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thought of taking his son again into the open country and exposing him to its dangers. It was a perilous
thing to do, and yet he must that had been the word sent to him on Holasheeta's dying breath.
He would take E-lo-ni also, and together they would make the long trek over the chilly distance to find
what waited for them beside the Burning Mountain where the Ancient Ones rolled and tumbled beneath
the earth.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Although winter was toying with the plain so far, without any blizzard to make travel too hard for a family,
the peaks toward which Do-na-ti set out were already deep in snow. Once he topped the ridges, he
could see jagged teeth of white beyond the flare of the Burning Mountain.
E-lo-ni had been doubtful of taking her son on such a risky mission. Yet she had not argued when
Do-na-ti told her what they must do. She had seen Holasheeta die with the command upon her lips, and
she knew, as he did, that they must obey.
The wind sliced through even the heavy bison hide of their winter robes, and Do-na-ti carried Gift on his
back, beneath the cover of the robe, to keep the child from freezing. The only good thing about the
weather was the fact that it sent predators and other animals to cover.
A storm would come soon on the heels of the blast, Do-na-ti knew, but once they drew near the Burning
Mountain the ground would warm beneath their feet. They would survive, he understood, if they could
reach that area soon.
It was not very far from the winter village to the mountain Do-na-ti sought. Two days saw his family
drawing near, as the ground shook beneath their feet. Though the grassland still stretched away, broken
by occasional ridges, toward the foot of the smoking giant, already the soil was warm enough to feel
through thick winter moccasins.
Another day's travel would take them too near the mountain for safety. Do-na-ti began to wonder what
he should do he could not risk their lives on the whim of an old woman, no matter if the spirits had sent
her dream. But he plodded onward, E-lo-ni beside him, his son tucked snugly against his back.
Then the ground began to shake harder, so hard that it threw him to his knees. He felt E-lo-ni clinging to
his shoulder as they knelt on the ash-covered grass, staring at the thing that began to burst upward
between their position and the mountain toward which they traveled.
The earth seemed intent upon flinging them off into the murky sky. He put one arm over his wife and
tucked Gift, retrieved from the sling on his back, under his other arm. Together they lay flat, riding the
bucking ground as it heaved beneath them.
A sound, too huge, too sharp, too booming to hear properly, exploded into the afternoon. Do-na-ti
raised his head and uncovered his eyes, peering into the chaos before him. A plume was shooting into the
sky, like smoke, but much whiter. As it rose, it opened out to form a wide cloud on the air, and as it
plumed it turned pale gray.
Now the ground shook even more strongly. A rain of ash and heavier debris began to pelt down upon
the small family so near that new opening into the underworld, where surely the Ancient Ones must have
flung a spear to pierce the rock and burst into the free air above.
Do-na-ti felt that he was seeing the thing the spirits had promised him, but he had no understanding of
what it might mean. What he did know was that he must retreat with his family to the shelter of the ridge
to the south, for if larger rocks began raining from the sky, they would surely be crushed.
He nudged E-lo-ni, for even a shout could not have been heard above the bone-shaking rumble of the
earth. They rose together, holding the larger robe over their heads to shelter them all from the deadly hail
of stuff that the plume was dropping upon their heads.
Gift was crying now, his training lost amid such noise and confusion. Do-na-ti could feel the round body
heaving against his chest as he ran beside E-lo-ni toward the ridge, which was their only chance of
survival. Tears dampened his chest and trickled along his neck as the child wept.
It seemed that herds of Tusked Ones must be stampeding at their heels, bellowing and tearing up the
ground, so great was the tumult. Ahead a crack opened in the ground before the fleeing feet of Do-na-ti's
family.
He knew that to pause was to die, and he caught E-lo-ni against him and leapt with all his might. They
landed with a thump. Without pausing, he urged them onward, for now the rocky ridge was near,
although when he peered through the thick air, it, too, seemed to be dancing before his eyes.
As they came to the first slopes, loose rocks and patches of shale broke or rolled beneath their steps, but
Do-na-ti kept his balance somehow, half-clinging to E-lo-ni and half-supporting her. Now the ridge itself
was cracking, parts of the lava cap breaking free to tumble toward them.
But Do-na-ti felt a sudden surge of strength. He had made great journeys, guided by the Old Spirit Ones.
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