The Gryphon rose obediently and padded over to the chair, sinking down at Gorgrael's feet. Gorgrael looked back to the Dear Man with shining eyes. "Will you sit with me a moment?" he inquired, indicating the empty chair across the other side of the hearth.

"A moment only, Gorgrael. I am required elsewhere shortly." The Dark Man sat in the empty chair, and waved his hand impatiently at the fire so that it flared bright. Where else shortly? Gorgrael thought to himself. He had never discovered where the Dark Man lived, how he lived, in what form he lived, once he left Gorgrael's presence. Perhaps he simply faded into nothingness until he was required again.

The Dark Man grunted in amusement. "Oh, I live elsewhere, Gorgrael. I have work to do, tasks to perform, music to sing."

"Have you heard of Axis lately, Dear Man?" Gorgrael asked. "How goes my brother?"

"I have not seen him, heard of him, for some time," the Dark Man finally said. "It is as if he has disappeared from creation." He grinned underneath his hood.

"Dead?" Gorgrael asked, although the thought caused him disappointment.

He looked forward to tearing his brother into shreds.

The Dark Man laughed. "No, not dead, Gorgrael. Very much alive - his death I would have felt... as would you. But I do have news of Borneheld...and Faraday."

Gorgrael sat up. "What?"

"Borneheld is now King," the Dark Man said reflectively. "It is said that Priam died a crazed death. And if Borneheld is King in Carlon, then Faraday sits by his side as Queen. A tastier morsel than ever now, Gorgrael, a much tastier morsel."

"Tastier," Gorgrael echoed, his thoughts on the woman so far to the south.

Queen. Faraday.

The Strike Force LandsThe last of the Icarii hound for Sigholt left Talon Spike on the third to last day of DeadLeaf-month.

The Crests and Wings of the Strike Force had been gone some ten days and the last of them would have arrived in Sigholt. Small groups of Enchanters had left each day since.

The final group included MorningStar and StarDrifter. RavenCrest was reluctant to leave the security of Talon Spike for an unknown world; until Axis had won Tencendor back the majority of the Icarii would stay in Talon Spike. As he stood on the flight balcony watching his mother and brother disappear over the southern Icescarp Alps, RavenCrest had to fight a wave of depression from swamping him. The fate of the Icarii had been taken from his hands. Was this the beginning of their long-hoped-for pilgrimage back to their homelands or a journey towards the death of all their dreams? "By the Stars, Axis," said RavenCrest, the wind ruffling his black neck feathers, "do not squander the hopes of the Icarii in your battles with Borneheld and Gorgrael. You promised to lead us back into Tencendor. Make sure you do it."

No-one who had just left Talon Spike missed the significance of their flight south. For the first time in a thousand years the Icarii flew for Tencendor rather than just winging their way about the Icescarp Alps or the Avarinheim. None thought the path would be easy, and all understood that some would die in the attempt. But Icarii spirit had been rekindled. They were finally taking active steps to regain their heritage.

Several hours after they left Talon Spike the group found a thermal which lifted them high into the atmosphere, and for more than an hour they spiralled upwards, only very slowly moving south. The view was stunning. Far below, the Icescarp Alps ridged and plunged their way south towards the Icescarp Barren and east towards the Avarinheim forest. To the east the Widowmaker Sea glinted in sunlight. As she tilted a little in the thermal MorningStar caught a glimpse of the Nordra, silver from this height, as it wound its serpentine way through the Avarinheim. The river was a life-giver, both to the Avarinheim and to the bare plains of Achar, and the Avar worshipped the Nordra almost as fervently as the sacred Earth Tree. MorningStar smiled a little as she half closed her eyes against the glare of the sun. How fortunate that Gorgrael's clouds did not cover the Avarinheim. The forest canopy waved green and black, almost like a sea itself, and Morning-Star hoped that she would live long enough to see the first trees replanted in the plains beyond the Fortress Ranges.

Above her, StarDrifter waved the group further east. The flight would take three or four days and they would rest each night within the Avarinheim. The Avar had established three camps just inside the protecting walls of the Fortress Ranges, keeping the Icarii who used them supplied with food and fire at night.

Willing enough to help the Icarii, the Avar waited for Faraday before they would actively move to help Axis.

As they flew further south, MorningStar remembered her mother speaking of the sacred sites lost to the Icarii. Would she live to see Fernbrake Lake, the Mother, and the Island of Mist and Memory? She let herself dream a little, hope a little.

Azhure approached the circle of Icarii and Acharite warriors quietly, so as not to disturb them, especially those who fought in the centre. The majority of the Icarii Strike Force had been here almost three weeks now, and their intensive combat training with Belial s soldiers continued apace.

FarSight CutSpur, true to his word to Axis, had surrendered the Strike Force to Belial's overall control. He had no regrets in doing so. Any decision Belial took regarding the Icarii he made sure to discuss with FarSight and his Crest-Leaders.

