"Ares and I found this same thing under Cevian's body. We thought she was trying to make a letter, a P or a B. To spell out someone's name," said Gregor.
"No, no!" said Hazard in a shrill voice. "It is one of the marks of secret."
"What's that?" asked Gregor.
"A secret means of communication. An old collection of symbols that you could use to pass information to your allies but that were unknown to your enemies," said Howard.
"But, Hazard, no one has used the marks of secret for centuries. They have lost all meaning," said Luxa.
"Not in the jungle," said Hazard. "We use them. Frill taught them to my father and he to me. That is the scythe."
"And that means something bad?" said Gregor, nodding to the mark.
"It means death," said Hazard, and he was starting to cry.
"It means someone will die?" said Luxa, holding him close.
"Not just someone," said Hazard. "It means us! It means we who see it will die!"
PART 2: The Marks
Chapter 10
Despite many reassurances from Luxa, it took Hazard quite a while to calm down. Even when they had left the cave and assembled on the shore of the river, he was still traumatized by what he had seen. Gregor couldn't think of any symbol that would be so scary in the Overland, but then compared to Hazard, he'd led a very safe life.
"What is a scythe, anyway?" Gregor asked.
"It is a tool used for harvesting grain. The farmers were using scythes today as we flew over the fields," said Howard.
Gregor remembered the tools then, being swung from side to side. "So, why do those mean death?"
"Because they cut down life. In old scrolls from the Overland, sometimes the figure of Death, in a hooded black robe, also carries a scythe. To cut down humans' lives," said Howard.
"Oh, yeah. That's where I've seen it," said Gregor.
Howard built a small fire to try to cheer things up. Unfortunately, in the ghost town that was the mouse colony the shadows the flames threw against the stone walls only made the place feel more eerie.
Boots, who was puzzled by the whole situation, squatted next to Hazard and patted him on the leg. "Hazard is crying. Hazard is sad," she said.
"It's okay, Boots; everybody is fine," said Gregor, picking her up for a hug.
"No, we are not fine. We have seen the scythe," said Hazard.
"And yet we still live," said Luxa, stroking his curls.
"Yes, perhaps that mark was meant for someone else," said Howard.
"Or they made it during the plague," said Luxa. "Before the cure was found and all warmbloods were as good as dead."
Hazard quieted a minute to consider this. "I don't know," he said. "In the jungle everyone dreads the mark."
"Did you ever see it yourself? In the jungle, I mean," said Gregor.
"Once. There was a swarm of flying insects. Their bite brought quick death," said Hazard.
"But you did not die, Hazard," said Howard encouragingly. "Or you would not be here to tell us of it."