Moonspear girl

the seal hunter lifted his head. "a boy, when he can walk, he is taken onto the ice by the older hunters. he watches them hunt the seal and the walrus. he watches their success. but he sees also that they can die."
the man's voice was reverent, a thing between brothers.
"a boy, when he can see, he understands life is a gift from the oil father. and one day it is his turn to go first onto the frozen sea, and kill a seal with the other hunters. to know life. to know death."
his lips were proud. "my mother is k'os. she is a shaman. a boy, he is taken to the shaman. 'hold him,' she said to my brothers and my milk-cousins. 'do not make a sound, chakliux. it is weakness.'"
a pause, a grin. "with her teeth, then ground abalone shell pressed into the new wounds to blacken them as they healed. i did not cry. nothing has hurt so much since. i saw death. then i saw pain. now i know only life."
another silence.
"and you, njord?"