"Vie hillin jes lineia hes filhari fi ish tylor baliyan. Sein lori es runyor ahit eston."

"He says that by not producing the horn, your violation releases them from all treaties, agreements, and requirements to abide your commands."

"Tell him I'm in the process of retrieving the horn."

Nimbus spoke in the musical language and the elven lord replied.

"He insists that you must present it at once."

Nimbus spoke again, and the elf turned and consulted with one of the mounted riders.

"I explained that it was in the ancient city of Percepliquis and would be brought here soon. I hope that I did not overstep my-"

Modina took Nimbus's face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth. "I love you, Nimbus."

The chancellor looked befuddled and, stepping back, checked to see if his wig was on straight.

"He is coming back," Amilia told them.

Once more Nimbus did the talking. There appeared to be some kind of minor dispute and once the elven lord looked over Nimbus's shoulder at the girls sitting on the floor, then nodded. With the tone of general agreement, the elf remounted his horse and rode back out of the courtyard with the others.

"What?" Modina asked.

"They have decided not to wait and will go to Percepliquis to meet the horn. Should you be telling the truth, they will hold the challenge ceremony there. If you are lying, Irawondona will claim his right to rule through default. I presume that will mean they will continue in their march to rid the world of mankind. Either way you must go with them."

"When?"

"You have just enough time to grab a change of clothes, I think. I tried to arrange a small retinue, but they refused. I did manage to gain agreement for the girls to go. Allie deserves to be with her father when he returns and Mercy will comfort her if he does not. I told him they were your daughters."

"Thank you, Nimbus, you may very well have saved all our lives."

"I fear it may only be a stay of execution."

"Not if Arista succeeds, and every day granted to us is another day to hope."

Mince climbed out of the Hovel, pulling his hood up and yawning. The others had kicked him awake, as it was his turn to check the horses. The rule in their group had always been that those who worked ate. It was a simple rule, with little room for interpretation, but early on a cold winter's morning, when he was bundled in blankets and half-asleep, the thought of going outside in the wind and snow made forgetting even simple rules easy. Finally he had relented, knowing they would just kick him harder.

He stood up and stretched his back as he did every morning, thinking about how old he was getting. It was still early, and the sun was only now breaching the tree line, casting sharp angles of golden light in slants, making the snow crystals glimmer. It was warmer, but the night's chill still lingered. He decided it was the wetness that made it feel worse; at least when it was cold, the air and even snow were dry.

Mince walked to the line of horses waiting for him. He knew them all by name and they knew him. Each of their heads turned, their ears rotating his way. They were lucky. The bitter cold had ended abruptly and none of the horses had died. Even the one Mince was certain had stopped breathing survived.

"Morning, ladies and gents," he greeted them as he did each day, with a nod of his head and a wave of his hand. "How are we this miserable excuse of a day, huh? What's that, Simpleton? You don't agree? You think it is a fine day, you say? Much warmer than yesterday morn? Well, I don't know if I can agree with you, sir. What's that, Mouse? You agree with Simpleton? Hmm, I don't know. It just seems... too quiet-far too quiet."

It did. Mince stood still with his feet in the slush and listened. There were no wind or sound. It was a strange sort of stillness, as if the world were dead.

Perhaps it is.

Who knew what had happened up north, or to the south, for that matter.

What if they are all dead now? What if the four of us are all that are left?

A crow cawed in a nearby tree; the stark call made the silence desolate. A sense of emptiness and loss hung in the air. Mince felt the line tethering the horses, making sure it was still secure, then pulled open the feed bags. Normally they jostled each other, trying to stick their noses in, but this morning something drew their attention. The horse's heads turned, their ears twitching to the left, their big eyes peering.

"Someone's coming?" Mince whispered to Princess. Her head bounced up and down, which shocked him, but then she quickly followed that with a shaking as well.

A few moments later, he heard hooves and he ran to the Hovel to wake the others.

"Who is it?" Brand whispered.

"How should I know?" Mince replied, pulling himself fully inside.

"It's certainly not Hadrian and the rest," Elbright pointed out. "They left their horses with us."

"Maybe it's Renwick coming back?" Kine suggested hopefully, and this returned several positive looks and nods.

"One of us should look," Elbright said commandingly, getting to his knees and pulling on his cloak.

"Not me," Mince said. "Let Brand do it. He's the bold one."

"Hush," Elbright snapped, "I'm going."

He pulled a bit of the tarp aside and looked out.

"Do you see 'em?" Kine asked.

"No."

"Maybe they-"

"Shh!" Elbright held up his hand. "Listen."

Faint voices carried across the stillness of the winter morning.

"They went down here," a voice said.

"Oh my! That does look rather unpleasant. Is Your Grace certain?"

"Absolutely."

"They don't sound like elves," Kine whispered.

"Like you know how elves talk," Mince said.

"It doesn't sound like Renwick either," Brand added.

