It wasn’t until they had walked half the distance across the cavern that Henry noticed it was he, not Coralis, leading the way. He glanced worriedly at the Wand Master, who motioned him to keep going. As they got closer, he could make out the shape of a pile of rags at the base of the far wall. And closer still, the rags became a man—one so ancient he appeared to be made from the earth around him.

“Sit,” said the voice in his head. It was kind but insistent. Henry sat across from the Navajo man. “Diné,” the voice corrected him. Coralis and Grandma Gailene flanked either side of him. A small pile of fist-sized rocks lay between them and the Diné chief—for what else could he be, thought Henry. He placed Brianna on the ground and saw the briefest flicker of surprise in the old man’s eyes. And that’s when Henry recognized him. The face from his mother’s mural.

“We meet again,” he said to Coralis slowly, deliberately, as if unaccustomed to speaking more than a single syllable at a time.

“It has been a very long time.” Coralis bowed his head in respect. Something unspoken passed between the two men. The image of two heavyweight boxers sizing each other up before a big fight occurred to Henry.

“Ah, forgive me,” the Diné chief said to Grandma Gailene and the children. “I am Joseph.” He leaned forward and rearranged several of the rocks in a peculiar pattern, then pondered them for several minutes before speaking to Coralis. “He has the blood.”

Coralis nodded. “And the talent.” He added, “And the innocence.”

Joseph acknowledged the silent message. “You are his grandmother?”

“Yes,” Grandma Gailene said hoarsely.

“The generations are important, especially now. There is much at stake. I have foreseen this day. Evil will rise tonight, but the form it takes has not been revealed. Perhaps the great Coralis has knowledge of it?”

“Not all,” Coralis said uncomfortably. “But with some luck, we will know what we are facing.”

Joseph coughed. Henry realized he was laughing. “Luck? You entrust the fate of the world to luck?”

Coralis’s back stiffened. Henry shifted closer to Grandma Gailene, expecting him to explode with anger. “Knowledge and wisdom are important, but in battle, luck can swiftly shift momentum.”

“Then we will need our share,” said Joseph. He held out his hands with his palms facing outward as if he were warming them over an imaginary fire. Henry felt something tug at a knot in his stomach, a gentle but firm pulling sensation. As Joseph’s hands moved, so did the knot, from one side to the other, then up into his chest.