As the afternoon lengthened Bear and Not-Bear walked on with the others. Not-Bear's legs had been aching for a while and his head pounded with the chatter of animals. When he tried to talk to Bear some creature would come between them and he would fight to get back alongside. Everyone had an intent look on their faces, and he could see some smaller animals were struggling. There were young ones among them and Not-Bear wondered if they were going to get their names at the Occasion too.
Then someone shouted, 'Look!' A stag had stopped and was gesturing with a tilt of his antlers ahead of them. A buzz of excitement rippled back through the crowd as they tried to see what it was. Some ran or climbed up nearby trees to get a better look. A cat jumped on the back of an old boar to get a better view. Big bears lifted smaller bears on their shoulders so they could see what was happening.
Not-Bear, who was too low down to see anything, had to rely on the others for information.
'Look!' 'Look at that.' 'What is it?' came the cries.
'Well?' asked Not-Bear, as Bear craned his neck to find out what was going on.
'I can see some smoke,' Bear said, not to be hurried. Not-Bear could see it too, a distant wisp of grey spiralling up into the sky.
'Is that all?' he asked.
'It's a sign the Occasion is starting,' said Bear.
Soon they came to a huge clearing among the trees. As they arrived the crowd was already filling an area so big Not-Bear thought it must be the Outside itself. Bear, although it was four years since his own coming-of-age, was still impressed. There was Forest on all sides, a forest of dense, straight, emerald-green pines. Ahead of them the huge bowl of land stretched to a distant horizon of trees. They watched as the flood of creatures emptied into it. A bonfire was burning at the very centre of the expanse, the source of the smoke they had seen earlier. But the fire was dwarfed by the immense structure around it, a ring of great slabs of grey stone.
'That's it,' said Bear, 'The ancient site of the Occasions, the Circle.'
Not-Bear whistled through his teeth. 'Who could have built that?' he said.
Bear turned and looked at him.
'I only meant...'
'Not now,' Bear snapped, and they carried on down the slope toward the Circle.
The crowd kept filling the clearing as the sky darkened and the Circle loomed ahead. As they edged toward it questions kept firing inside Not-Bear's head. Like: Would the Elders be in the Circle? Who built the fire? Who discovered fire? Who named it? Questions he knew Bear would not want to answer. He thought about asking one of the other creatures, yet many looked at him queerly and backed away.
'Bear?'
'Yes,' Bear said.
'Where will we spend the Chilling?'
'On the Inside, as usual,' Bear told him as they found a space on the grass and settled down.
'So we are going back?'
'Of course, tomorrow, the same way as we came. Why?'
'Bear?'
'Yes?'
'Nothing.' He was going to ask why they didn't celebrate the Occasions on the Inside, instead of in the Forest. Yet, looking at the Circle, he could answer that himself. He had never seen anything like it. The walls were archways formed of standing stones. There was a smaller circle inside the large one. Some of the stones of the outer group had further slabs on top of them, alternating with the gaps. In some cases these had fallen off, to lie twisted and broken at the side of the uprights. It was clearly too difficult for the Elders to put them back, to make the pattern whole again. There were no words to describe the thing. Yet one thing bothered him. If the Elders couldn't repair the Circle, how could they have built it? Someone else must have. Was it the same people who had named the Elders? They must have been much bigger, taller than the tallest tree, stronger than the winds of the Chilling. And again, why build it here in the heart of the Forest, so far from the Inside?
He knew the Insiders rarely ventured into the Forest, except for the Occasions. He sensed they didn't enjoy it either, for all they talked about was going home. Whether it was because they were close to the Outside, he didn't know. The Forest was as dark as the Inside was light, as full as the Outside was empty. Bear had taught him as much. But there had only been trees, as far as he could see, in the Forest. Until now.
These were questions for which he had to to find answers. Bear wasn't going to give them to him, and he suspected Bear didn't know himself. Then who did? The Elders must know, although no one ever mentioned such things. Or did they answer to someone else, he thought? Someone who had named them, built the Circle and who no longer existed?
He was about to ask another question when the ceremony began. Animals jostled around the Circle or on the long slopes facing it. A hubbub of voices, whispers and the occasional shout filled the air. The experienced among them waited for it to begin. The inexperienced stood in amazement and wonder.
