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“I havekit that she had used so often on her Journey, “but tinder is necessary; al that catches fire quickly ork, fireweed fuzz, or rotted wood from an old stump, if it’s dry and especially if it’s pitchy, for exa close by, and of course soer pieces of wood”

There was a little buzz of noise, and the First picked up some words of irritation They didn’t need a lesson in fire- Everyone kne to make a fire froht, feeling rather pleased Let the fire

“Will you make a fire for us, Ayla?” the Zelandoni leader said

Ayla had fluffed up a small mound of fuzzy fireweed tops as tinder and had a piece of iron pyrite in her left hand and a flint striker in her right, but it wasn’t obvious She struck the firestone, saw a good spark land in the fluff of fireweed, blew it into life, and added kindling In less ti

There were some involuntary oohs and “How did she do that?” comments, then the Zelandoni of the Third Cave said, “Can you do it again?”

Ayla smiled at the Third The olderto help Shevonar, she was pleased to see him She moved over to another spot nearby and lit another fire beside the first one within the circle of stones that defined the fireplace, and then, without being asked, she lit a third

“All right, how does she do that?” a man asked the First Ayla had not met him before

“Zelandoni of the Fifth Cave, since she is the one who discovered it, Ayla will explain her technique,” the First said

Ayla realized this was the Zelandoni of the Cave that had already left for the Suer, ed man with brown hair and a round face, which characterized his body as well There was a round softness about him, and the fleshiness of his face tended to make his eyes look small, but she sensed a shrewd cleverness to hi technique and wasn’t too proud to ask Then she recalled that the acolyte with thefront teeth that Jondalar didn’t like and Wolf had threatened was also from the Fifth Cave

“First Acolyte of the Second, will you light the laain, and Ayla, would you dee wo She noticed that her acolyte, Jonokol, was grinning with delight He loved to see his ent, strong-willed, and soant zeland

onia

“I use a firestone, like this, and strike it with a piece of flint” She held out both her hands and showed the iron pyrite in one and the flint in the other

“I’ve seen those kinds of stones,” Zelandoni of the Fourteenth said, pointing to the hand that held the iron pyrite

“I hope you can remember where,” the First said “We don’t know yet whether they are rare or plentiful”

“Where did you find stones like that?” the Fifth asked Ayla