"You've lost your ship, I see," said the owl. "And it is yours, you know, regardless of the paperwork back in Etherhorde."

Thasha stared at it a moment. "I'm not imagining you, you," she said, and raised her arms.

The owl dived straight at her, and Thasha did not flinch. Right before her face it suddenly fanned its wings dramatically, came to a near halt, and fell into her arms: a black mink.

A cry from deep in her chest escaped her, and she lifted the creature and hid her face in its fur. "Ramachni. Ramachni. Aya Rin Aya Rin, it's been so long."

"Oh dearest, that is such a charmingly human way to reckon time. I was just thinking that this has been the shortest night's sleep I could remember. But an eventful night, to be sure. Come, dry your eyes. There will be time for tears, and much else, when the fight is done."

"Don't leave us again!"

The mage sat back in her hands. His fixed his immense black eyes on her, and there was a thousand times the depth and mystery in them as in the forest, and yet they were, as they ever had been, kind.

"You and I cannot be parted," he said. "Even if we leave the world of the living behind-minutes from now, or years-we shall do so together. Now walk, Thasha. Or better still, run, if your wounds will bear it. Many are suffering for your sake."

His words were like a jolt out of a dream. She ran, with the mage in her arms, beneath the firefly-lit path, and in another five minutes she came to a small rise, above which the fireflies danced in a net of brilliance. Atop the rise, seated among seash.e.l.l-like fungi, were some half a dozen of their party. She dashed among them, heart in her mouth. Ibjen. Neda. Bolutu. Big Skip. Lunja. And Neeps.

"Thasha!" he cried, jumping up to embrace her.

"But where-where are-"

Neeps pointed down the far side of the hill. There were two other firefly-paths snaking off into the forest. One of them was shrinking toward them, and upon it they could see the older Turach, Dastu and Cayer Vispek, running with one hand folded to his chest. When he saw Neda on the hillside Vispek did something Thasha never would have believed of him: he sobbed. Hiding the reaction almost at once, he held out his arm, and Myett leaped to the ground. The humans and the ixchel gazed with wonder at Ramachni.

"The weasel-mage," gasped the Turach. "By the Blessed Tree, I thought Arunis had finished you off."

"Not yet," said Ramachni, baring his teeth.

"Hercol spoke of you," said Cayer Vispek, "a woken mink with the powers of a wizard. I did not believe him, but now-"

"I am a mink only in this world, Cayer," said Ramachni, "and even here I can take other forms, now and then. I know you believe that that that can be done-you who crossed the Nelluroq as whales." can be done-you who crossed the Nelluroq as whales."

"And died as humans, some of us," said Vispek. "Jalantri fell to the leeches, Neda Ygrael. He was gone before the water came."

Now it was Neda's turn to fight back tears. Thasha reached to console her, but Neeps caught her arm, gently shaking his head. The two of them descended the hill, toward the last remaining path of fireflies. At first glance it appeared quite empty. Wordlessly, they started to run along its course, back into the forest. They could see where the light ended, just beyond that next tree, and then- Hercol and Pazel, limping arm in arm, rounded the tree, and clinging to Hercol's shoulder was Ensyl. Seeing Neeps and Thasha, the ixchel woman pointed and cried out with joy. They rushed together, and Thasha for one made no attempt to hide her tears.

When she told them that Ramachni had come at last, Thasha thought her friends were close to tears themselves. "He'll be stronger than ever," said Pazel. "He said he would be, when he came back."

"The rest of us aren't so lucky, though," said Neeps. "Lunja is still alive, but the other dlomic soldiers are gone, and so's the younger Turach. And Alyash too, I suppose."

"I'm not sorry for that," said Pazel.

"Be sorry for the day he was truly lost," said Hercol, "though it was decades before your birth, and perhaps not so long after his own."