Indeed, FarSight and his two senior Crest-Leaders - HoverEye Black Wing and SpreadWing RavenCry - had been included in Belial s inner circle on an equal footing with Magariz, Arne and Azhure. FarSight respected Belial greatly. He was a good man, and a capable commander; Axis had chosen well in his second-in- command.

The Icarii had been dismayed by their lack of combat skills when compared to the Groundwalkers, despite Axis' earlier warning. Over the past three weeks they had done almost nothing but work on their hand-to-hand skills with Belial's soldiers. To begin with, the Groundwalkers had been able to best the Icarii easily, and many an Icarii Strike Force member had spent long hours of the night rubbing soothing salve into abrasions and bruises or soaking in the rejuvenating hot waters of the Lake of Life. But, driven by their deep-seated pride, the Icarii had learned quickly. In fact, so determined were they to put a stop to their embarrassing losses, that over the past few days a growing number of Icarii had come out victorious from their combat bouts with Belial's men. SpikeFeather, in particular, had earned their respect.

Azhure crept around the edge of the circle of watching warriors until a gap appeared in the tightly packed bodies. She shouldered her way through.

EvenSong was battling with a soldier from Arne's unit, a brawny, ginger- haired, experienced campaigner from Aldeni called Edowes. The Acharite soldiers had quickly learned that the female members of the Icarii Strike Force were just as determined as the male. Now, as the two grappled in the centre of the circle, it was obvious that Edowes was giving no quarter.

Ever since SpikeFeather had shamed her in front of Azhure and the other members of her Wing, EvenSong had put all her efforts into becoming an asset to the Strike Force. Today was the first time she felt she had a good chance of besting her practice partner, but the actual "kill" was proving frustratingly difficult.

Azhure glanced about the circle. Arne stood to one side, his arms folded, his posture relaxed, his emotions hidden behind his usual expressionless mask. Only the jerky movements of the twig he was chewing showed he felt any concern about the outcome of this bout. A few paces from him stood SpikeFeather TrueSong, commander of Even-Song's Wing. His wings were held tense and tight against his back, and his fingers convulsively flexed at his side, as if he wanted to leap into the ring and help EvenSong.

EvenSong and Edowes both wore light armour, but both had collected more than their fair share of bruises during the bout. Suddenly EvenSong grunted and fell to her knees, caught by a particularly heavy blow to the ribs by Edowes, her stave slipping from her fingers. Azhure s stomach twisted, and she only just managed to stop herself from leaping forward and pulling Edowes back.

Edowes raised his stave to shoulder height for the final blow. But he had badly misjudged his opponent. EvenSong's fingers tightened and shifted on the stave and, her face twisting with determination, she brought the stave upwards with all her might. Straight between Edowes' legs.

Every male within the circle of watchers whimpered in sympathy as they heard the sickening crunch. Edowes howled, dropping his stave and falling to the ground, clutching at his abused manhood.

Azhure clapped to her mouth to hide her grin, and her eyes met those of a jubilant EvenSong. The Icarii wqman's eyes glittered with pride, and she did not look the least bit sorry that she had destroyed Edowes' hopes of enjoying the young Skarabost woman he had been courting for several weeks to come.

SpikeFeather slapped EvenSong on the back before offering her his hand. "I am heartily glad you never thought of that manoeuvre while practising with me, EvenSong," he laughed. He turned to Arne. "You owe me a jug of Reinalds spiced wine, I believe, Arne. I look forward to enjoying it with my evening meal."

As the watchers gradually dissipated, Azhure and Even-Song walked slowly across the practice field bordering the Lake of Life. The Keep glistened silvery grey in the sun, for the warmth of the Lake of Life kept Sigholt and its immediate environs free of Gorgrael's clouds.

"Well done," Azhure congratulated EvenSong. "Did you notice how all the men blanched as you struck home?"

EvenSong laughed breathlessly, still winded after her exertions. "I hope I have not wounded him permanently."

"Oh, I am sure he will recover to father his share of children," Azhure said lightly. Azhure was now well into her pregnancy and her abdomen protruded gently beneath her tunic. Belial had forbidden her to take part in hand-to-hand combat sessions, although Azhure still trained with her archers - six squads now, over two hundred men - and occasionally went out on patrol. She had returned only last night from leading a four-day patrol into the northern Urqhart Hills.

Azhure was well respected among both Icarii and Acharites, and only rarely was her womanhood or her pregnancy commented upon.

As Azhure lapsed into silence, EvenSong sensed there was something troubling her and slid her arm about Azhure's shoulders. "What is it?" she asked.

Azhure took a deep and shaky breath, placing both her hands over her belly.

"The baby has hardly moved, EvenSong.

