Hadi
Hadi woke up with a sharp pain in his head.
He'd had the weirdest dream. A beautiful woman dancing…
No light. No food. No water. No air.
No wonder he felt like something scraped off the bottom of a sandal.
But—was that wind?
A breath of cool air tickled his cheek. It helped clear his head a little. He looked around but couldn't see anyone.
Because it's dark, you idiot, he told himself.
He listened. Silence.
No gasping. No crying. No one else.
Am I dead?
He didn't think so. His head hurt too much. Still, where was everyone? Had he gone deaf?
That seemed less likely than something even weirder: all the other Initiates had stopped whining.
He began to crawl, searching for the fresh air.
He spotted a faint outline of moonlight. His heart leapt. He scrambled to his feet and ran outside.
Ugh.
He was standing in the middle of the Stone Hedge—the circle of creepy stones on the hill.
A voice spoke, calm and clear.
"Follow the brightest light you see."
The Tavaedies stood in a wide circle, their robes shining faintly in the dark. Each one lined up with one of the standing stones.
Only one held a torch.
The others stood in shadow.
Hadi didn't even think about it. Brightest light? That one. Easy.
He walked straight toward the torch.
The Tavaedi with the torch said, "Present your totem."
"Uh… right." He fumbled at the corn doll tied around his neck. His fingers were clumsy, but he got it off and placed it at the Tavaedi's feet.
"Congratulations, Hadi, son of the Lost Swan clan of the Rainbow Labyrinth tribe," said the Tavaedi, handing him a polished black pestle made of obsidian. "You are now a man."
***
Gwenika
Gwenika woke up to a soft, golden light.
She had been dreaming. A beautiful woman had danced in her dream—so bright, she shone like the sun.
She was still inside the cave. But it seemed she was alone now, except for a glowing ball of yellow light floating in front of her.
Come with me, said a voice—not in words, but inside her heart.
Gwenika couldn't stand yet, so she crawled after the glowing light through the twisty stone tunnels. At last, the rocky floor began to slope upward. Gwenika crawled faster.
Soon, the ceiling grew taller. She stood up and hurried after the light.
When she stepped out into the open air, the pale moonlight stabbed her eyes. She blinked and gasped. She stood in the middle of the Stone Hedge.
All around her, Tavaedies in shining costumes stood between the huge stones. Only one held a torch. The rest stood in darkness.
A deep voice called to her.
"Follow the brightest light you see."
The golden puff twinkled at her and floated away—toward the shadows, not the torch. As she watched, the golden puff grew into a shining sun.
"It's so bright…" Gwenika whispered. She covered her eyes.
Dance with me, said the golden light.
It became a Vision—men and women glowing like stars, spinning and stepping in a circle.
Gwenika felt the urge to move with them. The steps came to her easily. It felt natural to dance. She joined the Vision dancers.
But then she saw something awful—yeech, flying toward her on bat-like wings.
She almost ran in fear. But she remembered what Dindi had told her.
She looked up and saw the truth. She was pulling the yeech to her on strands of light, like puppet strings.
Let go! Let go!
"Let. Me. Go!" Gwenika shouted.
She slashed at the strings. To her surprise, they broke easily—like cobwebs. The yeech flew away into the night.
The dance settled again into grace and golden light.
She had danced the Ladder to the Sun, the oldest and most powerful tama of the Yellow Bear tribe.
At the end, the golden sun shrank down again—until it was just a glowing puff, resting in the hand of a Tavaedi in yellow robes.
"Do you see any other lights?" he asked. "Look closely. The torch is not the light that matters. Search for any other spheres like the golden one."
Gwenika looked around the stone circle. But she saw no more golden lights. Only shadows. She shook her head.
"You've done well," said the Yellow Tavaedi. "Present your totem."
She untied her corn doll from her gold necklace and placed it gently at his feet.
The Tavaedi looked at her with serious eyes.
"You are invited to join the Yellow Dancers secret society, to learn its dances, its magics, and its hidden Patterns. Do you accept this invitation and promise never to share its secrets outside the society, under pain of death?"
A Tavaedi? Me?
Gwenika's heart beat wildly. My sister, yes—we always thought she would be chosen. But me?
"Yes," she said. "Yes, I give my word."
"Congratulations, Gwenika, daughter of the Sycamore Stands clan of the Yellow Bear tribe," said the Tavaedi, handing her a windwheel with painted yellow petals. "You are now a Tavaedi of the Golden Maize Society."