The big man sneered. "You came from the direction he did. You saw what happened to his comrades and their beasts, didn't you?" When Cabe had nodded, Bertran pointed at the drake. "The other pair, they were skewered nicely. This one had managed to steer clear for awhile, but the forest finally got him! The branches were crushing his bones . . . "

"Was a noisy sight, wasn't it, Bertran?" someone jested.

"Aye . . . Marilee, being Marilee, she had some pity and thought maybe we could also learn something about why they were here. We were about to cut him free, but the branches just let him go for us."

Cabe straightened. "The branches-the branches let him go?"

"Guess the ghosts favored us that moment, we being their kin." Bertran sheathed the knife, then reached for something strapped to his back. "Gave us the drake and he gave us enough to know how to use this on you."

The Aramite device was a short, ebony staff topped by a fist-sized crystal in whose center shifted what to the wizard thought looked suspiciously like fresh blood. Cabe could not see any method by which to control the staff's power, but a.s.sumed it had to be simple if someone unversed in magic could manipulate the weapon even to some degree.

"Now, I've answered your questions, mage, so we're going to get back to what's important . . . " Bertran's scowl grew. "Marilee. Don't think because I talked calmer I'm any less ready to gut you! You've got one chance and that's to give her back to us and now!"

"I didn't-do anything-but I can help if you release me-"

Bertran raised the staff to strike Cabe, but two of his companions seized him before he could.

"Leave 'im be, Bertran!" begged one.

"He's the only one who can bring her back!" added the second.

Cabe had had enough. He had seen what some force in the forest had done to the drakes. A human woman was not likely to last much longer against it. "Would you just-just tell me what happened after I was knocked senseless . . . "

His emphasis on the last word did not go unnoticed. The second man whispered something in Bertran's ear.

"She sent us ahead . . . " Bertran finally told the wizard. He went on, giving what spa.r.s.e details existed. Cabe continued to fight his pain, forcing it into one part of his mind as he surveyed his captors better. A very ragtag bunch, most of them young, but a few older than Cabe visibly appeared. The older ones wore clothes that still marked them as once of Mito Pica. The garments themselves were not that worn, but it looked as if their wearers had gone to the trouble of retaining the padded shoulders, arched collars, and other aspects of style popular at the time of the city's demise.

How many loved ones did they lose? How many? The mage tried not to think about those deaths, more deaths that he blamed on himself. With that guilt came a new rush of agony. Cab groaned and bent forward. The voices faded away. He knew only the pain . . .

Do you play chess? asked a voice that suddenly came not from without but within. It jerked Cabe back to his surroundings. He knew and despised that voice.

It was Azran's.

Where did you find this set? asked another speaker whose ident.i.ty equally shocked Cabe. He could never forget the voice of the man who had been his real father.

"Hadeen?" the mage murmured.

Silence reigned around him. Blinking his gaze clear, Cabe saw why. Everyone, even Bertran, was staring to the wizard's left.

There, two vaguely-seen figures-their translucent forms glowing-sat in the middle of darkened forest leaning over a chessboard not only of unusual size and make, but with pieces that, in contrast to the murky players, even from a distance gave indication to tremendous craftsmanship. Indeed, the fine details of the pieces seemed to magnify before the mage's eyes and, in doing so, revealed to him that he had seen this set before.

He looked in shock from the set to the pair. For a moment, the player on the left defined enough to reveal a handsome, youthful man with features just sharp enough to hint that he was not entirely human. Clad in forest green and earth brown jerkin, shirt, and pants, the leather-booted figure looked more like a hunter than one who had been very much in touch with the spiritual aspects of elven life. Hadeen had made many sacrifices to raise the grandson of his best friend.

Then, a harsh, clinking sound drew Cabe's attention back to the board. A single piece lay tipped over, Azran Bedlam's undefined hand next to it. Cabe could not help but look at where his birth father's face should be and even though it bore less detail than the ever-blurred visage of the accursed sorcerer Shade, the wizard could not help feel as if Azran stared at him. Shivering, his pain momentarily forgotten, Cabe chose to eye the board rather than Azran.

