Tiaan refused to think about that. If she had, she would never have been able to continue. The nylatl could be on the other side of the river, hunting a deer or a rabbit. If it was hunting her her, going to the hut might lead it to them. She stopped halfway, not knowing what to do. Then she heard the scream.

It was a woman's scream, shrill and cracked at the end. A cry of agony, for herself or for someone she loved. The nylatl must be there, at the hut at the hut.

She skied back as fast as she had ever gone. As she went, Tiaan tested the blade with her thumb. It was viciously sharp. A violent, bloody rage grew in her. If the nylatl had hurt them she would rejoice as she carved it open.

No further cry came. She heard nothing but the pounding of her heart and a roaring in her ears. This time she saw no living thing along the river. It was as if the entire world had gone into hiding.

Her knees felt soft by the time she curved around the river bank, shot through a straggly patch of pines and came out in a clearing. The hut was visible beyond the next patch of trees. All looked just as it had been before. She pressed on but saw no one.

'Fluuni?' she said softly. 'Jiini? Lyssa?'

No reply. 'Haani?' she whispered. The child did not answer either. Perhaps they'd gone up to the lake to fish or try out the boat.

She slid forward a few more ski lengths. The back of the hut came into view, the boat leaning just as she had left it. Something stabbed Tiaan in the heart. She scanned the surroundings: up in the trees, down to the river. She saw nothing, but the nylatl could camouflage itself as well as a lyrinx. Going a bit further, she saw a large, crumpled shape in the shadow behind the hut. It looked like one of the women.

Tiaan tore at the ski bindings, which did not want to come off. Her foot caught, she tripped and landed on her palms. The blade went skidding across the snow, to stop just before the woman's face. Her lime-blond hair lay on the ground. Tiaan recognised the coat.

'Jiini?' she whispered, reaching forward to brush the hair away. It was red at the ends, as were her furs and the ground beneath her. There was not enough left of her face to be recognisable. She was unquestionably dead.

As Tiaan crouched there, blade in hand, she became aware of a strange sound coming from inside the hut. A sort of rending rending noise. There was only one way to go in. Tiaan took a run-up, hurled herself at the low hanging and landed inside. noise. There was only one way to go in. Tiaan took a run-up, hurled herself at the low hanging and landed inside.

The sight that met her eyes was worse. Lyssa lay on the floor, even more horribly eaten than her sister. There was blood halfway up the walls and the scanty contents of the hut were scattered everywhere. Fluuni lay against the far wall, eyes staring, furs soaked in blood. A stone mallet, the kind used for pounding meat, hung from one hand.

The gruesome noise was coming from Lyssa's body, which was moving though she could not possibly be alive. Tiaan's hair stood on end. The nylatl must be inside her, feeding. And where was little Haani?

She circled around the fire pit, watching the body warily. Her foot grated against something a carving knife. Taking it in her free hand, she held it out in front of her.

Something moved in Lyssa's middle. It looked gruesomely like an eye staring at her out of wet flesh. Tiaan wanted to scream; wanted to be sick. She had to remind herself that Lyssa was dead and could feel nothing.

The nylatl came flying out, covered in blood and glistening strands. It skittered across the floor, directly at Tiaan. It was fast, though not as fast as before. Hopefully its injuries still troubled it. It seemed bigger too: the size of a small dog now.

She ran to her left, keeping cauldron and fire between her and it. It shot right over, at her face. She got the carving knife up in time, batting the beast away, though without wounding it. Her head began to throb and again her eyes were full of pinpricks. The nylatl was getting at her mind again.

Flipping in mid-air, it landed on its hind legs and sprang. She threw herself to one side. The claws caught in her sleeve, the creature swung around and went for her throat. The threads ripped, fortunately, and the blow missed by a whisker. As it landed she kicked it hard in the snout.

It struck the wall, fell and lay unmoving. Tiaan watched it, suspecting a ruse. A minute passed. She took a step towards it, blade down-hooked, then another. About to stab it, she saw its back legs tense.

She froze. The nylatl sprang but instead of going for her face, as she had expected, flew at her shin. Its teeth went though boot, trousers, sock, skin and flesh; she felt one tooth touch bone. She brought her other heel down hard on the join between head and body. The nylatl's teeth tore down her ankle before the jaws let go.

Tiaan tried to crush it beneath her boot heel. It gave a tortured wail; she felt something give. Its claws scratched the dirt floor and it flung itself sideways. She was in too much pain to think straight. All Tiaan wanted to do was hurt it as much as it had hurt her; to kill it before it killed her.

