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Out of a rawhide quiver, Jondalar took a flint point that was attached to a short length of ith sinew and glue, made of boiled hooves and scraps of hide The rear end of the short shank tapered to a rounded point The object appeared to be a disproportionately short spear, or perhaps a land of knife with an unusual handle Then he pulled out of a holder a long shaft that was fletched at one end with two feathers like a spear but had no point at the other There was a murmur of curiosity from the crowd

He inserted the tapered end of the shank that was attached to the flint point into a hole that had been carved into the front end of

the raceful, spear There was an excla from some, but not all

“I’vetechnique” Jondalar said to the asse out new ideas to see how they work This detachable spear point turned out to be a good one Rather than the long shaft splintering every ti when an animal you’ve hit runs aith this,” he held up the spear and separated the two pieces again, “the point will pull out of the shaft and you don’t have to make a whole new spear”

There was an interested murmur from the crowd in response It took tiht so that it would fly true when it was thrown, and there wasn’t a hunter there who hadn’t broken one at the worst possible time

“You htweight than normal spears,” Jondalar continued

“That’s it!” Willa about that spear that was different, besides the fact that it’s raceful, almost feminine Like a ‘Mother’ spear”

“We discovered that a lighter spear will actually fly better,” Jondalar said

“But will it pierce?” Brao as far, but I’ve found that a spear needs soht, it bounces off a thick hide, or breaks the point”

“I think it’s ti up his holder and quiver and ht spare shafts and additional detachable points, but they were not all the sahtly different shape, others werepiece of carved bone, shaped to a sharp point with a base that was split to facilitate attaching to the shorter interether in readiness while Solaban and Rusheet farther away

“Is this far enough, Jondalar?” Solaban shouted

Jondalar glanced at Ayla The wolf had stationed hi quiver on her back with extra spears already put together She smiled at him and he sin with a demonstration and then explain and answer questions

“It will do,” he said It ithin range, quite close, in fact, but it would do for his first demonstration He could be more accurate as well He didn’t have to tell the back, more than happy to stay clear of a spear cast with the unfamiliar implement He waited for the on with expressions ranging from expectant to doubtful, he prepared to throw

Holding the spear-thrower horizontally in his right hand, with his thuh the two front loops, he quickly slapped a spear into the groove He slid it back so that the hook of the throhich also acted as a backstop, fit into the hole in the fletched butt end, and without hesitation he launched the spear He did it so quickly, many people hardly noticed the way that the back end of the thrower raised up while he held on to the front with the aid of the loops, effectively adding the length of the spear-thrower to the length of his are

What they did see was a spear fly with twice the usual speed and land in the middle of the deer painted on the hide with such force that it penetrated clear through the bundle of grass To the observers’ surprise, a second spear followed the first with nearly asclose to the same hole Ayla had followed Jondalar’s cast with one of her own There was a stunned silence, and then a babble of questions