Rau unhooked a large brass key from his belt. The heavy door swung inward. Though the stone chamber had no windows, the center of the room glowed with gentle amber light. He stepped into its radiance.

Soothing waves of welcome washed over him. He opened his mind, admitting the Amber's touch. Since he'd fled Kholer, the emptiness had roared its silence in his mind. It was as if something vital had been cut away from him and he keenly felt its loss. He stretched out a hand, laying it flat against the Amber's warmth.

Heat seared into his palm, rushing upward through his veins into his heart, into his mind. Rau allowed his consciousness to flow outward with it, down the invisible strings that bound him to the soldiers in the army of the dead.

Clustered at the gate, he felt their failing minds and quickly laid his own will over them. But the mind that defied him was stronger than he'd ever imagined. With indomitable will it held to the pathetic minds of the dead, urging them forward into his territory, into his father's kingdom.

Rau cursed viciously. He felt further, testing the barriers of that mind that blocked his efforts like a stone wall. The power stone he could feel, a bright gleam among the dim minds of the dead. And yet, somehow it didn't feel like Riordan, though it certainly held the stamp of her stubbornness. Rau sent his consciousness further still, searching after the Sword's cool brilliance. Nearby, he was certain of that. As his father had proclaimed, the Kanarekii heir had brought the abomination to their very gates.

Was it the Sword that allowed her to hold on to those pitiful failing minds with such tenacity? Had she found some way to combine the two magics? The thought left him trembling.

No matter, he thought with renewed purpose. He had the Master Stone. He would win out over the pathetic numbers of the Kanarekii rebellion.

Rau placed both hands against the Amber and flung the full force of his will against the forces of Kanarek.

# There had to be a way in. Riordan peered through the dense screen of branches at the stone wall that blocked her passage. A chip in the masonry, enough to get a foothold. Something. Anything!

And what of the guards on the wall?

Nothing was impenetrable. She'd scaled the magenta mountains.

She crawled deeper into the foliage, leading Penden's horse behind her. Just a couple of chinks in the stonework and a lucky arrow from one of the Kanarekii archers to take down the guard, that was all she needed. Behind her she heard the resounding boom of Kanarek's battering ram working on the city gates.

Retain control, Nhaille. Just a few moments longer, long enough for me to scale the wall.

It was all a matter of timing. Hers, Nhaille's, Rau's. She poked her head out of the brush, sighting a patch of deeper shadow in the wall's pattern.

The tempo of the battering increased. Heads turned in the direction of the gates. Riordan crawled from her hiding place, keeping low in the deep grass. A few more feet, just a few more feet and another distraction. She was almost at the wall.

Standing in its shade she looked up at the soldiers on the battlements above her. A loud splintering echoed across the city. Heads turned. Bows cocked.

Just the distraction she'd wished for. Riordan sprang. Grass rushed by under her feet. She flattened herself against the wall. Shouts ricocheted above her. She wedged the toe of her boot into the stone and grasped the chipped masonry.

Each reach tore at the edges of her wound, making each move a silent agony. She felt blood seeping through the material of her shirt to rest in a sticky pool against her leather armor. Riordan ground her teeth against the pain and hauled herself upward. Boots pounded the stone above her. Riordan sucked in her breath, pressing herself flat against the wall. Just a few feet more.

Keep them occupied, Nhaille! Just a few moments more. I promise I'll never ask another thing of you again.

Almost there. She scrambled higher.

Shouts drew her eyes downward in spite of her vow to keep going no matter what. There ground swayed precariously below her.

Framed by her booted feet, she caught a glimpse of black-uniformed Haelians arranged in a neat line. The army of the dead poured through the gates like putrid swamp water overflowing. A modest number of Kanarekii poured in after them. The dead came to an abrupt stop. For several seconds they seemed to hesitate. Then, as she watched helplessly from above, they turned on their Kanarekii masters.

No! The entreaty echoed in her mind.

Groping fingers located the ledge above. She dug in her nails and hung there. "Hey!"

Hauling the rest of her body up behind her, Riordan lunged, getting an arm and one leg across the ledge before a handful of Haelians descended upon her. She flung herself across the ledge.

She rolled, hitting the stone floor, wedging her feet beneath her. In one fluid movement, she tore the Sword from its scabbard. It whistled through the air as she brought it down in one sweeping arc.

The first soldier tumbled headless to the stone.

No time for the Sword to savor its kill, she cut up and out, taking down the next. He fell to his knees, clutching his abdomen.

Boots sounded on the stone behind her and she whirled, catching yet a third through the heart.

