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Then one night he offered me the opportunity to cross over completely to his world

It was in this fashion Each day of our hunting and wandering had carried us closer to ht we caed cliffs below us The altitude gave us a wide view of the Plains below us In the distance, I saw the Tefa River carving its way through Widevale I ht me, with a strip of sinew and a curved stick as my fire boas much quicker at it than I had been The narrow-leaved bushes that edged our careen, they burned well The fire crackled and popped and gave off a sweet smoke Dewara leaned close to breathe in the fu therounds of Reshanized the name of a minor deity in the Kidona pantheon So I was a bit surprised when Deent on, "He was the founder of hters, so he put her aside His second wife bore only sons The daughters of his line wed the sons of his line, and thus I have the god’s blood in me twice" He thuht , where each of us tried to top the other’s previous claim I could think of no reply to his claim of divine descent

He leaned closer to the fire, breathed the sweet sod’ lives far away, up past the stars You are not the descendants of his loins but of his spirit Too bad for you You have no god’s blood in your veins But"-he leaned closer to esture I’d becood You are as much Kidona as I can e you and see if he wished to take you to be one of us It would be a hard test You ht fail Then you would die, and not just in this world But if you passed the test, you would win glory Glory In all worlds" He spoke of it as another old

"How?" The word popped out of me, a query he took as assent

He looked at ray eyes, unreadable even in the day, were a ht Then he nodded, more to himself than to me, I think

"Come Follohere I will lead you"

I stood to obey hio anywhere Instead, he bid ather more leafy branches and build the fire up until it burned like a beacon Sparks rose on its smoke whenever I threw more fuel on, and the heat of it made the sweat run down my face and back while the resinous aroma enveloped me Dewara sat and watchedlike a beast, he slowly stood Walking to a nearby bush, he tore a fresh branch free and then wrapped the leafy ends of it in several smaller branches He wove the ser one until he had a stick with a dense wad of foliage on one end When he thrust it into the fire, it kindled ale of our rocky campsite For a very brief ti out over the plain In the distance, the land sloed the sun Then, as full inky blackness poured over the lowlands before us, he turned to hlights He spoke in a singsong voice, very different from his usual tone

"Are you a man? Are you a warrior? Would Resharounds, or feed your flesh to his dogs? Have you courage and pride, stronger than your desire to live? For that is what makes a Kidona warrior A Kidona warrior would rather be brave and proud than alive Would you be a warrior?"

He paused, awaiting my answer I stepped into his world "I would be a warrior" Around me, the wide plateaus and the prairie below seemed to catch their breath and wait

"Then follow o to open a way for you" He lifted his free hand and seemed to touch his lips For two breaths he stood there, the flaht

He stepped off the cliff’s edge

In shock, I watched hi in the wind of his descent Abruptly, he vanished I saw the glow from the torch, but could not see the flaht Deas gone

I stood alone on the cliff’s edge Night was black aroundthe sweet scent and heat of the roaring bonfire It urged e of the cliff What I did I cannot explain, save by saying that Dewara had ledand his beliefs What would have been insane and unthinkable a month earlier now seemed my only possible path Better to fall to my death than be seen as a coward I stepped off the cliff’s edge