At that final thought, the White Shaman of the Tundra began to snore.
Outside the Dreaming Mountain, the sun had already disappeared, and the Arctic lights commenced telling a story of their own, but tonight they sparked with a new kind of magic, one that wove brilliant shapes and colors not seen in a millennia, an indication that something new, something special, had just begun.
EPILOGUE
THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE LESS YOU SLEEP
“Hold on. You aren’t stopping there. Surely,” Kishan said, wide awake, though it was now very, very late.
“I’m weary, and you, my boy, are still sick. You need your rest.”
Anik Kadam stood, drained his now cold mug of tea, and stretched his neck and back. As he went to the little sink to rinse out the mug, he added, “We should really think of adding some more comfortable chairs to this hut. Especially if you insist on staying out here in the middle of nowhere.”
Kishan slumped back on his pillow. The story had distracted him from both his illness and his depression for a while, but now both hit him again with a deep, drowning fatigue. “What difference does comfort make?” he groused.
“Who said I was talking about your comfort? Here.” The older man passed Kishan a cold glass of water. “Hydrate yourself and try to get some sleep. I’ll stay with you, if you like.”
“Will you tell me what happened next to the young people?”
Kadam felt the younger man’s forehead. The fever would break in the morning if Kishan could just bring himself to rest.
“I’ll make you a bargain. If you sleep for at least six hours, which will allow me to give my old bones a break, I’ll tell you the next part of the story. Deal?”
“Agreed.”
Kishan shut his eyes, and his breathing steadied and slowed until it quieted into a gentle rhythm, indicating he was at last asleep.
Putting up his feet, Kadam was about to shut his own eyes, when he heard a voice in his head.
I thought you didn’t like using mushrooms.
Kadam smiled and replied,Hello, old friend. It’s not a hallucinogenic type. The kind I gave him simply helps with stress and sleep.
Do you really think telling him what happened will strengthen him?
I don’t know. I just don’t want my boy to suffer. I know what it’s like. Being alone and knowing...too much.
Do you regret it?
My time with you? Or knowing what I know?
Any of it. All of it. I know I regret it.
You regret meeting me?Kadam replied with surprise.
Not at all. I regret the path you chose for yourself.
Ah, you mean my impending death.
It doesn’t have to happen.
We all make choices. You know that. You taught that principle to your tigers.
I did.
And I saw firsthand what losing one of your own did to you.
The White Shaman sighed.Well, if you think it will help him. Feel free to share everything. Leave no detail out.
I’m sure I won’t. Not with you buzzing in my ear.
Anik, I...I’ll stay with you, if you like. When it happens, I mean.
I’d like that, Vesako. But we’re not quite yet at the end of my tale.
No?
No. There’s still a bit more left to tell.
