Sisoka sighed heavily. “He has the mind of a visionary, but it is still a human mind, filled with petty dreams of greed and power. He has no idea how easily he could be overwhelmed by the invisible forces in the cavern, powers beyond his control or comprehension.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Sisoka stepped up close to him, her eyes shining with an almost fanatic fervor, again much like Joe’s. “There is a tradition, in every religious culture, that holds that anyone who looks upon the face of God will certainly die. For a mere human to entertain the arrogant notion of commanding the forces of creation is the same thing. Only in this instance the entire world may die.”
Ryan met her gaze, and his belly went cold. She wasn’t being melodramatic. She was speaking the truth, at least as she understood it.
“Why should I believe you?” he rasped. “You might want to keep Touch-the-Sky from reaching the cavern simply because you’re afraid of losing your position in the tribe.”
“And how do I know,” Sisoka asked, “that you are not the wawihangya un kin oy’ate Pizi claims you are?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
Sisoka smiled slightly. “The destroyer of the world.”
“Pretty big order for one man.”
“I realize that.” She moved closer, and her breath was warm on his naked throat. “Perhaps you’re just a kaga .”
“I think I know that word. It means ‘devil,’ right?”
“Close. ‘Demon.’ ” Her cool fingers came up and tentatively touched his face. “Yes, I think you are more demon than destroyer, Ryan Cawdor.”
Ryan tried to keep his body’s reactions under control. He flicked his gaze to one side and saw Blood-sniffer staring up at him curiously. The heat of those blazing eyes cooled his heated, automatic responses quickly.
“You are very brave, outlander,” she said in a breathy whisper. “But courage is a good quality only when one is wise enough to know when to use it.”
On the far side of the tepee, the flap was thrown back with a rude, peremptory rustle. A man stepped inside. He was old enough to have iron gray hair, but he stood as straight as the feather-bedecked ceremonial lance he gripped in one hand. He wore a loose buckskin tunic and fringed leggings. A necklace of wolfs fangs hung about his throat.
Sisoka stepped away from Ryan. The man’s eyes flicked from Ryan to her, then back to Ryan. He spoke to Sisoka in flawless English.
“So, the outlander has regained his senses. That is well. The pack leaders may now begin the judgment.”
“Judgment?” Ryan echoed.
Sisoka nodded. “I said you were here to be judged. This is Pizi, my father’s brother, chief of the Wolf Soldiers. He demands justice for the lives you took.”
With a clicking of claws, three great gray wolves stalked into the tepee, their eyes glaring at him, hating him. Ryan felt icy fingers tracing down his spine. The concept of facing an inhuman panel of judges awoke in him a loathing he had never experienced.
“When does the judgment begin?” Ryan whispered to Sisoka.
Without looking at him, she replied, “It began the moment you entered this valley, Ryan Cawdor.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sisoka gestured to Ryan and said clearly, “Before you judge, brothers, remember that this outlander may be the last thread by which we may draw Ti-Ra’-Wa out of danger.”
Pizi looked solemnly at her. “The outlanders and their weapons are our greatest danger. This man and all those who came with him should die. He seeks to help Touch-the-Sky make Ti-Ra’-Wa like the outside world, a place of horror, bloodshed and suffering.”
He shook the lance, the feathers rustled and his voice rose in an impassioned shout. “Blood of our dead calls out for justice! The outlanders have brought death and corruption into our sacred land. They have sinned against Ah-badt-dadt-deah and the Grandmother!”
The wolves growled and snarled, lips peeling back from saliva-slick fangs.
“This man sinned in ignorance,” Sisoka said heatedly. “He knew nothing of us until he came to this valley. He was deceived, duped into killing without realizing his crime.”
“He blundered here through greed,” Pizi said with a sneer, “driven mad by the lust to possess the Grandmother’s bounty. There can be only one penalty. What is the verdict of the pack?”
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