"Well, I don't suppose he has any great love for me, considering. And he knows that since I've been cut off from my own people, they have no standing to take revenge against him for it. How much did you tell my sister, Thero?"

"Only that you and Alec have been found, and that you're safe."

Seregil glanced around the gully and gave him a wry look. "I don't call this safe. Yhakobin is an important man, and claimed he was making the rhekaros for the Overlord himself. Sooner or later, someone else is going to come looking for us."

Unfortunately, Seregil was soon proven right.

Thero was at the edge of the gully the following morning, watching the vultures circle, when he caught the distant jingle of harness and the m.u.f.fled thud of galloping hooves. He sent out a wizard eye and discovered twoscore or more riders coming from the north, making straight for where they lay hidden. As they came closer, he saw for certain that they were soldiers, and that several men dressed in black were leading them. One of them drew Thero's attention more than the others; even through the spell he could feel the cold, nasty energy of a necromancer.

He hurried back to the lean-to and smothered their small cooking fire with a spell.

"What's going on?" asked Mic.u.m. Seregil crawled to the front of the lean-to, poniard in hand.

"Soldiers," Thero told them.

"How many?"

"Too many." Thero drew his wand and reinforced the obscuration spell he'd woven over the gully. To anyone outside it would look like level ground. "We should be safe unless someone accidentally falls down here." Or unless their necromancer notices my magic, Or unless their necromancer notices my magic, he thought, but chose not to worry the others for now. Seregil probably knew, anyway. he thought, but chose not to worry the others for now. Seregil probably knew, anyway.

Alec joined Seregil at the mouth of the tent, one arm around Sebrahn, the other hand grasping his black dagger.

"Neither of you is strong enough to fight yet," Mic.u.m warned.

"We're not going to just sit here and let them take us," Seregil replied. His eyes and Alec's were haunted and dark with purpose.

"No one's taking you," Mic.u.m promised. "Stay here and save your strength until it's needed."

"Wait!" Alec pushed the rhekaro forward. "Go with them, Sebrahn. Protect my friends."

The rhekaro went at once to Mic.u.m's side.

"I'll take all the help I can get," Mic.u.m said, shouldering his bow and taking Sebrahn's little hand in his.

Thero followed Mic.u.m back to the lip of the gully and watched the search begin.

"They have a necromancer with them."

"I'd be more surprised if they didn't."

Some men dismounted to inspect what remained of the corpses while others, trackers most likely, fanned out in all directions. Mic.u.m had covered their tracks, but they still held their breath as several men started in their direction.

Mic.u.m reached for his quiver, but Thero stopped him. Then, forking two fingers at the men, he whispered a spell. A moment later, they wandered off in the opposite direction.

"What did you do?" whispered Mic.u.m.

"Just planted a thought or two. They'll report that there's nothing of interest in this direction."

The ruse seemed to have done the trick, until a darkly clad figure broke from the group and strode in their direction, accompanied by several swordsmen. It was the necromancer, and he knew they were there. Thero could feel the man's mocking gaze on him already. "It's the rhekaro. It's like a beacon to him! My magic can't hide it. Stay down."

Thero stood and cupped his hand in front of him. He spoke the spell for thunder and released it, feeling the magic leave his body in a great rush as a shock wave made the air in front of him ripple like water.

The spell struck down the swordsmen, but the necromancer was still standing, coat whipping around his legs.

"Oreska!" he called out. "Is that the best you have for me?"

Mic.u.m drew his bow and let fly. The arrow sped true, but shattered before it could find its mark.

"Save those for the soldiers. This one's too powerful," Thero snapped. He took a deep breath and summoned a fire spell. This one took an even greater toll; he would not be able to keep this up much longer, but he didn't have much choice at this point. At his command, a wall of fire roared out, scorching a broad swath of ground as it went. This one was more far-reaching and was greeted with screams of pain and the terrified cries of horses.

But still more men came on, and the necromancer with them, flicking tongues of flame from his fingertips. He was close enough for Thero to see that he was grinning as he pointed a hand at the ground beside him.

