It is you who drew me to this place. You are fakabai's heir!

Yes, it was the final piece of the puzzle. The burnt man was connected 341 to Eidh--maybe even had come from Eldh. The same was true of Jack Graystone. And it was Jack who, just before Travis's first journey to Eldh, had given Travis the Great Stone Sinfathisar. The Stone of Twilight.

The gray stone, Travis said to himself.

Falken's stories told how the Imsari, the three Great Stones, were scattered after the fall of Malachor seven hundred years ago, taken and hidden by the last three runelords. And Deirdre and Hadrian had said that Jack had been alive for at least several centuries. There was only one answer that fit all the evidence. Jack was one of the three runelords who had fled with the Imsari. Somehow he had found his way to Earth. And somehow, that night beneath the antique shop, when the Pale Ones had attacked, Jack had given his power as a runelord to Travis.

But what did it all really mean? Eriaun was right-- Travis had spoken, bound, and broken runes. However, he didn't really know how he had done any of those things. It had always simply come to him, usually in a moment of panic.

So Oragien spoke truth. Travis was a runelord--or at least a runelord's heir. He could accept that; he had no choice, given what he knew. But the All-master was wrong in thinking that Travis could help the Runespeakers. It was all he could do to lock up the power inside him, to keep from harming more people as he had in the past.

Maybe Jack gave this power to you, Travis. But that doesn't mean you have to use it. You've got to*/l77 /^//-;rtl TTrt-.-* ^1^-^'+ ll/l71 it*v* Tl-tT;/Tll+ THE KEEP OF FIRE 335.

Resolved, he stood up. However, before he could step into action, a knock sounded at the door. It opened, and a stout young man in a brown robe entered the room.

Despite his troubles, Travis smiled. "Hello, Sky."

342.

The young man's lumpy face twisted into a grin. He nodded and held out a hand, his meaning clear. Hello to you. Master Wilder.

"What is it?" Travis said.

Sky spread his arms in a circle, then made jabbering motions with his hands, opening and closing them.

Travis smiled. "The Runespeakers are meeting downstairs. It's time for chorus."

The young man's grin broadened, and he nodded.

Travis knew there would be no chance to talk to Oragien privately during the chorus. And afterward Master Larad and Master Eriaun would have him in their clutches. He supposed it would have to wait for tomorrow. He let out a sigh, gave Sky a faint smile, then gestured to the door.

"Lead the way, my friend."

Those next days moved more swiftly than Travis would have thought. The greater part of each was spent in the windowless chamber high in the tower. There he was subjected to the tortures of Master Larad--cruel and repetitive activities ameliorated only slightly by Eriaun.'s gentler interruptions.

"This is madness!" Larad erupted during one session, after Travis had mispronounced Sirith, the rune of silence, as Silith, the rune of stench. "We could better teach a lump of clay to speak runes."

"Calm yourself, Master Larad." Master Eriaun's tone was soothing, although slightly nasal from the w^ he held his nose against the putrid reek that filled the room. "Take a deep breath and . . . oh, we!!, perhaps that's not a good idea. But remember 336 ' mark anthony the jaws of the dragon Asgarath that he might steal 11 ' away with the secret of the runes. Knowledge comes only by great sacrifice."

343.

"And I'd rather have both my hands chewed off than instruct such an imbecile." Larad stamped from ill II! the room.

Eriaun cast a wan smile at Travis. "I'm sure he didn't mean that like it sounds."In contrast, Travis was rather certain Larad had meant it exactly as it had sounded. But he nodded all the same, then bent back over his tablet.

Despite the tedium of his work with the two masters, it was hard not to be interested in the Runespeakers. Dwelling in the Gray Tower was like seeing one of Falken's tales come to life. Travis doubted there was another place on Eidh where the name Olrig--as well as the names of Ysani and Durnach and the other Old Gods--was still spoken in reverence.

Before long, he found himself looking forward to each evening's chorus. Usually the Punespeakers discussed mundane matters of the tower, but always they ended the chorus by softly speaking a chant of runes.

Although he could understand few of the runes, Travis would let himself drift on the tapestry of voices the Runespeakers wove, layer upon layer, voice upon voice, on the thrumming air of the chorus chamber.

While most of his time was spent with Master Eriaun and Master Larad, or in the chorus chamber, Travis did have some time to himself, and this be used to explore the tower. One afternoon he climbed the entire staircase, counting 251 steps--and many more thudding beats of his heart--along the way- A the top he found a triangular platform no more than five paces across, wedged between the three borne minarets that crowned the tower.

* r. r i -- 1 ^.--^