"But Andovar will not be among them," Rhiannon put in.

"Are you so sure?" Benador asked softly but firmly, moving to her side. He put a comforting arm on her shoulder. "Perhaps you are wrong," he offered. "Might it be that Belexus and Andovar fought beside the river and Andovar was only wounded? Even now he might be in the care of your mother, back in Avalon."

Rhiannon shook her head helplessly. "The rangers will return," she whispered. "But with them they're sure to bring the tidings I've already given ye."

"Then it will be a sad day in Calva," said Benador.

Rhiannon looked out the open tent flap to the Calvan camp, already astir in morning duties, already beginning their daily preparations for battle.

"One of many," the young witch a.s.sured him.

Rhiannon spent the better part of that morning in tormented solitude, wandering through the empty streets of Rivertown. Beyond her grief for Andovar, disturbing questions of her responsibilities haunted and nagged at her. No longer could she deny who she was and what her power meant to her allies in the war that the Black Warlock had thrust upon them.

She took comfort in memories of her healing; a hundred men would have died without her aid. But how many more, Rhiannon had to wonder, would have been spared, and would be spared in the coming days, if she fought openly to drive the darkness back from the Calvan fields?

Again Rhiannon found herself down by the riverbank, staring across to the vast talon encampment. She thought of her first view of the region, before the darkness had fallen over the land, with Andovar telling her of all the strange names and legends. She remembered the tingling antic.i.p.ation she and her friends had felt on their way to holiday in Corning.

And then had come the war. And now Andovar, her dear Andovar, was no more.

Rhiannon had never known such a loss before, had never felt so helpless. She wanted to change the events, to turn things back and somehow, some way, prevent the death of that man who had become so precious to her. She wanted to wake up from it all and discover it was only a nightmare. She wanted to go back to that fateful morning and ride out to the north with Andovar and Belexus, to shield them and fight beside them when the darkness came.

But she could do nothing. Nothing.

Just sit here and wish impossible wishes.

"And will it happen again?" she asked herself. "Who else will be finding this sorrow? Meself again?" It seemed so inevitable, so unstoppable. Rhiannon could heal the wounds of some, but the swords of the talons and the powers of the Black Warlock could inflict the wounds on so many more.

Too many more.

They had to be stopped, Rhiannon decided. This madness, this war, had to be brought to a swift end. Rhiannon looked to the north, at the bridges and the soldiers. Brave soldiers. So willing to die in defense of their homes. And across the river went her gaze, to the distant peaks of the Baerendel Mountains. Bryan of Corning was out there, and probably many more heroes, risking their lives every day and doing all they could, whatever the cost, to fight back against the evil invaders.

And all the while she sat here waiting for the lucky few wounded who managed to survive long enough to get to her tent.

Still, she could not deny the importance of her role to those few.

Rhiannon closed her eyes and looked into herself. Finding no answers, she lay back on the gra.s.s and called out to the earth. It had told her of the coming of Thalasi, had given her the strength to hold off the talon cavalry and to heal mortal wounds. It had told her of the death of Andovar. Now Rhiannon needed more from the earth.

When the sun pa.s.sed the midpoint of its daily travels, the young witch had her answer.

"What is troubling you so?" Siana asked when Rhiannon entered the large healing tent a short time later. She was standing beside a cot, its linen freshly stained with the blood of the war's latest victim.

"Weary I be and nothing more," Rhiannon replied. She looked at the soldier on the cot.

"He took an arrow," Siana explained. "They just brought him in. I did what I could: cleaned and dressed the wound." Rhiannon moved in to inspect the girl's work.

"I hope it is correct," Siana said nervously. "I watched you do it before. I just could not let him lie there and suffer."

Rhiannon's smile when she looked back at Siana comforted the girl. "Ye did a fine job," she said. "Yer heart was in the work."

"It is but a minor wound," the soldier said, bending his head over to take a measure of it. "Lucky shot. But no matter, with your help I can be back on the field this very day."

Rhiannon looked at Siana. "Ye'll get him back on the field," she said.

Siana's face twisted in surprise and confusion, as did the soldier's.

"Will you not help me, then, Mistress Rhiannon?" he pleaded. "So many have told of-"

Rhiannon stopped him with an outstretched hand and a comforting smile. "Not to be fearing," she said. "Siana'll fix ye up right away." She turned to the perplexed girl and handed her a single rose, its stem a vibrant green and its petals glowing a soft blue.

Siana's eyes opened wide. "What is this?" she asked blankly, for she recognized immediately that there was much more to the apparent simplicity of this gift; she could feel the energy vibrating within the enchanted flower.

"A gift," Rhiannon explained. "From the earth to meself, and from me to yerself. Take it and use it. Ye may find that it brings ye the strength to do more than clean and dress the wounds."

