"Why does everything have to start at dawn?" I asked. "The horses have good night vision."

"That will give the horses a full day to recover. I will be riding with you on Kiki. She is the strongest. And once we reach the plateau, there will be no rest stops until we join the others."

"And then what?" I asked.

"Then we will attack. You are to stay close to me and the other Story Weavers. The Soulstealer will be protected along with the Warpers. Once we break through the outer guards, then the hard part begins."

"Dealing with the Warpers," I said.

He nodded.

"Can't you move the Void again?" Leif asked.

The Void was a hole in the power blanket where no magic existed. The last time the Sandseeds had uncovered a Vermin hideout, it had been protected by a shield of magic that created an illusion. The camp appeared to be occupied by only a few warriors. When the Sandseeds had moved the Void over the Vermin, the illusion was broken. Unfortunately, the encampment held four times the number of soldiers, and we had been vastly outnumbered.

"They are aware of that trick and will be alerted to our presence if we try to move the power blanket," Moon Man said.

"Then how are you going to beat the Warpers?" I asked, worried. If the Vermin had access to magic it would be a difficult battle.

"All the Sandseed Story Weavers will link together and form a strong magical net that will seize them and prevent them from using their magic. We will hold them long enough for you to find the Soulstealer."

Breaking his silence, Marrok asked, "What about Cahil?"

"He helped the Soulstealer escape. He should be punished," Moon Man said.

"The Council wants to talk to him," I said.

"And then they will decide what to do with him," Leif added.

Moon Man shrugged. "He is not a Vermin. I will tell the others not to kill him, but in a large battle it might be hard."

"He's probably with the Daviian leaders," Marrok said.

"Marrok-you and Leif find Cahil and take him north of the fighting and I'll rendezvous with you after the battle."

"Yes, sir," Marrok said.

Leif nodded, but I could see a question in his eyes.

Problem? I asked in his mind.

What if Cahil convinces Marrok not to take him back to the Council? What if they join together and I'm outnumbered?

Good point. I'll ask Moon Man to- Assign one of my warriors to stay with Leif, Moon Man said.

I jerked in surprise. I hadn't felt Moon Man draw power to link with us.

What else can you do? I asked.

I am not telling you. It would destroy my mysterious Story Weaver persona.

The next morning we saddled the horses and made our way south toward the plateau. Even with the weight of two riders, Kiki easily carried us. Stopping only once for a warm dinner and sleep, we reached the border in two days. At sunset on the second day, we stopped to rest the horses at the edge of the plains.

The flat expanse of the plateau stretched to the horizon. A few brown clumps of grass clung to the sunbaked surface. While the plains had a few trees, rolling hills, rocks and sandstone protrusions, the plateau had bristle bushes, coarse sand and a few stunted spine trees.

We had left the cold, cloudy weather behind. The afternoon sun had warmed the land enough for me to take off my cloak, but as the light slipped into the darkness, a cool breeze stirred to life.

Moon Man left to find his scout. Even at this distance from the Vermin camp, it was too risky to make a fire. I shivered as I ate my dinner of hard cheese and stale bread.

Moon Man returned with another Sandseed.

"This is Tauno," Moon Man said. "He will show us the way through the plateau."

I peered at the small man armed with a bow and arrows. Only an inch taller than me, he wore short pants despite the chilly air. His skin had been painted, but in the dim light I couldn't discern the colors.

"We will leave when the moon is a quarter up," Tauno said.

Traveling at night was a good idea, but I wondered what the warriors did during the day. "How do the Sandseeds stay hidden in the plateau?" I asked.

Tauno gestured to his skin. "We blend in. And hide our thoughts behind the Story Weavers' null shield."

I looked at Moon Man.

"A null shield blocks magic," Moon Man explained. "If you were to scan the plateau with your magic, you would not sense any living creature behind the null shield."

"Doesn't using magic to create the shield alert the Vermin?" I asked.

"Not when it is done properly. It was completed before the Story Weavers left the plains."

"What about the Story Weavers behind the shield? Can they use magic?" Leif asked.

"Magic can not penetrate the shield. It does not block our vision or hearing, just protects us from being discovered by magical means."