The sun was sinking fast in a blaze of orange, spreading across the horizon to light up the sky. FIngers of flame stretched over their heads and behind them, catching the clouds in a glory of fire. He could see Elders in the centre of the Circle, moving about with purpose. They were tending the burning central pyre. As the crowd looked on, the stones cast shadows from it across the ground, touching the nearest onlookers. Not-Bear looked around— everywhere faces glowed red and eyes flashed with reflections. Then the sun sank beneath the land and the sky turned to purple and then to black. The only light left was the moon hanging in the sky behind them, and the furious fire that lit the motions of the Elders.
A gentle music filled the clearing. It began as a few chords that snaked and twisted round. They rose into the night air before dropping down and caressing the senses of the onlookers. A melody overlaid it, notes clinging together, chasing each other around, swelling in volume. All the time the fire flashed and sparkled in the centre of the Circle. Not-Bear noticed a few animals moving down the slope to the stones. Youngsters, nudged on by their parents. A few foals, deer, goats, and then he saw smaller creatures almost hidden by the grasses moving in the same direction. Fire lit their faces as they walked. He looked up at Bear, who had his eyes closed, listening to the music. Why wasn't he guiding Not-Bear down to the stones?
As he watched, one by one animals walked into the Circle. The Elders addressed them in turn as they filed around the inner stones. One or two flinched as the fire spat towards them.
Not Bear sensed it – this must be the moment he would get his name.
'Bear, Bear!' he nudged his friend to alert him. Bear mumbled something about it not being time.
Time for what, Not-Bear thought? This was his time, he knew it. So, he strode off toward the Circle on his own. Picking his way among the animals he kept an eye on the Elders. The youngsters he saw earlier were coming out now, bounding up the slopes to their parents. Not-Bear hurried nearer, he couldn't see anyone else going into the Circle. As he got there a throng of bodies was leaning forward to see what was happening. The heat from the fire was intense. He struggled to make a way through, and lost sight of the Elders.
'Wait for me,' he cried. At last, stumbling to the front of the crowd, he faced the Circle.
Something was wrong.
What had been visible before was now shrouded in smoke. He couldn't see anything. Beside him others had started to draw back. In front of them the smoke, like a dense, dark mist, was rolling out of the Circle toward them. It swept and billowed up, a wild grey cloud. The strange melody was still playing, but now a different sound began to fill the arena. A wailing, ethereal music. As the mist billowed the music changed, wavering and pulsing. Sometimes it was a squeal, sometimes a hum, while behind it a pulse began. It became a rhythm that the nearest animals began to sway to, lifting a paw here, a hoof there, tapping in time to the beat.
Not-Bear edged back up the slope, confused. He ran among the swaying hordes, searching for Bear. The animals were matching the strident rhythms with nodding heads. The beat of each heart seemed to mesh with the music. When Not-Bear reached his friend, he saw his eyes were closed. He was swaying from side to side in synchrony with the others. Not-Bear tried to resist the music, because he didn't understand what was going on. Yet against his will he found himself beginning to dance too.
As the music continued a distant drumbeat started. Colours flashed above the smoke pouring from the Circle. The mist covered the lower slopes now, and some animals were almost hidden in it. The music boomed through the clearing, stirring the blood which pounded in their ears. Animals leapt and danced as one, hearts pulsing to the beat. They danced on, even though exhausted, hungry and afraid. They danced on, forgetting their fear of the dark, the open spaces and approaching night. They danced, while the moon hung over their heads in a clear night sky, the stars a reflection of the red, orange and white lights that flashed above the stones.
More smoke billowed, then the sky was lit by a flash of red fire. From the centre of the Circle a plume of intense red smoke rose above the clearing. It ascended, caught by the breeze, and spread over the crowd. There were groans and whelps of delight. Everything was in motion as the lights above the Circle flashed and fired. Now a green plume rose above them, followed by blue, then purple.
As legs grew tired, the music relaxed, changing its rhythm to accommodate fatigue. But once it had slowed to allow recovery, it sped up again to a frenzy. Like this the larger animals danced through the evening. In the surrounding grass and trees insects, frogs, spiders, and birds of all kinds no doubt twitched as well. All swaying to the seductive rhythms, each in their own inimitable way.
As they danced, each forgot their hunger, discomfort, sorrow or pain. The music held them, and as the hours passed the fire reached its zenith and then started to die down. The light over the whole gathering began to change. Animals that couldn't keep up the pace began to slow down. They lay on the grass, at first respecting the space of others. But as more and more slumped down exhausted they rested on each other and began to sleep.
Now unobserved, the fire in the Circle began to die down and the music stopped. Soon, in the early hours of the morning every last creature was sleeping.
The fire was now a mere glow in the centre of the darkened Circle.
The Elders nowhere to be seen.