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The tree wo shadows shift over my flesh "I a is a part of the living For too long you clung to the notion that each life was significant and too important to perish for the whole But now you see it, don’t you?"

"I do And it comforts me" And it did At least it comforted the part of reat tree, his back to its rough bark That part ofto me

Yet the part ofwas horrified at my behavior I consorted with the enemy There was no other way to look at it My worst fears were confirood that you have co It will make it easier for you"

"Did you ever have doubts, when the ic first claih in the gentle rustling of the leaves above me "Of course I did I had plans for ht ould all die I made a spirit journey, just as you did A choice was offered to ic and the ic usedin the shadow, I heard ic will use me also?"

"Yes It will use you as you use it It will give to you, and in the process, it will take from you You er and truer to your task"

My dreaesture with his hands It could have expressed either release or offering I sensed it signified acceptance I felt impotent fury that this other self would passively accede to such a fate And in my fury, I was somehow separate from him, and could observe him He filled entle balm of the sun His skin was evenly browned, as if he had never known a scrap of clothing He had dirt under his fingernails, and his bare feet and ankles were perrimed He was a man turned into a beast of the forest Yet he was pleased with himself, content in whatever life this was he lived I hated hi passion Then, as he shifted, I felt a thrill of fear strengthen ht that dream self my twin, but now I saas not What I had taken for a head as shorn of hair as my oas actually a bald pate At the crown of his skull, sprouting like a rooster’s tail, was a sheaf of hair I kneith sudden certainty that his crop of hair would exactlypiece of scalp on my scarred head This was the stolen self that Epiny had spoken about with Spink

The tree had continued to speak to ood that you are prepared, for soon I will reach out to you with thewhether it ise for ic takes a vessel, the h the vessel, and the events that will ht for the People are set into ic has not acted through you Of this you are certain?"

I watched ed eloquently He did not know I sensed that he had reached for hts and what this self did in the real world, yet he could no more truly comprehend who and what I was than I could understand hi had broken my dreams and made me aware of him His topknot of hair, I noas braided at the base and tarred with soreen vine wrapped it like a schoolgirl’s ribbon It looked silly to me, as foolish as one of Epiny’s hats

The tree sighed, a heavy rustling of wind through her branches "Then act I shall, though I a this upon h the ic sees to the end of all perrain of sand will escalate into a landslide I seemember of the People But even so, I tremble at what I will do"

Indeed, a curious shiver did run through the tree, a quivering of the leaves that seemed independent of any stir of air My dream self folded his hands and bowed his head in submission "Do as you must, Tree Woman I will be ready"

"I will do as I er sufficient We trusted to it, but it is failing Our trees fall and with every tree that dies, wisdom is lost Power is lost The forest is what binds our worlds together As the intruders cut the forest, they are like roeaker The , and knows itthat rushes through e of our own So there is no time for you to thrash and blunder your way There is no time to let you make your own mistakes Tomorrow, you must pass the test"