful turns of hands and wrists, a long strip of material which seemed bulky until she dealt with it firmly. Then it made a neat and surprisingly small pack.
To Furtig’ s surprise she gave them the customary greeting of the cave people:
“Fair morning and smooth trail, warriors.”
“And a fair morning to you, One-Who-Chooses,” he replied.
“One-Who-Chooses,” she repeated. “Yes, of that custom I have heard, warrior. Though we do not altogether follow it here. If you seek the Ancestor, he is within. A new find, Foskatt?” She looked to the box.
“No. Just perhaps a new use for an old one. You see, Liliha, even we who are not seekers-in-depth may make discoveries also.”
Did Foskatt then sound defensive, as if he had a need to outdo the In-born in some way? If he did, Furtig could well understand that emotion.
“All knowledge is three times welcome,” was Liliha’s answer. Once more she was industriously nipping the fabric into those smooth, much deflated folds.
Gammage was not alone in that last chamber. He was seated on one of the wide seats of the Demons’, all of which were raised just the wrong distance from the floor to be comfortable for one of the People, un-less the feet were drawn up.
Beside him on the same seat was a powerfully built warrior with a notched ear and a long scar on his jaw. His one hand rested on his knee, and he gestured with his other arm as he talked. There was no fur-backed hand on that arm; instead, it ended in a ball of metal equipped with claws, and a cuff which was lashed to his own flesh and bone. This must be Dolar, Furtig reasoned.
The other there, a Chooser, was plainly of the In-born, just as Dolar was of the out-country. Her fur was silky black, and around her neck was a chain of bright stones. She wore bands of a like nature about her wrists.
Both she and the battered warrior showed no welcome to those who entered. But Gammage gave a purring call:
“What have you, Foskatt? It seems that you come in haste with something new.”
“It is one of the see boxes,” the female broke in. “Of these we have plenty—amusements for young-lings.”
To Furtig’s secret satisfaction, Foskatt caught her up quickly. “Not used as this brother can use it!”
“How?” Gammage squirmed off his seat and came to them. “How do you use it?”
Between them Furtig and Foskatt explained. Then Furtig demonstrated. He produced two pictures, the first of the caves, the second of Eu-La.
In that small, vivid scene she was busied with a number of strips cut from hide. These she twisted and turned in a fashion which seemed to Furtig useless. And it was apparent she was frustrated at not achieving what she attempted. But Gammage uttered an exclamation.
“Lohanna, see what this young female does!”
At his call the In-born looked. After a long moment of close attention she turned on Furtig almost accusingly.
“Who is this youngling?” she demanded, as if Furtig were attempting to conceal a matter of importance. He remembered his promise to Eu-La—this was the time to carry it out. And he freed the bag from his belt.
“She is Eu-La of Gammage’s cave. This she made and asked me to show to Gammage.”
The Ancestor took the bag, turned it about as if it were indeed some treasure newly discovered, then passed it to Lohanna. She studied it with the same at-tention and then said to Gammage:
“She is one we should have with us. Elder. Though she is not of the In-born, yet see what she has wrought. And what does she there?” She gestured to the picture. “She rediscovers by herself one of the secrets of the Demons—doing it clumsily, but from her own mind! The old strain is not finished in the Out-World!”
“So it seems. And we shall try to bring her, Lohanna. Now—“ Gammage looked to Furtig. “So you can make the picture become what you wish— How?”
“I do not know how. I think—and there is the picture of the one I think of. Not as I remember them last, but perhaps as they are at present. But how can I be sure? I do not know it for the truth!” He was not going to claim any talent which could later be proven false. In spite of Foskatt’s enthusiasm, Furtig was stubbornly determined to walk cautiously before the Inborn.
“Tell him how you were led through the lairs—“
Reluctantly Furtig added that piece of information.
“Not so strange.” For the first time the metal-handed Elder commented. “We have long known that certain of us can be so guided—“
“But the point Foskatt would make,” Gammage said, “is not that Furtig was guided, but that he used it with one he did not know, had had no contact with before. So it would seem his use of that talent is also different. If such a change breeds true, we can hope for much in the future. Yes, Furtig, our brother here has been right to urge you to tell us this. Now, what else can you see—perhaps here in the lair?”