Sometimes I lie a-bed at night and all I feel is this weight in my belly, and I wonder if the baby is still alive. I should have felt it move weeks ago."

"You are a silly!" EvenSong laughed, relieved. "If you had asked either Rivkah or myself we could have told you what the problem is."

Azhure stopped. "You know what's wrong?"

"Azhure. The child you carry is part Icarii. All Icarii babes sleep in the womb until their father awakens them. Azhure, your baby is perfectly all right - awake or not, it will grow and develop normally. Once Axis arrives he can awaken it.

Apparently it is the most exquisite feeling, to feel the babe awaken at the sound of its father's voice."

Azhure s shoulders relaxed under EvenSong's arm. "I was so worried," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "I thought that perhaps I had harmed it."

A frown creased her forehead again. "But already I am five months pregnant.

When should Icarii fathers sing to their children? Is it too late? And what if Axis doesn't arrive before it is born?"

"Azhure, calm down," EvenSong said. "It is best that Axis be here for the baby's birth. But it has been known for a baby to be born without being awakened by its father, and even then, the baby was perfectly normal."

Azhure's shoulders relaxed totally and she dropped her hands from her belly.

Embarrassed by her show of vulnerability, she turned the conversation to combat and commands. "How are the Icarii coping with their quarters?" No-one had been too sure what the Icarii - used to the luxury of Talon Spike - would think of the tents they were housed in. "The Icarii would sleep wrapped in their wings on the cold ground if they thought it was needed to win themselves Tencendor again," EvenSong reassured her. "We are fine. Do not worry about us."

The other worry Azhure, Belial and Magariz had harboured was the reception of the Icarii by the Skarabost villagers at Sigholt. But this had proved no problem at all. For the Acharites camped in tents and rudimentary huts about the shores of the Lake of Life, the arrival of the magical Icarii simply reinforced their belief that they had done the right thing in following the call of the Prophecy.

Obviously the StarMan, if not actually here himself yet, would prove a hero of legend if these mythical creatures had left their mountain home to follow him.

The teachings of the Seneschal seemed to be rapidly fading from their minds.

Dominating everyone's thoughts was the anxious wait for Axis. Azhure, though sure she had made the right decision in refusing Belial s proposal, increasingly worried about what she could expect from Axis. She still sometimes had the lingering fear that he would take the baby from her and give it to Faraday. Although consciously she realised it was a groundless fear - Axis would never do such a thing - at night it sometimes caused her nightmares.

"Azhure!" EvenSong cried at her side. "Look! My father and grandmother arrive!"

Azhure squinted in the direction EvenSong pointed, but she could see nothing save some black spots in the clouds far to the north.

"Come," EvenSong caught at Azhure's arm and dragged her around the moat of Sigholt towards the bridge, "they'll land on the roof. Come! Hurry!"

Magariz had been alerted to the Icarii arrival and now stood on the roof of the Keep. He heard a movement behind him and Rivkah stepped to his side. He smiled at her, delighted. He remembered how beautiful she had been as a teenager in Carlon. Then her hair was deep auburn, her face always mischievous, always alive with humour and love of life.

That had been before her father had arranged her marriage to Searlas, Duke of Ichtar, which had almost broken Rivkah s spirit. Still handsome more than thirty years on, Rivkah was more introspective. Her humour was still there, but more restrained. How strange, thought Magariz, that they should be here now in these circumstances.

Busy as both were, Magariz had not yet had a chance to speak to Rivkah privately since her arrival at Sigholt.

Now Rivkah noticed him looking at her. She reached out and touched his hand where it lay on the grey stonework.

Magariz turned his eyes back to the approaching Icarii. Among them would be Rivkah's former husband, the man for whom she had betrayed Searlas.

"Did he ever know?" Magariz asked very quietly, so that the other Icarii waiting on the roof might not hear. He was not referring to StarDrifter but to Searlas, Rivkah's previous husband.

"No," Rivkah whispered. "No. He never suspected."

Magariz's hands relaxed on the stones. "I worried for you," he said, and tears sprang to Rivkah's eyes.

"And I for you." She blinked back her tears and noticed FarSight had just arrived on the roof. "I am glad this will be the last flight for a while," Rivkah said brightly, "for I do not know where we would have put any more. As it is, we shall have to share apartments."

FarSight's perceptive black eyes picked up Rivkah's discomposure, but assumed it was because StarDrifter was arriving. It must be hard for them, he surmised, to be constantly thrown together this way before they have learned to rebuild their lives apart.

As the approaching Icarii closed, the bridge threw out her challenge. All of the Acharites had been stunned to learn that the bridge not only challenged those on foot, but also those who approached Sigholt from the air. "What would she do if one of the approaching Icarii failed the test?" Belial had asked Veremund when he heard the bridge challenge the first Icarii flight. "Well, Belial," Veremund had answered, "if any fail the test then I guess we will find out, won't we?"

