Sky Messenger tenderly tucked the hair back into the Power pouch and held out the piece of skull. “This has something to do with the ‘judgment.’”
Hiyawento frowned at it.
Sky Messenger flipped it in his hand. “This skull ties you and me to the Dream. I just … I’m not certain how yet. But I must find out.”
Hiyawento extended his hand, and Sky Messenger placed the piece of skull in it. The war chief’s black brows drew together over his hooked nose. He examined it carefully. “Where did you find this?”
“Just north of Bog Willow Village. It belongs to the … Do you … do you remember the Mountain war chief … the one who took me out into the forest?”
A swallow went down Hiyawento’s throat. His voice came out filled with hatred. “Yes.”
“What did he do to me, Wrass? What happened out in the trees?”
Hiyawento bowed his head and shook it, as though to ease the memories. “I didn’t see it, Odion. I know he hurt you. You told me he did. But I don’t know for sure. Something … something terrible. Why do you ask?” He handed the piece of skull back and rubbed his hands hard on his shirt as though to rid them of the taint.
Sky Messenger tucked it into the red pouch again and pulled the laces tight. “At the end of my Dream, I hear his voice.”
Hiyawento paused. “What does he say?”
“It’s as though he has his lips pressed to my ear. He orders, ‘Lie down, boy. Stop crying or I’ll cut your heart out.’ Then a great hole opens in the cloud-sea beneath my feet, and I fall and fall. Wisps of cloud trail behind me as I tumble through nothingness surrounded by glittering petals shaken from the World Tree.”
Taya sat stunned. Blood pounded in her ears. Blessed gods, what did the war chief do to him? A sensation of pained awe filled her. It was real. The Dream was true, and it was tied to whatever had happened to both Sky Messenger and Hiyawento twelve summers ago. She had thought his soul was loose. But if Sky Messenger and Hiyawento had the same Spirit Helper and both were having the same dream … great ancestors!
“Taya and I just came from the Dawnland country. I spent a day walking the old campsite and the forest, trying to remember that part. The last thing I recall is being taken by the hand and dragged into the forest. The rest … the rest is just gone.”
Softly, Hiyawento asked, “Why is it so important to remember, Odion? There’s nothing but pain there.”
“Old Bahna says that before I can stop Elder Brother Sun from turning his back on the world, I have to remember.” Sky Messenger clenched his fists. “Wrass, there’s something I must ask of you.”
Hiyawento said, “Long ago I promised you on my life that I would be there with you. At the end. I mean to keep that promise. So be careful what you ask, for I will do it without question.”
For a time, Sky Messenger just stared into his friend’s eyes. Finally, he said, “Great Grandmother Earth is dying. Our war is killing her. We have to stop it.”
“I agree, but how? It’s been going on for generations.”
“Will you ask Zateri to speak to the matrons of the other Hills villages about establishing a truce so that I may tell them my Dream? I know Atotarho won’t listen, but perhaps they will.”
“I will ask her. And what do you wish me to do?”
Sky Messenger took a deep breath. “I hesitate to ask, because I know what it will cost you. Will you, War Chief Hiyawento, speak against war in your next council?”
Hiyawento straightened. The ramifications must be sinking in. A war chief who argued for peace was likely to find a stiletto between his ribs.
Finally, Hiyawento nodded. “Yes, I will. And you know Zateri will do everything necessary to support you. She …” Hiyawento’s expression slackened, as though something dire had just occurred to him.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, it’s just … nothing.” He shook his head as though denying some inner warning. “I will speak with her. That’s all.”
He was holding something back. Sky Messenger said, “If there was any other way—”
“Don’t get sentimental,” Hiyawento replied. “We both know the price of your Dream. We’ve known it for more than a decade.”
They smiled at each other, the smiles of men who’ve known each other since boyhood, fought side by side through the worst of times, and are ready to fight again. Men who share an unbreakable bond of trust.
Blood pounded in Taya’s ears. The price of the Dream. For the first time, she considered the possibility that Sky Messenger might truly be the prophesied human False Face. Along with that shocking moment came the realization that his vision—the same vision of War Chief Hiyawento—might also save both of their peoples from the abyss that yawned before them. It might save all of the peoples south of Skanodario Lake.it. The