As we prepared to travel, I thought about what Moon Man had said, and realized that there were many things I still didn't know about magic. Too many. And the thought of learning more with Roze quelled my curiosity.

When the moon had traveled through a quarter of the black sky, Tauno said, "It is time to go."

The muscles along my spine tightened in apprehension as Moon Man settled behind me on Kiki's saddle. What if my lack of magical knowledge caused me to endanger our mission?

No sense worrying about it now. I pulled in a deep breath, steadied my nerves and glanced at my companions. Tauno sat with Marrok on Garnet's back. From the pained expression on Marrok's face, I knew he wasn't happy about sharing his mount with a Sandseed warrior. And to make it worse, Tauno insisted on being in front and holding Garnet's reins.

To stay behind the null shield, our path through the plateau had to be precise. Tauno led us. The soft crunch of the horses' hooves on hard sand was the only sound.

The moon crawled along the sky. At one point I wanted to yell out and urge Kiki into a gallop just to break the tension that pressed around us.

When the blackness in the sky eased in the east, Tauno stopped and dismounted. We ate a quick breakfast and fed the horses. As the day brightened, I saw how well Tauno blended in with the plateau. He had camouflaged himself with the plateau's colors of gray and tan.

"We walk from here," Tauno said. "We will leave the horses. Take only what you need."

The clear sky promised a warm day so I removed my cloak and stowed it in my backpack. Dry air laced with a fine grit blew, scratching at the back of my throat. I decided I needed my switchblade. Strapping the sheath around my right thigh, I removed the weapon and triggered the blade. I treated the tip of the blade with some Curare. The muscle-paralyzing drug would come in handy if Cahil wouldn't cooperate. After I retracted the blade, I positioned the weapon in its holder through a hole in my skirt/pants pocket. I wrapped my long black hair into a bun and used my lock picks to keep the hair in place. Finally, I grabbed my bow.

Dressed for battle, though, didn't mean I was prepared for battle. I hoped I would be able to find Cahil and Ferde and take them without killing anyone. But the grim knowledge that I would kill to save myself formed a knot in my throat.

Tauno scanned our clothes and weapons. Leif's machete hung from his waist. He wore a green tunic and pants. Marrok had strapped his sword onto his belt. The dark brown scabbard matched his pants. I realized that we had all dressed in the colors of the earth, and, while we didn't blend in as well as Tauno, we wouldn't stand out either.

We tied our packs and supplies onto the horses' saddles, then left the horses to graze on what little grass they could find, and walked south. The plateau appeared deserted. The need to search the area with magic crept along my skin, and I tried to ignore the desire. Connecting with the life around me had become almost instinctive and I felt exposed and out of sorts by not knowing what breathed nearby.

Taking a circuitous path, Tauno eventually stopped. He pointed to a cluster of spine trees. "Just beyond that copse is the camp," he whispered.

I searched the plateau. Where was the Sandseed army? The earth undulated as if the sand had liquefied. The waves on the ground grew. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle a cry of surprise. Row upon row of Sandseed warriors stood. Camouflaged to match the sand, they had been lying on the ground in front of us and I hadn't noticed them.

Moon Man smiled his amusement at my dismay. "You have been relying on your magical senses and have forgotten about your physical senses."

Before I could respond, we were joined by four Sandseeds. Though they dressed the same as the warriors, these Sandseeds held themselves with authority. They issued orders and power radiated from them. Story Weavers.

A male Story Weaver handed Moon Man a scimitar. His sharp gaze pierced me as he studied my features. "This is the Soulfinder?" Doubt laced his words, but he spoke softly. "She is not what I expected."

"What did you expect?" I asked.

"A large dark-skinned woman. You look like you could not survive a sandstorm let alone find and release a soul."

"It's a good thing you're not my Story Weaver. You're easily distracted by the pattern of the cloth and can't see the quality of the threads."

"Well done," Moon Man said to me. "Reed, show us the camp."

The Story Weaver led us to the trees. Through the spiky needles on the branches, I saw the Daviian camp.

