23
“Many claim my hand in evil deeds,” the serpent told them in the time between, “but as you can see, I have no hands.”
Mongolia / Russian Territory
c. 800 A.D.
My name is Negui. It means “no-name” in the language of our people of the steppes. When I ask, Mother tells me I was given no name in order not to attract evil spirits. It was a portent of what is to come.
My boyhood was the same as all Mongol children. We are a nomadic people moving to find better pastures or to avoid conflict with neighboring clans. I learned, like all children, to ride a horse before I could walk. All was good until I approached the end of my childhood. That is when the nightmares began.
I dream of sand, not like the sand of our land but hills and valleys of sand that go on forever, for longer than three