"Will you all shut up!" Elbright hissed, slapping Kine on the head.

"It's so deep you can't see the bottom." The faint voice spoke again.

"It's very deep indeed."

"There are no tracks near it."

"They are still inside, still down there, still dredging up secrets and stirring old memories, but they are coming. Already they are quite near and they have the horn."

"How do you know that?"

"Call it... an old man's intuition."

"That's good, isn't it? That they have the horn?"

"Oh yes, that is very good."

The sound of crunching snow could be heard, growing louder.

"They're coming this way," Elbright said.

"Can you see them yet?" Kine asked.

"There are four of them. One looks like a priest in a black frock, two are soldiers, and there's an old man in bright-colored robes with long white hair. The soldiers are kind of strange-looking."

"What are they doing here?" Brand asked.

"Their horses," a voice outside said. They were much closer now. The boys could hear the squishing of the slushy ground. "You can come out, young men."

They looked at each other nervously.

"Renwick, Elbright, Brand, Kine, Mince, come, we are going to have breakfast."

Elbright was the first one out, emerging from the tarp carefully. His head turned from side to side. They each followed him slowly, squinting in the sunlight, and just as Elbright had described, four men stood before them in the small clearing. They looked terribly out of place. The man with the long white hair was wearing purple, red, and gold robes and he leaned on a staff. To either side stood the soldiers, in gold breastplates, helms, and sleeves. They also wore colorful pants of red, purple, and yellow. Each held a spear and wore a sword. The priest was the only normal-looking fellow, standing with his weight on one leg in the traditionally drab black habit of a Nyphron priest.

"Who are you?" Elbright asked.

"This is His Grace the Patriarch of the Nyphron Church," the priest told him.

"Oh," Elbright said, nodding. Mince could tell he was trying to sound like he knew who that was, but his friend knew better. Elbright was always doing that, making out like he was more worldly than he was.

"These are his bodyguards and I am Monsignor Merton of Ghent."

"Guess you already know us," Elbright said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just waiting," the Patriarch replied. "Like you-waiting for them to climb back out of that hole and change the nature of the world forever. Certainly you can't begrudge us the desire of a front-row seat."

The old man looked at his guards and they trudged off.

"How's Renwick?" Mince asked. "Did he make it to Aquesta?"

"I'm sorry," Monsignor Merton replied kindly. "We traveled by sea around the horn to Vernes and then by coach. We left quite some time ago, so it is entirely possible that he arrived after we left. Was he a friend?"

Mince nodded.

"He rode to Aquesta with news that the elves were attacking from the southeast," Brand said. "They came right by here, they did."

"I'm sorry I can't tell you more," the priest said.

"Pleasant little place you have here," the old man mentioned, looking around. "It's nice that you put your camp under the holly tree. I like the splash of green on such a day as this, when it seems as if all the color has been stolen. It has been a long, cold winter, but it will soon be over. A new world is about to bloom."

Mince heard the distant sound of music and instantly he threw his hands to his ears.

"Is that...?" Elbright asked, alarmed, raising his own hands as Mince bobbed his head.

"Relax, boys," the Patriarch said. "That melody is not enchanted. It is the "Ibyn Ryn," the Ervian anthem."

"But it's the elves!" Elbright said. "They're coming!"

"Yes." The Patriarch glanced up the hill and then down at the hole. "It's a race now."

CHAPTER 26.

THE RETURN.

I love this chamber," Arista said as they spread out blankets on the same flat rock. Overhead the glowworms glimmered and winked, and she noticed for the first time how much she missed seeing the sky.

Magnus gathered his rocks in the center once more. "This is nothing compared to the wonders that I have seen in the deep. My grandfather once took me into the mountains of the Dithmar Range of Trent to a place only he knew. He told me that I needed to know where I came from. He took me deep into a creva.s.se to where a river went underground. We disappeared inside for weeks. My mother and father were furious when we finally returned. They didn't want me to get ideas. They had already given up, but my grandfather-he knew."

Magnus sparked a stone against another. "The things he showed me were amazing. Chambers hundreds of times the size of this one made of shimmering crystal so that a single glow stone could make it bright as day. Stone cathedrals with pillars and teeth, and waterfalls that dropped so far you could not hear the roar. Everything down there was so vast, so wide, so big-we felt immeasurably small. It is sometimes hard to believe in Drome, seeing what has become of his people, but in places like this, and certainly in halls like the ones my grandfather showed me, it's like seeing the face of G.o.d firsthand."

Arista spread her blanket next to Hadrian.

"What are you trying to do there, Magnus?" Hadrian asked.

"Provide a little light. There are lots of this kind of stone here. My grandfather showed me how to make them burn-smolder, really."

"Let me help." Arista made a modest motion and the trio of rocks ignited and burned as a perfect campfire.

The dwarf frowned. "No, no. Stop it. I can get it."

Arista clapped and the fire vanished. "I just wanted to help."

"Yeah, well, that's not natural."