A huge, dark, misshapen form rose from the blackened earth, like a waking nightmare. It had the body of a huge boar, but a man's face with jutting tusks, twisted in agony.

"What in Bilairy's name is that?" gasped Mic.u.m.

"I have no idea, but it's bad," Thero whispered, terrified. Behind the necromancer, more armed men ran forward over the bodies of their fallen comrades.

"I make that about forty men," Seregil gasped, one arm around Alec as they staggered up to join them, still clutching their knives. "I say we split 'em, and leave the ugly pig for Thero."

Mic.u.m caught them as Seregil stumbled. "You d.a.m.n fools!"

Alec sank to his knees, one hand pressed to his chest, but grinning. "Might as well die here as there."

"Suit yourselves." Mic.u.m drew his bow again and concentrated on bringing down as many soldiers as he could. Their archers were shooting back now.

The necromancer gave some command and the nightmarish creature bore down on them.

"Tell me you can stop that," Seregil demanded.

Thero raised both hands, clutching his wand, and shouted the strongest protection spell he knew. Throwing out every last ounce of power he possessed, he imagined a limitless stone wall and projected it at the creature.

It didn't even slow down. Leaping into the air, it came down on them like a storm, knocking Mic.u.m and Thero backward down the gully. As Thero threw up his arms, trying to ward off the fetid darkness closing in around him, he caught a flash of white against the sky overhead, and suddenly the air was filled with a single crystal note. It made his skull throb and his teeth ache, but he hardly noticed as he watched the monster halt, then throw back its hideous head and dissolve in a cloud of stench and flies.

Mic.u.m was on his feet again, bleeding from several wounds and shouting something that Thero could not hear over the continuous deafening sound. He was pointing up at the edge of the gully.

Seregil and Alec lay sprawled halfway down the slope, bodies tumbled together by the force of the monster's charge. But Sebrahn stood facing the enemy for them, singing that one clear note as his silver-white hair coiled wildly about his head.

Mic.u.m grabbed Thero by the shoulder and together they scrambled up to help the others. The rhekaro's song ended just as they reached Seregil and silence covered them like snow.

Mic.u.m dropped to his knees beside their comrades, but Thero took Alec's fallen dagger and climbed up to see what Sebrahn had done.

Every man lay dead, and foremost among them was the necromancer. Thero approached him slowly to make sure.

The man lay on his back, wide-open eyes reflecting the vultures that were already heading this way. Blood had burst from his ears, nose, eyes, and mouth, just as Mic.u.m had described. Thero nudged him with his foot, but the body was limp and empty, its power gone.

Satisfied, he went back to the others. Seregil was leaning against Mic.u.m's shoulder. Alec sat holding the rhekaro. It lay limply in his arms with its eyes shut. Its skin had gone from pale to grey, and it had a frail, starved look about it. Its closed eyes were deeply sunk in their sockets, and its arms and legs looked thinner than ever. Thero could hardly see the aura that had been so strong before.

"He used himself up." Alec p.r.i.c.ked his finger and let a few drops fall between the rhekaro's lips, then gave Seregil a worried look when it didn't respond.

"Is he dead?" asked Mic.u.m.

"Hard to tell," Seregil murmured.

"It's not," Thero said. The little edge of light around the rhekaro grew brighter as it fed on Alec's blood.

Seregil turned and surveyed the scattered dead. "They didn't know."

"Know what?"

"What Sebrahn can do. Not any of them. Yhakobin would never have charged blindly at us the way he did if he'd suspected what might happen, or this necromancer, either. They knew we had him, but they didn't fear him."

Alec let out a small sigh of relief as Sebrahn stirred. "Yhakobin kept saying the ones he made were failures."

"There are others?" asked Thero.

"One, and he destroyed it, trying to figure it out. He was looking for something else. Ilar said something about a poison, but he was probably lying."

And there was that name again. "What else did he say, about it being wrong?" asked Thero.

Alec though a moment, stroking Sebrahn's wan cheek with his thumb as the thing continued to feed. "When the first one was made, Yhakobin was concerned that it didn't have wings."

