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When the cave lion was gone, Jondalar took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, feeling weak He estruck, and a little fearful What is this woic does she have? Birds, est cave lion he’d ever seen?

Was she a … donii? Who but the Mother couldpowers? Or her phenomenal ability to speak so well already? For all that she had an unusual accent, she had learned most of his Mamutoi, and some words in Sharamudoi Was she an aspect of the Mother?

He heard her co up the path and felt a shiver of fear He half expected her to declare she was the Great Earth Mother incarnate, and he would have believed it He sao down her face

“What’s wrong?” he asked, tenderness overcoined fears

“Why do I have to lose my babies?” she sobbed

He paled Her babies? That lion was her baby? With a shock, he re, the Mother of all

“Your babies?”

“First Durc, and then Baby”

“Is that a name for the lion?”

“Baby? Itto translate

“Little one!” he snorted “That’s the biggest cave lion I’ve ever seen!”

“I know” A sh her tears “I always h to eat, not like pride cubs But when I found hiot around to na else”

“You found him?” Jondalar asked, still hesitant

“He’d been left for dead I think a deer tra the little animals into the cave sometimes, if they were hurt and neededto pick up that baby cave lion, but then the hyenas went after hiht him back”

Ayla’s eyes took on a faraway look and her rin “Baby was so funny when he was little, always h But it took a lot of time to hunt for hiether All of us, Whinney, too I haven’t seen Baby since …” She suddenly realized when

“Oh, Jondalar, I am so sorry Baby is the lion that killed your brother But if it had been any other lion, I would not have been able to get you away from him”

“You are a donii!” Jondalar exclaiht a donii had come to take me to the next world, but she made the lion leave instead”

“You must have revived a little, Jondalar Then when I et you away in a hurry I knew Baby wouldn’t hurt h at times, but he doesn’t mean to be He can’t help it But I didn’t knohen his lioness would be back”

Thehis head in wonder and disbelief “Did you really hunt with that lion?”

“It was the only way I could keep him fed At first, before he was able toan animal down and I’d ride up on Whinney and kill it with a spear I didn’t know about throwing spears then When Baby got big enough to make the kill, sometimes I’d take a piece before he chewed it up, or else I’d want to save the hide …”

“So you pushed hierous to take meat away from a lion? I’ve seen one kill its own cub for that!”

“So have I But Baby is different, Jondalar He wasn’t raised in a pride He grew up here, with Whinney and lad he found a lioness, though, so he can live like a lion Whinney went back to a herd for a while, but she wasn’t happy and came back …”

Ayla shook her head and looked down “That’s not true I want to believe it I think she was happy with her herd and her stallion I was not happy without her I a to come back after her stallion died”