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Chapter 4

When Kilyan finally awoke, the pups told Sion their names and why they had been in the forest to begin with. Sion listened to their story in silence, a faint smile on his lips. With the story finished, Kilyan bowed his head, distraught that they still had not found his talisman after everything they had gone through. He could not contain his joy when Sion pulled the talisman from his ragged pile of sleeping furs.

"You found it!" Kilyan squeaked, green eyes bright with joy.

Sion tied the talisman on Kilyan's arm for him, but it slipped right off. Sion caught it deftly in his large fingers and handed it to him.

". . . and it still doesn't fit," Kilyan said sullenly, staring at the talisman in his small paws. "Even when I adjust it!"

"I never did get ta show you mine," Keeno said. He straightened up proudly and showed Kilyan the talisman on his skinny upper arm.

Zalia rolled her eyes when Kilyan's mouth fell open in amazement. But she had to admit . . . Keeno's talisman was pretty amazing. The feathers on his talisman had been dyed green and red, which were the colors of the arrow tribe. Keeno often bragged that his mother's family originally hailed from the arrow tribe, and that for this reason, his uncle Hris was one of the best hunters in the village.

Much like Kilyan, Zalia could not help staring. The green was vibrant on Keeno's talisman and glossy in the firelight.

"Awesome!" Kilyan said. "Mom told me Dad's family comes from the crow tribe, but he'll never admit it with black feathers." Kilyan glanced down at his own talisman, which he held still in his small paws. "His dad doesn't love him," he whispered. "But now he'll know I love him. I've got my talisman back!" Kilyan slipped the talisman on again and watched as it slid down his arm.

Keeno laughed flatly. "Not for long, Kil. Hey . . . why don't we trade? Mine's too tight."

Kilyan's eyes grew round and Zalia knew he was touched by the gesture: whenever males traded talismans, it was seen as an act of true friendship and brotherhood.

"But . . ." Kilyan shook his head. "Keeno, I couldn't . . ."

"What's so hard about it?" Keeno said. He slipped his own talisman off, and taking Kilyan's, he slipped it on. Kilyan's talisman fit perfectly on his skinny arm. And when he put his own on Kilyan, it fit perfectly on his.

"Hey!" Kilyan said, amazed, "I can fit your talisman!" He lifted his arm, looking happily at the green and red feathers.

Keeno grinned. "And I can fit yours."

Zalia rolled her eyes when they smiled at each other. She looked over at Sion and noticed he was watching the children with tears standing in his eyes. When he caught her eye, he cleared his throat and looked away.

"What's the matter, Sion?" Zalia wondered anxiously.

Kilyan's ears flattened. "Was your father mean to you too? My dad cried because his father was mean to him . . ."

Sion shook his head and didn't seem able to look at any of them. He lowered his face, and his long dark mane swept forward to hide his expression. It suddenly occurred to Zalia that he was always hiding behind his mane. They had never fully seen his face, just his black eyes peering out at them, the hint of a square jaw, his lips.

"I had a brother once," Sion whispered. "And we traded talismans."

The children were dismayed when Sion suddenly got to his feet. He smiled at them to reassure them, but it was such a miserable smile that they were not reassured at all. He left the cave without a word, half-wishing he had never found them. Talking to them was forcing up memories, things he had buried in his subconscious for years.

Outside, he slumped to his knees and stared into the pressing trees. It was night and the forest was still and shadowy, humming with the sound of crickets and distant owls. It pained him to think that he and his father had hunted together in this same forest once. Such happy memories they had created . . . were now intensely painful.

Sion closed his eyes. Suni had been from the winter village, a towering giant of a male with very dark gray fur and sharp black eyes. Sion's mother Tuala caught Suni's eye when he came to the summer village to trade. He fell in love with her, and he loved her so desperately that when she insisted on staying with her tribe, he relocated to the summer village without protest.

Suni was kind, strong, and good - and not at all the way the bitter summer wolves seemed to regard winter wolves, once their enemy. Suni was not a mindless brute nor was he greedy. He loved all his children, but everyone knew that Sion was his favorite.

Being the oldest boy, Sion's brother Sicheii resented the fact. He did everything in his power to punish Sion for stealing their father's love and attention. Suni, frightened that his sons would come to hate each other, often took Sion and Sicheii out together on hunting trips. He made many such attempts to prove that he loved his sons equally, but it was never enough for Sicheii.