"Wings?"

"Never mind that," said Seregil. "Two groups have found us, so there's no reason to think there won't be others. We need to get to that boat of yours, and fast."

"I can ride," said Alec, though he was still the weaker of the two.

Thero looked back at the fallen soldiers again, then down at the exhausted creature curled in Alec's lap. "We couldn't hold off another attack like that one."

"Then come on!" Seregil struggled up to his feet and clutched at Mic.u.m's shoulder to steady himself. "Someone tie me onto a horse."

CHAPTER 47 47.

Sanctuary

THEY WAITED UNTIL nightfall to leave the gully. A cold half-moon silvered the scudding clouds and made the frosty ground sparkle. nightfall to leave the gully. A cold half-moon silvered the scudding clouds and made the frosty ground sparkle.

Seregil hadn't been joking about being tied to his horse. His wounds and Alec's were healing, thanks to Sebrahn, but the flesh was still fragile. He still tired quickly, but Alec was critically weak, and rode double with Mic.u.m, tied in place against the man's back. Sebrahn hung in his sling on Thero's back. The rhekaro had not woken up since the battle, though he had taken nourishment several times in his sleep.

They reached the desolate bay just before dawn as rain rolled in off the water. Thero had sent word ahead to the captain, and they found a pair of lookouts from the Gedre ship waiting for them in the bushes above the shingle.

When everyone was safely aboard at last, Seregil finally collapsed, and woke up sometime later, tucked into a narrow bunk in a small cabin. Another bunk was built into the opposite wall and he could just make out Alec's pale braid and a long hank of Sebrahn's silvery hair above the blankets.

Every joint and muscle protested as Seregil went to them and slipped in behind Alec, wrapping an arm around both of them.

Alec gave him a sleepy smile over his shoulder. "There you are, tali."

"Here I am, tali. You do know that Sebrahn is going to have to learn to sleep in a bed of his own?"

Alec wasn't amused. "I'm worried about him. He's so still."

"He's made from magic, Alec, and he's used a lot of it, helping us."

"You think he can use himself up?"

"I don't know. He probably just needs more rest."

Alec found Seregil's hand and grasped it tightly. "You're really all right with me keeping him?"

Seregil kissed the back of Alec's head, glad that the thick braid had been spared after all. "I owe him my life, and yours. Whatever he really is, he stays with us. You have my word."

He listened as Alec's breath slowly evened out, but found he wasn't sleepy anymore. He stayed where he was, thankful that they were finally safe enough for him to savor the feeling of Alec's body, whole and alive, pressed close to his. His hand rested on Sebrahn's shoulder. The rhekaro's skin felt colder than usual, and had since it faced down the demon creature.

After a little while, however, Sebrahn sat up, the blanket slipping from his narrow shoulders. The bones of his chest and shoulders stood out in harsh relief under his white skin. He regarded Seregil for a long moment, then touched Alec's cheek and whispered in his faint, scratchy little voice, "Ah-lek."

"He's sleeping," Seregil whispered.

"Sleeeee-ping."

"Yes, that's right." Seregil blinked up at him, wondering if it was only his imagination that Sebrahn looked somehow more real, more 'faie.

They reached Gedre without incident other than bad weather. Sebrahn did not speak again, not even to Alec.

As they sailed into port in the rain, Seregil was glad to see Magyana and his sisters, Adzriel and Mydri, waiting there with the khirnari to meet them.

"Oh my dear boys!" Adzriel exclaimed, kissing first Seregil, then Alec. "And you, as well." She smiled at Thero and Mic.u.m. "You have the thanks of my clan for bringing them back. Come, let's get you in out of the weather."

Alec was still a little unsteady, so it was Mic.u.m who carried Sebrahn off the ship, closely m.u.f.fled in a cloak.

Seregil stayed close to Alec. Thero and Magyana hung back, talking quietly.

Riagil had sent a carriage for them and soon had them all safely behind closed doors in the clan house.

Thero nodded to Alec. "It's time to show them."