“Lass, maybe arguing with a snow leopard isn’t the smart thing to do,” Sergeant Neville mutters behind me.
Ishake my head. “When on this journey have I done the smart thing?”
THE INJURY IS HEALED, BUT I AM VERY TIRED NOW.
He’s right. The wound looks like an almost healed scar. His shoulder still looks raw beneath and around theS.
“Can you heal that?” I ask Elianna, pointing to the burned place on the cat’s shoulder, not realizing everybody will see my own burned-on design when I raise my hand.
More chaos, with everyone talking at once.
“This is part of the bond,” Chitai says, loudly enough to cut through the chatter. “We know this from our elders. You would be wrong to heal it with magic, I think.”
The snow leopard’s shaggy head turns toward Chitai and then back to me.
THE DAWN WARRIOR IS CORRECT.
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS HEALING ON THE BOND MARKS.
I relay the instruction to Elianna and thank her for healing the cat. She nods, stands, and backs away while I wonder how the snow leopard knew Chitai for a member of the Dawn.
THEY ARE HARD TO MISTAKE FOR ANYONE ELSE.
He’s not wrong, I realize in hindsight. I tell myself to focus, though. Back to the name idea.
“We humans aren’t much for long names. Especially if there’s a battle or some kind of emergency, it would take a long time for me to call for ‘breeze on the stream with the rocks in the winter and the flowers.’”
BREEZE THAT FLOWS OVER THE STREAM TO MAKE MUSIC IN THE SUNLIGHT ONTHE MOUNTAIN IN WINTER.
“Right. It’s a lot. For mere humans. Would it be okay to … shorten that?”
He growls.
IT IS MY NAME.
DO NOT DISRESPECT MY NAME.
“No! It’s not disrespect. It’s … what friends do. For example, my friends call me Soli instead of Solitude Grace Graymind.”
AH. THIS I UNDERSTAND.
“How about Breeze?”
NO.
“Stream?”
NO.
NOT SUNLIGHT, EITHER.
HUMANS ARE VERY LITERAL.
I close my eyes and think. The music seemed to be the most important part of the vision he placed in my mind.
YES. MUSIC.
MUSIC IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