Siana took the rose in her trembling hands, then moved, compelled, to the side of the soldier. She needed no instruction; the magic of the flower showed her the way. She pressed her hand against the hole in the man's shoulder and felt the sting of his pain fly out from his body and up her arm. Siana, ever brave, grimaced through the frightening moment, holding strong to her purpose. And then the pain was gone, to her and to the man.

Wide-eyed, the man started to rise, but Rhiannon held him down. "Get yer rest," she said. "Ye'll find the time for fightin' soon enough."

Siana looked at Rhiannon, confused again and now more than a little afraid. Behind her, Jolsen and Lennard, on his first day up from his bed, had come over and now looked on in equal awe.

"How?" Siana asked. "I am no witch."

"You are now," Lennard remarked, but there was no sarcasm in his voice, just admiration.

"The flower gives ye the power to heal," Rhiannon explained. "But ye must stay strong, Siana, and accept the pain from the wounds. This was a slight one, but others'll take the breath right from ye. Hold to yer purpose and trust in yerself. Ye'll get through it."

"You speak as if you will not be around to guide her," said Lennard. "Are you leaving us?"

"I've other duties that need attending," Rhiannon explained. She stroked a comforting hand across Siana's cheek. "Do no' be feared, me girl," she said. "Ye've the strength to use the gift."

Rhiannon walked from the tent then, leaving the three of them staring blankly at each other.

The night was crisp and unusually chilly for high summer. Rhiannon fumbled through her packs, searching for the gown, gossamer and silk, that she had packed when she set out from Avalon. She paused when she found it, wondering what compulsion had told her to seek the dress. Certainly her tougher leggings would be better fitted to the road she had chosen.

All at once, Rhiannon understood the compulsion. If she was to accept who she was, to allow that frightening power its place within her being, she must look the part.

And then she was out under the stars, floating across the dark fields as if in a dream. A group of soldiers saw her, a ghostly apparition limned in the soft light of the heavens. They stood silent and unblinking, unable to find the words to describe the vision.

Rhiannon moved to the river. She hadn't even considered how she would cross, for she had no boat. But the River Ne'er Ending was a natural barrier, and nothing of nature would stand against the daughter of the Emerald Witch. Without even realizing the act, Rhiannon merely drifted over the great river, the rolling water not even wetting the trailing edge of her gown.

Across the western fields she went, unconsciously using simple magics to make herself invisible to the eyes of talons. She traveled on throughout the night, toward the black silhouettes of the Baerendels.

The playground of Bryan of Corning.

Chapter 19.

Council in Avalon THE RANGER WANDERED through dark, troubled dreams, alone and directionless in a sunless land. For the second time in a week he was close to death, but this time the horrid wounds inflicted by the wraith of Hollis Mitch.e.l.l were much more insidious, sending the chill of death straight for his heart. through dark, troubled dreams, alone and directionless in a sunless land. For the second time in a week he was close to death, but this time the horrid wounds inflicted by the wraith of Hollis Mitch.e.l.l were much more insidious, sending the chill of death straight for his heart.

But this time, too, the witch tending to Belexus was more experienced and knowledgeable of such ills, and he was in Avalon, the purest land in all the world. Brielle worked over him tirelessly, pausing only on those occasions when the Black Warlock launched another of his storms against her domain. Those first few hours after Calamus had s.n.a.t.c.hed the ranger from Mitch.e.l.l's undead clutches had been the most critical. The witch had stayed with Belexus until long after the dawn tinted the eastern sky. Cold were the cruel claws of the wraith, but warmer still was the gentle touch of the Emerald Witch. She insinuated herself into the heart and soul of the mighty warrior, lent him the breath of her own life in his struggles. And when Brielle saw into Belexus' most private thoughts-and into emotions that concerned her and her wood-she was moved. Healing the man became her obsession; one so n.o.ble and true as Belexus must not be allowed to die.

And Brielle could not ignore the ranger's feelings for her, feelings he had kept to himself for so long.

"'Tis good ye have waked," she said to him after several torturous days had slipped by.

That first sight for the ranger, of Brielle leaning over him, smile and eyes so bright and joyful and her golden mane of hair rolling down off her shoulder and brushing his chest, was as great a medicine as any man could ever know. It took Belexus a few moments to recover enough to speak the words he had to say.

"Twice have I been viewin' the land o' the dead," he whispered softly, bringing one hand up to stroke Brielle's beautiful hair. "And twice has a mistress of Avalon pulled me back to the world o' the living. Ye'll never know me grat.i.tude, fair Lady. Ye'll never know-"

"Me daughter," Brielle interrupted, intrigued by the ranger's reference to a previous healing.

"She is well," Belexus replied.

"And she has found her power?" Brielle asked hopefully.

"Many were the feats of Rhiannon in the first days of the war-" Belexus started to explain, but Brielle put a finger to his lips to stop him.

"Our minds have been as one," she said. "Me thoughts saw into yer own, and I'm knowin' all that's befallen ye."

