Oath Breaker by Michelle Paver, Geoff Taylor Page A

"Where's that?" said Renn. "We never tell outsiders."
"In whose range is it?" said Torak, "Auroch or Forest Horse?"
"The sacred grove is the heart of the Forest," said Durrain. "It belongs to no one. All may go there, though only in greatest need. At least, this was the way until the Forest Horse Mage forbade it."
    Renn took a deep breath. "What if we told you that the Forest Horse Mage is Thiazzi in disguise?"
Durrain gave her a pitying stare, while the others smiled in disbelief.
"But if we're right," said Torak, "you'd help us? You'd help me, your bone kin, fight the Soul-Eater?"
"The Red Deer never fight," repeated Durrain.
"But you can't do nothing!" cried Renn.
"We pray for the fighting to stop," retorted Durrain. "We pray for the World Spirit to come." "That's your answer?" said Torak. "To pray?"
Durrain rose to her feet. "I'll show you why we do not fight," she said, spitting out her words like pebbles. Seizing Torak and Renn by the wrists, she dragged them out of camp.
    They headed uphill, and soon reached a small glade where the evening sun glowed in drifts of yellow hawkbit. There was no birdsong. The glade was eerily quiet. In 135
the middle, Renn saw a tangle of bleached bones: the skeletons of two red deer stags.
It was horribly easy to guess what had happened. Last autumn's rut, and the stags had fought over females. Renn saw the great heads clashing, the antlers locking. The struggle to untangle themselves. They couldn't. They were trapped.
     
"This is the sign the Spirit sent," said Durrain. "See what befell our clan-creatures! They fought. They couldn't get free. They starved to death. This is what happens when you fight. This is why the Red Deer will have none of it!"
     
136

FIFTEEN
    As Durrain led them back to camp, Torak hung back, and Renn fell into step beside him. "Are you all right?" she said. "Fine." She touched his hand. "I know you hoped for more from them."
He forced a shrug. Because she was Renn, he didn't mind her feeling sorry for him, but to stop her saying anything else he said, "I think they're wrong about not fighting."
    "Me too." "How can you not fight Soul-Eaters? If nobody fought 137 them, they'd take over the Forest." "Although," she said, mimicking Durrain's lofty tones, "who are we to question the ways of the Red Deer?"
He grinned. "Especially not you, you ignorant Raven."
She jabbed her elbow in his ribs and he yelped, earning a disapproving glance from Durrain.
As they neared the camp, Torak said in a low voice, "But they have told us something important."
Renn nodded. "We need to find the sacred grove."
Dusk was falling, and most of the Red Deer had gone into the shelter. Durrain was waiting for them. "We pray till dawn," she announced. "You will pray with us." Renn tried to look obedient, and Torak bowed, although he had no intention of praying. He wasn't going to be distracted any longer.
A woman emerged from an adjoining trail, spotted Durrain, and dithered, as if wondering where to hide.
Durrain heaved a sigh. "Where have you been?"
"I--I took an offering to the horses," stammered the woman.
"You should have told me first."
"Yes, Mage," the woman said humbly.
Torak caught Renn's eye. The horses.
To give him a chance to tackle the woman, she asked Durrain to explain how the Red Deer went into a trance. The Mage gave her a look and took her into the shelter. 138
"We should go in," bleated the woman. She had flaky skin which reminded Torak of dried reindeer meat, and she kept blinking as if anticipating a blow. Her bark headbinding was filthy and needed replacing.
    To set her at ease, he asked whom she mourned.
"M-my child," she mumbled. "We should go in."
"And you make offerings to the horses? In their valley?"
"The Windriver, yes." She gestured behind her, then clapped her hand to her mouth. "We should go in !"
Simmering with excitement, Torak left his axe and bow where he could find them and followed her in. It was almost too easy.
Inside, it was as dim as the Forest at