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Ryan tried to keep his body's reactions under control. He flicked his gaze to
one side and saw Blood-sniffer staring up at him curiously. The heat of those
blazing eyes cooled his heated, automatic responses quickly.
"You are very brave, outlander," she said in a breathy whisper. "But courage
is a good
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use it."
On the far side of the tepee, the flap was thrown back with a rude, peremptory
rustle. A
man stepped inside. He was old enough to have iron gray hair, but he stood as
straight as the feather-bedecked ceremonial lance he gripped in one hand. He
wore a loose buckskin tunic and fringed leggings. A necklace of wolfs fangs
hung about his throat.
Sisoka stepped away from Ryan. The man's eyes flicked from Ryan to her, then
back to
Ryan. He spoke to Sisoka in flawless English.
"So, the outlander has regained his senses. That is well. The pack leaders may
now begin the judgment."
"Judgment?" Ryan echoed.
Sisoka nodded. "I said you were here to be judged. This is Pizi, my father's
brother, chief of the Wolf Soldiers. He demands justice for the lives you
took."
With a clicking of claws, three great gray wolves stalked into the tepee,
their eyes glaring at him, hating him. Ryan felt icy fingers tracing down his
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spine. The concept of facing an inhuman panel of judges awoke in him a
loathing he had never experienced.
"When does the judgment begin?" Ryan whispered to Sisoka.
Without looking at him, she replied, "It began the moment you entered this
valley, Ryan
Cawdor."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sisoka gestured to Ryan and said clearly, "Before you judge, brothers,
remember that this outlander may be the last thread by which we may draw
Ti-Ra'-Wa out of danger."
Pizi looked solemnly at her. "The outlanders and their weapons are our
greatest danger.
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
This man and all those who came with him should die. He seeks to help
Touch-the-Sky make Ti-Ra'-Wa like the outside world, a place of horror,
bloodshed and suffering."
He shook the lance, the feathers rustled and his voice rose in an impassioned
shout.
"Blood of our dead calls out for justice! The outlanders have brought death
and corruption into our sacred land. They have sinned against
Ah-badt-dadt-deah and the
Grandmother!"
The wolves growled and snarled, lips peeling back from saliva-slick fangs.
"This man sinned in ignorance," Sisoka said heatedly. "He knew nothing of us
until he came to this valley. He was deceived, duped into killing without
realizing his crime."
"He blundered here through greed," Pizi said with a sneer, "driven mad by the
lust to possess the Grandmother's bounty. There can be only one penalty. What
is the verdict of the pack?"
As from one throat, a skin-crawling howl burst from the wolves. Ryan saw that
Blood-
sniffer was the only animal abstaining from the bloodthirsty vocalization.
Pizi dipped the lance, and the point pressed lightly into the soft hollow at
the base of
Ryan's throat. He kept his expression impassive and fixed his eye on Pizi's
face.
"Do the Wolf Soldiers so fear the power of the outlanders that you will murder
me while
I'm bound and helpless?" Ryan's words were heavy with contempt. "If so, then
end this farce and chill me now. I'm sick of all this Wolf Soldier bullshit."
Anger flashed briefly in Pizi's eyes, and the pressure of the spear point
increased.
"Enough!" Sisoka snapped. "The outlander, no matter what he has done, no
matter what else he might be, is a warrior and deserving of a warrior's
chance."
"He had his chance," Pizi said grimly.
"
Henakeca
!" Sisoka cried angrily.
The pressure of the sharp point lessened on Ryan's throat, but Pizi didn't
lower the lance.
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden
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"You swore to recognize me as the one true Guardian," Sisoka said sternly.
"The pack has rendered its verdict, but it is my duty, my right, to impose the
final sentence."
Sisoka paused. Her face and tone were imperious as she announced, "He must
face a soldier in equal combat. If he survives, he will be a member of the
pack, and if he betrays the pack, then the pack's justice prevails."
In an angry motion Pizi pulled back the lance and slammed it butt-first to the
floor. "One soldier must volunteer to face the outlander. If one does not,
then he dies."
Without hesitation Blood-sniffer stepped forward and nosed Sisoka's hand. She
looked down on the wolf with a fond, sad smile. "We have the volunteer."
Ryan stared at the big, muscular animal, trying to convince himself that,
armed with his panga, he could make short work of Blood-sniffer. After all, he
had battled other beasts, giant mutie wolves included, and emerged alive, if
not exactly victorious or unscathed.
As if sensing his thoughts, Blood-sniffer looked over at him. Something in
that intense, inhuman gaze shook him.
Pizi stalked out of the tepee. The wolves remained, watching Ryan. Sisoka
moved toward him, drawing a bone-handled knife with an obsidian blade from a
voluminous sleeve. She began cutting the rawhide bindings around his arms and
legs.
"What kind of weapon can I use?" he asked.
"The same as Blood-sniffer your teeth and nails."
"What?"
She sawed through the last of the thongs holding him to the framework. "Equal
combat.
Nor may you stand erect."
As soon as she said it, Ryan fell down, his legs like dead fish, as numb as if
they had never been alive. Sisoka helped him to kneel, massaging his deadened
muscles to restore the circulation of blood in his arms and legs.
Ryan touched his head, his fingers brushing a crusted lump on his right
temple. He felt scabbed-over claw marks. He glanced at the knife Sisoka had
laid on the ground while
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Dlands 37- Demons of Eden she kneaded the stiffness from his shoulders, then
to the four wolves scarcely an arm's length away from him.
Pizi returned, his arms full of a furry bundle. For a moment, Ryan couldn't
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