The cold outside was vicious, even bundled up as Roh was. His eyes stung, and he could have used another layer over his ears. He slowed his pace after a while, and Luna slowed next to him. Kihin took longer to catch up. They came upon the village a few hours later and left their bears with a stir of others in a broad pen. Luna led them to a bowled half theater dug into one of the hills. The circular space in front of the theater was penned and gated. Blood colored the snow.

The three of them sat shoulder to shoulder, pressed close to the other spectators. Roh stood up when the wolves were brought in, muzzled and hobbled, growling. He had never seen a real wolf before and didn’t know what to expect when Luna told them they would see “wolf dancing.” The three in the ring were big brutes, thick in the shoulders. Their eyes were unsettling, not yellow but a peculiar sort of gold that made Roh shiver. Unlike dogs, the wolves were a uniform black from nose to tail tip. They were physically bigger than dogs, more muscular, not sleek enough to saddle, even allowing for the shoulder-saddles used on all dogs.

“That’s Shodav,” Luna said. “The one Ora Dasai wants us to meet.” He pointed to a stir of brightly colored figures approaching the pen from the sidelines. There were five men, Shodav the tallest and oldest. The others looked like children or adolescents, thin and young. They were not dressed for the cold. The headbands and short trousers, ornate belts and streamers of ribbons at their elbows were ornamental, not practical.

“Aren’t they cold?” Roh asked.

“It’s like a battle frenzy, Shodav says. Keeps them warm,” Luna said.

The dancers leapt up on top of the wall ringing the circle and raised their arms to the crowd. The audience stamped their feet and hollered at the dancers. Roh strained to see around them. Luna elbowed someone.

The dancers jumped into the ring as a purple-clad man hit a gong. The sound reverberated in the cold air. The wolf handlers pulled off the wolves’ muzzles and jumped out of the ring.

The wolves snarled and leapt, and so did the dancers. The wolves paced the five dancers as a pack. The dancers leapt clear of them. A small boy gave leverage to his companion, who jumped up over the back of one of the wolves, spun, and landed neatly on his feet as the smaller boy sprang out of the path of the wolf.

The wolves snapped at the dancers careening over their heads and snarled at the tumbling boys. When one boy caught too much attention, Shodav jumped forward to call away the wolf.