Dagna Boulderback's Arc

Chapter 9 of 17

The white cat still guarded the cave when Dagna made Mikhael take her there. She could barely walk, but she would not let him face the beast alone. He carried her on the black horse, her old bones swaying with each step. The wolf that shared her hollow trotted behind them, ears up, watchful. Dagna gripped Mikhael's arm. "The marks you need are past that animal," she said. "We settle this today." The cave mouth loomed ahead, its stone arch cut with old carvings. The cat sat inside the dark, fangs long and pale. It did not run. It did not charge. Its yellow eyes fixed on the wolf, then on Dagna. Mikhael slid down and drew his knife. "Stay back," he told Dagna. He stepped toward the cave. The cat rose. Its shoulders bunched. A low sound rolled from its chest. "No," Dagna said. "Look at it. It's guarding, not hunting." She had lived long among such beasts. This one held ground, but it did not close the gap. "It has a den in there. Kits, maybe. It fears us near its young." Mikhael lowered the knife. "Then how do we pass?" Dagna watched the wolf. The two animals stared at each other across the cold air. Neither moved. She saw a chance. "The wolf keeps my hollow. It won't harm a den." She sent the wolf forward with a word. It walked to the cave mouth slow and calm, head low, no threat in it. The cat's growl faded. The two beasts touched noses. The cat turned and slipped deeper into the dark, toward whatever it protected. A black hawk cut across the sky above them, its gem eye flashing, then wheeled away. Dagna took it as a good sign. She had none better. "Now," she said. "Quick, while it's calm." Mikhael helped her down. Together they entered the Carved Echo Cave. The walls held rows of the old marks, cut deep in the stone. Mikhael ran his hand along them. He did not stop at the strange forms this time. He read. "Ice holds the deep memory," he said. "The warm wind steals it. Carve while the cold keeps." His voice shook. He read the next row, and the next. The bridge Dagna had built in his head held. She leaned on the cold wall and listened. Her heart fluttered, weak, but her people's words filled the cave in his voice. The cat had not vanished. It watched from the deep dark, near its kits. But it let them stay. Mikhael turned to her, eyes wet. "I can read all of it now." Dagna nodded. Then her legs buckled. Mikhael caught her before she struck the stone. She could not stand on her own. The cave was open at last, but her body had given the last it had.