The great black wings of Kuakichpá stretched across the sky, each feather cutting a path through starlight. Tukari watched – as he had so many times before – as the crow's beak opened wide to swallow the sun whole. The familiar darkness should have followed, but instead, Kuakichpá wheeled downward, talons extended toward something that made Tukari's eyes strain to understand.
The crow alighted upon a frame unlike anything in all his years of trading with the lakeside villages or walking the mountain paths. It stood upright, taller than a man, holding within its borders a sheet of water that defied nature by refusing to fall. Tukari stepped closer, drawn by movement in the impossible pool.
His own face stared back at him, but not as he had ever seen it in still pools or copper shield – this was himself rendered in perfect detail, every line of his face, every bead in his hair captured with unnatural clarity. The air grew sharp with cold, a chill that hadn't touched these lands since the time of his grandfather's grandfather.
The reflection rippled, and his heart seized as Atzi's face replaced his own. Her eyes were wide with fear, her hand reaching out as if through the water itself. Behind her – something moved in the shadows. Kuakichpá's warning cry pierced the dream, sharp and urgent, a sound Tukari had never heard from his spirit guide before.
He woke with the taste of frost in his mouth, though the night air hung warm and heavy in his sleeping quarters. Outside, a crow called once, then fell silent.
A soft whine drew his attention to Pámpiri, who had pressed himself close against Tukari's sleeping mat. The dog's ears lay flat against his head, his normally confident posture replaced by an anxious crouch. Tukari reached out, letting his faithful companion catch his scent, feel his touch.
"Shhhh, old friend," he whispered, running his fingers through Pámpiri's thick fur. "It was only a dream." But even as he spoke the reassuring words, he felt the dog's muscles remain tense beneath his hand. Pámpiri had always been sensitive to his moods – perhaps more sensitive than Tukari himself. Gradually, as Tukari continued his gentle stroking, the dog's posture relaxed, though his dark eyes remained fixed on his master's face with knowing concern.