know why they created it, but we endure its evils as we enjoy their blessings. Those who walk this path we call ant'iihnii."
"What does that mean?"
"It means 'witch people'."
"Are all witches women, then?" Victoria asked. "Can men ever follow this path?"
The old man smiled. "You would know much. If we spoke of other things, I would tell you with a glad heart. Of this, I will only say what you need to hear."
"I understand," Victoria said.
"Good." He shifted his weight. "Now, to choose the wise path, I must know what this woman has done to you."
Victoria recounted both her encounter with the woman on the first night and the subsequent confrontations with her. Wanting to leave nothing out, she even told the old man of her dream in which she flew across the desert and came upon the two pursuers on the mesa. As she spoke, Naalnish grew visibly more agitated. He hesitated to translate her words, and when he did, his words were hushed and hurried. His distress fed her own uneasiness.
When she finished, the singer studied the embers between them for a long time. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead, and Victoria could feel her own running down her cheeks. The air in the tiny room was still and thick. It made breathing difficult. Her shirt peeled away from her skin as she shifted her weight, waiting for the old man's reply.
At last, his gaze lifted from the fire. "It is strange," Naalnish translated. "This woman says she can become an animal, and you say you have seen this."
"I did not witness it, exactly," Victoria said. "I only dreamed I did."
"That you say it was a dream is not strange," the Indian said. "Your people have no stories of such things, but I can tell you that your dream was not a dream."
Victoria blinked. "How is that possible? I most certainly did not grow wings and teach myself to fly, nor could I have instantly moved from the top of the mesa back to our camp."
"Your body did not move," he said, nodding, "but you moved across the land all the same."
"I don't understand."
The singer smiled. "As I said, your people have no stories of such things, but my people do. The Dine have long known that the spirit can leave the body, moving over the land and seeing things that the body's eyes may not. You are not Dine, so it is strange for you to do this, but you did."
"So my dream wasn't a dream?" Victoria asked. "What happened to me that night, what I felt and what I saw, was real?"
"Yes," he replied.
Victoria couldn't quite grasp what she was hearing. Surely this old man, wise though he was, had somehow confused the world of dreams with the real world. Maybe his tribe did have stories to explain dreams as something other than they were, but they were just stories. It wasn't possible for the spirit to leave the body prior to a person's death, when it was sent to paradise or damnation for all eternity. To say otherwise was absurd and heretical.
"I see on your face that you do not believe me. Tell me this: in your dream, when you saw the ant'iihnii, how did she see you if you were not there?"
"I'm not sure," Victoria said. "She just seemed to sense me somehow."
"The ant'iihnii knows of the spirit world, and she sees those that walk in it. When you came close, she felt you. When she took the form of the fox, her eyes could see you."
Victoria's stomach grew slightly ill. "What would have happened if I hadn't returned to my body?"
"She would have wounded your spirit," the singer said. "If her spirit was stronger, yours may have been broken. You would have been lost."
"I would have died?"
"Your body, yes. Your spirit may have found a new body, but maybe not."
"What do you mean, found a new body? I might have possessed someone else?"
"Now you ask of the Great Cycle. I would gladly tell you more, but it must wait. We must keep our words on the ant'iihnii."
Victoria looked into Naalnish's eyes. They were round with fear. "Yes, I'm sorry. Please tell me about her."
"Like the Dine, the ant'iihnii do not all walk the same path. I am a singer, and Naalnish is a strong worker. They have their own skills also. We call them all ant'iihnii, but they have other names. The one that hunts you is called..."