‘Welcome, LordAquitain! We have been hearing this name on the wind and the wavesof your coming. How may I be helping you?’
‘I need a Barra for apassing ceremony,’ said Aquitain hesitantly.
‘You shall be havingone of my best Lord,’ and the creature ducked its head under thewater. Moments later several large silvery fish with big jaggedteeth swam up close to his nether region, making him feel a littleuncomfortable.
‘Which one would yousuggest?’ he asked Bhopingar.
‘That one there isbeing the oldest and wisest. It will be being greatly honoured tobe leading the Barra tribe spirits to their ancestors. I would alsobe greatly honoured to be assisting you Lord.’
‘Good, then, youshall,’ said Aquitain. ‘Bring that one and we will continue withthe ceremony.’
‘A Herder isassisting,’ announced Kami. ‘This is being a great honour,Loma.’
‘It is definitely beingthat indeed,’ said Loma. ‘We shall be long remembering thisday.’
The crowd partedexcitedly as Aquitain waded out of the water and the herder draggedthe great fish from the river, laying it on the ground near the urnthat contained the ashes of the dead. Everyone was now totallyimmersed in the ceremony.
‘We will be singingnow,’ Kami said through the mindlink. ‘When we have been finishingtwo songs you must be capturing the spirit of the Barra fish in thewand, by touching it to the Barra fish’s head, and then by touchingthe urn.’
Aquitain used his powerto detect magic to examine the urn. There was only one row of magicsymbols representing the directions of the winds. ‘Oh, this mightcause a problem,’ he thought, but decided to wait until after thesongs.
Kami again led thesinging and the Barra people sang louder than ever before. Thiswould probably be the most special ceremony in their lives, andthey would do their part. After the songs ended, Aquitain pressedthe wand against the fish’s head and said,
‘Omen, will you acceptthe gift of spirit of the Barra?’
‘I will, mind wizard,’it replied.
‘Omen, will you allowthe Barra spirit to enter the urn?’
‘I will, mind wizard,’it said again, and he noticed a second row of magic symbolsappearing around the urn.
‘You should be lettingLoma be doing the next part, spirit bear,’ said Kami, and Aquitaindid. He directed Loma to rotate the urn the correct way, then tapthe lid from the four directions; and the urn opened.
The Barra people burstinto song again and formed a line. At Loma’s signal they each filedpast the urn and took a handful of ashes, then went to the riverand threw them in. They took a handful of fresh ashes from thefuneral pyres of the night before, and added them to the urn. Thecontents of the urn turned the deepest black while they sang a songof farewell, as Loma stirred the ashes with the shaft of a spearthen finally replaced the lid on the urn. Aquitain replaced thewand beside the urn, and it returned to its original blackroot-like appearance, but before he did this he asked it aquestion. The answer to his question chilled him to the bone.
‘Please be accepting myapologies Spirit Lord. I am thinking that you really are K’wala’stwin,’ said Kami.
The Herder bowed hishead and said,
‘It is being a greathonour and a happy privilege, Lord Aquitain. I will be informingthe other herders. They will be greatly happy that there is a Lordreturned in the land again.’ He nodded to Kami and said a few wordsto Loma then returned to the river. The Barra people began buildinga trench fire beside the great fish. They were going to cook andeat it as part of the ceremony.
‘I am proud of you,’said Alpha. ‘I wasn’t sure that you could do it.’
Everyone was laughingand smiling except Miranda. Aquitain reformed his golden robe intoa collar and shape changed back to his bear form, and moved over toher and nuzzled her on the arm. He could see tears in her eyes.
‘That was sobeautiful,’ she said. ‘I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it.Look at how happy you’ve made the Barra people. You not only havetheir thanks but also their respect and admiration. Those are hardthings to come by in the jungle.’
‘Aren’t you unhappythat I can’t change to a more normal newman size Mandy?’ he asked alittle puzzled.
‘Yes of course I am,Tain,’ she said. ‘But the Lady is wise and knows we are weak. Whenyou accepted the new body from her you accepted its strengths, itsweaknesses and its shortcomings. I must accept them as well.’
‘That’s very forgivingof you. I’m not so damn happy about it,’ he said.
‘The ways of the Ladyare mysterious,’ she observed. ‘We must trust in her.’
‘There’s a lot ofmysterious things happening around here,’ Aquitain told her. ‘Takethat Herder, he seems to think I’m some sort of returning Lord. Thewand has a name, and believe me it’s an artefact with the mostdreadful power I’ve ever heard of, and it knew of my coming. We’rebeing manipulated Mandy, by great powers, and I’m beginning to getreally worried.’
Loma approachedAquitain and kneeled before him.
‘Thank you, SpiritLord! We have little that we can give to repay our debt. Pleasetake the shaman’s wand as a gift.’
‘Stand up, Loma. I amnot divine in any way. I am a bear and Barra people do not kneelbefore bears. I cannot accept your gift of the wand. It did notbelong to your shaman. It is far more precious than you know. Thespirits themselves have entrusted to it the protection of yourpeople. You must guard it carefully and neither tell anyone of it,nor allow anyone outside of your tribe to take it. A piece of thefish and to see your children happy is enough thanks for me.’
Loma stood up andbowed.
‘Thank you, SpiritLord, I will remember your wisdom and see that the fish is cookedto perfection.’
‘Is it a weapon?’ askedMiranda. ‘It might be useful if it is a weapon. Perhaps the Ladyled you here so that you could get the wand?’
‘You led me here Mandy,not the Lady. I wasn’t keen on the idea. I’m pleased that we couldhelp these people, but it seems we’re getting more involved in somedeeper plot and that worries me. It could be a weapon
