<em>“What are you thinking Makoda?” A frown marred the child’s face to make her Mother ask. Not that the woman had any concern for the toddler, but she was curious to see what she was thinking.<br/><br/>Makoda looked up at her Mother. “Ma’am… Where do bad dreams come from? And why?”<br/><br/>Elderia blinked a bit startled that the three year old was asking such questions. She looked at the child thoughtfully. “Well. Shall I tell you the story my Grandmother told me on the subject?”<br/><br/>“Yes, please.”<br/><br/>Elderia always found it surprising how clear Makoda spoke, most three year olds and a strange lisp as they learned to work their tongues around some sounds. “Very well then. There is a Dream World where bad and good dreams are made. The good dreams come during the day and we call them Daydreams. The bad dreams come at night, and there are special creatures who deliver bad dreams. They are called Night Mares. There are portals for every creature in existence, the Night Mares travel these portals delivering the bad dreams.<br/><br/>Now bad dreams are brought to us for a variety of reasons. They could be a solution to a problem we are struggling with. Or to show us a problem we are about to have. And some are used to punish especially bad people. Do you understand?”<br/><br/>“Yes.” A frown flashed across the child’s face and Elderia waited, knowing another question was coming. “Are the delivery creatures why some people call bad dreams nightmares?”<br/><br/>Once again the child astounded her Mother with her easy grasp of a subject and inquisitive mind. “Yes.”<br/><br/>“Oh, ok.” The child went back to drawing and Elderia just shook her head. Just like that, she had her answer and the subject was done, on to something else.</em><br/><br/>Makoda’s smile grew a bit bigger at the memory. She was startled when Lugoj’s voice broke through with his words. Her body jerked enough to upset her balance. About to take a head dive off the ledge, Makoda’s arms whipped around and grabbed the edge, while her free leg rose up enough to plant her foot on the wall below. Arresting her balance enough to keep her from tumbling, she looked at Lugoj in shock. “What?!” She blinked as her mind scrambled to figure out what he was talking about. Understanding suddenly showed on her face as she finally pieced everything together. “Oh… OH!” She looked away from him and stared down at the ground she’d just about attempted to see if she could land a face plant upon. “I didn’t feel that way because of you. That was towards myself.”<br/><br/>She sat for a few heartbeats looking down. Closing her eyes, she lifted her face slowly to the sky. As her face lifted, her upper body arched, and small popping sounds could be heard. Head tilted back, torso streched as far as it would go while she held onto the ledge with her hands and the wall with a foot, she took a deep breath and one final pop was heard. She then relaxed and settled back into her original position with a contented sigh.<br/><br/><br/><em>And so the test begins in earnest.</em><br/><br/>The Coyote’s head whipped around to look at the Wolf, a memory suddenly flaring up in his mind of similar words spoken thirteen years ago.<br/><br/><em>Mikasi stood hiden in shadow as he watched five year old Makoda play with Snake People of three different Clans; Dimondback, Copperhead, and Watermoccasin. Though as he watched, ‘play’ did not seem to be the correct word. Narrowing his eyes slightly he observed that it seemed more like she was holding a conversation with the three snakes. Her voice floated on the air and had pauses as if she was listening to answers. <br/><br/>Elderia came outside from their home and spotting Makoda with three very poisonous snakes, gasped loudly. The child jumped and the three Snake People suddenly bit her. Makoda had yelped more in surprise than pain and looked after the retreating creatures when the pain finally registered and she started to cry. By the time Mikasi or Elderia could reach the child, the combined poisons had taken ahold of the small one. She had flopped over and was convulsing rather badly as her body shook from the pain and fire of the venom. Elderia was scooping her up as Mikasi looked after the retreating snakes. “And so I begins.”<br/><br/>“What? Like this? So soon?” <br/><br/>Elderia’s rapid questions made him look around at her, face hard and unreadable. “You agreed to the conditions." Her lips pressed together in a white line and she whirled to rush the child into the house to see what she could do for her.</em><br/>