Breakaway: Clan of the Ice Mountains by C.S. Bills

the thought, realizing he would never know. The spirits had placed him in the bear’s path, and he’d done what he had to do. No more.
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    S everal evenings later, Attu’s family gathered in the shelter around the nuknuk lamp after another meal of ice bear. They’d shared the meal with Paven, Rika, and her little brother Rovek, named after the young hunter who had died. Rika had no sisters, older or younger, and once Ubantu had discovered that Paven’s woman had gone Between, he had asked Yural to invite them to their shelter to eat the evening meal. Several days had gone by before Yural had finally asked them, at Ubantu’s insistence. Attu thought it odd, since his mother normally loved to entertain others.
    Paven came into the shelter as dusk fell, and before Ubantu had the chance to invite him, Paven took the best seat, the one furthest away from the drafty door flap. Rika and Rovek hardly spoke, keeping their eyes down and flinching when Paven ordered them to sit, motioning to their places as if they might somehow forget the obvious, that Rika would sit with the women and Rovek with the men. Ubantu frowned, but said nothing.
    Paven ate heartily, but did not thank Yural for the food, as was customary of a guest. It seemed like Paven expected to have the right to be there, as if once he walked into their shelter, it became his. Attu didn’t like it. This was a side of Paven he hadn’t seen before. In his own way, Attu realized, Paven was as arrogant as Moolnik. Was this why his mother had been reluctant to invite him?
    After eating, Attu sat in the light of the nuknuk lamps, listening to Ubantu and Paven discuss the need to move south as soon as possible. The two men were working to convince Moolnik and the other hunters that the two clans should travel south together, but neither man thought their chances were good.
    “Moolnik doesn’t listen to me,” Ubantu said, his voice strangely harsh.
    “That is unfortunate, for you are the older brother,” Paven replied.
    Moolnik hates Paven because even our own hunters seem to prefer him as a leader , Attu remembered his father saying the day before. Attu noticed his father seemed to follow Paven as well, listening to him, taking his advice, and urging others to do the same. Tonight, however, Ubantu seemed different. Sullen and angry, much like Moolnik.
    Why doesn’t he step up and lead our clan himself, instead of relying on Paven to do it for him? Is he still feeling less than a leader because of his old injury? Why is he so out of sorts tonight?
    It seemed to Attu that although his father’s leg rarely pained him or slowed him down anymore, he still acted as if he weren’t the strong hunter from before the accident. Attu understood how difficult it might be for his father to get his confidence back after his injury. Since the bear’s attack, Attu worried constantly about whether or not he’d get his full range of arm motion back, his strength to throw the spear, to carry the heavy animals home after the hunt, and to walk the long distances over the Great Frozen.
    Meanwhile Moolnik seems to spend all his time trying to convince himself of his own greatness, when I know better... Flashes of memory flooded into Attu’s mind: Elder Nuanu falling; Moolnik turning and seeing; Moolnik pretending he did not see; Attu exchanging a knowing look with Moolnik. Moolnik being forced to look away.
    Attu glanced up from his own thoughts as Meavu and Rovek began giggling and wrestling on the furs. The two were playing a game of Bones. Small bones with markings on one side were tossed in the air and lost or won depending on which side landed facing up. It was a fast moving, simple game, and the two were obviously having fun with it. Attu smiled.
    Rika and his mother were sewing by the light of the second nuknuk lamp, sitting so close to the flame to see their stitching that Attu worried their braids might catch fire. Rika’s mother had died when she was