Bodies, souls poured into the Sword and vanished. Jumbled dying thoughts, ran together in her mind. From further down the balustrade black-clad warriors rushed toward her.

Riordan dove for the shadow of a doorway. Leather boots slid against the smooth stone stairs beyond. She caught the doorway, righting herself even as she skidded down the stairs.

So where is it, Rau? Somehow she'd expected him to be waiting at the gate to greet her personally. Oh Gods! Please don't let him have been there when Nhaille came through.

The stairway led into the bowels of the castle. Inward. She was certain the Amber's hiding place lay at the center of the fortress.

Rau would never trust his treasure to an outer wall.

Shouts bounced off the stone walls, overlapping, until she couldn't tell if they came from above or below. Boots thundered on the stairs. She ducked into another corridor, relieved to find it empty. Flattening herself against the indentation of a doorway, she held her breath as a troop of Haelian warriors rushed past, weapons drawn.

She glanced out into the corridor. All the action seemed to come from the square beyond. Riordan continued down the hall, away from the stairs that belched a continuous stream of warriors into the stairwell.

"Invader in the castle!"

Shouts echoed in the passageways above her. Riordan crouched in another doorway.

I don't have time for this. Are you still there, Nhaille?

A sideways glance around the doorframe showed a lone Haelian soldier scouring the passageway. She hugged the wooden door, pressing herself flat against the rough wood. Footsteps came closer. Her hand tightened on the Sword's cool crystal handle.

He drew even with the doorway. Riordan raised the Sword. Another thought occurred to her and she drew the dagger from her boot instead. Soft footsteps whispered against the tile.

Riordan leapt into the hallway.

He brought his sword up in a last ditch parry. She blocked the blow with the Sword and cut in with the dagger. Blood bubbled up over the soldier's collar. In her mind, the Sword screamed in fury at having been denied.

She bent over the still body, tearing at the black jacket and helm. The soldier moaned once, then was still. Cursing, she wrestled his arms from the jacket. His helmet was an even worse fit than Penden's, but she took it anyway. Stuffing the soldier's arms into her own jacket, she crammed Penden's helmet on his head and fled down the hallway.

At the far end, another flight of stairs led downward. She scurried toward it. A stampede of soldiers rushed by, heading for the lower floors. She hung back, waiting as they passed. Taking up the rear, she followed them. Surely Rau would put extra men around the Amber's vault.

I'm running out of time!

Linking minds with the Sword's cold consciousness, she sent her thoughts outward. Dangerous. Rau would know where she was.

Out of options. Nhaille's favorite turn of phrase echoed in her memory.

Flames licked the inside of her mind.

Close. Far too close. The Amber recognized a Shraal mind, called to its sister sorcery.

An invisible chain of fire led to the Amber's vault. Just as the Sword led her to its hiding place in the crystal caves, the Amber sensed her Shraal mind and called out to her. Riordan closed her eyes, following the flaming highway in her mind.

Down another flight. Turn. Straight. Down again. She opened her eyes to find herself in the shadows of a doorway that led to a hall more fortified than the rest.

Iron hinges secured the doors. Through the stone window frames, she could see the masonry was even thicker than the higher floors. She sighted down the hall. At the far end lay a door with iron hinges.

But barring her passage stood a fence of Haelian soldiers.

Riordan jumped back. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she waited for a battle cry that she'd been seen. Can't just run in there. Or can I? That's what they'd be least expecting. And they certainly wouldn't be expecting a soldier in Haelian uniform to come barreling in swinging the Sword of Zal-Azaar.

Surprise is our ally, as Nhaille would say.

Nhaille, are you all right? Through the Sword, she felt for the pulse of his command over the Amber. But like one voice swallowed by the wind, she could sense nothing beyond the storm of the Master Stone's power.

In that moment she would have gambled her kingdom for the assurance of Nhaille's safety. And he'd kill her for it when he found out.

Damn, that was the worst part of caring for someone. They distracted your attention at the most dangerous of times. Riordan yanked her thoughts back.

None of us will be safe if I don't get moving.

Riordan tucked a strand of silver hair into the loose helmet. No sense in broadcasting her presence. Cautiously, she peered around the corner. It's now or never. Time had chiseled her options down to a single action. She drew in a deep breath and stepped into the hall. Soldiers snapped to attention, then relaxed as they saw what they assumed to be one of their own moving toward them. Riordan straightened to her full height, putting as much authority into her stride as she could muster.

