We land on the final landing strip of our quest to find a new homeland for the Kaniwa tribe. Wolf and I scout out three potential forests. Two of them have insurmountable problems, including an ample population of poisonous snakes. The third forest is the furthest place from their current home. Ty, the pilot, says he cannot transport the whole tribe without acquiring unwelcome attention from the Brazilian government with the multiple flights required.

Pell has calculated that it will take at least three months for the tribe to march there, children and pregnant mothers limiting their progress. The warrior that Idiot Wolf took as a servant is an excellent hunter, capturing giant snakes with the best meat. His name is Rapa, and Wolf teaches him to speak Kaniwa. Wolf wants to integrate him into the Kaniwa. I will forgive Wolf if he can do it, but I won’t forgive him for proposing to Losau.

Our trek to the promised valley takes three days, and we meet no other tribes, but I feel shadows watching us.

We reach the valley surrounded by mountains on three sides. It has good soil, and lots of snakes, poisonous snakes. Oure doesn’t seem to care; these snakes aren't interested in us. Oure finds a large burned-out field and examines the ground looking for a sign. He finds it in a piece of green rock, a large piece of glass made from dirt fused by the power of a monster lightning strike. The strike has also damaged the trees in the area. He smiles, saying, “This will become our home if we find a good forest to build longhouses and boar and capybara to eat. The other tribes will not enter this land. Grace, you will plant the seed of Aman.”

I start to remove my necklace in anticipation of being free of it, but Oure stops me, saying, “The seed must turn ripe; you must wait.”

“What will happen when it is ready? Will it change me like Marll?”

The shaman grimaces and says nothing. I shudder.

The other patrols of our little band return, and all agree that the valley is an excellent place to build a new life, with good hunting and many edible plants and roots. We light a campfire to cook the fish Pell and Rapa have hooked, and Upatu tells a tall tale of the Great Hunter Tell and the Great Anaconda’s tail.

~

In my hammock, I nod off until a creeping movement on my chest awakens me. My eyes snap open, and I see the seed split and two green roots emerge to spread across my chest. I grab at the seed, and the roots whip up to entwine my wrists in the grip of iron. Little tendrils start to burrow under the skin of my fingers; the pain is beyond pain, but soon they become numb; I try to bend them, but they don’t move. Finally, more tendrils bury into my chest, and I can’t breathe; the change is beginning. I now know why Aman didn’t take my life; it saved me to feed its seed. The seed starts rocking back and forth, and I hear screaming.

~

Upatu is shaking me with a reassuring touch that calms me. I stop hollering, and I relax my grip on the intact seed. He helps me sit up, and Oure offers a small bamboo tube of brown liquid. I feel the drug work fast, pulling me down into a deep black sleep.

The bright sunlight wakes me to a peaceful morning. It is an easy journey to return to the landing strip, and everyone is happy, everyone but me; I’ve seen a vision of my death. If true, it will happen soon. It’s nothing new. I’ve seen my death before on the streets of Richmond when Jacky Grimm’s henchmen attacked me with knives. The drug dealing boys hated our gang and needed no excuse to hurt me. They cut my face around the eyes. I found out later they planned to cut my throat. Wolf and Sir Raven saved me by pounding the two men, breaking them pretty bad; serves them right.

The mountain woman Maud took the scars from my face onto hers. Strange woman, I didn’t believe in her magic, not until Aman, the First Tree, forced this staff on me. I don’t have magic, not like Maud, but that staff does, and it won’t let go of me. Wolf can leave his staff alone, but if I go more than a few yards away from mine, I become queasy and puke my guts out.

In the morning, we do our exercises. The Kaniwa now do it too. It’s an excellent way to reinforce our self-defense lessons. Then, we start hiking to the landing strip with our morning routine done. I again feel eyes watching us.

I see Pell pull out her blowgun and walk with it in hand; Wolf follows her example. Without a blowgun, I un-strap my long Kyudo bow to hold at the ready.

The first arrow zips in, hitting Powtow in the leg, and he spins to bring his blowgun to bear on his attacker, now standing in the open. The dart hits the warrior, who fires a fresh arrow before collapsing, this arrow hits our hunter again, and the tall man collapses. We start shooting at the men emerging from behind the trees, and after I let loose with two arrows, I run to Powtow’s aid, as does Upatu, pulling him to his feet and his arms over our shoulders.

Running hard, we look for a place to defend ourselves, but Whisperblade urges us on. She, however, stops with her long sword in hand and takes down the first two attackers with brutal slashes. The sight of massive amounts of blood causes the other warriors to halt, and Whisperblade steps behind a tree to attack in another direction. Shadow and my Lady Gray are with her, gray streaks shooting through the shadows of the trees. I hear men screaming and wolves snarling but nothing else as we run farther away from the battle. I feel loss, a hollow feeling not for Whisperblade but for Lady Gray, my most loyal friend, more so than Wolf.

We put distance between the attackers and pause to call Ty, our pilot, but our satellite phones have failed. I let go of Powtow and gather a couple of phones. One looks alright, but the battery is dead; the others have moisture damage. I pull their batteries and swap them around until I find a good combination. Making the call, I learn the pilot would arrive in an hour. We’ll make it if we run hard, but Powtow will slow us down. I look at the hunter and see Amara tending to his wounds, having already pulled out the small arrows. Placing her hands over the wounds, she starts to sweat. Amara pulls her hands away, and I see scars where open holes once were. She stands up and staggers towards me, held by Wart and Losau.

With everyone on their feet, we again run for the landing strip arriving in an hour. We wait, and I count heads; there are ten of us; Whisperblade is missing. Wolf starts to run back into the forest, but I tackle him saying, “You can’t save her, not now.”

