Breakaway: Clan of the Ice Mountains by C.S. Bills Read Free Book Online Page B

dreaming.
    Now, as Attu walked, he thought about the dreams. In one, a snow mound had risen up and chased him, suddenly possessing teeth and claws, as if it were alive. He’d woken up in a sweat of fear from that dream, only to fall asleep again and dream of the icy open water of the chasm they’d left behind on the second day of their journey.
    The clan hadn’t encountered another one, even with the thinning ice, and most of the men believed it was a mystery that wouldn’t be repeated. Attu didn’t know what to think. But the chasm had found him in his dream, and like the mound of ice, it had opened behind him, chasing him, and when he turned, he’d seen a young woman on the other side. His heart lurched. She was going to be lost to him forever, separated by the growing expanse of open water...
    He’d cried out then, and awoken tangled in his sleeping skins, blood pounding in his ears.
    What did it all mean? He wondered as he walked. Is it just my fear of the unknown land ahead wrestling with my spirit in the Between, or are these dreams something more, omens of some kind? How can I tell the difference?
    “Attu. Attu, my son.”
    Attu realized his mother was speaking to him. Yural’s voice held an edge of concern. “Attu, what’s troubling you? You were so far away just now; I was worried for your spirit.”
    Attu stopped walking and turned to look down at his mother. When did I grow so tall? He wondered as Yural reached up and touched his cheek with her strong bare hand, a rare gesture of affection in the cold of the Expanse.
    Attu grasped his mother’s hand in his mik. “You will freeze,” he said, but released his grip on her reluctantly.
    Sometimes I wish I were younger once again, when Mother used to treat me gently as she does Meavu, and not as a hunter. He sighed. “I’ve had dreams,” he said, answering her question.
    “And they have disturbed you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because,” Attu said as he looked at his mother’s concerned face, “I can’t tell if they are my own fears or omens I should heed.”
    “What does your spirit say?” Yural asked.
    “It’s not that simple, Mother,” Attu protested.
    Seeing they were falling behind the rest, the two began walking again.
    “Elder Nuanu said you’d save the clan, Attu. Remember that.” Yural’s voice was proud.
    “But I warned the clan of the break in the ice; I’ve fulfilled that prophecy,” Attu said.
    “And that you will also lead,” his mother continued. “Elder Nuanu said you were to lead. Not just warn the people once-”
    “I know,” Attu interrupted. He’d wanted to be done with Elder Tovut’s prophecy, for it had weighed heavily on his spirit from the moment Elder Nuanu had spoken it. He’d almost convinced himself that his warning the clan of the ice crack had fulfilled all Elder Nuanu had said he must do, even though he knew it didn’t.
    Mother is right . My spirit still feels heavy with responsibility for the others, more than my share. I’ve been pretending it’s over. I’ve been trying to forget the rest... about leading, about not giving up hope, and especially about “the one who will bear my sons and daughters...”
    Attu felt his face redden at the thought. He couldn’t take a woman from his own clan, but occasionally clans did meet, and men quickly found their women among the other clans then. Sometimes men went searching alone, stealing women from other clans.
    That is not the true Nuvik way. I would only take a woman if she were willing, and never in secret or with violence. Someday, will a woman truly want me?
    Yural interrupted his thoughts, putting into words what he’d been trying to deny for the last many suns. “We’re not yet at the end of our journey. You will be called to lead us still, Attu, I’m sure of it. You must be vigilant to all knowledge, whether it comes to you by your senses, or by a dream, or by some other means.”
    Yural’s dark eyes glistened in her tanned face,