A selection of illustrations scanned from the printed version of The Grandfather Tree 2.1.
"Ow! Leggo!" Hilltop yelped, smacking
Brindlefur's hand away. "What did you go and pull my hair
for?" By Karen
Bledsoe Fastfang leaped ahead, slashing at the
human with his fangs, tearing only the flapping tail of his
tunic. By Karen
Bledsoe "I'd help him," Wolfrunner snarled,
slashing out with his sword as the warriors charged at him,
"but I'm a little busy right now!" By Karen
Bledsoe All was silent. It was over, and even
Wolfrunner knew it. **For the tribe...** Wolfrunner
remained on his knees, head bowed. Birch stepped away and caught her
breath. "Then ask the tribe. What do THEY think? "Just go," he whispered. By Karen
Bledsoe Birch's sending was like skyfire.
Nighthawk trembled under the assault, shying away as the
sending approached her soulname. This wasn't supposed to
happen, couldn't be happening... By Karen
Bledsoe Then, on the dawning of the ninth day,
the quiet was shattered by pounding of deep-bellied drums
and the keening cries of the village women. By Karen
Bledsoe Though her reddened eyes betrayed her
night of grief, Shrea sat upright and relaxed. Even her
father's death did not touch her stoic dignity in the
presence of a Spirit. Hilltop sighed. She wished the human
woman would let down her guard more, as they had when they
were children. By Karen
Bledsoe "Sure, I'll move over!" Hilltop did
move -- right onto Tahnee's lap. The pureblood gave a grunt,
then grinned in amusement. By Karen
Bledsoe "Now, let's try..." Tahnee rummaged in
his pack, and pulled out another rock, this one smooth,
grey, and lustrous. Taking it in his hands, he worked it
just as he had the other, until Hilltop saw the likeness of
her father form. By Karen
Bledsoe *They're bringing fire, too!* Hilltop
cried. *My chief, everyone, they know where the Grandfather
tree is! No place in the holt is safe! They want to burn it
all!* By Karen
Bledsoe A little more shaping, and a stone
staircase rose up into the shaft to ease their trip. Kestrel
and Allim climbed the stairs, and took up the task, shaping
the inside of the tree as smoothly as Tahnee had shaped the
rock. By Karen Bledsoe Resuming their journey, most of the
elves were tense with anticipation. Some watched Tahnee,
some watched the walls around them, and Brindlefur, as
always, watched Nightfire. By Karen
Bledsoe They only noticed a narrow side
passage when dozens of furry, fanged creatures poured from
its mouth, cutting off their escape. Not rats, not quite,
for these animals were as big as ringtails and as fearless
as boars, with long bodies like ferrets. But their heads
were like giant rats, with huge sharp teeth. By Karen
Bledsoe Kestrel pulled on Stone's arm. "Come,
beloved. There's nothing we can do here!" Eyes filling with tears, Stone
stumbled after Kruuk and the others. Over his shoulder he
sent, **High Ones keep you, cubs! I'll be back!** But he
knew it wouldn't reach them. By Karen
Bledsoe At last the bear fell, writhing as it
bled. Moth struggled to his feet and drove his blade into
the bear's skull from the base of its neck. With a final
twitch, the bear died. By Lynn
Eldridge Stone moved in close as she cut the
last two threads, and he caught the shape that tumbled out
of the cocoon. Nightfire bent over and cleared webbing from
the face of a beautiful elf maiden with pale blond hair and
a purple dress. By Karen
Bledsoe Tito paid no attention, lost as he was
in the memories swirling inside his head. *Long, long ago,
even before father was born...* With the words came the
images, tribal memories long stored away and passed on High
Ones only knew how. By Karen
Bledsoe "Uh..." the young elf looked up at the
kind faces around him and timidly replied, "uh, Foxlock. I'm
called Foxlock." By Mara Gil Though the Snake leader could not
understand the words, he refused to cower before mere words
as the majority of his warriors were doing. He crossed his
arms and faced the shaman. Raven whipped off his cloak and
stared hard at the warrior, taking two slow steps toward
him. With a roar, the Snake leader charged at him. Raven's
armed men surged forward, but he halted them with a gesture
and braced to meet the attack himself. By Lynn
Eldridge Brindlefur nudged Nightfire. **Wonder
how far their courage will take them?** he said. **The same could be said for all of
us,** Nightfire returned, sleepily. **Look at him, staring
straight off into the distance, all the unknown ahead of
him. The whole tribe is like that. We're all marching
straight into something we don't know anything about, and,
admit it or not, we're all scared.** By Tavie
Phillips
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