But none had ever failed the test, and none failed now. StarDrifter, his mother and the other Icarii with them landed on the roof of Sigholt, all obviously excited by the Lake and the change in the Keep.

"It's wondrous!" MorningStar cried, as she kissed Rivkah in welcome. "It is so beautiful!" Indeed, in the months since the Lake had refilled, the greenery had spread over all the hills closest to Sigholt, and the Keep and its environs were like an oasis. Now tree ferns as tall as a man grew down most of the closest slopes, and flowers, creeping shrubs, wild roses and gorse bushes covered the hills further away. Sigholt was turning into a garden.

"One day all Tencendor will reawaken like this," said StarDrifter, his eyes on Rivkah. As they kissed briefly, dispassionately, both could not help but remember those days when it seemed as if the world were theirs.

Magariz's mouth twisted as he watched StarDrifter greet Rivkah, then he stepped forward to formally welcome the Icarii. So this was the Icarii Enchanter who had stolen Rivkah from Searlas, and now, so carelessly, had let go. Well, you ageing fool, he thought, you let her go thirty-two years ago. Do not think to criticise StarDrifter for failings you are guilty of yourself.

Magariz's courtly greeting and gracious manners impressed the Icarii, and StarDrifter wondered - as so many others had - how this man had come to serve Borneheld for so long.

As Rivkah started to explain the increasingly crowded living arrangements in Sigholt, EvenSong burst through the staircase doorway, dragging Azhure with her.

"Father!" she cried, delighted, and StarDrifter stepped forward to hug her.

EvenSong looked happier than he had seen her at any time since FreeFall's death. "Greet your grandmother," he said, his eyes hunting Azhure. He had not ceased thinking about her in the months they had been apart. The instant he saw her the world stilled about him. "Welcome, StarDrifter," Azhure said awkwardly, aware of StarDrifter's face as he stared at her rounded stomach.

Rivkah stepped forward and took StarDrifter by the elbow. "Look, StarDrifter, isn't it wonderful?" she exclaimed, a little too artificially. "Azhure and Axis are going to make us grandparents."

MorningStar brushed past them. "Well," she said, her voice studiously casual, "a Beltide baby, StarDrifter. What do you make of that?"

She reached out for Azhure s arm, but Azhure took several rapid steps backwards. She knew the ancient tradition of both Icarii and Avar peoples - a baby conceived of Wing and Horn at Beltide should never be carried to term.

One year an Avar woman had ignored that ancient tradition, and the baby she had conceived with StarDrifter was Gorgrael.

"I am not Avar!" Azhure said, determined to fight for her baby's life if she had to. "Do not try to take this baby from me!"

"Do not fear," MorningStar said. "I merely wanted to ..."

She got no further. At Azhure's cry, a huge hound leapt from the shadows of the doorwell and seized MorningStar by the wrist, breaking her skin but not crushing the bone.

"The Stars save me!'

she cried, "it is an Alaunt!"

A savage growl rumbling deep in his throat, Sicarius twisted his head a little and MorningStar whimpered in pain and sank to her knees.

"Azhurer StarDrifter shouted. "Call the Alaunt offl"

Azhure hesitated, then motioned with her hand. Sicarius dropped MorningStar's wrist and backed off to stand by Azhure's side. He continued to snarl at both MorningStar and StarDrifter, his hackles stiff and aggressive.

"No-one harms my baby," Azhure said into the shocked silence of the rooftop. "No-one."

"I did not mean to harm your baby," MorningStar grated, clutching her bloody wrist to her breast. "Not only is that your baby, but it is a SunSoar, possibly an Enchanter, and it is my great-grandchild I would not harm it!"

StarDrifter helped his mother to her feet, but his eyes were on Azhure.

"Neither MorningStar nor myself wish the baby harm. On the contrary."

Azhure nodded stiffly. "MorningStar, I apologise for Sicarius' actions." Both MorningStar and StarDrifter winced at the naming of the hound. "He only wanted to protect me." She stepped forward and took MorningStar's wrist. "Come below and I will wash and bind it for you. These marks will scab in a day and be gone in a week."

As she led MorningStar and StarDrifter below, Magariz and the other Icarii on the rooftop let loose a collective sigh of relief. FarSight raised his eyebrows at Magariz. "A poor welcome for MorningStar."

"If you knew how much Azhure wants that baby then you would only be surprised she did not set Sicarius to Morning-Star's throat," Magariz said quietly.

Azhure washed and bandaged MorningStar's wrist as Star-Drifter sat on the side of the bed. His eyes lingered on Azhure's belly. He had no doubts she carried an Enchanter. Who would sing to the unborn baby if Axis didn't get here in time? His fingers twitched.

At their feet Sicarius stirred, and StarDrifter blinked.