"Let her run, but keep her safe," Bellerian instructed both of them.

"How many?" Thalasi demanded in that peculiar dual-toned voice that only added to the terror he exuded.

"Lots an' lots!" Burgle replied with a strained smile, obviously hoping the answer would suffice. The creature couldn't count past ten, after all, and the ranks of the talons gathering around Talas-dun numbered more than a thousand times Burgle's mathematical limit. From every corner of Kored-dul they came, heeding the summons of their master.

"You have done well," Thalasi said. "I will forget your unfortunate intrusion." The Black Warlock led Burgle's gaze over to the wall of the Throne Room, to the dried crimson stain.

Burgle slouched low and tried to appear very small, wanting only to be dismissed.

"Indeed," Thalasi went on, "your service has more than amended the foolishness of Grok. And I always reward such devoted service."

Burgle stayed low and trembled. Thalasi had recently given a similar speech to the other guard who had been in attendance on that fateful day. And only a moment later, when a smile lit the talon guard's face, the Black Warlock had pulled the talon's heart right out of its chest.

"You shall be a commander of the legions," Thalasi decreed. "Captain Burgle. And let any who disobey your commands answer to me!"

Burgle straightened, eyes wide, hardly believing its unexpected fortune.

"Go now," Thalasi instructed. "Gather the leaders of the tribes. Tell them that we ride to war on the waning of the summer's highest moon."

For the rest of the day the Black Warlock studied his talon army from the window of the Throne Room. Thousands of the creatures milled about the mountainside beyond Talas-dun's high black walls, separated by definitive borders into tribal cl.u.s.ters, each bearing the disgusting standards-a severed hand, a bloodied eyeball, and others of similar sort-of their respective chieftains. Thalasi knew that their devotion was wrought solely of fear; a leader of a talon tribe was its undisputed ruler, until another warrior of the tribe summoned the courage to challenge it and defeat it. Once Thalasi brought those revered leaders under his thumb, the rest of the rabble would fall into line.

Weapons clanged as skirmishes broke out among the rival tribes. "Such hateful things," Thalasi remarked, seeing his troops at play. He would do nothing to temper the anger; a few dead soldiers were a small price to pay for the level of bloodl.u.s.t the battles maintained in the talons.

Thalasi's eyes wandered out beyond the encampments, beyond the dark mountains, viewing the rolling fields of Calva. A different angle than the eyes that looked south from Avalon.

But the same destination.

Belexus and Andovar led the horses to a small glade on the southern edge of the enchanted forest, the appointed spot for the meeting that both of them, especially Andovar, so eagerly awaited.

Bellerian was already there when they arrived, the wizard Ardaz, holding the bridle of a fine roan stallion, at his side.

"We have bringed the third horse, as ye requested," Belexus said to his father, not understanding the presence of the roan.

"So ye have," replied Bellerian. "But the fourth'll be needed. Ye're to have company on the first leg o' yer journey."

"Yerself?" Belexus asked, aiming the question at the Silver Mage.

"With your permission, of course. I would not intrude, heavens no," Ardaz replied, bowing low. "I have some business-so very important, you know-far to the east. A farmer's tale of some ruins, an unknown village or something or other. Could be important, you know, I do dare say!"

Always patient, the three rangers did their best to show interest in the wizard's rambling story, however confusing.

"But my course goes south, only a bit," Ardaz explained. He winked and dropped his voice to a secretive whisper. "Want to keep the old bones in the civilized world as long as I can, you know. No need for hard ground when the bed of a Calvan inn is nearby."

A great squawk erupted from the trees, and two birds glided down to the group. The larger, a raven, landed plop on Ardaz's shoulder and immediately transformed into the more familiar form of his black cat, Desdemona.

But Belexus and Andovar hardly noticed the magical polymorph, entranced by the more dramatic transformation of the second bird, a white dove. The bird landed on the ground before them and puffed into a cloud of white smoke that swayed about, forming into a shapely column.

And Brielle stepped from the column.

Andovar had to consciously remember to breathe. He had seen the witch a few times, though only from afar, and was not the least bit disappointed at the closer view. Quite the opposite; the beauty of Brielle could withstand any inspection.