On one such hunting trip, Sion nailed a beautiful white bird with one arrow. The birds were very quick and small, so it was always a feat whenever a hunter captured one. Their beautiful white feathers sold in the market at a very high price. Wolves wore the talons of the birds in pouches around their throats for good luck, and their flesh was used for incredibly strong medicines.

Suni could not stop singing Sion's praises. As Sicheii sourly looked on, Suni hugged Sion tight and ruffled his mane until the quiver of arrows on his back jingled. The father and son laughed happily in the bright sunlight, never noticing until it was far too late that Sicheii had snapped his bow in halves in anger.

Suni looked over to his see son's furious face. He came to Sicheii, frowning. "You should be happy for your brother!" Suni scolded, clapping Sicheii on the shoulder. "He has proved himself a true hunter this day! And with the feathers from this bird --" He lifted the dead bird high in his paw, "--I will make your brother a fine talisman! The same way I made you a talisman, Sicheii. Remember your first kill --"

Sicheii jerked his shoulder free with a violent twist, and Sion hated the way his father's ears flattened sadly.

It was true that Suni had already made Sicheii a talisman. Sicheii's first kill had been a hawk, and Suni had used the feathers to make his son a talisman, something he could pass down for generations and give to his own son. The talisman was on Sicheii's bulging upper arm even now.

"Son . . ." Suni began heavily, miserably.

Sicheii didn't look at his father. He was too busy glaring at Sion.

Sion stood very still, wishing he could vanish. Whenever Sicheii glared at him like that, it meant revenge was in store. Probably in the form of a punch to the face.

So Sion was surprised when, later that week, Sicheii came to him and apologized.

They went home early so that Suni could begin work on a talisman for Sion. It took two days to complete, and with its completion, he tied it on his son's upper arm with pride. Sion stood smiling in the front room as his younger brothers and his mother crowded around, singing his praises, unable to believe that Sion had killed such a rare and beautiful bird. Tuala in particular could not stop exclaiming her amazement and kept bouncing up on tiptoe to express her pride with a kiss on Sion's cheek. Sion wished she would stop: each time their mother kissed him, Sicheii's expression seemed to grow darker.

Sicheii spent the entire week hating Sion, glaring at him from afar as he went about with his white-fathered talisman, gathering shocked gasps and impressed smiles from females. By the end of the week, Sicheii seemed determined to do or say something, and Sion waited miserably for the axe to fall.

On the night Sicheii finally approached Sion, they gathered as usual for supper, and Suni was his usual cheery self, talking loudly with his wife and his sons as everyone sat around the fire. Sicheii was silent and solemn as ever, but he kept shooting Sion furtive glances. Sensing that something was coming, Sion avoided his brother's eye throughout supper, and later when the meal had ended, he went outside to get some air.

Sion stood in the yard, staring at the stars and thinking with a smile of Sierra. He stiffened when he heard Sicheii approaching behind him.

"My brother," Sicheii said heavily, "I am sorry for the way I have acted."

Sion turned to face his brother and stared at him suspiciously. Sicheii never apologized for anything. But now he was standing before Sion, ears flat, head bowed in shame. Sion didn't know what to think, so he remained silent.

"What Dad has been trying to tell me all these years," Sicheii went on apologetically, "it finally . . . hit home today. You are a fine hunter, Sion. Why should I punish you for this? When I saw everyone around you, hugging you and kissing you, I realized that. . . I should be hugging you and kissing you."

Sion smiled uncertainly. How many years had he waited to hear this? How many years had he hoped? He and Sicheii had actually been friends when they were small. But the older they became, the more their friendship had turned to cold competition. As they began their warrior training, it became clear almost immediately that Sion was better at everything. Sicheii became so bitter over the years that Sion secretly hated his own skill. All he wanted was his brother back.

"All I want is my brother back," Sicheii said, startling Sion from his thoughts. He stepped closer to him, and Sion's mouth sagged open when he removed his brown-feathered talisman. He offered it to Sion. "Be my brother again?" he said with a sad frown.

Sion reached for his own talisman but hesitated. He frowned into Sicheii's eyes. "You mean it?"

Sicheii smiled slowly and nodded. "Yes."

Suddenly grinning and eager, Sion removed his white-feathered talisman. He traded talismans with his brother and couldn't believe it when Sicheii suddenly pulled him close in a rough hug. Sion laughed happily. It was the best day of his life.

Or so he thought at the time.

"Sion?"

It was Zalia's voice - the cute little girl who had fought so bravely against the lone wolf. Little did she know that that same lone wolf had attacked Sion as well. He had been tracking him all night, bent on revenge.

