"I did do that. But that's because, unlike you, he knew me and he knew how to attack my weaknesses to goad me against my better judgment."
"I know your w-w-w-weaknesses, too!"
"No. You know my faults. They are not the same thing. In fact, the Guardian and his daughter have taught me much about myself and others." He twirled so that Coyote's next blow missed him.
"Something other than how to speak without stuttering?"
"No. That is something I owe Grizzly. What the Guardian taught me was that we grow stronger and more intelligent as we learn to compensate for our faults. Unlike others, we have to teach ourselves to adapt quickly so that we can finally master what others take for granted. When something comes too easy for you, you never learn the skill of improvement or flexibility. Of thinking up a better, more concise way to do it. Most of all, you don't learn determination and how to roll with a punch. That was what allowed me to fight him for a year. Because I couldn't speak without your mockery, I learned other ways to communicate. Because you spoon-fed me a daily dose of pain, I didn't feel his punches."
Ren ducked another blow. "And because you taught me to hate myself, I learned to value others more. I kept fighting the Guardian, not for my own well-being, but for Buffalo's. Had it been my death solely that concerned me, I would have allowed him to take my head and end my pain. But I feared that should he defeat me, he would kill my one and only friend, and leave me alone in the world again. That is why I fought him so relentlessly. My flaws became my strength. Your mockery and cruelty were the fuel my determination needed to see me through the darkest hours of my life. For that, my brother, I am forever in your debt."
Coyote stabbed at him.
Ren sidestepped the blow and caught his arm. "But weaknesses ... those are the most dangerous weapons in the universe. Weakness is not a physical trait. It's not a stutter or a bad hand or missing leg. Weaknesses are the ones who live in our hearts. They can motivate us to the highest level and they alone can utterly destroy us. There was a time, brother, when you were my weakness. When I charged headlong into a boar, knowing I lacked the equipment to fight it-that was a weakness. I cared more for your life than mine."
Coyote sneered in his face. "You never loved me. You did that for attention. 'Look at me! I'm the hero. I'm the better warrior.' Everything you did, you did to show me up, and you know it. But I wouldn't let you steal my thunder. I showed you who the better man was."
Ren shook his head. "What you showed me was a pathetic little boy, crying for every drop of attention you could grab even though it was always lavished on you. It still wasn't enough. All these years, I have carried guilt in my heart and tortured myself over what I did to you. Did you ever once consider what you did to me?"
"I never did anything to you to warrant your torture. I was your brother and I loved you. Yeah, I played a prank or two. That's what children do. It was all harmless."
Ren shook his head at his brother. There had never been anything harmless about Coyote's actions. "You lied and you stole everything you could from me. When that wasn't enough, you insulted and mocked things I couldn't help."
"You tortured me, you bastard!"
Ren grabbed Coyote's hair and jerked his head back. "See the past. Not through your lies, but through the truth."
He pulled Coyote back to the small home Ren had seized as his headquarters. Unlike his brother, who had taken over their palace after their father's death, Ren had wanted nothing more than a modest place to call his own.
As soon as Coyote entered his domain, Ren had been suspicious of his intent.
"What do you want?"
"I am going forward with my marriage to Butterfly and wanted to bring you my offering for your attendance." Coyote had smiled winsomely. "I miss my brother. We used to sit and talk every night."
No. Ren would clean Coyote's weapons and test them, then prepare his brother's bed while Coyote chattered on about the woman he'd most recently been with and all the changes he would make once he was chief. Makah'Alay, fetch me wine. Food. A chamber pot. Coyote had treated him as a slave while mocking him constantly.
But Ren hadn't remembered any of that as he saw his brother again. "I thought you'd be mad at me over what I did to Father."
"You made me chief. How could I be angry over that? Had Father been worthy, he would have killed you, instead." Coyote had held a jug of wine out to Ren. "Let us drink to your victory and my position." He tipped it at Ren. "You first."
Without thinking, Ren had trusted him. But the poison had hit his system hard and sent him to the floor within a few seconds after drinking Coyote's "offering." Sick and disoriented, Ren had groaned from the cramps in his stomach. "W-w-w-w-what-"
"D-d-d-d-did I do? I poisoned you, you moron. Did you really think I'd let you live to take my place? No." Coyote had kicked him over, onto his back. Then, after pinning him to the floor with one knee, he moved to stab Ren's heart.
But the Grizzly wasn't willing to lose his host. The red pendant had flashed and the knife had been unable to pierce Ren's flesh. Better still, the demon stone had absorbed the poison in his body, and within a few heartbeats, he was back on his feet.
He seized Coyote by his throat. "How dare you!"
"Release me."
"So you can poison me again?"
"No. I intend to turn everyone against you. It won't do you any good to be a leader when everyone's dead."
Ren frowned at his brother's psychotic reasoning. "Why would you do that?"
"Because if I can't rule them, be damned if my retarded brother will."