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She had heard the otherworldlytime Manen had played the instru She recalled that she had perfor, the boy who reminded her of her own son, because they would not allow the child of mixed spirits that Nezzie had adopted to have a Mamutoi burial But Manen had played his flute in spite of thee to i to the next world of the Clan

She found herself rens in his rave Then Ayla recalled his death She had gone inside the cave after the earthquake and found hi on top of Iza’s burial cairn She o into the cave with the earthquake still ru aftershocks

But the flute evoked another memory She had heard the instru the ritual Cave Bear Cere-ur of another clan had played a si sound that symbolized the spiritual voice of Ursus had a different tonal quality from the one Manen had played and the one she heard now

She was distracted froan to speak in a rich, resonant voice: “Great Earth Mother, First Progenitor, You have called Your child back to You He was called in sacrifice to the Spirit of Bison, and the Zelandonii, Your children who live in the southwest of this land, ask that this one life be enough He was a brave hunter, a good mate, a maker of fine spears He honored You well in this life Guide hirieves for him, her children loved him, the people respected him He was called to serve You while in his prime Let the Spirit of Bison be satisfied, O Doni, let this one be enough”

“Let it be enough, O Doni,” the rest of the Zelandonia intoned It was repeated again by the people of all the gathered Caves, more or less in unison

The an The sound was slightly dulled—or at least not as crisp—because several instruether The objects consisted of skins stretched very tight over one side of circular hoops, with a handle to hold it The eerie sound of the flute joined in, weaving in and around the steady beat of the drue the ean to cry and keen herand keening, with tears in their eyes

Then a voice joined in, a full sonorous contralto singing without words but fitting into the rhyth al hen she went to live with the Maroup She had enjoyed listening to the she couldn’t seem to do She could hum in a kind of monotone, but she could not carry a tune She recalled that soers than others, and had admired them, but she had never before heard so rich and vibrant a voice The voice belonged to Zelandoni, the One Who Was First, and Ayla was overwhelmed

The two men who held the pole in front shifted around to face the two men behind, then they lifted the pole fro burial harave pit was not very deep, and the sth By the tiround, the body was already resting on the bottom of the

hole They untied the slack cords of the netting and dropped them in as well

They dragged the hide upon which the earth froed the tree pole upright into the grave below the foot, using some of the loose dirt to support it Another, shorter pole was placed at the head of the man, one that had been carved and painted with red ochre in the shape of Shevonar’s abelan His identifying mark would indicate the place where he was buried and act as a warning that his body was laid to rest there and that his elan ht still be nearby

Relona walked forward stiffly, trying to stay in control of herself She went to the pile, then, alrabbed sorave Two older women helped each of her two children to do the same, then picked up handfuls themselves and dropped it on the wrapped body Then all the people ca a couple of handfuls of earth and tossing it into the grave By the ti their dirt, the hole was filled in and loose earth was heaped into a mound

A feent back to add a little more Then, suddenly, Relona fell to her knees, and tears nearly blinding her, she threw herself on the soft earth over the grave, heaving great sobs Her eldest child walked back to her and stood there crying, knuckling his eyes to wipe away tears Then the youngest, looking lost and bewildered, ran to the grave and pulled on her et up and comfort her

Ayla wondered where the two older women were and why no one tried to help and console the children

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After a while, Ayla saw thechild’s fearful sobs Relona pushed herself away fro herself off, took her daughter into her arms The older one sat down and wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck She put an arether