Sion didn't turn as Zalia came up behind him. He realized he was crying. He tried to make the tears stop before she reached him and quickly wiped them away with his wrist. He smelled the two little boys emerge from the cave behind her, but they did not approach.

Sion stiffened when Zalia touched an uncertain paw to his shoulder. Her paws were so tiny. It reminded him once more how small and fragile the children were - and yet how tough. He still couldn't believe how brave they'd been, how quickly the little black male bounced back from his head injury. Sion glanced at the little girl, thinking he would have loved to have had a daughter like her. He and Sierra would have had so many children . . .

Zalia frowned. "Don't cry," she begged.

"You said you traded with your brother," Kilyan said, drawing near. "So where's your talisman? D'you lose it like me? Is that why your dad was mean?"

Sion closed his eyes.

"Give it to me," Sicheii snarled. "Wake up!"

Sion remembered being shaken roughly from his dreams. He awoke with a gasp and blinked rapidly. He was in his bed, in his room. Sicheii was on top of him, sneering into his face as his strong body pinned him down. Sion noticed at once that Sicheii was not wearing the white-feathered talisman he had given him. Sion frowned. He was still wearing the brown-feathered talisman, and Sicheii was prying at it with hard fingers, trying to untie it and take it back.

Sion stared in amazement at his brother. Sicheii was breathless and sweaty and smelled liked grass and . . . laundry soap. His mane was in his eyes - eyes that burned bright with a menacing rage. And something like triumph. There was also a strange smell on him . . . a female's smell. He thought he knew it but couldn't quite pin it . . . Where the hell had Sicheii been?

"I said --" Sion cried out when Sicheii slapped him hard, "give it to me!"

Sion lay stiff a moment, letting the pain receded in his cheek. When he didn't move, his brother slapped his face again with a loud pop and waited, his paw raised. Sion hated himself when he tears blinded him. He started prying the brown-feathered talisman off quickly.

"You pussy," Sicheii sneered, snatching the talisman from his brother. "Stop crying - I just slapped you! Tch. And Dad thinks you're the better warrior." He fumbled to tie the talisman on with one paw, then glared at Sion. "Idiot. Why did you untie it? Why not just slip it off your arm! Help me get it on!" He backed off Sion and sat on the edge of the bed.

Sion obediently sat up and tied the talisman on for his brother. "Why'd you change your mind?" he asked darkly. "I thought we were friends again . . . and where's my talisman?"

Sion didn't like the satisfied smile that crept across Sicheii's face. "You'll find out," he said, "soon enough."

The next morning after breakfast, Suni demanded to know where Sion's talisman was. He dragged him outside to the yard. Sicheii and Sion's other brothers stopped to watch the conversation curiously. Sicheii was the only one who seemed to know exactly what it was about. Sion glared at his older brother as Suni shooed his curious sons away.

Suni looked at Sion again when they were alone together. "Where is it?" he almost bellowed.

Sion bowed his head and winced under his father's yelling. He hated making Suni angry like this. The white-feathered talisman was very valuable due to the rarity of the bird it had come from, and what was more, Suni had put a great deal of time, effort, and love into making it. That Sion could be so careless as to lose it after one week was infuriating.

Sion bit his lip, too frightened to tell his father the truth. Sicheii had threatened to beat him up if he opened his mouth. He suddenly hated himself: he was sixteen years old, almost old enough for the mating season, and still afraid of his brother!

"Dad," Sion began, taking a breath, "the truth is, Sicheii and I tra--"

But before Sion could tell his father the truth, Suni silenced him. He was staring beyond Sion's shoulder and Sion heard wolves approaching. Sion turned and followed his father's gaze: half a dozen wolves were coming their way. Sion recognized the one in the lead as Sierra's father. The others were her father's friends. One was her uncle.

And they were carrying sacks of stones.

"What is going on here?" Suni wondered when the angry group of males surrounded them.

Sierra's father shook a white-feathered talisman in his fist and snarled, "Your son fucked my daughter!"

Sion felt his heart shrink with terror. Sierra's father threw the talisman violently at his feet, and as he stared at it, he slowly realized whose smell had been on Sicheii.

"Sion? Where's your talisman?" Kilyan repeated.

Sion blinked the memories away. He got heavily to his feet. "No where," he muttered, turning to the children. He clapped a playful paw on Keeno's head and smiled when he giggled. "Come on. Let's go inside. . . . I think it's going to rain."