"Me Lady," Belexus stammered, and he fell to one knee.

Brielle's expression, somewhat embarra.s.sed, showed that she was indeed touched by the great ranger's respect. She looked over at Andovar and he dropped similarly, though he still could not find words to address the witch.

Brielle bade them both rise. She had seen them before, of course; the witch saw everything that moved through her forest. And she had known before her formal meeting with Bellerian that the two rangers would take fine care of her daughter. Still, her mothering instincts of that special little girl would not so easily let go.

"Ye'll take care o' me girl?" she asked, more to measure the desire of Belexus and Andovar in having Rhiannon along than to question their ability. The two would not disobey the requests of Bellerian, and would surely take Rhiannon if the Ranger Lord asked them to, but Brielle did not want to impose. "And bring her back to me at the summer's wane?"

"We shall indeed," Belexus a.s.sured her. "And honored we are that ye'd trust us with such a task."

The Emerald Witch glanced to Bellerian. "They do ye proud, Ranger Lord," she said. Then to Belexus and Andovar, she added, "And know that never I doubted ye, either of ye. But do ye truly want me girl along?"

Now Andovar piped in, unable to control his excitement. "As we want the warming of spring," he cried suddenly and eagerly. "I beg of ye fairest Lady, let the la.s.s come. We'll watch her and protect her, do no' be doubtin', and suren the joy o' Rhiannon'll brighten our days."

"Enough said, I do believe," Ardaz chuckled from the side. "Are you appeased, dear sister?"

"And how long will ye be riding with them?" Brielle asked him.

Ardaz fumbled his fingers over his beard; he hadn't really considered his exact course. "To the northern villages...er, it would seem...perhaps as far as Torthenberry," he replied. "A few days, one would expect, though I must get to those ruins. A farmer's tale, you know. Could be important, indeed it-"

"Yes, me brother," Brielle stopped him, "so ye've said many times." Indeed, Ardaz had talked of little other than his coming exploration since the farmer's tale had reached his ears last midwinter. He had delayed going to investigate only because he refused to miss the celebration of Rhiannon's twentieth birthday.

Brielle looked again at the eager faces of the rangers and gave a resigned shrug. "Come on, then," she called to the thick boughs beyond the glade.

The branches rustled and the raven-haired daughter of the fair witch, outfitted for the road, stepped shyly out into the open.

"Here are yer new companions," Brielle said to her. "Ye know their names." She turned back to Belexus and Andovar, standing in a stupor equal to their shock upon first seeing the elder witch of Avalon. For Rhiannon, stepping into the glade, was obviously possessed of that same unearthly beauty, that same wild spirit, so far beyond the experiences of the two men, or of any mortal men.

"Me daughter," Brielle told them, though she saw right away that Rhiannon needed no introduction.

"Me greetings, fair la.s.s," said Belexus. "Glad we are that ye might be joining us."

"And glad I am to be going," replied Rhiannon. She looked over at the three waiting horses. "Are we to ride, then? Never have I...I mean-"

"Pallendara's a long walk," said Andovar, drawing a smile from the young woman. "She's yers." He indicated a black and white mare, small and sleek.

Rhiannon walked up to pat the horse on the flank and whisper something soothing into the beast's ear. The horse relaxed visibly, and then Rhiannon, to the amazement of the rangers, undid the mare's girth and started to slide the saddle from her back.

"Won't be needing it," the young woman a.s.sured them, and as soon as the saddle fell free, she slid easily onto the horse's back.

Belexus looked to Brielle for answers, not wanting to start an argument about the wisdom of riding bareback over such distances.

"She won't be needing it," Brielle echoed. "She's the horse's a.s.surances that it won't be letting her fall."

Belexus and Andovar exchanged shrugs. Given the company a.s.sembled to see them off, how could they begin to argue?

The four riders broke out of the southern edge of Avalon later that afternoon and crossed the ford to the Illume-lune River before nightfall, setting a camp on the flat top of a huge, wide stone.

"Yer place," Andovar remarked to Ardaz while the wizard cooked the meal. "The Justice Stone." The ranger turned to Rhiannon and Belexus. "Here it was that Ardaz saved the elves, the Night Dancers of Lochsilinilume, in the dawning of their race."