She must have done some damage for it now moved with a dragging motion of its hindquarters. Before it could gather itself for another attack she booted it. Its armour clanged on the side of the cauldron and the nylatl fell into the fire. Screeching hideously, it lurched out again. Tiaan, back-pedalling across the room, put her foot on a wooden mug and fell flat on her back. Her elbow struck the ground. The knife clattered away. Her whole arm began to go numb.

The fall had winded her; she could hardly move. The nylatl came at her, moving slowly now, and she smelt its singed, carrion-flesh odour. It eyed her warily. She expected it to take her hand off with a single lunge, but it stood just a pace from her face, staring.

Hungry!

Was it playing with her, or was it afraid now? She clutched the little blade in her other hand. She would have to strike across her body, a clumsy stroke, and the blade was the wrong way around.

The nylatl arched its back. Its eyes were mesmerising. It leaned toward her, opening its mouth, which was a gory red. The blue tongue began to roll up at the edges. She felt paralysed. Was it hypnotising her?

It was going to deluge her in venom then eat her face off at its leisure. She forced her arm to move. Clear liquid dripped from the tip of its tongue. Tiaan squeezed her eyes closed.

There came a meaty thump and the nylatl went flying. A death-like Fluuni swayed behind her, the bloody stone mallet hanging from her hand.

The nylatl whimpered, dragged itself across the floor and out through the curtain, leaving a trail of mauve blood. Fluuni collapsed onto her knees. Her unmarked face was fish-belly pale, but her whole front was red.

'Jiini?' she whispered.

'Outside,' Tiaan gasped. 'She's dead. I'm sorry.' She felt utterly useless.

Fluuni's eyes slid across to Lyssa. No need to ask about her.

'Where is Haani?' asked Tiaan.

One blood-spattered hand pointed towards the cellar. Tiaan hobbled over and lifted the trapdoor. In the furthest recesses, Haani cowered. Tiaan did not know what to say to her. Could anything make up for the horrors she had seen, or imagined? She threw a fur over Lyssa's middle.

'Haani, come out!' called Fluuni.

The child emerged warily into the light, then scuttled to Fluuni's arms. Fluuni allowed her to weep for a minute or two before she pushed her towards Tiaan.

'Tiaan mi. Tiaan mumu niss!' She looked up at Tiaan. 'Go with Tiaan. Tiaan iss mother now!'

Haani let out an awful wail and ran back.

'Tiaan mumu niss. Mi!' Fluuni gasped.

'But ...' Tiaan was almost as bewildered as the child. 'Her family ...'

'All dead!' Fluuni's arm swept the room. 'Tiaan iss Haani's mother now.' She looked up pleadingly.

Tiaan did not know what to say. 'Yes,' she whispered. 'I will be Haani's mother. I will take her with me.'

Fluuni gave a tiny grunt. Blood ran out of her nose and she fell sideways. Tiaan knew that she was dead but checked her anyway. There was no doubt of it; her whole belly had been torn open.

Leaving Haani clinging to her aunt, Tiaan found a pack, clothes and furs the child's size. She put in a wooden plate and other items Haani would need, and as much food as she could carry. Two furs had escaped the blood; Tiaan gathered them and a tiny canvas tent that was heavier than it looked. She could not have carried it had she been walking, but she could probably manage it skiing on flat ground.

There was nothing to be done for the women; the hut would not burn and there was no way to bury them in the frozen ground. She closed their eyes and dug the child out from beneath the furs. Haani screamed and burrowed back in. Pulling the covers away, Tiaan discovered that she had a small toy in one hand, a creature made from scraps of leather sewn together and stuffed with straw. It had a long body, small round ears, a duck bill and a flat, paddle-like tail. It looked like no animal Tiaan had ever heard of. Well, if it comforted her ...

Tiaan led the child to the dead women, having her touch them and say goodbye. Then, hoisting up the pack, she took Haani's hand and led her outside.

Haani tied her boots into the bindings of the small skis. One boot was badly worn. Tiaan hacked a piece of leather from the bottom of the boat, added it to her overloaded pack, tied on her skis and, taking Haani's hand, set off down the river bank without looking back. Only much later did she realise that the child had not said goodbye to Jiini, her mother.

Not far away, the nylatl had found a burrow going down into the river bank, then up to a secure, dry and relatively warm home. A duck-billed creature dwelt inside. The nylatl had no trouble with it, or its helpless young.

When sated it curled up in the warmest spot and went into hibernation. It had many injuries to repair and that would take time. And when it finally woke, it would go on the hunt. The black-haired woman and the terrible, tantalising crystal could not hide. Wherever she took it, the nylatl would hunt it down. And then it would make the woman suffer for the torment of its existence.

FIFTY.

