The gypsy laid her palm over Bloodroot's disk once more and closed her eyes. Raina actually sensed the piece of Rosana's spirit being torn from her. The gypsy moaned in pain and shuddered, but did not lift her hand away from Will and the wooden disk.

Raina thought she spied a faint, green aura about Will and Rosana for a moment, hovering at the very edge of her vision. But then it disappeared.

Will's entire body shuddered much as Rosana's had, and he took a great, heaving breath as life returned to him. Rosana collapsed on his chest, whether of exhaustion or relief Raina could not tell. Will's arms went around the gypsy.

"What happened?" he croaked.

Eben answered, "We lost you there, for a minute. But Rosana made some sort of deal with Bloodroot and he saved you."

"Ahh, no," Will groaned.

"What just happened?" Raina demanded of the gypsy. "What did Bloodroot take from you?"

Rosana lifted her head and helped Will sit up before answering, "I'm not sure. It felt like a piece of me I did not even know was there got taken and passed through Bloodroot to Will."

Will nodded, frowning. "It feels as if the three of us-Rosana, Bloodroot, and I-are ... linked ... somehow."

Rosana nodded. "Yes, we share this thing, together."

Will and Rosana exchanged smiles. Secret, lovers' smiles. Raina looked away, the pain in her own heart too great to bear. She was never going to have that. Could never have the family she'd always wanted.

She set aside her grief to ask Will, "How do you feel?"

He took inventory and answered, "About like before. But not dead. And yet, something is different. It is as if Bloodroot rests more easily within me."

She did not like the sound of that. Had Bloodroot found a way to take firmer control of Will? She dreaded learning what the tree spirit had in store for him next. "Shall we be on our way before you keel over again, Will?"

They assumed a marching order with Will in the lead. Their working theory was that the Boki outside would not kill him on sight. But they might take one of the others' heads off before they realized the entire party was coming out of the tunnel.

As they approached the faint light of the exit Cicero muttered from ahead of Raina, "Only the Lady knows what we shall face outside this hellhole, but it cannot possibly be any worse than in here."

CHAPTER.

32.

Cicero was wrong. Will pulled up short in the tunnel entrance. Dawn was just breaking through the treetops, and the carnage around the tunnel entrance was unbelievable. Bodies lay, literally, in piles in and around the scrambled boulders lining the vale, and fighting continued on top of the corpses. Humans and orcs and rakasha sprawled together, racism forgotten in death.

A pair of figures rose up from behind the nearest boulder, ghost-like in the gray half-light. Will whipped his weapon up, as did Cicero and Eben at this new threat. He looked down the length of his staff and was stunned to recognize the face at the other end.

"Guildmaster Aurelius?" he asked in disbelief.

"Did you succeed? Did you find him? Is he awake?" the solinari bit out under his breath.

"Partially. We spoke with his spirit and know what we must do next to wake his physical form and free his spirit."

The two elves' faces lit in triumph.

Will reported, "I have closed the way to the king. Even if the governor enters the cave and vanquishes its defenses, he will not find the king."

Aurelius and Selea looked relieved at that news.

"How goes the battle out here?" Cicero asked.

Selea answered, "The Boki will gain the upper hand now that they do not have to throw all their best warriors at defending this vale. But it will be slow and bloody work."

"Landsgrave Hyland? Did he resurrect?" Eben asked quickly.

The nulvari answered dryly, "Strangely enough, his men have not engaged in combat near the governor for some time. I could not tell you if he leads his men once more or not."

Cicero snorted from behind Will, who shared the sentiment.

Eben spoke urgently. "We must find him. We have news. Kendrick has been taken. Kidnapped and likely killed by a madman."

Aurelius asked sharply, "What madman?"

Will replied, "The apprentice to the Hunter in Green."

"How know you that?" Sha'Li demanded sharply.

"Bloodroot told me. He offered to help us find this apprentice guy and Kendrick if I kept his spirit within me."

"A spirit resides within you?" Aurelius blurted in alarm.

They had no more time to talk, though, for Selea bit out low and hard, "Get down."

Everyone obeyed with alacrity, and Will spied a small rakasha force creeping silently across the far side of the vale. They moved like rogues. Or assassins.

"Where do they go, sneaking about like that?" Aurelius whispered.

"Shall we find out?" Selea replied under his breath.

The two elves moved out, and without bidding, the rest of the party followed. The rakasha pack was small, only three strong, two males and a female. White tiger changelings, which marked them as Clan Kithmar. The trio paused at the top of the far ridge, scouting ahead, and then moved off through the trees.

"I know them," Selea breathed. "They're slavers. Scum of the worst sort. Female's called Mara. The big male is Gorath, and I don't know which brother the third one is."

Will moved up beside the two elves as they paused in the same spot the rakasha had recently vacated. Dead bodies littered the grove before them. He whispered to the nulvari, "Do you see where the cats went?"

"That way." The nulvari pointed off to the left through the trees.

"But the fighting sounds to be off in that direction," Will questioned, pointing to the right.

"Nonetheless, the Kithmar move away from the battle."

"Why would they avoid the fight?"

"I have no idea," Selea murmured. "Let us follow them and see what we can learn."

Whether Selea actually tracked the Kithmar or guessed at their path Will could not tell. But the dark elf moved unbelievably quickly through the woods, forcing the others to nearly run to keep up with his swift strides. That was, until the elf screeched to a halt and Will plowed into the nulvari's back. Selea threw Will an irritated glance, but made no other sound. The assassin sank slowly toward the ground, and Will mimicked the movement, as did the others.

When they were all crouching next to a heavy stand of brush, Selea breathed, "The Kithmar search for Anton."

Why? Raina mouthed.