"Then ye know o' yer daughter's troubles?"

"Ayuh, that I do, and I expected as much," replied Brielle. "There's troublins in the growth of such power, me friend; nothing comes without its cost."

"She is strong," Belexus a.s.sured her. "Rhiannon'll find her way through."

"'Tis me hope," Brielle replied. "Me wish is to be beside her on this dark day, but I canno' leave me wood. And Rhiannon, I know now, canno' come to join me."

"Trust in her," said Belexus.

Brielle nodded and managed to return his smile. "Rest easy," she said. "A council's to begin this night and ye're to attend."

Belexus slumped back, more than willing to oblige. But then another memory came over him, with such violence that he bolted upright. Brielle knew his next question before he had even asked it. "Andovar?"

Brielle shook her head, finding no words suitable to break the news. She knew of the bond between the two rangers, best of friends since their childhood days, always counting on the other in times of trouble-and the other always being there.

"I will avenge his death," Belexus decreed. "Mitch.e.l.l will not go unpunished."

"Hardly the Mitch.e.l.l ye once knew," Brielle put in. "An undead thing, a wraith from the netherworld and beyond yer power is me fear."

But Brielle could not deny the determination on the ranger's face when he looked at her, an expression so grim that she took an involuntary step back.

"I will find a way," Belexus promised.

"We will find a way," Brielle corrected. "The pa.s.sing of Andovar hurts me as it hurts yerself. I'll not let Mitch.e.l.l take another so dear to me."

She looked away as she spoke these last words, and her voice softened to become barely audible. Embarra.s.sment? Belexus wondered, and then some of the other implications of Brielle's melding with him, this joining of their thoughts and souls, brought him his own measure of embarra.s.sment.

"Ye be needin' rest," Brielle said to him again, easing him down onto the soft gra.s.s and pulling a warm blanket up over his chest. She bent low and kissed him on the forehead, then pulled back from him.

"Glad I am that ye found yer way back, Belexus," was all she said as she turned and moved off into her forest.

Sad on sweet voices, the song of the elves drifted through the boughs of Avalon, a fitting complement to the magic of the trees.

Brielle found Belexus standing near a grove of pines, quiet and enchanted by the distant harmony. She watched awhile from afar, letting the ranger enjoy the peaceful song. The witch wished that she could leave him to his enjoyment all the night through, or go and join him, but the business of war would not allow for such breaks.

"Come," Brielle bade him. "We're to be goin' to council this night."

Belexus' eyes stared into the dark wood, toward the elven singing. "They fit in yer wood," he said. "Th'elven song seems a friend to yer trees. A kinship."

Brielle nodded her accord. "Joyful and sad," she said. "A harmony of balance. Suren me wood rings true to the children o' the moon."

"Then they are wise indeed," Belexus replied with a smile, his gaze drifting to the fair witch.

Brielle met his stare for a long moment, accepting his compliment and affection. "Come," she said again, and she led him off down a forest path.

The notes of the song carried them along, and soon they saw the glow of a large fire in the midst of a wide glade. The host of Illuma encircled it, five hundred strong, joined by the Rangers of Avalon. As Belexus and Brielle approached, the words of the song became clearer, and though the elves sang in enchantish, the wizards' ancient tongue that Ardaz had taught them, Belexus soon understood the meaning.

They sang to Andovar.

Belexus' father, Bellerian, and Arien Silverleaf, the Eldar of Illuma, met the witch and the ranger on the edge of the glade.

"By the Colonnae," said Bellerian when he saw his son. "Never would I have believed ye could heal so quickly. When last I saw ye just three days hence, ye seemed on the door o' death. And though the witch told me ye'd recover, me hopes..." He let the grim thought fade away unspoken.

Belexus ran a hand through Brielle's golden locks. "'Twas Brielle that gived me life," he said.

"'Twas yer own strength," replied the witch. "A lesser man'd not have made it to me wood."

"Surely it was the both of you," Arien Silverleaf said. "And such strength we shall need often in these dark times. And wisdom. The song to Andovar will run through many more verses, for long were the feats of that ranger. Let us enjoy its completion, then find our place of council."

"Is there word o'Ardaz?" Bellerian asked.

Brielle shook her head. "Billy Shank set off on Calamus this morn in search o' me brother," she explained. "But I fear that he is at the far end of the world and will not return to us for many days."

"But he will return to us in time," Arien a.s.sured them. "None have come to know the value of Ardaz more than the elves of Illuma, and ever will we trust in him to arrive when the hour is darkest."

"So he will," Brielle agreed, and then they fell silent to hear the continuing song. The elves had known Andovar only briefly, but their melody captured the spirit of the slain ranger so completely that Belexus found himself walking in dreams beside his lost friend.

It went on for more than an hour, and then the four of them moved to a more private meadow for their council, joined by Sylvia, Arien's daughter, and by Ryell, the elflord's closest adviser.