The Broken Land(146)

He doesn’t answer at first. Then, “Where what is?”

“Her pot.”

He takes a quick step forward. I see wide eyes shining in his hood. His voice replies from the midst of rustling feathers, “Which pot?”

“You know the one I mean. Her soul pot.”

The witch twists his head in a birdlike manner, observing me through one eye. He must be trying to figure out why I would tell him. We have never been friends. Even when we were in agony together as children, he was never one of us. Never one of the trusted few for whom we would have willingly given our lives. And perhaps that is the reason to choose the Road of Light.

“Why do you tell me this?” he asks.

“You’ve been searching for it for many summers, haven’t you? If I’d known, I would have told you sooner. Do you remember our last camp on the river where she ambushed us?”

His voice is soft. “I do.”

“Walk due northeast about one thousand paces, and you will see a small oval clearing on a hillside surrounded by maples. There are three rocks in the middle of the clearing. That’s where she died. Just before Mother found us, Zateri took the soul pot from the old woman’s pack and buried it between the rocks.” I turn to look at the darkness in his hood. I can’t see his face at all now. “Do you want me to go with you?”

Silence, for a long time.

“No, Sky Messenger.”

I nod and lift my eyes to study the star-silvered heavens. The dead ferns beneath the trees thrash. He is gone, vanished like a shadow eaten by utter darkness.

I continue my walk across the battlefield, periodically petting Gitchi’s head or halting to study a frozen face before I continue on. One hand of time later, when I finally look up, I discover that my feet have taken me to a high point above the Flint camp.

As I gaze out over the sleeping warriors rolled in blankets, I try to imagine where she is. Moonlight gleams from hundreds of upturned faces.

Tomorrow, I will find her. Tomorrow, we will talk.

Somewhere ahead of me there is a black sun and a crack like the sky splitting. Will she be there with me? I have not seen this. She isn’t in any of my Dreams.

But I believe in things seen and unseen.

I pray the Spirits will show me the path.