"Lost to evil, you mean," said Pazel. "I understand. I saw into his master's mind, Ott's mind, you know." He stopped a moment, his voice suddenly tight. "I understand, but I can't forgive. Is that wrong of me, Hercol?"

"You are wrong only in being certain of what you can and cannot do," said the swordsman. "For now clear your minds, of rage and fear alike. Our work is not done. And here is one tool that remains to help us do it." He touched the leather band across his shoulder. Ildraquin was still strapped to his back.

"Cayer Vispek kept his sword as well," said Neeps, "and Neda still has her dagger. That's all the weaponry left to us."

"Then be glad I made you train with staves," said Hercol, "and find some, quickly. Put Big Skip on the task; he is a fine judge of anything resembling a club."

It was then that they noticed the moaning sound overhead. It was the wind: something they had not heard once in the Infernal Forest.

"That change came quickly," said Ensyl.

"Yes," said Hercol, "suspiciously so."

The wind picked up speed. Leaning into it, they hurried back to the glowing hill. Even before they arrived Thasha could see what was happening: the fireflies were being carried off, dispersed, and the great darkness of the forest was returning.

But atop the hill Ramachni stood straight and calm, and the fireflies about him danced on unperturbed. As Thasha and the others drew near they stepped abruptly into quiet, windless air, as though they had pa.s.sed through the wall of an inverted fish-bowl, with Ramachni at the center. But it was a tiny s.p.a.ce in the darkness. Once again Thasha felt as though she were standing on the floor of the sea.

Hercol knelt down before Ramachni. "Beloved friend," he said. "Now I know that what I professed to others is the very truth: that despair alone brings ruin. Even with the Nilstone in hand, Arunis could not prevent your return."

"On the contrary," said Ramachni, "I was able to return only because because he had the Nilstone in hand-or rather because his idiot does. They are delving very deep into the River of Shadows, calling out to the Swarm, the force that would end all life on Alifros. But when you open a window you cannot always be sure who or what may blow through it. I was waiting outside that window. Arunis was not happy to see me." he had the Nilstone in hand-or rather because his idiot does. They are delving very deep into the River of Shadows, calling out to the Swarm, the force that would end all life on Alifros. But when you open a window you cannot always be sure who or what may blow through it. I was waiting outside that window. Arunis was not happy to see me."

Big Skip, as it turned out, was already on the club-seeking task. He, Bolutu and Ibjen had scoured the area and managed to gather a number of heavy limbs. Soon everyone who lacked another weapon had a solid piece of wood in their hands.

"Arunis is experimenting now," said Ramachni, "but we are not too late. Remember that no matter what fell powers he has gained, his body is still that of a man. He will try to stop us from closing on him. But close we shall, and strike we shall, or die together in the attempt."

Pazel walked to the edge of the sphere of becalmed air. He stretched out his hand until he felt the raging wind. "It's still growing," he called over his shoulder.

"My own strength has increased as well," said Ramachni. "There is nothing left but to test it. You have one march left ahead of you, travelers, but at least it will not be in the dark. Thasha, my champion, carry me; we must have words as we go."

The survivors started down the hill, in the direction Ramachni indicated, and the globe of still air with its mult.i.tude of fireflies moved with it. Thasha walked in the lead, but off to one side, and the others kept their distance, knowing that words words meant meant words in private words in private. She tried to catch Pazel's eye, but only caught him wincing as he raised his wounded leg.

"Arunis knew just where to take the Stone," said Ramachni. "For many miles the River of Shadows flows under the skin of Alifros: first beneath the lake you crossed, then deep under the Ansyndra, one stream hidden by another. Only here in this forest does it churn to the surface. And it was at that very point that the Auru, the first fair tenders of life in this world, raised a watchtower after the Dawn War, lest evil things return to Alifros. It is only a ruin now, for evil did return, and triumphed for a time, and nearly all the great towers fell. But their ruins still mark the places where the River of Shadows touches Alifros. Much of the strangeness of this world has trickled in through such gaps. The spores that grew into the Infernal Forest are but one example."

