For a long, long time, Deyv sat, staring ahead, ignoring the animals, sinking deeper into paralysis and blackness. All was lost forever. He'd never again see his parents, brothers, sisters, or friends. He would never know the joys of a wife or children. He was in a state of living death, and when the true death came, he wouldn't be any better off. He'd be a ghost forever wandering the Earth, denied that pleasant place which The Great Mother provided for those with eggs. The place where it was never too hot or too cold, food was easy to find, and he would have lived in a great House with his family and all his ancestors.
The dog refused for a long time to leave Deyv's side. Finally, hunger and thirst drove him out. When these had been satisfied, he came back to sit and look at his master with questioning eyes or to sleep.
Aejip also went out, and when she came back she offered Deyv part of a carcass. Once, Jum tried to eat it, but she snarled and drove him away. When she was finally convinced that Deyv wouldn't touch it—
by this time the carcass was stinking—she permitted the dog to eat it.
The stench of rotten flesh, dog urine, and dung filled the room. Flies and other insects crawled over
Deyv, over his ears and eyes, and tried to go up his nostrils. At first the mud on his body gave him some protection. Then it dried and flaked off, and they had more skin to bite or sting. His belly swelled with gas, and the stench of that was added to the others. His thirst increased; his dry lips cracked. Still, he sat motionless, ever withdrawing into himself.
He was scarcely aware of anything by then, though he dimly heard the great storm outside the House.
Thunder boomed; lightning hissed; trees toppled under the wind; rain blew through the window.
These sounds meant nothing to him, though Jum whimpered and quivered, and Aejip lost her cool nonchalance. Deyv might have died during the storm had not a lightning bolt sent a feeler on the breeze through the window.
Much of its force was spent, but the shock was enough to knock him backward against the wall. Shaking his head, he crawled on all fours to the center of the room. The cat and the dog lay paralyzed and shivering, their eyes upon him. He got shakily to his feet and staggered to the window. Ignoring the flashes that seemed to hit very nearby, he stuck his head out the window.
"Thank you, O Shrekmikl, Great Son of The Great Mother!" he croaked. "You sent your sky-fire to wake me up, to drag me back from death! Yon showed me that I was wrong to just sit there and die! You showed me that I must be angry at the evil wretch who stole my soul egg! And you sHowed me that you favor me!"
It was possible that without the lightning, he might have sunk just so far in his despondency and then hit the core of anger that was deep inside him. Whatever might have been, the bolt had struck, and it had roused him.
He waited until the storm was over, then climbed out of the window, dropped onto the ground, rose, and walked weakly to the nearest pool. After slaking his thirst, he searched for and found some fruit which the wind had knocked off a tree. It was, however, two sleep-times before he felt strong enough to continue.
By then the thief s trail, if there had been one, had been washed away. Deyv had no idea where to look.
The thief had the whole world to hide in. Yet Deyv set out with an optimism unjustified by the facts. He felt that Shrekmikl had taken an interest in him, and he would surely set his worshipper upon the right path.
He went back on the road he'd left when the tharakorm's tenants had chased him. He continued in the same direction. After many sleeps, he was at the foot of the mountain. The road ran up it, but was twisted and sometimes went straight up a precipice. There was no use trying to travel on it. Despite this,
Deyv decided to see the other side of the mountain. Though he had seen evidence that a tribe was in the neighborhood, he felt that he could do better elsewhere. There was no rational basis for this; he just felt it.
Instead of climbing the mountain, he went around it. This involved much struggling through a sometimes dense forest and through many swamps. He kept on and finally had rounded the peak. The country on the other side looked much like that he'd left behind. Nevertheless, he felt that he had accomplished something worthwhile. Just what, he would have found hard to define.
Here the ancients' highway, coming down off the peak, curved toward his left. Some time later it split into two, and he took the left. That was an unlucky direction, just as the left hand was the unlucky hand and a wind from the left was unlucky. However, Shrekmikl was left-handed, and he was the favorite son of The Mother.
Deyv observed a herd of huge pink bipedal beasts with long tails walk calmly through the next junction.
They paid no heed to the clanging or the flashing green lights. If they could do it, why couldn't he?
Though somewhat apprehensive, he followed their example, and nothing happened. After that, he saved time by not detouring around the crossroads.
Once, while looking in the forest for a good place to sleep, he came across the remains of a fire in a thorn bower. It had been made by a single person who'd left some footprints in the mud. They looked human, but the big toes were exceptionally long. Deyv wondered if the prints had been made by a
Yawtl. Though he'd never seen one, his grandmother had described this legendary creature. One of its features was a very long big toe.
Another characteristic of this creature was its addiction to stealing. Deyv brightened when he remembered this.
Perhaps he was on the right trail.
Unfortunately, the Yawtl was not going to leave any tracks while he was on the highway. Also, he could take another road any time he came to a junction. Despite this, Deyv always took the highway to the left.
He also stepped up his pace. The animals complained in their way about this, but he ignored them.
Then one day after breakfasting, Aejip decided that she'd had more than enough for the time being. She curled up in the cave they'd found and refused to get up. It was evident that she intended to sleep for a long time before she would go on.
Deyv was frantic. The delay might enable the Yawtl—if that's what it was—to get another sleep-time ahead of them. It was no use, however, trying to change Aejip's mind. If stubbornness was a characteristic of a cat, and if cats admired it, she was a cat's cat Leaving her behind was unthinkable. He needed her as a sentinel and also as a food provider. Besides, he was very fond of her, no matter how often he got angry at her.
He finally decided to take a rest himself. He could use it, and Jum's feet seemed to be getting sore. First, though, they had to hunt. A few minutes later, the two left Aejip snoozing and went down a little-used path.
When they came to the deep tracks of a giant turtle that had crossed the path, they followed them.
Sometime later they came back out on the trail with two huge eggs. Fortunately, these had not been laid by a checkered turtle; Deyv could eat them.
Just as they stepped out, Jum froze, growling softly. Deyv laid his ear to the ground. Faintly, the thud of running feet came to him. He and Jum stepped back into the cover and waited. The path at this point was rather straight, enabling Deyv to see the intruder at least a minute before she came past him.
This was a woman who would make a good mate, if physical appearance meant anything. She was tall and had an excellent figure. Her skin was pale; her kinky hair was yellow; her eyes were blue. A bone whistle hung from a cord around her neck. She wore a short kilt of some green material supported by a broad leather belt. A stone tomahawk was tucked into it, and she held a stone-tipped spear in her right hand. A blowgun case rested on her shoulder. Her expression was one of strain, possibly of desperation.
Sweat coated her lovely skin.