Prologue

I was born from Lake and conceived by Bear.

My life began on the endless plains where the winds blow waves in the grass and the sun leathers the skin.

I took my first screaming breaths in chorus with the wolves prowling for skittish pray and got greeted by our ancestors' shining smiles from the night sky.

I was clad in a drape made of horse yarn and cradled in my mother's loving embrace in rhythm to the beat of dancing feet uniting in a symphony with the crackle of fires.

I fell asleep on my mother's bosom to the sound of her throbbing heart under the gaze of my proud father.

There they spoke my name.

I was born from Lake conceived by Bear. My name is River Cub. I run with the wind and shine like the sun, I sing with wolves and admire the stars, I am one with the horse and dance with fire, I have my mother's heart and my father's pride. My name is River Cub