The child said not a word that day, which was the most tragic part of the whole terrible affair. Haani skied to one side of Tiaan, or ahead, as if she wanted to get as far away as possible. She was an accomplished skier, better than Tiaan in these conditions. Her small round face, as pale as the snow, showed nothing but an icy bleakness. Tiaan felt culpable. She'd led the nylatl to them. If not for her, the creature would not exist. If not for her, their lives would never have been touched.

Her shin was excruciatingly painful but had not bled much, so she'd left it untreated. Getting well away, beyond the nylatl's reach, was more important. They went by a number of villages, at the first of which children were carrying water from a hole cut in the ice. Tiaan had not thought about that problem, but of course water would be hard won here in winter unless they had a well that did not freeze. The children stared but did not wave. Haani did not even look at them, just shushed past with Tiaan following in her tracks.

In the middle of the day she called out to Haani, skied off the river, sidestepped up a steep bank and settled on a log. The child followed, skiing round and round. Tiaan suspected that, had she not called, Haani would have kept going straight down the river until she dropped.

Tiaan was ready to drop right now. Her leg muscles had gone wobbly. Taking off the skis, she massaged her thighs. It did not help. She felt weak and shivery. Not cold, for the day was mild and her exertions had made her sweat, but shuddering inside from the horror of the morning. The tragedy came directly from her aiding the enemy, and all the self-justification in the world, all the 'they made me do it', could make no difference. If only, she kept thinking. If only If only...

That was futile. Taking out a piece of fatty dried meat she began to cut slices from it. The meat resisted her blade, and only at the end did Tiaan realise that the child was still skiing round the log. Tiaan watched Haani go over a hump, down into a hollow where bare yellow twigs stuck out of the snow, between two trees that leaned towards each other to make an arch, across a smooth patch of snow and back over the hump. Her jaw was set; she kept doing the same movements over and again, but her mind was not there at all. It was back in the cabin with the dead women, and the nylatl.

'Haani?' Tiaan called. The child did not react. She called more loudly. Nothing. Tiaan stood up, shouting, 'Haani, come here!'

Haani jerked, gave her a vacant glare, but skied across to the log. Tiaan patted the space beside her. 'Sit down. Eat your lunch.'

She knew that the child understood a little of her language, though maybe not very much. Haani went to the end of the log, took off her pack and began nibbling on a piece of dried fish, staring into the emptiness between the trees. Tiaan had no idea what to do. She could hardly blame the child. It was a wonder she did not lie down and refuse to get up, or have a screaming fit. Perhaps it would be better if she did.

Tiaan ate her strips of leathery meat. After a lot of chewing, they released an overpoweringly strong flavour, like the smell of a male Hurn bear in the mating season. The taste did not appeal.

She washed the meat down with a swallow from her flask. 'Ready?' she said to the staring child.

Haani made not a sound but rose at once, tightened the bindings and put on her pack. Clearly she was used to travelling, and doing what she was told.

As she rose, Tiaan felt a stabbing ache in her calf and a cry of pain slipped out. Haani, who was already heading off, spun around on her skis. Perhaps she thought the nylatl was coming back.

Tiaan drew up her trouser leg, which was matted with blood. Her sock was stuck to the wound. It would have to wait until tonight.

As Tiaan struggled onto her skis, Haani glowered at her, sprang in the air, came down with her skis facing the other way and headed off at a pace Tiaan could not match. Perhaps she blamed Tiaan for not being killed, or taking on the role of her mother. Or the whole disaster.

Well, she was right to. Tiaan was to blame. And what was she supposed to do with an eight-year-old who had no relative left in the world? "Tiaan iss Haani's mother now," Fluuni had said. Tiaan had no idea how to be a mother to an eight-year-old, and there was no one she could model herself on. Most of the indentured children at the manufactory had families but she had not been to their homes. She had no idea what a home or a proper family was like. The only homes she'd been in were Joeyn's and the three women's. All dead because of her.

Haani was almost out of sight, skiing fast down the smooth ice and never looking back. Tiaan was about to yell at her but thought better of it. She increased her pace, pushing herself as fast as her injury would allow and knowing she would suffer tomorrow.

Around four in the afternoon, when the short day was rapidly closing, Tiaan skied around a bend in the river and saw Haani standing on the other side, staring into the forest. Tiaan stopped beside her.

'Time to find a camp, eh?'

The child sidestepped up the low bank and glided over soft snow into the trees. A few snowflakes drifted down. Tiaan went after her. It took an effort to climb the bank.

Haani's skis had left twin paths through the pristine white. Tiaan pushed through the silent forest and down into a dip with an arc of trees around it. The child was taking her pack off. It was a good campsite sheltered, plenty of firewood nearby, yet cleared land around so they could keep watch. The child was an experienced traveller, a necessary survival skill in these parts.

