“Are you feeling better?” Nightfall asked. Redlance
knelt behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
“What is she doing here?” Cutter rasped, blinking
through the fever glaze. “What is the Black Snake doing at our howls?”
“The Black Snake?” Nightfall frowned. Now
why was he calling her that? Only Rayek called her that, and perhaps their
chief from time to time. Why would Cutter call her by that endearment,
especially after trying to kill her? The illness, she attributed it to.
She sighed sadly. Would it never lift and leave him be?
“Cutter, Winnowill has lived near us for years,
ever since Rayek Recognized her in Blue Mountain. Don’t you remember that?
She has never really been part of the tribe, as least she’ll never admit
to it. But she’s loved, just as Rayek is loved.”
“Rayek’s a pompous lizzard...” Cutter muttered weakly.
“And Winnowill is a danger...grave danger...”
“She’s a healer,” Nightfall shook her head, gently
correcting him. “And Mistress of the Palace, sharing the rule with Rayek.
They found the Palace in the Frozen mountains and with the spirits of the
Gliders made it fly again, remember? Don’t you remember the beauty of it,
to see the Palace fly? Sefra’s eyes filled with tears when she beheld it.”
“That’s not...what happened...” Cutter gasped out.
“It was different. Rayek found it...Winnowill was in Blue Mountain. Leetah
tried to heal her...failed. She fought us...fought us forever. Countless
eights. She died...the Junn killed her.”
“The Junn? Cutter, these are dreams talking.”
“No, no, NO!” he tried to sit up, but the dizziness
had returned. “No, it was different. Timmain was our founder, not Sefra
Silver-eyes. My family was blood of chiefs, not Skywise’s. Bearclaw ruled...not...not
Shale. She’s done this...she has...Winnowill. She stole the palace...went
through time...that must be right. She changed our past forever...”
“You speak as if she were a monster,” Nightfall
frowned. “Will is the gentlest soul you could ever meet. Yes, she was sick
before,” she added when Cutter’s eyes widened at her statement. “Before
Rayek found her she was sick, deluded and maddened. She ruled Blue Mountain
ruthlessly, manipulating Lord Voll and twisted the world to suit her own
fears and desires. But that was long ago, Cutter. Eight eights times eight
ago. That was before Rayek Recognized her and saved her from herself. That
was before he showed her how beautiful the world outside Blue Mountain
is. We’ve all forgotten that side of her. She’s reborn, she’s a new being
entirely. A kindhearted healer in love with the songs of this world. She’s
more Wolfrider than she thinks.”
“This is all wrong,” Cutter whispered. “The Wolfriders...where...where
is the wolfsong? Where is the wolfblood?”
“Wolfblood?” Nightfall frowned.
“We carry the wolfblood within us,” Cutter gasped.
“The males...grow facefur like a wolf after they age....We scent and stalk
like wolves. We are kin to them.”
“Cutter,” Redlance frowned. “We ride wolves. We
don’t mate with them!”
“What is this? What is this...” Cutter sobbed.
“You don’t remember anything,” Nightfall sighed
sorrowfully.
“I remember...but it was so different...” Cutter
insisted. He paused, breathing deep as he fought off another wave of dizziness.
“I’m...not chief?” he asked.
Nightfall shook her head.
“What am I?” he asked, perplexed.
“You are the Wolfrider’s master cook,” she explained.
“Cook?” Cutter gasped. “Cook? Like a fat human in
one of their meat-burning forges?”
“No one can match your stews and roasts,” Redlance
offered.
“Paugh,” Cutter groaned. “Worthless human cooking,”
he sneered. “What is this? What’s happening?”
“Do you eat raw meat like wolves too in your dreams?”
Redlance asked, trying to sound compassionately jesting. Cutter snarled
and Redlance backed up.
“You truly remember nothing. Then...then let us
tell you what’s happened,” Nightfall suggested. “Let us tell you what you’ve
forgotten.”
Cutter shook his head, tossing in his furs.
“Cutter?” Redlance asked. “Do you want to listen?
We can come back later, if you’d prefer?”
“No...no I want to know,” Cutter reached out to
Nighfall’s hand. “What’s happened? Tell me...tell me what’s gone wrong.”
“Nothing’s gone wrong,Cutter,” Nightfall smiled
softly. “You’ll see.”