Soul Eater Read Free Page B

a moment, they pictured a happy otter taking a snow-slide.But the otter had never reached the frozen lake at the bottom of the hill. In the lee of a boulder twenty paces above the shore, Torak found a scattering of fish-scales and a shred of rawhide. "They trapped it," he said."Why?" said Renn. "An otter's a hunter----"Torak shook his head. It didn't make sense.Suddenly Renn tensed. "Hide!" she whispered, pulling him behind the boulder.Through the trees, Torak caught movement on the lake. A creature snuffling, swaying, searching for something. It was very tall, with a shaggy pelt and a trailing, matted mane. Torak smelled carrion, and heard a wet bubbling of breath. Then it turned, and he saw a33filthy one-eyed face as rough as bark. He gasped."It can't be!" whispered Renn.They stared at one another. "The Walker!"The autumn before last, their paths had crossed with this terrifying, mad old man. They'd been lucky to escape with their lives."What's he doing so far from his valley?" breathed Torak as they shrank farther behind the boulder."And how do we get past without being seen?" hissed Renn."Maybe--we don't.""What?""Maybe he saw who took Wolf!""Have you forgotten," she said in a furious whisper, "that he nearly killed us? That he threw my quiver in the stream, and threatened to snap my bow?" It was unclear which she considered worse: threatening them or her bow."But he didn't, did he?" countered Torak. "He let us go. And Renn. What if he saw something?""So you're just going to ask him, are you? Torak, he's crazy! Whatever he says, we couldn't believe him!"Torak opened his mouth to reply ...... and around them the snow exploded."Give it back!" roared the Walker, brandishing his green slate knife. "She took his fire! She tricked him! The Walker wants it back!"34***"The Walker has tricked the tricksters!" he bellowed, pinning them against the boulder. "Now they must give it back!"His mane was a tangle of beard-moss, his scrawny limbs as gnarled as roots. Loops of green slime swung like creepers from his shattered nose and his rotten, toothless mouth.He'd left his cape on the ice to fool them, and was naked but for a hide loincloth stiff with filth, foot-bindings of moldy wovenbark, and a rancid jerkin made from the skin of a red deer, which he'd ripped from the carcass and then forgotten to clean. The tail, legs and hooves swung wildly as he waved his knife in their faces."She took it!" he shouted, spattering them with slime. "She tricked him!""I--I didn't take anything," stammered Renn, hiding her bow behind her back."Don't you remember us?" said Torak. "We never stole anything!""Not she!" snarled the Walker. "She!" Quick as an eel, a grimy hand flashed out and seized Torak by the hair. His head was twisted back, his weapons tossed in the snow. "The sideways one," breathed the Walker, blasting him with an eye-watering stink. "Her fault that Narik is lost!"35"But we didn't do anything!" pleaded Renn. "Let him go!""Axe!" spat the Walker, fixing her with his bloodshot eye. "Knife! Arrows! Bow! In the snow, quick quick quick!"Renn did as she was told.The Walker pressed his knife against Torak's windpipe, cutting off his air. "She gives him her fire," he snarled, "or he slits the wolf boy's throat! And he'll do it, oh yes!"Black spots darted before Torak's eyes. "Renn--" he gasped, "strike-fire--""Take it!" cried Renn, fumbling at her tinder pouch.Deftly the old man caught the stone, and threw Torak to the ground. "The Walker has fire!" he exulted. "Beautiful fire!" Now he can find Narik!"That would have been the time to run. Torak knew it, and so did Renn. Neither of them moved."The sideways one," panted Torak, rubbing his throat."Who is she?" said Renn.The old man turned on her, and she dodged a flailing hoof. "But the Walker is crazy" he sneered, "so who can believe him?"Seizing one of the deer legs, he sucked at the festering hide. "The sideways one," he mumbled. "Not alone, oh no, oh no. Twisted legs and flying thoughts." He