They built a fire on branches piled against a fallen log. Haani went about the camp chores silently: gathering wood, putting up the tent, filling the pot with packed snow. Tiaan prepared dinner.

Later, Haani sat across from the fire, staring at the flames unblinking. What was going on in the child's mind? Tiaan had seen no tears. Maybe she had blocked it right out. Tiaan wanted to comfort her but had no idea what to say.

Steam rose from the pot. Dipping out a wooden mug of water, she began to soak the bloody sock off her ankle. The scabs had stuck to the cloth and once it was free the wounds began to bleed.

There were deep tooth marks down her shin and ankle, the gouges torn and inflamed. It looked gruesome. After bathing the injury carefully, Tiaan squeezed honey over it, the only dressing she had, and bandaged it up. If it became badly infected she might as well lie down and die.

At one stage Tiaan looked up to see Haani's eyes on her and for the first time saw a spark of fellow-feeling there. Tiaan had suffered too.

Tiaan was in turmoil. Down at the coast she'd planned to find a boat going west, sail up as far as the sea of Milmillamel, then take another boat upriver in the direction of Tirthrax. How hard a journey would that be, and how long, with a child?

Minis had said that his people could last a year, at most. It had been late autumn when she'd left the manufactory, and winter as she'd reached Kalissin. Tiaan had lost track of time there but it must have been the best part of three months. So it was past mid-winter, though winter in these latitudes was long and maybe the worst of it was yet to come. She might get to the sea and find it frozen too.

Every prospect was gloomy. She could almost sense Minis's despair. She was the last hope of his people and she was going to let him down. I've done my best, beloved, she thought. What more could I do? It did not help.

The child rose, stirred the pot with the knife and scooped out a mugful of stew. Haani ate listlessly, unaware of what she was eating.

There was a cold hollow in Tiaan's belly but she felt too depressed to eat. What kind of life would it be for the child, travelling month after month, having no home, never able to make friends with other children? And at the end, if they did reach Tirthrax, living in a cave in the mountains while Tiaan worked day and night to find her lover?

What on earth was she thinking? Of course she must take the child with her. She had to look after Haani until she had grown up. It was a sacred duty. But what about my life? Tiaan agonised. What about my lover?

Haani was still staring into the fire. There were bright red patches on each cheek, as if she had a fever. She had laid the mug aside and was rocking gently, her arms wrapped around herself.

Tiaan felt ashamed. The child had seen her mother and aunts brutally slain, her home debauched. The memories would never leave her. And all she, Tiaan, could think of was how her own life would be disrupted. How selfish she was.

Tears hovered on Haani's lashes. Tiaan moved down to her. The child tried to draw away but Tiaan put her arms around her and lifted Haani into her lap. Haani struggled but Tiaan held her more tightly and eventually the child began to weep.

Tiaan held her for an hour or more. Eventually Haani's head fell to one side; she was asleep. Putting her in the tent, in the fur-lined sleeping pouch, Tiaan went back to the fire.

She was afraid to sleep. Sleep led to dreams and she knew what she was going to dream about. Stamping her feet to warm them, Tiaan took half a mug of stew and found her thoughts wandering back to Minis. She felt a great flood of longing. She had to know if he was all right.

Taking out her devices she set them up and began to work the beads. Nothing happened. It was as if Minis had never existed. Wrenching the helm off, she tossed it on the ground. She had failed him. The Aachim must be dead.

The amplimet looked dead too. It was cold, hardly glowing at all, and the little spark had disappeared. Useless thing! She gave the globe an angry kick, sending it rolling towards the fire. At the ice houses she might have escaped, had she tried a bit harder, but now it was too late. She could never go home. Yet if she no longer had her quest, she had nothing at all.

Tiaan paced around the fire. A walking disaster, she had caused the death of practically everyone she'd touched, starting with poor old Joeyn. She itemised them, human and lyrinx. All completely pointless. Better she drop the amplimet through a hole in the ice, and throw herself after it.

She had just taken off her boots to warm her feet at the fire when there came a cry from the tent. Tiaan was there in three bounds.

'Mumu!' Haani screamed. 'Mumu, im sklarrrr!'

'It's all right, Haani,' Tiaan said. 'I'm here now.'

The child retreated to the back of the tiny tent, holding her hands out. 'Mumu! Mumu!'

Tiaan tried to take the child in her arms. 'Haani, you're just having a bad dream. I'm here now.'

'Nya!' screamed the child, beating her off. 'Mumu nya!'

An elbow went into Tiaan's eye and she lost hold of the thrashing child. By the time she'd recovered, Haani was gone.

'Haani? Where are you?'