Ghost days -- Maxwell's demon -- The reborn -- Thoughts and prayers -- Byzantine empathy -- The gods will not be chained -- Staying behind -- Real artists -- The gods will not be slain -- Altogether elsewhere, vast herds of reindeer -- The gods have not died in vain -- Memories of my mother -- Dispatches from the cradle: the hermit, forty-eight hours in the sea of Massachusetts -- Grey rabbit, crimson mare, coal leopard -- A chase beyond the storms, an excerpt from The Veiled Throne, The Dandelion Dynasty, book three -- The hidden girl -- Seven birthdays -- The message -- Cutting.