The air shimmered around the camp as if a bubble of heat had gotten trapped near the ground. A large cook fire burned in the central area. Many people scurried about either helping with breakfast or eating it. Tents fanned from the area, extending out until they reached the edge of the plateau.

Squinting in the sunlight, I looked beyond the encampment's border. Just the tops of the trees in the Illiais Jungle were visible. They reminded me of a time when I had stood on a platform built near the peak of the tallest tree in the jungle and had seen the flat expanse of the plateau for the first time. The sheer rock drop-off into the jungle had appeared to be an impossible climb. So why set up camp there? I wondered.

Moon Man leaned next to me. "The camp is an illusion."

"Do you have enough warriors to attack?" I asked, thinking the illusion hid many more Vermin.

"Every one."

"All-" The Sandseeds yelled a battle cry and dashed toward the camp.

Moon Man grabbed my arm, pulling me with him. "Stay with me."

With Leif and Marrok right behind us, we followed the Sandseeds. When the first warriors crossed into the illusion, they disappeared from sight for a moment. The sound of rushing water reached my ears as the chimera dissipated.

I blinked a few times to adjust my vision to what the Daviians had concealed. The central fire remained the same. But instead of many Vermin around the flames, there stood only one man. The rest of the camp was empty.

4.

WHEN THE ILLUSION disappeared, so did the expanse of tents and all the Daviians. The lone man standing by the fire collapsed before the Sandseed warriors could reach him.

Evidence that a large army had camped here was imprinted on the ground. Although, by the time the Sandseed leaders restored order to the milling warriors, many of the Daviian tracks had been ruined.

And the only witness had taken poison.

"One of their Warpers," Moon Man said, nudging the corpse with his bare foot. "He held the illusion and killed himself once it broke."

"If you can clear the area, I might be able to tell you where they've gone," Marrok said.

The Sandseed warriors returned to the copse of spine trees. Moon Man and I stayed by the fire as Marrok and Leif circled the camp. Marrok looked for physical evidence while Leif used his magic to smell the intentions of the Daviians.

I projected my mental awareness as far as I could. If I sought a specific person, then I could reach them from far away, but with a general search my magic could only extend about ten miles. I reached no one in the plateau, and the bounty of life in the jungle was too overwhelming to sort out.

When they had finished their circuit, Marrok and Leif returned. Their glum expressions reflected bad news.

"They've been gone for days. The majority of the tracks head east and west," Marrok reported. "But I found some metal spikes with rope fibers in the ground near the edge of the plateau. A few Vermin could have climbed down into the jungle."

I touched Leif's arm. "The Zaltanas?"

"If the Vermin can even find our homestead among the trees, they're still well protected," he said.

"Even from one of the Warpers?" I asked.

Leif blanched.

"Are the ropes still there?" I asked Marrok.

"No. The others must have waited and either cut the rope or taken it along with them," Marrok said.

"Do you know how many went down?" Moon Man asked.

"No."

Leif said, "There were so many scents and emotions mixed together. The need for stealth and urgency predominated. They moved with a purpose and felt confident. The eastern group, though, had the most men and they..." Leif closed his eyes and sniffed the breeze. "I don't know. I need to follow their trail for a while."

Marrok led Leif to the eastern tracks. I asked Kiki and the other horses to come to us. While waiting for them, Moon Man and the other Story Weavers split the warriors into two groups, and sent two scouts, one to the west and the other to the east.

But what about those that went down the rope to the jungle? What about Cahil and Ferde? Were they even with the Daviians? And, if so, which way had they gone?

When the horses arrived, I grabbed my pack off Kiki's saddle. Opening it, I pulled my rope out and headed for the rim of the plateau. I found one of the metal spikes Marrok had mentioned and tied the end of the rope to it. On my belly, I inched closer to the edge until I could see down into the jungle.

The sides of the cliff appeared to be smooth, with no hand-holds in sight. I tossed the rope over, but knew it wouldn't reach the bottom far below. The end stopped a quarter of the way down. Even with a longer rope, the climb looked dangerous. Water sprayed out of fissures in the rock face about halfway down. The stones below glistened.

I considered the descent. A desperate person might attempt it, but Leif's assessment of the Vermin hadn't included desperation.