Only then did he notice that there was something else wrong with the fallen piece. It had been shaped to resemble a huge wolf in mid-leap, but now the wolf's head was nothing but a piece of shredded metal, revealing a hollow interior.

The players and the game vanished without warning. Several of Cabe's captors turned to one another in consternation.

"We should leave this place, Bertran!" someone insisted. "They're growing stronger!"

"They won't harm us! We're blood!"

"How do you know? Maybe the wizard didn't have nothin' to do with Marilee! He was knocked out!"

Cabe forced aside both their troubled mutterings and the resurgence of his own pain as he finally recalled just why this particular board seemed so familiar. It was now the property of the master of Penacles, the City of Knowledge . . . and to Cabe's memory, the set was whole, its individual pieces unmarred. Yet, according to these phantasms one had been ruined, as if some force within had exploded free.

And although his current plight should have demanded his complete attention, Cabe Bedlam had the distinct feeling that understanding just what the shattered piece represented might mean more to his survival than anything else.

IV.

The throbbing pain overwhelming the right side of her face finally stirred Marilee to consciousness. She groaned, which in turn caused a hissing intake of breath from somewhere to her left.

The hulking form of a drake warrior filled her horrified view. Marilee tried to move, only then noticing that her arms and legs were bound. She recognized her pursuer, although he was in a much more ragged state than previous. His armored body was covered in scars, revealing that the scales were indeed part of his flesh, not metal as they appeared. One particularly nasty scar ran across the drake's throat.

"You humansss . . . ssso weak! I thought I'd ssslain you with that light ssslap!"

"Why didn't you?" she couldn't help ask despite the obvious risk in doing so.

"Becaussse-" The drake pulled himself together and spoke with more precision. "Because you will bring me two things. The staff . . . and the wizard. That should not be such a terrible thing; your hatred for the wizard is almost as great as mine."

She managed a sneer. "I despise drakes even more than him! He might've been the reason my family and others perished, but your kind wielded the blades!"

"Those were warriors of Clan Gold, against which our lord revolted unsuccessfully." He waved off any further explanation. "Your cooperation isss not necessary, only that I have you. Your friendsss, they will come for you and they will bring Cabe Bedlam to me!"

As the drake made this last declaration, a sinister creaking sound arose from every direction. Marilee anxiously looked around, but saw nothing at first.

Then, she realized that the trees surrounding them leaned much closer than before. The long, twisting branches looked especially eager to reach the drake, but something held them back.

Her captor laughed. He opened his left hand to reveal a small cube that faintly radiated a dark green light. "Another toy from the wolvesss," the drake explained unhelpfully. "Meant to be usssed in conjunction with the staff you found on Sssorus. It protects againssst magic and the sssupernatural . . . quite effectively, too, ssso I discovered."

As he said the last, the drake indicated his throat. Marilee pretended to care, her mind racing on how to save herself from this danger. Bertran would no doubt be planning something, but he also had the wizard with which to contend. They only knew the basics of the device they had found on the injured drake and it was possible that even now Cabe Bedlam might no longer be a prisoner.

That possibility actually heartened her briefly, something Marilee immediately experienced mixed feeling over. She and her band had heard of rumors of the wizard's yearly pilgrimage to the ruined city, a time when the ghostly memories of Mito Pica seemed to stir to greater life than ever. There had been arguments as to his reasons for returning annually, but most believed he felt guilt over his part in the b.l.o.o.d.y event. That Cabe Bedlam might suffer anguish had not in the least redeemed him in the eyes of those who had lost family and lives, but now Marilee desperately wished that the mage would appear and take on both the drake and the sinister force surrounding the pair.

"I sssaw you take Sssorus, but . . . wa.s.ss detained," her captor went on, leaning closer as he talked. His breath-a carnivore's sickly-sweet breath-a.s.sailed her. "He wa.s.ss badly injured, yesss?"

"Probably dead by now," Marilee dared admit, waiting for the drake to strike her for saying so.

