Ayla gave her a wry smile. 'I know that someday I will probably have to give up my name and be called 'Zelandoni of the Ninth Cave', but not too soon, I hope. I like being called Ayla. It's my name, the name my real mother gave me, or close to it anyway. It's the only thing I have left from her.'
'Ayla, then, and how do you say the name of this wolf?' He had put his head back down on her leg again, and she found it comforting.
'Wolf,' Ayla said.
Dulana made an attempt at the name, and Wolf lifted his head and looked at her, acknowledging her effort.
'Why don't you come out and meet everyone,' Ayla said. 'The Trade Master is with us and he tells wonderful stories about his travels, and the First might sing some of the Elder Legends, and she has a beautiful voice. You shouldn't miss out.'
'I guess maybe I could,' Dulana said, softly. She had been feeling lonely staying inside her dwelling by herself while everyone else was enjoying the visitors. When she got up and walked out, Wolf stayed close to her. Everyone from the Cave, especially the Zelandoni, was surprised to see her, and even more to see the way the four-legged hunter seemed to have developed a protective closeness to her. Instead of Ayla, or even Jonayla, he chose to sit beside Dulana. The First glanced at her Acolyte and gave her an inconspicuous nod of approval.
In the morning the visitors and some of the local residents prepared to visit the nearby painted cave. There were several stone shelters in the region, many of them home to various Caves, usually named with their own counting words, though on occasion two or three that lived close to each other joined together to make a single Cave. Most were empty now, with the people doing their usual summer travelling. A few people from nearby Caves who did not make the trek to their Summer Meeting had come to stay where there was a Zelandoni in residence.
All eight adults who were travelling on the Donier Tour, plus five who were staying at the Fourth Cave of the South Land Zelandonii were in the group who came to see the sacred site, which included the two hunters who normally lived at the nearby stone shelter. Dulana had offered to watch Jonayla; Ayla suspected she missed her children. Jonayla was willing to stay with the woman, and Wolf was willing to stay with both of them, so Ayla agreed. Although the child could walk, she was only a four-year, so Ayla often carried her. Jondalar also carried her occasionally, but Ayla was so used to carrying her daughter, she felt as if she had forgotten something when they started out.
They reached the small stone shelter that the First had pointed out to Ayla on their way there. The opening faced east and it was obvious that the site had been used as a living space at times. The dark charcoal circle of a former fireplace was still partially ringed with stones, though some were missing. A couple of larger chunks of limestone that had broken loose from wall or ceiling had been dragged closer to it for seating. A torn and discarded leather covering lay in a pile near a wall next to a few large and awkward pieces of wood that would likely last through the night if the fire was big and hot enough to get them started.
The entrance to the cave was at the north end of the abri under a short section of overhanging ledge, which was weathering and shedding pieces of broken rock that were beginning to pile up in front of the opening that led inside the wall of stone.
The Zelandoni had put some wood, tinder, and a fire-making drill and platform along with some stone lamps into a backframe that he slipped off near the firepit. Then he began to organise the materials. When she saw what he was doing, Ayla reached into a leather pouch hanging from her waist thong and retrieved two stones. One was a strong piece of flint in a sturdy blade shape, the other a walnut-sized chunk of stone with a silvery-brassy metallic lustre. A groove had been worn into the shiny stone from being struck repeatedly by the flint blade.
'Will you allow me to start a fire?' Ayla asked.
'I'm pretty good at it. It won't take me long,' the Zelandoni said as he started to cut a notch in the platform for the pointed end of the wooden drill he would twirl between his hands.
'She can do it faster,' Willamar said with a grin.
'You seem very sure,' the young Zelandoni said, beginning to feel a bit competitive. He was rather proud of his fire-making skill. There were few who could make a fire from scratch faster than he could.
'Why don't you let her show you,' Jonokol said.
'Fine,' the young man said, then stood up and backed away. 'Go ahead.'
Ayla knelt down by the dark, cold fireplace, then looked up. 'May I use your tinder and kindling, since it's here?' she asked.
'Why not?' the local Zelandoni said.
Ayla piled the light, dry tinder together, then bent down close to it. She struck the iron pyrite with the flint, and the young Zelandoni thought for a moment that he saw a flash of light. Ayla struck again, this time drawing off a large spark that landed on the desiccated, easily flammable material and brought forth a bit of smoke that she started blowing on. In a moment there was a small flame, which she fed with more tinder, then slightly larger pieces, then kindling, then small wood. When it was established, she sat back on her heels. The young Zelandoni stood with his mouth agape.
'You'll catch flies that way,' the Trade Master said, grinning.
'How did you do that?' the young local Zelandoni asked.
'It's not that difficult with a firestone,' Ayla said. 'I'll show you before we leave, if you'd like.'
After a few more heartbeats to let the surprising fire-making display settle in, the First spoke up. 'Let's get the lamps lit. I notice you brought some — are there also some stored here?'
'Usually. It depends on who was here last,' the young man said as he retrieved three shallow bowls gouged out of the local limestone from his backframe, 'but I don't count on it.' He also took out a small rawhide packet of wick materials and a hollow aurochs horn from a young animal — much more manageable than the huge horns of a mature adult specimen — with the open end covered by several layers of nearly waterproof intestine tied on with sinew. Inside was softened grease. He also had some torches made of leaves, grasses, and other vegetation tied tightly around a stick while they were still green enough to be pliable, left to dry for a short while, then dipped in warm pine pitch.
'Is it a very big cave?' Amelana asked. She was slightly nervous in deep caves, especially if they were difficult.
'No,' the local Zelandoni said. 'There's only one main room with a passage leading to it, a smaller side room on the left, and an ancillary passage on the right. The most sacred areas are in the principal room.'
He poured a little softened grease into each of the three stone lamps, added mushroom wicks, then catching fire with a twig, used it to light the wicks once they had drawn up some of the fuel. He also lit one of the torches, then quickly put everything into his backframe again and shouldered it. He led the way into the cave, holding the torch high. One of the hunters brought up the rear to make sure no one got into trouble or fell behind. It was a large group and if it hadn't been a reasonably accessible cave, the First would not have allowed so many people to go in at one time.
Ayla was near the front, with the First and Jondalar behind her. She glanced down and noticed a broken piece of flint on the ground, and not far beyond another blade of flint that appeared whole, but she left them both. Once they were beyond the narrow entrance passage, the cave opened out in both directions.
'On the left is just a constricted little tunnel,' the young Zelandoni said. 'The right leads down to the ancillary passage. We'll go straight ahead, more or less.'
He held the torch high and Ayla looked back. She saw people filing into the enlarged space. Interspersed among them were three lights, three people holding the stone lamps. In the absolute black inside the cave, the torch and small fires appeared to shed much more light than seemed possible, especially now that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness. As they continued, the passage ahead veered slightly to the left and back again to the right, but the way was essentially straight. After a slight widening, the passage narrowed and the Zelandoni stopped. He held the torch high toward the left wall and Ayla saw claw marks.
'At some time bears have hibernated in this cave, but I have never seen them,' the young man said.
Just beyond them, some large rocks had fallen from the wall or ceiling, requiring everyone to go single file. On the other side of the rocks, the Zelandoni again held the torch toward the left. On the wall were the first definitive signs that people had been there before: looping, swirling traces done with the fingers adorned the space. A little farther and the passageway opened out again.
'On the left is the secondary room, but there's not much in there except red and black dots in certain places,'
