Nothing but a blackness. He screamed, waved his arms, staggered.
He started to run forward after the Bear, his only protector, and his feet were sinking into the bridge. The Bear and the doorway and the Council Fire Star itself seemed farther and farther away.
He fell to his hands and knees, afraid to stand any more.
But what was the fear trying to tell him?
It was right that Gray Cloud should be afraid, meeting a spirit so much more powerful than himself. And now he must trust that the spirit would not hurt him.
With that thought, he felt the bridge growing more solid under his hands. He pushed himself back to his feet.
He was standing before the doorway. All above him and to the sides stretched the curving, shimmering, many-colored surface of the Council Fire Star.
He did not see the White Bear. It must have gone into the star. He took a deep breath, and taking his fear with him, he plunged through the doorway.
For a moment light blinded him. The air was full of a fluttering and a rustling.
His eyes grew used to the light and he saw that he stood at the edge of a pool full of fish swimming in circles.