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sunlight was comfortable enough for them all to take their meal out-of-doors. There they were joined by Eshinarvash, the Wise Horse, who resided in the stable because he found it comfortable, but on whose stall door there was no lock or latch.
    Eshinarvash was a glorious animal. Even Firekeeper, who thought wolves the most beautiful creatures ever to grace the earth, agreed with this assessment. Eshinarvash was what the Liglim called a “paint.” black upon white, or perhaps white upon black, the contrast in wild splashes that made even his mane and tail parti-colored.
    Eshinarvash, along with the jaguar Truth, had been among the very few Wise Beasts who had chosen to take up something like a permanent residence on the Nexus Islands. No one knew why Truth had stayed, because Truth was. if anything, harder to understand than ever before. No one doubted that Eshinarvash had stayed as comfort and companion to Derian.
    Over the meal, they had related their failure with Urgana to Eshinarvash, and now the Wise Horse responded. It was an odd conversation in a way. for Firekeeper was accustomed to the need to translate for Derian when the Beasts spoke, but when Eshinarvash spoke there was no such need.
    “Urgana and I are of the same religion, although there are differences between the way the New and Old Worlds follow the Divine Will. Our deities are kind deities, I think, at least in contrast to some of the tales I have heard the Old World residents relate. However, perhaps because the deities have given us so many omens by which to guide our decisions, our tradition holds that they are less than tolerant of defiance.”
    Firekeeper thought fleetingly of the Meddler, of whom Harjeedian the aridisdu could not speak without horror—and this when the Meddler had been so helpful … well, at least helpful at times.
    Blind Seer said, “Eshinarvash, do you believe that querinalo—what my people called the Fire Plague, what the people of New Kelvin called the ‘Burning Time’—do you believe that it is indeed as the Liglim term it ‘divine retribution’?”
    “Do I believe querinalo is indeed ‘divine retribution’?” Eshinarvash said, phrasing his reply so that Derian would know a question had been asked. “Blind Seer, that is a question for an aridisdu, not for a simple worshipper like myself.”
    “ Still, I would hear your answer ,” Blind Seer persisted. “ Harjeedian is the only aridisdu here, and he is too aware of his position for me to fully trust his answer. ”
    “Indeed, Harjeedian is all of u-Liall in himself,” Eshinarvash said, referring to the five-person governing body of Liglim with a snort of laughter. “Such a role might shape the ruling of a less self-important individual than Harjeedian. Very well. I will give you what answer I have arrived at for myself.
    “Did the deities send Divine Retribution down upon us as the tales tell? Certainly there is a part of me that wishes to believe this is so. Remember, according to how the tale is told in the New World, Divine Retribution was a direct result of how the Old World sorcerers abused the Wise Beasts, the yarimaimalom.
    “However, there is a part of me—and you wolves will understand this, being of a pack, as I am of a herd—that is uncomfortable with the idea that the deities might reach out and punish all the herd, guilty and not, for the transgressions of a few. True, querinalo strikes only those who have magical ability, but as Urgana’s experience shows, the blow strikes even those who are without talent. I did not experience querinalo, but I watched over those who did, and I saw the suffering that came with it—and I know the suffering I experienced for not being able to help those I cared about.
    “When I think of this, then I find myself wondering if the deities did create querinalo and set it to gallop among us. Truly it saved the New World, but it ruined the Old World. To believe that the deities would destroy one set of worshippers