hWe are quite rare, and at any rate do not eat a great deal; we draw our energy from the Web of the World, as you think of it. But as yours do, our bodies require certain substances, minerals for example, though not in large quantities. Thus we must eat, but not nearly in proportion to our size.
hAnd now I begin to see—begin to—why I was drawn to speak with you. You are from Farside, and . . . Ah yes, Macurdy! Of course. And you plan to leave Yuulith, to return whence you came.h
How could he have known that? Unless he read it in my mind. Or was I imagining things? No, he was there all right. I’d seen enough else strange in Yuulith that I wasn’t going to doubt my eyes. And Blue Wing must have seen him; that must have been what got him all excited. It seemed like if any of this was imaginary, it was his “talking” to me. So far he hadn’t moved, except early when he’d come a few steps closer, and to flick his little fly-whisk tail a few times. Hadn’t even moved his mouth. But his aura and eyes told of power way beyond anything the Sisters had shown me.
I decided to ask him questions—see what he’d say. “I’ve heard that all of you are boars,” I said, “that there aren’t any sows of your kind. Is that true?”
hBoars? Let us simply say you heard correctly: there are no sows.h
“Well then, uh, who births you?”
hWe are not born in the usual sense. We come from the inbetween, one might say. Inaccurately, of course.h
I didn’t know what to make of that. “How could you come to be, without a sow to birth you?”
He chuckled again inside my head. hThe All-Spirit provides us with bodies. There is no sexuality among us.h
“But then—” He seemed to be saying they got born without any breeding taking place, or any sow giving birth. I let that be. Instead I asked him: “How did you get to Yuulith from the inbetween?” Whatever that was.
hWe do not use gates. We once were humans, and enter Yuulith in the spirit, from the place of rest and recovery. We receive our bodies here. We are old souls, who have lived out the normal prerequisites for permanent retirement from the choices and lessons of life. And should have graduated, you might say. But instead have been sent here as volunteers, to prepare ourselves for some purpose we will remember, or discover, when it is time.h
I had no idea at all what to ask next. I just looked at him, maybe eleven, twelve hundred pounds of bone, muscle, and tusks, roaming around the back country rooting up skunk-cabbage and eating wild game, and maybe from time to time somebody’s calf. All to prepare himself for he didn’t know what.
hAnd you are returning to Farside,h he said. hWell. In time, if you live, you will return here. I will find you then, for I sense we have things to do together.h
I just stared.
hAnd now I will grant you a favor. As a sign.h
“A favor?”
hTomorrow you will know the favor you want. It will be foremost in your mind when you waken. When you know, I will know, even at a distance. And whatever it is, it will be yours.h
Then, without another word, he turned and trotted off.
I never did go home for my day’s lesson from Arbel. Instead I sheathed my ax and hiked around in the woods, a thousand thoughts running through my head, not to mention the questions Blue Wing asked. He’d lit in a tree to watch and listen, but hadn’t heard any of what Vulkan thought to me, though he’d heard me talking to Vulkan, of course.
Part of what I thought about was what favor I’d get. Could Vulkan give me Melody back? Or Varia, with her and Cyncaidh’s blessing? What would be on my mind when I woke up in the morning? Could he really do it?
Along toward evening my mind settled out, and I headed back for Arbel’s. I told him about meeting Vulkan, and he was impressed, but I didn’t mention the promised favor. Didn’t feel ready to. Besides, having spent most of the day hiking in the woods, talking in a warm room made me drowsy. I excused myself, went to bed, and fell straight to sleep, like a stone.