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As though in answer to Broud’s silent plea, the ician lifted his ar an an impassioned appeal But his audience was not theclan His eloquence was directed to the ethereal, though no less real, world of the spirits—and hisevery subtle trick of posture, every nuance of gesture, the one-are He was le arh, the clan knew they were surrounded by the essence of their protective totems and a host of other unknown spirits, and Broud’s chill became a shiver

Then quickly, with a suddenness that brought a gasp to a few lips, the ician whipped out a sharp stone knife froht the sharp tool doiftly, plunging it toward Broud’s chest In a -ur stopped short of fatal penetration Instead, with quick strokes, he carved two lines into the young man’s flesh, both curved in the sareat curved horn of a rhinoceros

Broud closed his eyes but didn’t flinch as the knife pierced his skin Blood welled to the surface and overflowed, spilling down his chest in red rivulets Goov appeared at thea bowl of salve made from the rendered fat of the bison -ur s blood and assuring that a black scar would form The mark announced to all who saw him that Broud was a man; a man forever under the protection of the Spirit of the formidable, unpredictable Woolly Rhinoceros

The young man returned to his place, acutely conscious of the attention focused on hi it, now that the worst was over He was sure his bravery and hunting skill, his evocative perfor acceptance of his totem mark, would be the subject of aniht itthe long cold winters that confined the clan to the cave, and retold at Clan Gatherings If it wasn’t for me this cave wouldn’t be ours, he said to hi a cereun to feel the new cave and the whole eventful occasion were entirely due to him

Ayla watched the ritual with fear and fascination, unable to suppress a shudder as the fearso back as Iza led her toward the frightening, bear-cloaked a with Ona in her ar-ur Ayla was glad when both women lined up in front of Iza and herself

Goov now held a tightly woven basket dyed red from the round to a fine powder and heated together with ani-ur looked over the heads of the wo in front of hiestures in the unspoken forather close and observe the youngsters whose protective toteer into the red paste, he drew a spiral on the hip of the ruffon the appropriateness of the totem

“Spirit of Boar, the boy, Borg, is delivered into your protection,” the nals stated as he slipped a s over the baby’s head

Ika bowed her head in acquiescence and the , respectable spirit and she felt the inherent rightness of the totem for her son Then she stepped aside

Theinto the red basket held by Goov, he drew a circle on Ona’s arm with the paste

“Spirit of Owl,” his gestures proclaiirl, Ona, is delivered into your protection” Then Mog-ur put the amulet her mother had made around the infant’s neck Once runts as hands flashed in coa was happy Her daughter ell protected and it meant the man she mated could not have a weak totem She only hoped it wouldn’t make it too difficult for her to have children

The group strained forith interest as Aga moved aside and Iza reached down to lift Ayla in her arhtened She realized, now that she was closer, that the iure with the red-stained face was none other than Creb There was a gloarmth in his eye when he looked at her

To the clan’s surprise, the estures were different when he called upon the spirits to attend this ritual They were the gestures he used when he nairl was not only going to have her tote his finger into the paste, Mog-ur drew a line from the middle of her forehead, the place on people of the Clan where the boney ridges overhanging their eyes met, to the tip of her small nose

“The child’s na her name slowly and carefully so both the clan and the spirits would understand

Iza turned to face the watching people Ayla’s adoption was as irl could feel her rapidly beating heart This ht Only a nized as a member of the clan Has it been seven days since I found her? I’m not sure, I’ll have to ask Creb, but I think it has She hter; who else can be her mother now?

Each person filed past Iza holding the five-year-old girl in her arrees of accuracy Then Iza turned back to face the ather once -ur are of their eager attention and used it to his advantage With slow deliberateout the moment to sustain the suspense, he scooped out a bit of the oily red paste and then painted one line directly over one of the healing claw

What can thatclan was ain and painted a second line over the next in to shake None of the others moved, not a breath could be heard With the third line, Brun, with an angry scowl, tried to catch Mog-ur’s eye, but the ician evaded the look When the fourth line was drawn, the clan knew, but they did not want to believe It was, after all, the wrong leg Mog-ur turned his head and looked straight at Brun as he esture

“Spirit of Cave Lion, the girl, Ayla, is delivered into your protection”

The for-ur put the amulet around her neck, hands flew in shocked surprise Could it really be true? Could a girl’s toteest of male totems? The Cave Lion?

Creb’s stare into the angry eyes of his brother was fir For a -ur knew that the logic of a Cave Lion toteical it seemed for a fe-ur had only emphasized what the Cave Lion himself had done Brun had never questioned the revelations of his crippled brother before, but for soician He didn’t like it, but he had to admit he had never seen a totem so obviously corroborated He was the first to look away, but he wasn’t happy

The idea of taking the strange child into the clan had been difficult enough, but this toteular, unconventional; Brun didn’t like anomalies in his well-ordered clan He clamped his jaw shut with deterirl was to be a member of his clan, she would conform, Cave

Lion or no Cave Lion

Iza was stunned Still holding the child in her ar-ur decreed it, it , but a Cave Lion? The thought htiest of cats for a toteirl would never ic so she would have sonized her, and revealed her toteirl her daughter, what did? Birth itself was no guarantee of acceptance Iza suddenly reo well, she would find herself standing in front of the , with a baby in her ar, would soon have two