"And the Nilstone entered the same way, didn't it?"

"Yes, dearest," said Ramachni.

Thasha smiled. "I think you must be desperate," she said. "That was a straight answer, by Rin."

"Wicked girl," said Ramachni, pleased.

"Are you going to give me any more?" asked Thasha.

"It is not out of the question," said the mage, "but we are on the cusp of battle, and must speak of what may keep us alive. There is power in you, Thasha Isiq: we both know this. And Arunis knows it, too, and fears it."

"But it isn't mine, is it?"

"Of course it is yours. Who else's?"

"Erithusme's," said Thasha. "What are you pretending for, Ramachni? I don't know if she's my mother or something else to me entirely. But she's trying to use me, get into my head. Just like Arunis does to others, except that she would use me to do good. Although she's never managed to do much good in the past, as far as I can tell."

Thasha knew how bitter she sounded. They marched on through the dripping forest, and for a time Ramachni made no answer. Deny it, deny it! Deny it, deny it! Thasha wanted to scream. Thasha wanted to scream.

But all Ramachni said was, "It is you he fears most, ever since he first understood whom he faced, in that chamber on Dhola's Rib. Your power, your magic, far more than my own."

"What are you talking about?" cried Thasha, no longer caring who heard them. "I hardly know a thing about magic, and everything I do know I learned from you."

"No, Thasha. Everything I know, I learned from you."

She stared at him, appalled.

"Erithusme is not your mother," said Ramachni, "and she is not trying to possess you, to force her way inside. For she has never been elsewhere, since your birth-since your conception. Thasha dearest, you are Erithusme. I have no time to explain, but know this: you can draw on her power if you want it if you want it. Only if. No one can force you to do so, no one can demand it of you. Do you understand?"

"No I don't! What in the Nine Pits are you saying? I'm not Erithusme, I'm Thasha Isiq!"

"Yes," said Ramachni quietly, "for as long as you wish to be."

"What did he say to her?" whispered Neeps as he helped Pazel limp along. "Look at her, she's crying."

Pazel did not look; he was afraid his own face would be too revealing. What was wrong with Ramachni? Why would he shock her now now? He felt furious at the mage, though a part of him knew there must be a reason. There were always mucking reasons. Vital, and cruel.

"Your leg's worse, eh?" said Neeps.

"Doesn't matter," said Pazel. "Don't say anything about it."

Suddenly Lunja raised her hand. "Listen!" she said.

A sound was reverberating through the forest: a huge, m.u.f.fled thump...thump thump...thump. "A heartbeat," said Ibjen. The sound rose very quickly, until the giant trees themselves seemed to shake with it, and the more delicate mushrooms trembled with each thump thump.

"We are nearly there," shouted Ramachni above the din. "Fear nothing. You are stronger than you know, and Arunis has achieved too much by terror already."

"That he has," said Hercol. "Lead on, Ramachni. We will give him no more easy victories."

On they went, but not three minutes had pa.s.sed when Pazel realized that Neeps had begun to sob.

"Mate? What's happened, what's wrong?"

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d," spat Neeps. "He's doing this to me."

"Doing what?"

Neeps drew a hand over his eyes. "Showing me Marila," he said. "Captured, hurt...hurt by men."

"It's a lie," said Pazel, gripping him tightly by the arms. "Keep your eyes open. Look at us, look at the trees, anything but what he shows you."

"I'm trying, d.a.m.n it!"

Pazel was about to say more, but then, without a moment's warning, he learned how hard it was to take his own advice. A picture sprang open in his mind, like a child's pop-up storybook, but utterly real. He saw Arunis cowering, and Thasha taking the Nilstone from his weakened hand-and death consuming her like some ghastly, wildfire mold...

