The second we stepped into the spirit world, the owl flew from Loki’s shoulder and became a woman in a feather cloak.

“We walk very close to the paths of the dead,” she said, softly.

I had no idea who she was, other than Native American – that much was obvious in the form she had taken.

“Stay on the path. I got it.”

“This place is dangerous even to gods.” Then she turned and started to walk down a narrow trail.

It rapidly became rocky, and I was worried I was going to have to be second cousin to a mountain goat to navigate it. The drop off seemed to go into nothingness, and I sensed that it was part of the world of the dead.

The woman was a death god. Didn’t we risk handing another one over to Anansi? I decided to trust that Loki knew what he was doing.

To me, he said, “So, you know that if you took his side…”

“He tried that line on me. If I join him, Ragnarok never has to happen.”

“You know better.”

I shrugged. “I don’t want it to happen today. I don’t want it to happen tomorrow. I know that nothing lasts forever.”

“Not even us,” Loki mused.

Maybe, I thought with sudden insight, that was part of why he changed all the time.

But if nothing lasted forever did that include death? Maybe…I thought with a shiver that maybe the cycle itself couldn’t last, not forever, that one day there would be nothing but the void.

As if she had read my mind, the owl woman spoke. “There is one thing that lasts forever, young goddess. Change.”

Kanesha was very silent, staying very close to me. “I really don’t like this place.” A pause. “I…”

I realized she was also putting me between her and the drop off. I’d had no idea…she was obviously scared of heights.

The height didn’t bother me. The knowledge that the fall went somewhere I might not be able to come back from did. “I won’t let you fall.”

“I know, but…brr…”

Owl woman spoke again. “It levels out.”

With that reassurance, Kanesha lifted her head a little bit more.

I mused that she hadn’t mentioned when it leveled out.