into the distance toward the western horizon.
Finally she grew impatient. “When do we begin?”
He clicked his sharp yellow beak. “Oh, you want it in words?”
Sura closed her mouth and thought hard about what Eagle represented. Seeing far, not just in space but time, as well. Third-phase Eagles had the power of prophecy, but their vision only encompassed details. An Eagle might receive a premonition as mundane as a piece of cloth lying in a basket. Understanding its context often required the logic of a Hawk or the intuition of a Swan—preferably both.
Finally she said, “If I receive a vision, I should see it as an event that will really happen, and not just a symbol, no matter how strange it seems. Is that right?”
“Hmm.” The eagle turned to her. “You don’t confuse as easily as most.”
As he spread his wings, she couldn’t resist one last question. “Will Raven come soon and bestow Her Aspect?”
“If I had a fresh rat for each time someone asked me that question.” The eagle shook his head. “Only She knows.”
He took off and soared into the valley below, fading slowly, as if passing into an invisible mist.
Sura watched the space where the eagle had disappeared, to see if another Spirit would emerge. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see two deer with expansive sets of antlers clop up the trail to the ridge where she sat. She scrambled to her feet.
“Greetings,” she said, her voice rough with awe.
The bucks halted, then angled their magnificent heads to look behind them. Sura followed their gazes and gasped. Two does tripped lightly toward her, nodding their heads with each step. A fawn cavorted behind each of them, noses up and ears twitching.
The deer formed a semicircle around her, soft brown gazes roaming her face. Then, instead of speaking, they sang. Not in words, but notes with distinct characters, as if each deer were a separate instrument. The bucks sounded like bass fiddles, creating the undertones, while the does each played a different toned violin. The fawns leaped about, making cheery piping noises. They all tapped their feet to create a complex, infectious beat.
Sura laughed louder than she had in years, then began to dance. Though her body was unaccustomed to moving in rhythm, it shook and writhed and bounced along with the sounds of the deer herd. She made up words to accompany their tune, words that made sense in a way that would seem crazy tomorrow.
The deer joined her, dancing in pairs or alone or in small circles of flashing hooves and shining flanks. She laughed again. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t dance or sing. The deer didn’t care. All they wanted was to give her this gift.
The song ended with a flourish, and Sura collapsed on the ground, panting. “Thank you.” She wiped the sweat from her brow.
More suddenly then they had appeared, the deer were gone.
“No…” Sura scrambled to her feet and peered over the edge of the ridge, then inside the cave.
For a moment the loneliness threatened to tear open her heart, which felt as empty and shriveled now as it had been full to bursting a minute ago. She sank to her knees and covered her face with her arms.
Forcing herself to breathe, she grasped the memory of the dance and pulled it inside herself, storing it deep within where nothing, including time, could ever touch it. From her core it spread out to warm her, as if she had swallowed a tiny sun.
She sat back and hugged her knees, at peace once again.
10
Asermos
R hia opened her eyes into a dim, gooey fog. A single square light shone above her, to her left. She blinked at it, then rolled on her side, gagging and retching.
“Keep it down over there,” a woman snapped. The voice was familiar and carried with it a taste more sour than what Rhia’s stomach was trying to expel.
“Mali?”
“In the flesh. What’s left of it, anyway.”
“Are we in prison?”
Her old nemesis sighed. “You’re not as smart as they say you
Finally she grew impatient. “When do we begin?”
He clicked his sharp yellow beak. “Oh, you want it in words?”
Sura closed her mouth and thought hard about what Eagle represented. Seeing far, not just in space but time, as well. Third-phase Eagles had the power of prophecy, but their vision only encompassed details. An Eagle might receive a premonition as mundane as a piece of cloth lying in a basket. Understanding its context often required the logic of a Hawk or the intuition of a Swan—preferably both.
Finally she said, “If I receive a vision, I should see it as an event that will really happen, and not just a symbol, no matter how strange it seems. Is that right?”
“Hmm.” The eagle turned to her. “You don’t confuse as easily as most.”
As he spread his wings, she couldn’t resist one last question. “Will Raven come soon and bestow Her Aspect?”
“If I had a fresh rat for each time someone asked me that question.” The eagle shook his head. “Only She knows.”
He took off and soared into the valley below, fading slowly, as if passing into an invisible mist.
Sura watched the space where the eagle had disappeared, to see if another Spirit would emerge. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see two deer with expansive sets of antlers clop up the trail to the ridge where she sat. She scrambled to her feet.
“Greetings,” she said, her voice rough with awe.
The bucks halted, then angled their magnificent heads to look behind them. Sura followed their gazes and gasped. Two does tripped lightly toward her, nodding their heads with each step. A fawn cavorted behind each of them, noses up and ears twitching.
The deer formed a semicircle around her, soft brown gazes roaming her face. Then, instead of speaking, they sang. Not in words, but notes with distinct characters, as if each deer were a separate instrument. The bucks sounded like bass fiddles, creating the undertones, while the does each played a different toned violin. The fawns leaped about, making cheery piping noises. They all tapped their feet to create a complex, infectious beat.
Sura laughed louder than she had in years, then began to dance. Though her body was unaccustomed to moving in rhythm, it shook and writhed and bounced along with the sounds of the deer herd. She made up words to accompany their tune, words that made sense in a way that would seem crazy tomorrow.
The deer joined her, dancing in pairs or alone or in small circles of flashing hooves and shining flanks. She laughed again. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t dance or sing. The deer didn’t care. All they wanted was to give her this gift.
The song ended with a flourish, and Sura collapsed on the ground, panting. “Thank you.” She wiped the sweat from her brow.
More suddenly then they had appeared, the deer were gone.
“No…” Sura scrambled to her feet and peered over the edge of the ridge, then inside the cave.
For a moment the loneliness threatened to tear open her heart, which felt as empty and shriveled now as it had been full to bursting a minute ago. She sank to her knees and covered her face with her arms.
Forcing herself to breathe, she grasped the memory of the dance and pulled it inside herself, storing it deep within where nothing, including time, could ever touch it. From her core it spread out to warm her, as if she had swallowed a tiny sun.
She sat back and hugged her knees, at peace once again.
10
Asermos
R hia opened her eyes into a dim, gooey fog. A single square light shone above her, to her left. She blinked at it, then rolled on her side, gagging and retching.
“Keep it down over there,” a woman snapped. The voice was familiar and carried with it a taste more sour than what Rhia’s stomach was trying to expel.
“Mali?”
“In the flesh. What’s left of it, anyway.”
“Are we in prison?”
Her old nemesis sighed. “You’re not as smart as they say you
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