"How can you tell?" Will asked at the same time.

The nulvari chose to answer neither question but merely continued, "The governor has broken away from his troops and moves stealthily, with only a few guards, through the forest."

"Does he seek the treasure horde he believes the Boki have out here?"

Selea frowned. "If so, why would he move away from the vale the Boki led him to?"

"Where it is hidden," Will added.

"Either way," the nulvari replied, "I am curious to know what our esteemed lord governor is up to, skulking about in the woods like this."

"As am I," Aurelius growled.

Personally, Will had no desire to tangle with the governor. In fact, his impulse was to run away from Anton as fast and far as he could go. But both Eben and Raina seemed interested in tagging along with the elves. Will supposed the party stood a better chance of surviving this day and the battle raging around them with the two powerful elves than without them. Rosana threw him a doubtful look but shrugged.

"Come," Selea ordered. "Everyone stay low and move as quietly as you can."

Will's mouth twitched toward a smile at the subtle derision Selea laced into that last remark. The party sounded like a herd of thundering oxen to him, too, these days. This must be how the forest heard the passage of humans through its green corridors.

Cicero whispered, "Where are the Kithmar, now?"

"They've split up as if perhaps they lost the scent of their prey," Selea answered.

Scent, huh? If that was how rakasha tracked prey, how did the nulvari do it?

Sha'Li was staring at the ground just ahead of them. "Is that a countertrack sign, just there?" she asked no one in particular.

Selea looked where she pointed and responded, "The Kithmar are not erasing their tracks."

Aurelius added, "But Anton likely would have someone erasing his tracks if he's up to something sneaky."

Sha'Li had already slithered forward on her belly to the other side of the stand of underbrush. Will gathered she was following the trail of the countertracker's marks. After one last glance around the dim forest, Selea stood and strode forward to join the lizardman girl. They conferred in whispers and then, as a pair, moved forward quickly. Will had no idea what sign they followed, but both of them moved confidently now.

What could the governor be up to in the Forest of Thorns, breaking away from his army secretly like this? Apparently, they were about to find out, for Selea held up a fist abruptly to signal a stop as Sha'Li froze without warning ahead of them. She looked like a hunting predator who had just spotted its future dinner. The charged stillness of explosive violence clung to her.

For his part, Selea turned to ice. Cold concentration poured off his back like fog rising from an icy lake. Slowly, slowly, Selea eased forward. Cicero followed suit, step by cautious step. Will mimicked the elves' achingly slow progress with care for utter silence. It seemed to take an hour, but in a minute or two he knelt behind a fallen log no more than a stone's throw from Anton Constantine himself.

The governor was having quiet speech with a Boki!

Will eased up to peer over the log and all but fell over when he got a good look at the orc. There was a long, vertical scar over the Boki's right eye. Ki'Raiden. What on Urth was that particular Boki thane doing meeting clandestinely with Anton like this?

And then Will spied the sword hanging from the thane's hip. The curved, milky white blade gleamed as if lit from within. Dragon's Tooth. Will's father's sword! Grief and fury ripped through Will and he coiled to spring at the whoreson who'd killed his father and stolen his sword.

Eben and Cicero literally had to lie on top of Will to keep him from attacking. The silent struggle went on until Rosana managed to breathe in his ear, "We will all die if you give away our position. Do you want me to die?"

It was an underhanded tactic, using his feelings for her against him, but he subsided reluctantly. One day he would kill Ki'Raiden. He would get back his father's sword and he would avenge Ty's and Serica's deaths. Just not this day.

Finished fighting? Cicero mouthed at him.

He nodded, and the elf and Eben rolled off of him cautiously.

Fury still bubbling in his gut, he turned his head slightly to hear the murmured conversation better. It lay right at the edge of his hearing, but he managed to tune out the random forest sounds and was able to make out most of the discussion.

Anton was speaking. "... give me Tiberius's sword."

"No," the Boki grunted. "Dis foh' my fathuh.'" Anton opened his mouth to respond but Ki' Raiden cut him off. "No ahh'gue. Mine."

Anton huffed. "Have you at least got the sanguine fruits?"

"Uhh-huh. You gah' maps?" Ki'Raiden grunted in reply.

What was this? The governor was doing some sort of trade with the Boki? To what possible end? Aurelius and Selea looked thunderstruck.

Will and the others watched as the Boki pulled out a small skin, unwrapped it to reveal a handful of bloodred fruits about the size of plums. The orc handled them carefully, using the skin to prevent his flesh from ever touching the fruits. He rewrapped the fruits and handed the whole thing over to Anton.

In return, Anton pulled a rolled parchment out of his vest. It looked to be several sheets of vellum rolled tightly together and held by a ribbon.

"All heah?" Ki' Raiden demanded.

"Yes, yes. The defenses of Talyn are all there. Both outlying lands and the keep's protections. You know what to do, right?"

Ki'Raiden grinned, flashing tusks and teeth. "Uhh-huh."

Selea edged backward on his belly, and everyone in the party followed suit carefully until they were well away from Anton and Ki'Raiden. They waited tensely where they were as Anton and the Boki parted ways and disappeared toward their respective forces.

"Now what?" Will whispered.

Selea answered, "My old friend and I have to rejoin the governor's forces and see if we can prevent a wholesale slaughter out here. If we can turn this fight around, we might just be able to dissuade the Boki from retaliating for this ill-advised attack with an invasion of the settled lands like they did the last time Anton sashayed out here to engage them."

Will had not finished absorbing that shockingly blunt observation before the two elder elves had disappeared into the trees. And just like that, he and his companions were alone once more. Silence settled around them and the members of the party traded looks of exhaustion and relief. They'd done it.

Rosana repeated Will's question. "Now what?"