Calvin followed the staircase the Zuuri had pointed out, and per his instructions, followed the path to an inner sanctum.
He knocked on the door, and waited.
Eventually, it opened, revealing a mountain goat, slightly bent over with age, using a walking stick.

He knelt.
―Hello, Elder.
	Please, grant me the honour of a few moments of your time.

She annoyedly hit his head lightly with the stick.

―You better get up, Calvin.
	We have things to talk about.
	Come in, sit down.

—Thank you, Elder Caprina, Calvin replied, standing and following her in.
	I know we gave very little notice, but I believe it's a matter of grave importance for Galvarelli, and any help will be significant.

—Oh, don't worry about that, Calvin.
	Do you mind terribly if I call you Calvin?
	I always get a bit flustered trying to figure out whatever other titles people want to be called.

Calvin nodded.

—Wonderful.
	Call my Caprina too, there's no need for any of that Elder nonsense.
	You're worried because of Yakaterina's warning, right?

—How did you know?

—Calvin, it's my duty here at the Temple to know these things.
	Anyway, Yakaterina wrote often before her arrest.
	She studied here, you know.
	Probably more diligent than any other Hierarch, until she decided to test the freedoms your predecessor gave her.
	I felt her death, through the Meadowlark.
	I shall miss her passing, although I regret her ambition.
	Anyway, the New Voice.

	I felt it myself.
	A gentle whisper, at first.
	But it grew, and I felt it attacking my mind.
	I assumed it was a mistake, and tried to follow the source back to whoever created the attack.

	However, as I did, I found only hatred and malice at its source.
	I was only just able to escape back to myself.
	Only fragments of information came to me, the most important of which being the great distance that separated me from the attacker.
	But it was too far for me to travel, and I felt it was not my fight to win.
	I resolved myself to remain here, helping any who were being afflicted by the terrible insanity the New Voice inflicted upon them.

—Is that something you could help me teach others?
	To fight the Voice's hold on the mind?

—I'm afraid not, Calvin.
	Not unless we could go to each person, one at a time, giving them centuries of training.
	But there's more.
	Calvin, do you know about the creation of our kinds?

Calvin shook his head, lightly.
Whatever he did know would be embarrassingly small in front of an Elder.

—It goes back, all the way back.
	To the legacy of the Fourth and Fifth Races, Man and Beast.
	The Ancestral Voices, which became known as the Great Voices, helped them commune with the powers of the Sentries of old.
	But they were not alone.
	The Aery was founded and grew, a seed around which the Birds became a society.
	The Voice of the Birds had always been hard to hear, but the Birds acting at one gave it great power.
	And then, it became obvious that balance was needed.
	The Hidden Lands were created, for the Voiced Beasts, Voiced Birds and the Voiced Men, who became the Dwarrowfolk, alone.

	The Unvoiced you enjoy so much were kept alone for their own safety, although as you know they thrived.
	And the Hidden Lands were divided in Three.
	But between those borders, space unclaimed remained.
	There, the powers of the Voices Ancestral lost some of their structure and mingled.
	But that is not all, as far as I can tell.
	Some other force, a power primeval, cast its lot with the people between the Thredings.
	These people, corrupted power unbound by nation or species, are known as the Witches.

—Witches?

—Indeed.
	And when I followed the corruption of the Meadowlark back to its source, I found a horrible power looking back at me.
	I suspect that it was a powerful Witch.
	Calvin, if Galvarelli has made an enemy this powerful, you will need to learn how to use the applied Meadowlark.
	The Witches' power is subtle, and unique.

—Yakaterina said the same thing, had me pick up an old manual.
	Respectfully, Elder Caprina, I don't believe that course is for me.
	The Hierarchy has long stood in opposition to the Republic and our values.
	I know that we must tolerate them, but that does not mean I feel comfortable embracing their ways.

—Calvin, the Hierarchy guards the Meadowlark as a trust for all Beasts.
	Their rules, their traditions, it's all not just for tradition's sake.
	They engender a power in those who follow them, aiding them in their path towards the higher aspects of the Meadowlark.
	But anyway, there are other paths to the Meadowlark.
	The Hierarchy is a yak invention, a remnant of Emperor Yakob.
	Don't let your prejudice against them colour your future, Calvin.

—Caprina, even if I were to start practicing, learning how to use the Meadowlark, how much would I really learn?
	I doubt a novice is going to gain any real power.

—There are a few members of the Hierarchy with skill, but not many.
	You yourself said that you don't trust the Hierarchy.
	Even if you don't gain strength, you'll gain knowledge.
	You can't hope to fight something that lies completely out of your experience.
	But even still, I think you will find some strength.
	Beasts are meant to be free.
	Our fates are unbound, our futures unchained.
	That is what it means to be unyoked.
	Calvin, you are still yoked.
	Yoked to your title, yoked to your republic.
	You may be free from the humans, but that does not mean that you are yet free.
	But you would not be here if you wanted to stay bound.
	The fact that you are here, Calvin, the fact that you are in this position.
	When you let yourself find your freedom, you will see what the Voice of Beasts can do in your ears.

Calvin couldn't help but think to his time before ascending to the Presidency.
He and Nikki had planned their course with passion.
Ambitions to build Galvarelli into a nation that would rival the Ottawans, stymied by prosaic political expedience.

—Elder, even if I wanted to, what use is the power of the Meadowlark if I get voted out?
	Havenites wouldn't support a mystic for President.
	I'd be seen as a hypocrite.

—What use is remaining electable if you fail, Calvin?
	What use is their support if the nation you want to lead no longer exists?
	But if you doubt me, make the pilgrimage to the Rock.
	See what Fate holds for you!

―Do you think the pilgrimage would help, Elder?
	I must confess, I do not know a terrible amount about the Rock itself.
	What does a pilgrimage entail?