“I’ve got to try; she’s my mother.”

“No, you idiot, it’s too late. She gave herself to save us. If you go back, they will kill you.” We return to the landing strip.

The roar of the plane’s engines drones louder as it comes into view. It circles the field before setting down. We climb through the door, and the machines begin to rev but return to idle. I look through a window to see Whisperblade running for the plane, and before she has a chance to climb in, the pilot takes the engine to speed, and the plane starts to move. Upatu and Wolf grab her wrists, pulling her up and in. the plane is turning to line up for takeoff, and two grey bullets jump in through the open door. I hug Lady Gray and get licks on the face as blood rubs off her muzzle onto me.

The trip to the Kaniwa homeland takes hours. We had drifted ever farther away from the Kaniwa forest in our search for a new homeland. Ty does a low pass over the Kaniwa longhouses before going to the airstrip maintained by the drug lords. Most of the time, the Kaniwa don’t bother them, and they don’t bother us, but our arrival three weeks ago ended in several deaths.

Our reception is better today, and the hunters arrive within the hour and help carry our packs and weapons for the long hike to Oure’s longhouse, where we clean up and eat; Cunno is the best cook. Tomorrow I will have to go out with the hunters, I can’t eat for free, and Losau takes me under her wing. Despite her small size, she is as old as Wolf, too old for a Kaniwa maiden not to be married. I have time to observe her. She does not joke around with the other women or share hunting tales with the men. Instead, she listens, is very respectful, and works hard. On the third day, she and Wolf disappear, and I am about to chase the boy down when Whisperblade tells me they went to see Mondo, her father, and one of the family patriarchs.

They return four days later, Wolf wearing a necklace of four boar’s tusks. I cringe, thinking about what that means, and Oure confirms it when he congratulates Idiot Wolf on his marriage. I grab the boy and drag him away from the clearing. “What were you thinking? You’ve just gotten yourself kicked out of school; now you can’t be a knight.”

“They tricked me. I had to prove myself a man and kill a boar on foot. During the feast that night, I was given a cup of blood to drink; I thought it was in celebration of the kill. Losau also drank from the cup, and Mondo said we were married. I haven’t done anything with her; it’s not legal.”

I slam my fist across his face and walk away, saying, “That’s for Sally.”

~

The elders arrive and call for a council. Kuro says, “We must decide what to do. To go to the land Oure says is good, but far away. The seed of Aman must make it to the far land. Wachinga must stay under our care.”

I start to protest, for I will not be a knight now. I am condemned to become one with a tree; I will never leave the Kaniwa without the elder's permission. Whisperblade places a firm hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

She says to the elders, “The men and women in my care must return to their home to finish their training to become warriors. I wish that Pell also be allowed to receive this training.”

I look at Pell and see her sporting a broad grin.

Whisperblade and the elders argue the virtues and dangers of Pell and myself returning to the United States, even for a short time, and then the knight is dismissed while they make their decision.

They call us back, and Kuro says, “It is our opinion that Wachinga may return to her homeland for several moons to complete her training, that she may complete her trials, and she may see her mother.”

Roald says, “Pell and Wachinga may leave for a short time to finish their training. Therefore, we require that Upatu and Losau go with Wachinga to protect the Seed of Aman.”

They are coming to see that I return with the seed, and Wolf marries Losau. The Elders seem eager to have our blood mixed with theirs. I am sure that Whisperblade is attracted to Oure, but she is too old to bear a baby. The way Oure has played us stinks, but he’s sharp, and I’ve learned my lesson about challenging sharp men. Like many Kaniwa, I have two mothers; Lady Jane adopted me years ago, and Kuna of the Mojave also took me on as a daughter.

I ask Wolf, “What are you going to do with Rapa? He can’t go with us, and without you, the Kaniwa will eat him alive.”

The Idiot looks at the fallen warrior a minute, then smiles. He grabs Rapa by the wrist and leads him over to Oure, and whispers in his ear. The warrior stands upright with a look of hardness on his face.

Wolf returns, and I ask him what he said to the man.

“I told him he has a life, and his life is to protect Pell, and if not Pell, then he will protect Oure. Grace, I did it to give him a second chance, just as we were once given a second chance.”

“How can you trust him?”

“He is honor-bound. His chief took away his life, his honor. So I just now gave it back to him. I think he would have been a knight in another time.”

For once, I am proud of Wolf.

In two days and after many goodbyes, eight of us board Ty’s ancient C-47 cargo plane on the first leg of our journey back to the school. Signor Herve meets our plane in Manaus with fresh clothes for everyone; Pell says a few nasty words before Losau will put on her shirt and trousers. Later, in Virginia, we get off the school bus on the final leg of our trip, in front of the school. The Lion and other knights stand in front with the students behind them. He greets Losau and Upatu in halting Kaniwa.

Lion escorts the Amazonians into the school building, and the rest of us follow, most going to their rooms. They enter Sir John, The Lion’s, office with Pell to translate and close the door behind them. Sally acting as Lion's assistant, stomps around her desk to stab her finger into Wolf’s chest and says, “You did it, didn’t you? You married her; I know because Sir Whisperblade filed her report from Manaus. Why she’s just a child, she doesn’t even look fourteen.”

“She’s eighteen,” Wolf says and storms out before Sally can hit him.

I hear Sally filed a protest against Wolf’s knighting in the morning. I cringe; Wolf saved my life when we first met; I have to help him now. Sally is a close friend, as well as a confidant. It is from her I learned the ways women fight and make friends. It is because of her I survived in school. Before I lose one or both of my friends, I must somehow get them back together.