THEY FOUND THE statue early that afternoon, about four miles in from the edge of the Divide. They had spent some time exploring a network of steaming pools and streams, and as they mounted a slope, they saw the shape outlined on top of the next small hill. It took an hour to reach, but long before they gathered around it and stared with a mixture of awe and disappointment, Nomi recognized what it was.

Carved from the bole of an old tree, the man gazed at them with black-painted eyes. It was obvious that the carving was quite old: the wood had cracked, parts of it were rotten and any sharp features had been smoothed by sunlight and weather. But there were signs that whoever had carved this image still visited. Garlands of dried flowers were gathered around its base like discarded clothes, and suspended from one wooden shoulder was a more recent floral tribute, still moist with decay.

“Who is it?” Noon said.

“Not me,” Beko said.

“But he's like us.” Nomi stepped forward, reached up and touched the wooden face. “Not like the things we saw. He's Noreelan.”

“Maybe there are human tribes up here as well,” Rhiana said.

Nomi stared into the dark eyes. The Serian was right, there could well be humans up here. Someone had written those parchment pages, after all. The humanoid figures they had seen that morning could well be capable of doing so, but there had been something wild about them that gave her doubt. Maybe they couldn't do it now, but what about in the past? A bird flitted by above them, and a shadow at the corner of the statue's mouth twitched.

Nomi blinked. She looked back at the others, then again at the statue.

“What?” Beko said.

Nomi shook her head. “Foolish.”

“What's foolish?”

She shrugged. “I feel like I know this face.” She was hoping they would laugh to diffuse her nervousness, but they looked more serious than ever.

“SO WHAT ABOUT the Sleeping God?” Beko asked. They had left the carving behind, though Nomi could still see it if she looked back. She was glad that its eyes stared northward.

“That would be amazing,” she said. “But even if it does exist, there's more to this place than that.”

“I agree,” Beko said. “Let's leave the myths alone. For all we know, this is a land as large as Noreela.”

Nomi looked to the hills in the distance and the red-tinged trees. “It could be,” she said. “That's what drives me.”

“Scares the piss out of me,” Beko said, but she heard the excitement in his voice, and she was so glad that he was there.

Nomi reached out for his hand. When she turned to speak again, Beko's face exploded and he went down.

She would never remember what she was about to say.

_____