Free The Skrayling Tree by Michael Moorcock Page A

the destiny God had chosen for them. Their magical methods were not unlike different engineering
     systems designed to achieve the same end and had strict internal logic in order to work at all.
    While White Crow ran to spy on whoever was following us, we continued to rest on the back of the rolling monster. Ayanawatta
     told me that the Kakatanawa prince had been adopted into the tribe but was playing out a traditional apprenticeship. His people
     and theirs had long practiced this custom. It was mutually advantageous. Because he was not of their blood,White Crow could do things which they could not and visit worlds forbidden or untraversable by them.
    As we moved through those lush grasslands growing on the edge of the forest, Ayanawatta spoke at length of how he wanted to
     serve the needs of all people, since even the stupidest human creature sought harmony yet so rarely achieved it. His quick
     brain, however, soon understood that he might be tiring me, and he stopped abruptly, asking if I would like to hear his flute.
    Of course, I told him, but first perhaps he would listen to me sing a song of my own. I suggested we enjoy the tranquil river
     and the forest’s whispering music, let the sounds and smells engulf us, carry us on our fateful dream-quest, and like the
     gentle river’s rushing, draw us to the distant mountains and beyond them to that long-house, lost among the icy wastelands
     where the Kakatanawa ruled. And I sang a song known as the Song of the Undying, to which he responded, echoing my melody,
     letting me know his quest was noble, not for self, or tribe or nation, but for the very race of Man. In his dreams the tree
     of all creation was threatened by a venomous dragon, waiting in angry torment, his tears destroying every root. Too sick to
     move, the dying dragon had lost his skefla’a and thus lost his power to rise and fly.
    He said the Kakatanawa protected some central mystery. He had only hints of what that mystery was and most of that from myth
     and song. He knew that they had sent their most valued warriors out to seek what they had lost and what they needed. Where
     they had failed, White Crow had succeeded.
    Continuing in grim reflection, he told me how his story was already written, how important to his own quest it was that he
     return to Kakatanawa, seek their longhouse and their people, bring back the objects they called holy, perform the ritual of
     restoration, restore reality to the dream. In that final restoration he would at last unite the nations, at last be worthy
     of his name. His dream-name was Onatona. In his language that meant Peacemaker. The power of his dream, his vision of the
     future, informed everything he did. It was his duty to follow the story and resolve each thread with his own deeds. I was
     in some awe of him. I felt as if I had been allowed to witness the beginning of a powerful epic, one which would resonate
     around the world.
    I agreed his task was mighty. “Unlike you I have no dream-story to live. If I have I’m unconscious of it. All I know is that
     I seek a husband and father I would like to return to his home and his children. I, too, work to unite the nations. I long
     to bring peace and stable justice to a world roaring and ranting and shouting as if to drown all sense. I’ll help you willingly
     in your quest, but I expect you in turn to help me. Like you, I have a destiny.”
    I told Ayanawatta how in my training as a mukhamirim my mother had taught me all my secrets, how some of these secrets must
     be kept to myself, even from my own husband and children. But I did not need to remind him. “I am in no doubt of the power
     or destiny of White Buffalo Woman. I am glad you elected to act her story. You complete the circle of magic whichwill arm us against the greater enemies and monsters we are yet to face.”
    The line of thick forest moved back from the river, making our way easier. Ahead lay rolling meadows stretching into infinity.