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.The yarimaimalom have indeed been aware of Dantarahma's desire for what he thinks of as 'religious reform.' How could we not be aware when we move in and out of the humans' lives so that they hardly notice us? Indeed and thisis no taunt the birds are difficult to tell from their Cousin kin unless upon close inspection.""True," Blind Seer said, making his response sound like a proverb."Who can tell the size of a raven on therooftops?""Or a hawk in the trees," Truth agreed."So we knew, and initially we did not worry.Dantarahma began by usingolder forms of prayers.He restricted these to small groups worshipping in private, and if these prayers spoke of bloodand death rather more than seems tasteful especially given that these humans are well fed we did not worry muchabout it.Surely you have noticed how humans speak.They often say things they do not mean not literally."" 'I'll kill him,'" Firekeeper agreed, "or 'I hate his guts' or 'I love him more than life itself.' These puzzled me for along time.So you thought these prayers were more of the same.""Exactly," Truth said."The blood sacrifices are a recent development, and even then we were not too worried.What difference does a chicken or rabbit make? The worshippers were even eating what they killed though raw,which is unusual for humans.""Very," Firekeeper said, remembering how many times her taste for undercooked meat had aroused revulsion in herhuman friends."Here it would be even odder than in Hawk Haven, I think.The cooking favors heavy sauces and longstewing.""I hadn't thought of that," Truth admitted, "but you are right.It does make this eating of raw meat even odder.Now,the large sacrifices, such as your friend Derian witnessed, these are very new the first was reported soon afterTiridanti came into office.An owl brought the news to me, as it was the beginning of a jaguar year.I tasted theomens, and found nothing immediately dangerous if we waited, and some rather unsettling possibilities if we acted.Therefore, we agreed to wait.""For how long?" Firekeeper asked.Truth's tail switched in annoyance."For as long as we needed," she replied."But it seems that what I thought not too long a wait seemed too long toEshinarvash.Perhaps someone in his herd saw more clearly than I.Perhaps they allowed for Derian's participation, andthis shifted our chances for success.To be honest, I don't know.I was born on Misheemnekuru, and am not in theconfidence of those of the mainland."She licked her paw complacently."And horses are rarely comfortable around the great cats.""And," Blind Seer said, not to be diverted, "I think your mind was even then not entirely your own.We were toldthat you were having trouble reading the future regarding Firekeeper even then.Perhaps you were reluctant to hunt inthose currents you mentioned."Firekeeper expected the Wise Jaguar to growl or snarl, but Truth only laid her head on her paws in surrender."That is so," she admitted."Perhaps it would have been better if this had not been a jaguar year, and some morecooperative beast walked in my place."Seeing the great cat humbled gave Firekeeper no pleasure."Your deities said it was a year for fire," she said, "and fire burns as well as warms, destroys as well as clearing theway for new growth.Serving fire is a complicated matter."Truth raised her head and looked with unblinking eyes at Firekeeper, but seeing nothing but sincerity, her tail didnot twitch."Maybe this is somehow part of Fire's clearing," the jaguar said, "but such wildfires are rarely pleasant for thosecaught within them.""As I know all too well," Firekeeper said with a shiver."Ever since we spoke with Questioner, my dreams havebeen fire-haunted.Now that Eshinarvash and those like-minded have acted, will you support them?""I will," Truth said."You and Blind Seer have done well in relating what dangers may follow Dantarahma's rise.This is yet a jaguar year, but nothing is more certain than that summer will pass into winter, winter into spring oncemore and if the deities listen to Dantarahma's prayers, he may sit in Tiridanti's place among u-Liall.""But what are we to do?" Firekeeper said."Already there is word that we will be sent north again, and though I hatesailing, I hate being a prisoner even more.Although I could go home afoot, the journey would be long and, at least forDerian, very dangerous.""That decision is not yet made," Truth said, her tail lashing, "and after what you have done for me, you have astrong ally in your desire to come and go as you wish.Let us leave that, and concentrate on how Dantarahma might beundone." She licked her forepaws, one then the other, with nervous, anxious strokes of her tongue, the action so violent thatFirekeeper could easily hear the rasp of tongue against fur.Blind Seer thumped his tail reassuringly."You are wondering whether it would be wise to look again into the currents of time and see what we might bestdo," he said to Truth
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