He merely shrugged. "A warrior fallen. All that mattersss in the end isss the wizard's death. You should want that, too."

She saw a chance. "I'll be glad to help-"

The drake chuckled. It was not a pretty sound. "Oh, you will, human. Now that you are conscious, you will . . . "

He reached for Marilee.

The latest wave of agony subsided enough to enable Cabe to focus on what his captors were doing. He estimated that he had been overwhelmed by the staff's foul power for at least a quarter hour. It had struck him only moments after the apparitions had vanished. The mage cursed the Aramite device not only for the pain it inflicted, but more so now because it had prevented him from trying to decipher what he had witnessed.

There were ghosts in the Dragonrealm. Some were actual spirits, some were memories burnt into reality itself. Cabe was very familiar with both, but especially the latter, for he and his family inhabited an ancient sanctum-part tree, part stone-simply known through the ages as the Manor. It had housed many inhabitants over the countless centuries, most of their lives a mystery even to the wizard. The apparitions that Cabe had seen now looked akin to the Manor's memories, but the fact that they had focused on an element of his past was disquieting.

Bertran interrupted his struggling thoughts. "You look pretty sane again."

Cabe ignored the inaccuracy of the man's statement. Bertran needed him to help with the missing Marilee and that meant hope of ending this waves of pain.

When the mage said nothing, Bertran held up the Aramite device. "Maybe you understand this enough. Tell me how to make its power weaker and I'll use it to help you."

There was a very good chance that Cabe's captor wanted just the opposite information. Knowing how to lessen the agony also likely meant understanding how to make it worse. Still, Cabe decided that he had to take the chance. Through the Gryphon, the wizard had learned much about both the older magic wielded by the Aramite sorcerers called keepers and the newer, possibly more vile arts they utilized now.

"Hold it-hold it close." When after a brief uncertainty Bertran obeyed, Cabe studied the head and handle of the staff, deciphering the Wolf Raider script and runes.

"Well?"

"Grip the very bottom of the base. It should-" Another wave of agony threatened the mage. "It should turn halfway to the left!"

Bertran did as bade. "It did. Now what?"

"Runes-runes on one side. Five in a row." Cabe gasped. "Are there?"

"Five. I see 'em."

The wizard inhaled. "First and fifth. Touch them together. That should do it. Tap my head . . . lightly."

The strain grew overwhelming. Cabe's head spun.

Without warning, his agony diminished. It did not fade completely, but became far more tolerable.

"Did that do it?" growled Marilee's man. "Say something, spellcaster."

"Maybe you should hit him again," someone suggested.

"No!" The wizard drew back as best he could just in case his warning had come too late. He was not certain that another touch might not reverse matters again. Cabe could not say why its foul handiwork had not entirely ceased, but at least it appeared to be at a manageable level. "No . . . the staff's magic has lessened. Eventually, it should fade away . . . I hope."

To not only prove his first point but discourage any thought that they might keep him under their control, he made his bonds turn to dust. One of the other men immediately threw a knife at Cabe, but he had been expecting just such a reaction. The blade froze in the air a few inches from his throat, then changed into a dozen blue and green glowing moths that scattered into the dark sky.

"I trust that'll be a sufficient display to deter any other notions of attacking me," the wizard quietly remarked.

Most of the others nodded quickly, but Bertran looked furious. He swung the staff at Cabe, at the same time snarling.

Cabe softened the ground enough to make the large man's boots sink up to the ankles, then solidified it. Bertran struggled in vain to reach him. In growing desperation, Bertran finally threw the Aramite device at his adversary. Fortunately, used so, the insidious creation was no danger. Cabe took pleasure in forcing the staff to turn head down and bury itself deep in the soil at his feet.

He did not destroy it, aware that it might be needed in some manner. Cabe had no idea what had happened to Marilee and was not positive that she was even alive, but if she was, he might need the Aramite creation to rescue her.

Bertran continued to rail at Cabe, but the rest were clearly subdued. The wizard stepped within the imprisoned man's reach. Bertran swung at Cabe, only to have his fist stop in mid-air. Cabe sighed, admiring the other's determination, but wishing that he would learn quicker.

