A Way of His Own [antikvár]

"Come on." Yaiya and Shutok were both on their hands and knees. The bison, a lone bull, had spotted them but it had not been alarmed at their approach. "Come on," he said again. It was the same way he talked to his burden bundle whenever he could not get it to tie up right. Yaiya was impatient with everything and everyone, even himself. "Isn't this close enough?" Shutok whispered. "For spear-throwers, perhaps. Not spears." "I know that." Shutok understood this part of the hunt well. He had seen it often, and he and Yaiya had practiced it as long as he could remember. But there were important parts of the hunt he did not understand — parts kept secret by the hunters — and Shutok was just as heedful of the way as he was wary of the huge bull. "This is not a rabbit," he said. "What is it you hope to do by getting closer?" "Kill it. What else could you think?" "Yaiya, this is evil and you know it. Only hunters can kill bison."