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Art by Barry Blair, Mat Nastos, and Jen Marrus.
Older and bearded Long Reach sends to orange haired youngster Pike who tells him
it is never too early for dreamberries. He likes the way they make him feel. Bearclaw
wants him back to the Holt with the berries he was to have picked. Long Reach thinks
that one of their ancestors who was a tree shaper must have had something to do with
dreamberry trees. He tells Pike a story about a human who outsmarted Mantricker in
the days when Mantricker was barely grown from cubhood, when he was full of the will
to test the new game he has given himself...
COYOTE: Mantricker sees fire at a human's camp as children, one blond, one brown
haired, chase each other, all males in loin cloths. A ruler comes out and claims
Gotara is pleased. They must respond with an offering of blood. Blue eyed brown haired
Mantricker wonders if these humans are worthy of tricks. Orange haired, yellow haired
Spinner found every one of his traps cut and the traps do not small of humans. A
little boy elf Acorn with purple vest and no shirt on, blue leggings and purple loin
cloth (leaving hips and thighs bare as well as stomach and chest) is with a blond
older girl who feel sorry for Spinner. Older muscled human Kron lied to his blond,
blue eyed, pig tails (with red ties on bottom of the tails) in front that he would
take him on the next hunt. Mantricker, bored is watching the humans. He sees in the
small blond human boy who is in reddish purple very skimpy loin cloth, himself not
so long ago when Lionleaper led the other Wolfriders in the nightly hunt and Mantricker
was left behind. The elf decides to play a prank. He makes a baby wolf, Bentclaw,
lead the humans away and is able to play a prank thenññwhen he slices open the deer
they leftññit has stink in it. The little boy elf Acorn tells Mantricker he can study
the humans but only if he doesn't cause any more trouble. His mother agrees and he
seems to obey. Mantricker finds a jewel hanging from a tree and brings it to Acorn's
cave but it lights up and lets loose a stink. Acorn tellsMantricker the next time
he finds something unusual to take it to someone else. Mantricker stuffs hides into
the smoke hole during a rainstorm when the humans would be in their huts. The humans
send a red headed boy up to remove the hides. Mantricker jumps a boy with blond hair
who has on a reddishñpurple hooded cape and loin cloth...it is the blond boy from
before. He is the prankster and he tells Mantricker the elf won...he won't run away.
His grandmother knows every plant that grows and made him a potion which he drank
some of and rubbed some on his body...it makes him invisible to those who scent,
to the WolfñDemons. Mantricker has jumped from the boy's hiding tree. The glittering
stone was another thing made from what he learned from his grandmother. Mantricker
tells him to get up. He says, "You...you're not going to hurt me...? Are you?"
Mantricker tells him to test himself out away from the forest...the forest is his.
The boy tells Mantricker his name, "Demontricker. And you?" Mantricker
tells him his name and adds, "I am you...but on the other side." They both
laugh, "Two of a kind." |