"I will still help you find her," he told Bertran. "And the sooner you calm down, the sooner we can begin."

Reason finally returned to the man's gaze, but he could still not simply accept the reversal of their positions. "All right. Just don't try anything . . . "

"I won't," Cabe responded, holding back a brief moment of amus.e.m.e.nt. Then, the seriousness of the situation returned to his attention. "I need you to lead me back to where you took me. That's all. When we're close, you can return to the rest here."

Bertran shook his head violently. The tawny-haired man gritted his teeth. "I'm going with. We find her together."

There remained just enough of the staff's influence to still give the wizard a headache even more aggravating than Bertran was proving to be. Bertran would be little more than a hindrance and possibly great trouble for Cabe if some force attacked the man during their quest, but the mage finally nodded. It was more and more clear that Bertran was deeply in love with Marilee and would sacrifice himself for her safety if necessary. That redeeming trait alone was enough for Cabe to take the risk.

He would not leave the man unarmed, though. With a gesture, Cabe sent the staff flying back to Bertran's grasp. As the latter stared in confusion at this offering of trust, Cabe turned in what he a.s.sumed was the general direction they had to head.

A moment later, Bertran trotted a step ahead of him. With an anxious glance at the wizard, he murmured, "We turn right at that crooked tree . . . "

Cabe nodded, his mind already on beyond the crooked tree to where others trees, far more murderous ones, might already have Marilee.

V.

There were voices around them, the voices of the long dead. While they frightened Marilee, she was still more familiar with them than her captor. The drake-the mighty warrior-was growing more agitated as the muttering increased.

"What are they babbling about?" he demanded not for the first time.

Her mouth bound, Marilee could hardly answer him. It gave her a slight bit of satisfaction to know that the drake was so disturbed, but it would hardly save her.

She hung from one of the nearby trees, her legs tied together and her arms wrapped as much as possible behind her and around the trunk. In tying her up, the drake had nearly ripped her arms off. The strain was still making her tear up.

When he had first begun his work, Marilee had hoped that the neighboring trees would somehow use the opportunity to seize the drake, but now that he appeared to know how better to wield the other artifact, the trees appeared unable to even reach within several yards of him. In fact, any tree as close as a dozen yards simply grew limp.

What exactly the drake had in mind, Marilee did not know. She only hoped that Bertran had enough sense to turn to the wizard for help. They could always deal with Cabe Bedlam afterward.

Marilee felt conflicted by her sudden hopes that the wizard would come to her aid. In some ways, she resented the mage for that even though he had done nothing. Marilee had grown up hearing the stories of the older survivors and learned to hate the wizard based on those stories. She did not like anything that contradicted that to which she was accustomed to believe was true.

But if Cabe Bedlam did come rushing to her rescue, she would be very, very grateful.

A savage crackling drowned out all other noise. Marilee recognized the sound of a terrible fire . . . but there was no sign, not even a hint of smoke.

The drake whirled around, clearly seeking the source. He swore when it became apparent to him that this was merely another ghostly memory of the city's fall.

"Thisss isss a place of madnesss I will be happy to be rid of." He kept the device gripped tight. Even with little more than one hand, the imposing warrior had been able to easily handle Marilee by first tying her securely while she lay pinned face down by his knee, then tossing the rope he had evidently salvaged from his dead mount over the branches and hoisting her up. There had been two incidents when his hold on the device had been precarious, but to Marilee's disappointment, the drake had managed retain his grip.

Beyond the range of the protective effects, the trees stretched as best they could toward the intruders. Marilee did not trust that those branches would leave her be, which left her praying that the drake would not station himself too far from her.

Her captor intended a straightforward trap for the wizard, its effectiveness in its simplicity. She was the bait. Even more than Marilee, the drake hoped-nay, was certain-that Cabe Bedlam would come. Then, that same device that kept the ghostly forces at bay would supposedly do the same against the legendary mage's power.

And then the drake would use the very long, very sharp sword he kept at his side.