Shan looked down the path the nurse had taken. She had always been standoffish with him. He did not even know her name, only that she was called the walking healer. The herders she served always praised her abilities.

“I wouldn’t have thought the sick would stay so close to the Five Claws,” Shan observed as he extended his hands over the warmth of the flames. He glanced back toward the trail. There was plenty of firewood but the nurse had taken dung for fuel, which he did not understand.

“There are many forms of healing needed on this mountain,” the hail chaser said. Shan saw that beside him were half a dozen bunches of juniper twigs, bound with vines.

“I am honored to meet you, Yankay Namdol. I am called Shan. I regretted not being able to speak with you when I saw you released at the Shoe Factory.” Shan recalled the strange movements the hail chaser had made that morning. Now he realized part of the strangeness had been because the old man seemed subtly deformed. A hand was bent at a slightly unnatural angle. One shoulder seemed higher than the other. His left forearm was twisted, and his jaw seemed a bit off-center, giving his grizzled face a crooked appearance.

The old man tightened his grip on his staff, which Shan now saw was intricately carved with Buddhist and Bonpo symbols.

“I had never seen a man summon an earthquake.”

Yankay’s smile showed a row of uneven yellowed teeth. “You’re mistaken. I don’t summon earthquakes. Earthquakes summon me.”

“At precisely the moment of your release. I was deeply impressed. It was magical. I think the warden might have fled if the colonel hadn’t been there. And I expect the prisoners were treated with a bit more respect for a few days.”

“You aren’t prepared to understand how the earth works here,” Yankay said, in the tone of a patient old teacher.

Shan stared into the fire, weighing the man’s choice of words. “No,” he admitted, “I always thought as I grew older I would grow wiser. But I only learned how ignorant I am.”

Yankay let go of his staff and extended his hands over the flames. “Good. The first step to wisdom.”

“And the next?” Shan asked and realized he sounded like a nervous student.

“Surrender to the wonder of it all.”

“The wonder of men who would kill gods?”

Yankay sighed and did not reply right away. “There is an ice cave near the top of the mountain,” he said eventually. “If you sit there long enough you can hear the vibration coming from the heart of the mountain. Like a heartbeat.”

“Sounds cold.”

The hail chaser seemed disappointed. “So you are one of those who has to be beaten into surrender.”