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Kimeran felt disconcerted as Jondalar walked hiest wolf he’d ever seen, but the woman obviously wasn’t afraid She went down on one knee and put an arm around him, then looked up and smiled The wolf’s ing out the side Was that wolf sneering at him?
“Put your hand out so Wolf can sed
“What’s that word you called hiesture He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to offer his hand to the ani, and he didn’t want to seem afraid, either
“It’s the naave him, it’s the Mamutoi word for ‘wolf’ ”
When Ayla took his right hand, Kimeran kneas co that ie close to the mouth that was full of sharp teeth
Kimeran was surprised, as h the process of showing him how to touch the wolf, and he was startled when Wolf licked his hand But when he felt Wolf’s living warmth, the , and once the initial wonder was over, he found hi more attention to the woman
What kind of power does she have? he wondered Is she Zelandoni? He was particularly aware of the zelandonia and their unique abilities She speaks in perfectly clear and understandable Zelandonii, but she has a e It is not exactly an accent, he thought She almost seems to s some of the sounds It isn’t unpleasant, but it does make you take notice of her … not that you wouldn’t anyway She has a foreign look, you know she’s a stranger, but a beautiful, exotic stranger, and the wolf is a part of it How does she control a wolf? He took on a look of wonder, almost awe
Ayla had been watching Kilanced ahen she felt herself starting to smile, then she looked up at him “I’ve taken care of Wolf since he was a little pup,” she said “He was raised with the children of the Lion Camp He’s used to people”
Kih she knehat he was thinking and gave him an answer to his questions before he even asked
“Did you come alone?” Jondalar asked when Ki at the wolf, and Ayla, and turned his attention back to him
“More are coanize a last hunt before leaving for the Su Manvelar sent a runner to the Seventh, and they sent one to us, but I didn’t want to wait for everyone and came ahead,” he said
“Ki down the valley of Grass River “Can you see that small tributary?” Ayla nodded “That’s the Little Grass River Continue along Grass River beyond the tributary to reach the Second and the Seventh Caves They’re related, and live across a rich meadow from each other”
The twoup, but Ayla was distracted again by the panoraave the inhabitantsfrom unpleasant weather, yet it offered an extraordinary view
Unlike the wooded valley near the Ninth Cave, the valleys of both the Grass and the little Grass Rive
rs were rich, luxuriant grasslands, but different from the broad meadows of the floodplain of The River A variety of trees and brush lined the banks of the priallery forest it was an open field of essentially shortgrass that was favored by rurazers Directly across The River toward the west, the broad floodplain led to a series of hills that clihland