Free 10: His Holy Bones by Ginn Hale

turned his carved bone over in his hands. Silence seemed to fill the chamber like a physical presence, isolating each of them and insulating them in their own thoughts. Ravishan’s head tilted back a little and John realized that he’d fallen asleep. His face was beautifully placid, particularly compared to the troubled expressions everywhere else in the room.
    “I should get back to the camp,” Ji said at last. She stood and stretched and then looked to John. “I wanted to ask you if you thought you could open up a few trenches in the valley, so we could bury the dead. There are far too many to burn.”
    “Of course.” John stood but then hesitated, not wanting to leave Ravishan’s side.
    “I’ll see to it that Ravishan is cared for,” Wah’roa offered.
    “Thanks,” John said.
    “I—” Saimura stood up suddenly. “I have a healing charm for him. I made it last night.” Saimura walked to John and handed him the carved stone.
    “Thank you,” John said. He placed the stone in Ravishan’s empty hand. “Thank you,” John said again. It was such a relief to have just this small exchange.
    John wanted to say something to the other Fai’daum— something to reassure them that he was still the man they had known. But he doubted that words would have made that much of a difference. He wasn’t the man they had thought they had known. He had to give them time to accept what they had learned. But he took hope in the shy wave Tanash offered him as he left.
    He followed Ji out of the watchtower and down the massive stone walkways to the Fai’daum camp. Red Fai’daum banners waved from the eaves of the newly rebuilt buildings. The rich scent of baking taye wafted from some nearby oven. The kitchens were at last warm enough for the bakers to prop their windows open.
    Outside, the air was warmer. It would be spring soon, John thought. Crops would need to be sown. He briefly considered the morbid work of tilling the valley, with so many dead buried in its soil.
    “You haven’t seen Fikiri, have you?” Ji asked.
    “Fikiri?” John frowned. “No. I haven’t seen him since Rathal’pesha. He avoids me, I think. Why?”
    “I have seen him in a vision,” Ji began, but then she broke off, shaking her head.
    “Is something wrong with Fikiri?”
    “Yesterday, while you were down in the valley, he came with news from Sabir. The assault on Umbhra’ibaye will begin this evening.” Ji’s brows knit. “While he was speaking, I saw something. A momentary crack in the future. I caught a flash of the land buckling, walls crumbling, torrents of rain.”
    “You think Fikiri could do that?” John asked.
    “No. I’m afraid that he might somehow provoke you to do it.”
    “I won’t,” John said firmly. “Fikiri annoys me, but that’s all. I am not going to tear down mountains or flood Basawar for forty days and nights because of him.”
    Ji’s ears drooped slightly.
    “Even if he harmed Ravishan?” Ji asked.
    John stopped in his tracks.
    “What did you see?” John demanded.
    “Fragments, at best.”
    “You saw Fikiri hurt Ravishan?” John asked. He couldn’t say kill. He couldn’t even bear to think it.
    “I saw them fighting in ruins. Perhaps the remains of Umbhra’ibaye. But it doesn’t make sense. Fikiri looked much older than Ravishan. There were bones there, but nothing like the ones I’ve seen before. Then the vision was gone.”
    “But you think Fikiri will attack Ravishan?” John asked.
    “No, I didn’t say that,” Ji replied. “All I know is that some event now might lead to that moment in the future. But it might not happen at all.”
    John could feel his jaws clenching. “What event will lead to it?”
    “I don’t know.” Ji stopped in a patch of sunlight. Her yellow hide lit to a golden glow. She lifted her head into the light. John paused beside her. The warmth of the sunlight poured over his skin. “The vision came to me when Tanash mentioned your name to Fikiri. If I had to