Precious feet of corridor disappeared beneath her feet. She quickened her pace. A few feet more. The leader saluted. Riordan returned the awkward Haelian salute. Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears. Beneath it, she felt the Sword's hunger stir.

"You have orders to report to the command post." A poor excuse, but the best she could do on the spur of the moment.

"On whose orders?" Skeptical eyes bored down at her from beneath his visor.

Riordan reached for the breast pocket of her stolen uniform jacket. "I have them right here."

Faster than the eye could track, her hand flew downward, fastening instead on the Sword's hilt. It sailed into the open air with a clear note of defiance. In the last instant, the soldier spied the deadly blade aimed for his heart. One heartbeat too late. Blood spattered the marble hallway. The Sword drank in his life force with insatiable thirst.

Shock and horror reverberated through her mind as she sent his soul to oblivion. The metallic hiss of swords being drawn snatched her attention away.

She hauled the Sword from the unlucky soldier's chest. His body liquefied. The Sword sucked up his life force like a straw. Steel whistled past her ear. Out of instinct alone, she parried. Blade met crystal. Riordan pulled back sharply and lunged into her next attacker.

He fell toward her, his scream of terror echoing in her ears even as it tumbled through her mind. Another soul sent to the corridors of Al-Gomar, the deepest hell. She whirled, took down another. She swung again. A pair of terrified eyes peered at her above the Sword. He hesitated, just a fraction of a second, but long enough for her to get under his guard. He swung. Riordan countered.

The Sword knocked the blade from his hand. And while he moved to scramble after it, she plunged the tip into his chest.

Blood bubbled up over his lips as he opened his mouth to protest. She yanked the Sword away, not even stopping to watch as the body shimmered and vanished. Another soul sacrificed to the Sword.

Riordan hauled on the iron hinged door. It creaked open. She threw her weight behind it and nearly tumbled into the room.

Diffuse, golden light drew her eyes to the center of the room. Like a giant egg, the Amber sat on its golden perch.

"So," said a voice behind her. "It comes to this."

She whirled, coming face to face with that penetrating sapphire gaze. Holding the Sword before her like a talisman, she stared him down.

"Doan-Rau. I see you made it home safely."

The forced levity took him off guard. He stared back at her, his eyes crazed. His shirt hung in a multitude of creases. His pants fared only marginally better. He hadn't thought to don his armor. Not even his helm. Tendrils of brown hair hung down about his face, the few strands still in his braid spoke of days of neglect.

"A fool you are," he growled back. "To wander in here."

"Give it up, Rau. Kholer is lost. And Kanarek is at your door."

"Are you now?" His smile was not at all pleasant. "Well, what would you say, Your Majesty, if I told you the army you so kindly returned to me is now once again under my command."

"I'd say that was a temporary situation."

Harsh laughter echoed off the walls of the chamber.

"Did you really think you could wander in here and challenge the Master Stone itself?"

She had to admit it wasn't the best of strategies.

"Did you think I wouldn't know it was your henchman, Nhaille at the gate?"

Nhaille. Her heart skipped a beat.

"His feeble mind is no match for my power."

Touch him, Rau and I'll kill you. Kanarek and the war be damned.Rau moved to stroke the Amber's alabaster smooth side. "Wouldn't it be a tragedy if that Power Stone he carried was to slip and pierce his withered old brain."

Riordan inched toward him, Sword ready. Rau's eyes snapped up at the movement. "What is it that you see in him?"

"You really don't understand, do you?"

"Oh, explain it to me, Your Majesty."

She moved closer still. Secure in his power, he made no move to stop her. "How is it that you came of age without any insight to the concepts of loyalty and love?" Then answering her own question, she added, "Perhaps such things don't matter here in Hael."

His eyes hardened. He was dangerous in this mood. She knew it but continued anyway. Anything to keep his attention from Nhaille and what was happening at the gate.

"One cannot rule without compassion, and greed is plainly the only concept you do understand. Did it never occur to you that is why your father denies you his kingdom?"

Fingers curled against the Amber. His eyes flashed in anger. He leapt across the space between them, stopping just short of the Sword's range.

"You think you know it all, don't you, Your Majesty? You with your talk of compassion and loyalty. It was useless concepts like those that led Kanarek to her doom. I had expected something just a little more original from a legend."

Riordan measured the distance between herself and the Amber. Too far to cross in one leap. And there was Rau still to be contended with.

He noted the quick sweep of her eyes and smiled.

"What are you going to do, Your Majesty? Sever my throat with that crystal blade? Or did you merely come to talk?"

She let out her breath in a rush. "You're right, Rau. I am a fool, I keep holding out hope for you."