SODIUM:1 Harbinger Read Online Free Page B

the bear was about to make its final lunge, the boy cried out for help from the spirits of their ancestors.
    Moments later a mountain lion sprang from atop a nearby boulder onto the back of the bear. A fierce battle ensued between the bear and the lion. As the grizzly began to get the best of the mountain lion the boy rushed in jabbing the bear in the back with his spear. The bear was startled enough that it turned and ran. The mountain lion was severely injured and lay down in the grass where it was.
    The boy and his father watched on sadly as the lion soon took its last breath. They knelt to give thanks to the lion spirit for having saved their lives. As they leaned over their fallen hero a lion cub sprung from out of the wood with its tiny roar. It was an attempt to defend its fallen mother.
    The boy sat on the ground next to the fallen lion and waited patiently while coaxing the cub to come to him. To the father’s surprise the cub’s hostile whines soon turned to lost whimpers. Chaate was sad for the cub and grateful for its mother’s sacrifice. So he pulled a bit of dried deer meat from his pouch and gestured for the cub to come take it. The father stayed back and became proud that his son was able to calm the animal to the point where it came and ate the deer meat from his hand.
    Before leaving to find the rest of their hunting party the boy named the cub Minhafa. He then proclaimed it to be his protective spirit. For weeks the boy returned to the spot and brought food for Minhafa. He was always cautious with it being a wild animal, but the cub never made a threatening gesture towards him.
    The boy would sit peacefully in the grass to offer thanks. Minhafa grew quickly on the boy’s offerings and the day finally came when Minhafa did not show up for boy’s food. The father had become concerned about the boy as the deadly grizzly was still out there. So he forbade Chaate from going back into the woods alone.
    Chaate continued to leave the village when he could slip away unseen. His offerings to Minhafa ended as more and more the young lion would no longer come to meet him. Before long, three years had soon passed since Chaate had last seen Minhafa. The boy who was quickly becoming a man had no fear of going into the woods alone despite his father’s wishes.
    One day, as a group of young scouts were out hunting, Chaate had stopped to get a drink of water from a stream. The boy laid down his spear, stooped down, cupped his hands in the water and drank of its goodness. As he reached into the water for another handful he suddenly heard a heavy breath coming from behind him. He turned his head slowly to see a grizzly only six feet away.
    Chaate had nowhere to run as the grizzly had caught him by surprise. He could not yell for the others as they would not make it in time to save him. At that moment he clutched his medicine bag, looked back into the stream and softly spoke the words… “Minhafa… Minhafa…”
    Just as the bear was about to make its deadly lunge a mountain lion leapt from the woods onto the bear’s back. Chaate was startled, but soon got his wits about him. He picked up his spear and began to jab at the bear as it tangled with the lion.
    He was sure the lion was Minhafa; his animal spirit had come to his rescue. Within a minute the other boys in his party had come after hearing the noise of Chaate yelling along with the bear’s and mountain lion’s fierce roars.
    Two of the boys began shooting arrows at the animals when Chaate yelled at them to only shoot the bear. As the battle ensued the bear began to lose ground and made a run for the woods. As the injured bear ran to the woods the lion sprang across the stream and bolted up into the woods on the other side.
    The young scouts gave chase to the bear and had it cornered and weakened shortly thereafter. The old grizzly’s time had come to an end. The boys returned to their village with a great prize. Chaate did not pursue the bear, but instead