Dindi
To Dindi's dismay, the land below the forested cliffs was much farther away than it had looked from above.
The path going down the hill was full of switchbacks. Then a long footpath twisted through more woods and wide cornfields.
Unlike in the Corn Hills, where clans stayed in one place to grow food, the Yellow Bear tribesfolk used swidden farming. They burned out an area of forest, planted crops there for a year or two, and then moved on. The woods grew back after they left.
In Yellow Bear land, the settlements were smaller and spread farther apart than those in the Corn Hills.
Over the next several days, the group passed many clanholds. All had a strange design. The round hills Dindi had thought were houses turned out to be large, steep, man-made mounds, tors. At the top of each tor stood a stockade, a wall made of sharpened logs. Inside each wall were less than a dozen dome-shaped houses. At the four corners around the stockade, warriors sat in bomas—cage-like platforms on tall posts. They reminded Dindi of a giant version of her rabbit hutch back home.
The Yellow Bear people didn't seem to have fences for horses or aurochsen. Instead, goats ran everywhere, along with fat birds and short-legged hairy pigs. Sometimes Dindi caught the delicious smell of smoking fish in the wind.
The fae here were strange too—but not unfriendly.
Brownies rode on the backs of the pigs. Nymphs in flowing dresses swung from tree branches. Many of them waved at Dindi.
She made sure to ignore them.
They followed a winding route through Yellow Bear land, taking care to avoid trouble. Whenever they saw a warning totem post, they changed their path.
The totem posts were carved from wood or stone. The bottom showed the tribe's symbol—a bear standing up, with one paw raised. The middle showed the clan's mark. The top had a sun disk with rays.
Once, they saw a clanhold burning far away. It was a silent sign of war between clans.
They didn't rest inside any of the holds. At night, they camped in the wild near the path, as before.
The Tavaedies let them search for food, but warned them not to go alone and not to walk into clan land without permission. They had not brought enough food, so the boys went hunting, and the girls went foraging.
Dindi wasn't the only one sad that they would not see the ocean.
They hadn't seen the sea once since entering the lowlands.
"It's better we stay away from the ocean," said Abiono sharply when Tamio started complaining.
"Why?" Tamio asked.
"Because Blue Waters tribesmen often attack the coastal settlements. Sometimes they even bring their war canoes up the river!"
"Really?" Tamio leaned forward, excited. "Could they attack while we're here? That would be amazing!"
"Yellow Bear Tribehold is the third largest in Faearth," Abiono said firmly. "Even the Bone Whistler didn't dare attack it. Blue Waters barbarians wouldn't either.
"I suggest you stop dreaming about war and start worrying about passing Initiation."
As they got closer to the tribehold, the clanholds were closer together.
When the Tavaedies chose one place to rest—Sycamore Stand—the Initiates finally had a chance to see Yellow Bear people up close.
From a distance, Dindi had already noticed the clanholds stood on mounds.
Sycamore Stand was the same.
They came down from hills thick with low brush. From there, Dindi saw the shape of the mound clearly. It wasn't a simple hill. It was shaped like a flat disk with a long, raised walkway—like a tambourine with a handle.
A ditch circled the disk. Sharp stakes filled the ditch. The only way in was to walk across the narrow earth bridge.
Five clusters of dome-shaped houses covered the top of the disk. Maybe a hundred homes in all. They looked like beehives or birdhouses—round, white, with a small door high in the wall.
The only way to reach the door was a rope or wood ladder hanging down.
Most of the houses were painted at the bottom. They had stripes and circles, mostly in yellow, with some touches of blue and orange.
The homes with the best paint also had a golden disk on a small ladder at the top.
"The Ladder to the Sun," explained Abiono. "It's a sacred symbol."
Yellow Bear Tavaedies and warriors came to greet them and lead them across the narrow walkway into the hold.
They dressed very differently from the Rainbow Labyrinth people.
The male Tavaedies wore knee-length skirts made from elderbark. Over their bodies, they wore huge diamond-shaped masks that hung down to their waists and rose far above their heads.
The eyes and lips of the masks were covered in beaten gold.
One Tavaedi had a large golden Ladder to the Sun disk on top of his mask.
The female Tavaedies wore longer skirts and crowns of gold. Their crowns were made of beads and bangles shaped into horns, prongs, and loops.
But even the ordinary people looked strange to Dindi.
The older women and the young girls had acorn-cap haircuts, cut very short.
They wore full skirts made of bark strips and knotted cords.
Men wore hats with disks or horns. Both men and women wore gold necklaces and arm bands. Some of the men's hats were plated in gold too.
The women wore gold earrings, nose rings, and seashell anklets that clicked and clacked when they walked.
The Tavaedies in full costume stepped forward to meet them, led by a tall, proud woman in a gold headdress that sparkled like sunlight.