“The Kaltara River,” nodded HawkShadow. “The Wound of Kaltara is over a league wide and half a league deep. It runs for many leagues in each direction.”

“How do you cross it?” asked Mistake. “The walls are vertical cliffs. Surely these birds cannot fly across it?” she added, as her eyes fell to the choka she was riding.

“Certainly not,” chuckled HawkShadow. “Chokas are war birds. They do not fly at all. The fact is,” he continued, “you can’t cross it. It is an impenetrable barrier between the Sakova and that portion of Omunga to our east.”

StarWind snapped her fingers to get HawkShadow’s attention. Her fingers moved rapidly in a signaling fashion and the Sakovan assassin nodded.

“It is MistyTrail,” HawkShadow said softly. “She has been observing us for some time now.”

“Are you sure?” asked StarWind as Mistake turned her attention away from the majestic canyon. “Why haven’t we introduced Mistake to her yet?”

“I wanted to observe her technique for a while before we met,” shrugged HawkShadow. “It is not often that I get the chance to be an intruder in the Sakova. She has done remarkably well.”

“MistyTrail has been watching us?” Mistake asked nervously as she reached into her pack for the carozit. “You should have told me,” she frowned as she wondered what kind of impression she had made gawking at the canyon.

The carozit, a magical artifact, was given to Mistake by the Sage of the Mountain in Fakara. It was a simple polished stick with two metal balls attached to one end with strings. The magic affected the balls when the carozit was turned upside down. Instead of clanging together by the force of gravity, the balls would hang in the air to display the relative distance to your nearest relative. The Sage had given it to Mistake when she had told him of her search for her family.

Mistake turned the carozit upside down. The balls clanged together, and Mistake’s mouth fell open in awe.