They had breakfast and broke camp, then got in the Jeep and headed south. They had gone only a few miles when they overtook Pedro, walking hurriedly back along the bank of the dry wash. Dema waved to him cheerily as they passed.

"Poor man," she said, "He has some hope of redeeming himself by telling the one who gave him the package that we have it and may be coming that way. He did not seem evil, just misguided. And he is at home in the desert."

"They are of the land, these men who walk through the desert to carry drugs across the border. In that respect they are spiritually complete, and the land accepts them. As you say, they are not evil, just misguided.

"But their intent is not pure. For the sake of the money they are offered, they abuse the spirit of the plants from which these drugs are extracted. They are willing to deliver the power of that spirit into the hands of those who do not understand it. This is a distortion of their own spirit, and the spirit of the land senses this and is disturbed by it."

"I sense it too. The vow of the Lamia is to protect the innocent, and through their actions these drug-runners have the blood of innocents on their hands."

"You and I are warriors of the spirit. A warrior must act impeccably, with pure intent. Any distortion of the spirit lessens his power. Few men understand this, and fewer still follow the path with integrity."

"There are many who lack this understanding and yet try to act with integrity, but what you say is true. They are often influenced by distortions of the spirit they are unaware of."

"Yes, many wish to act with integrity, even believe that they do so, but they are blind to the spirit and cannot see the true path. A true warrior sees the path, and does not stray from it."

"Our justice system, flawed as it is, understands some of this. They call it criminal intent, this disregard for the greater good. A person who acts with criminal intent is subject to the penalties of law. The sad thing is, those penalties rarely change their inner intent."

"Intent is an arrow whose target is the future. The aim of those with good intent is a future that is better for all, in harmony with the spirit. Those with bad intent do not see that future clearly. They are blinded to it by their own concerns. They do not need to be punished. They merely need to have the blindfold removed."

"You speak from personal experience."

"Yes. To become a warrior of the spirit, I needed a mentor, someone to remove my own blindfold."

"I guess you would say that Grandma Sedna was my mentor. She guided me on the path from an early age, instilled in me the intent of my Lamia heritage. I like what you called it, the arrow of intent. Every person, every life form, is an arrow pointed at the future. The sum of where they all point is where we are headed."

Juan grinned at her. "By what we learned from our friend this morning, I would say we are headed for the town of Saric. It is not far from here. Our friend is very unlucky. Last night must have been just the first leg of his trip."