Enraged, he looked at his companions. All save Ramachni were clearly suffering, their faces twisted with anguish and fear. Between the pulses of the unseen heart, Pazel heard Cayer Vispek and his sister, fighting in Mzithrini. Neda sounded almost out of her mind. "She will use it to destroy us, destroy the Pentarchy, to finish her father's wars! I see Babqri burning, Cayer! I see our people thrown alive onto bonfires!"

"You see what he shows you, not what is is. They are not our enemies, Neda Ygrael. We are none of us the people we were-"

"But the girl! She is not what she pretends to be! She has hidden her face from us all along! So many times we've been lied to, deceived-"

Letting go of Neeps, Pazel rushed forward and grabbed Neda by the elbow. She whirled, raising her fist. Perhaps in that moment she would have struck at any face but his.

"Trust me," he begged. "Thasha won't do anything like that. I promise."

Neda looked at him, torn by fury and pain. "One Arquali defends the other," she said.

Pazel was furious in turn. Not that again Not that again. He wanted to spit half a dozen retorts in her face, and was struggling against them all, when Bolutu cried, "There, look there! Do you see it?"

Ahead of them, far above the fireflies, a light was shining down. It was the moon, the old yellow moon, and around it Pazel saw a few faint stars. "A rip!" said Lunja. "A hole in the tree-cover!" And so it was: a jagged triangular gap, all the way to the open sky. As they stepped nearer, Pazel saw that something truly monstrous stood in that gap, pointing upward like a great jagged stump.

The moonlight flooded the land below. After so much darkness it felt almost like emerging into sunshine. There was the river, the mighty Ansyndra, sweeping through a glittering curve. There were broad, gra.s.sy banks where no mushrooms grew. And on both sides of the river, and even within it, lay gargantuan carved stones. They were bricks, Pazel saw with astonishment: stone bricks the size of houses, gra.s.s and turf sprouting atop them, scattered like a child's building-blocks across the land.

Now Pazel could see the thing piercing the tree-cover. It was what they had taken for a hill, when they looked out across the forest from the crater's rim. But it was the remains of a circular tower, huge beyond reason, the curve so gradual that at first he took it for a flat wall. Very little of it remained: just a shattered ring of cut stones that had formed its base. For most of the circ.u.mference the ring was but sixty or seventy feet tall. But on one side it still rose to dizzying heights, cutting through all four layers of the trees, and rising above the topmost by several hundred feet. The tower projected somewhat into the Ansyndra, so that the current broke and quickened around the wall. And there was, Pazel saw now, one more feature that had survived: a great stone staircase, dead ahead, leading up to a flat surface that must once have been a landing by the tower door.

At the top of those stairs stood Arunis and his madman.

Their backs were turned; they were facing the river. The idiot was hunched, knees slightly bent, arms crossed over his chest. Arunis stood with one hand clenched upon the idiot's scalp.

Ramachni glanced left and right at the fireflies. Silent as mist, they drifted away, and the wind wrapped around them again: deliciously, then worryingly, cool.

Suddenly Arunis bellowed, shaking the idiot with great violence. "It is there there, animal! Call to it, call to it now!"

The heartbeat grew louder, faster. The idiot convulsed, like one in pain-and suddenly the river rose, churning, frothing around the base of the tower. Waves crashed against the ruin and the banks, and a dark hole opened in the river's surface. Then, just as suddenly, the water fell back into its normal course. Arunis struck the idiot on the head.

Ramachni's gaze was fixed on the sorcerer. His dark eyes gleamed in the moonlight, and his white fangs showed. "Put me down, Thasha," he said. She obeyed, and Pazel knew they could all feel it, the power compressed in that tiny form. Ramachni tossed his head about, slowly, like a much larger creature, and those nearest him stepped sideways, making room.

Pazel did not know what Ramachni was up to: something deadly, he hoped. He looked down at the branch Big Skip had provided: solid, but crooked and awkwardly long. A stick A stick, he thought. After all this, I'm going to rush Arunis with a stick After all this, I'm going to rush Arunis with a stick.

"Fight now, as never before!" cried Ramachni suddenly. Then he leaped into the air, and something about him changed, and he did not fall to earth again but ran above it, and about him Pazel saw a ghost-body forming. It was a monstrous bear, thundering through the gra.s.s and scattered trees, and before he knew it he and all the others were racing after him, their foes cornered at last.

The bear grew more solid and heavy as they ran, but Ramachni's tiny form was still visible within it, running and leaping with the same motions as the huge animal that surrounded him. Pazel lost ground, as he knew he would. He could try to ignore the pain in his leg, but that did not make it work any better.

As soon as Ramachni bounded onto the stone staircase, Arunis whirled. He seized the idiot by the back of the neck. "Slay them!" he howled. "Kill them all!"

The idiot turned, looking at them blankly-and there it was, cradled against his chest: the black sphere of the Nilstone. All at once he screamed like a furious infant, and four tall, gaunt creatures rose out of the stone before him and flew down the stairs. They were vaguely human, with great mats of wiry hair and the fangs of jungle cats. But in a moment of sickening insight Pazel saw that their faces were identical: all four had the face of one of the birdwatchers in the Conservatory, the one who had objected the loudest when Arunis claimed the idiot for his own.

Ramachni met the creatures on the stair. He cuffed the first off the side with one blow of his paw, and bore down on the second with his teeth, savaging it, and left its corpse where it fell. Hercol, Thasha and Cayer Vispek were on the stairs already, and leaped to attack the other creatures before they could spring. But above, Arunis was goading the idiot to renew the attack, beating him about the head and screaming, "More, much more! Kill them instantly!"

The idiot bent nearly double, and his back heaved like a retching dog's. Once, twice-and then he vomited, and went on vomiting, an impossible flood of slick black oil. It raced down the staircase toward Ramachni, and just as it reached him, the whole sheet burst into flame.

Ramachni shouted a word of command. The flames died instantly, and the oil thinned to water and drained off the sides. Now the whole party was on the stairs. Hercol and Cayer Vispek had caught up with Ramachni, and the three of them were within twenty steps of the sorcerer and the fool. Then the idiot, his head c.o.c.ked to one side, began waving his hand spasmodically before him.

This time three creatures appeared and flew to the attack. They were very different from the hags he had summoned before. These were creatures of mud and fire, but they were also mirror images of the attackers. There was a blazing bear for Ramachni, a mud-fire Hercol and a mud-fire Vispek. The clash was terrible. Pazel could not see clearly what happened to Hercol and Vispek, but Ramachni's huge foe caught him squarely, and the two bears rolled like a snarling, blazing boulder down the staircase, felling several of the party as they went. Pazel felt the rush of wind as they rolled past him. Lifting his head, he found the stair above him empty all the way to Arunis. With a feeling like he'd once had as a child, reaching for a pan on the stove that happened to be glowing an alluring red, he ran straight up the broken stones.

The idiot kept waving and moaning, and suddenly Pazel saw the creature's arm lengthen obscenely, and then the giant hairy hand with its scabs and black bitten thumbnail caught him cleanly, and more angry than frightened (of course this had happened, of course!) he was scooped from the staircase, hurled over the moonlit gra.s.s and stones-and plunged headfirst into the river.

Thasha had stopped to help Cayer Vispek fight his double. It grappled with him, strangling, howling in Vispek's own voice, and it barely seemed to feel her club. But when she landed a sound blow she felt its arm buckle slightly, and then Vispek, wriggling free, cried out in rage and slashed it to pieces with his sword. Thasha pulled him to his feet. Vispek, shocked, pointed past her. She whirled-and saw Pazel strike the river's surface, forty feet from sh.o.r.e.

G.o.ds! Was he even conscious, after a fall like that? Thasha broke for the river. There was his hand, thank the Blessed Tree, but the river was violent, he was sucked under again, it would be the hardest swim of her life to reach him.