"He took them to this place under the guise of execution," Belexus explained. "But only a trick, he played, and then the Night Dancers were hidden away."

"I have heard the tales," Rhiannon replied. "Ye saved them all, did ye, Uncle Rudy?"

"Shhhh," Ardaz sputtered, but too late.

"Uncle Rudy?" Belexus and Andovar chimed together, putting a deep blush into the wizard's cheeks.

"Rudy's his real name," Rhiannon went on, enjoying the game. "Rudy Glendower. And me mum's his sister, Jennifer Glendower."

"Names from another time," Ardaz said dismissively. "Before the dawning of our world." His eyes glazed over in distant memories. So very distant, a time across the span of twelve centuries.

"So Ardaz ye be," Belexus agreed, bowing to the wizard. "The Silver Mage of Lochsilinilume." He turned back to Rhiannon. "Owing are the elves, and us all, to the likes of yer uncle."

"And sacred is this place," Andovar added, "to all the elves, and to all the goodly folk of Aielle."

"Dark days, brrr!" the wizard shuddered, remembering that grim trip to the Justice Stone, but he shook the evil thoughts away and grinned anew. "But no need of such wicked memories," he proclaimed. "All turned out for the best, I do dare say. It always does, you know, always does."

"And the road is clear before us," Belexus was quick to add.

They ate a tasty meal-wizard enhanced-and better still for the fine tales they exchanged. Then they stretched out and watched the twinkle of the stars appear against the blackening canopy of the Aiellian sky.

Rhiannon fell asleep a short time later, pleased by the new friends she had made that day and thinking that adventures far from home might not be such a bad thing after all.

They made North Ridge, the northernmost of the Calvan farming villages, two leisurely days later. Spring was in full bloom now, and the sun and gentle southern breezes graced the little troupe. They meandered along their course, in no hurry at all to arrive at any particular destination, and determined to enjoy the sights along the road as they went.

"Problem with humans," Ardaz was quick to say. "So busy rushing to get from place to place that they forget about the lands in between."

"Humans?" Belexus replied. "What are ye then, a talon? And what are we three, by yer reckoning?"

"Oh, I did not mean..." Ardaz b.u.mbled. "I mean...I am a wizard, after all, and have lived long enough-too long, some would say, but I don't listen. Where was I? Oh yes, I have lived long enough to throw away some of the faults."

"And what're ye saying of us, then?" Rhiannon balked in feigned anger. She managed to slip a wink at the two rangers.

"Well, I mean you three..." Again Ardaz found his tongue twisting in his mouth. "You're rangers, and different from most, I do dare say. You walk in Avalon and have learned the truth of pleasures that others might miss. And you"-he grabbed a handful of Rhiannon's raven hair and gave a playful tug-"you've grown under the shadow of that most marvelous, most simply marvelous, forest! The daughter of Brielle would not miss a wildflower beside the road because her eyes were looking farther down it! No no no! We all know better, that we do. We know to enjoy what we might when we might."

True enough. It was exactly these lands "in between" that came to thrill Rhiannon and the rangers. They became great friends on the empty road, particularly Andovar and the young woman, the ranger trading tales to Rhiannon in exchange for the secrets she knew about the ways of the plants and animals they pa.s.sed. Ardaz, too, grew especially interested when Rhiannon shared those bits of her understanding of nature, knowledge too vast for her young years. She was indeed the daughter of the Emerald Witch, though the wizard suspected that she might claim a similar t.i.tle for herself in the near future.

And Andovar was interested in everything Rhiannon did, in every graceful move, in every wood she spoke, and in every one of the countless careless laughs that came so naturally from her.

"It seems that I might be protecting the la.s.s from me own companion," Belexus remarked to Ardaz one sunset as Andovar and Rhiannon walked off toward a high ridge together, hand in hand.

"Protecting?" laughed Ardaz. "Oh, no no no!" The wizard watched as Andovar draped an arm comfortably across the young woman's shoulders, and she willingly snuggled up to him.

"Well, maybe watching," the wizard conceded.

The next day, they pa.s.sed another of the common villages, little more than a cl.u.s.ter of farmhouses surrounded by a low wall. Belexus kept them close to the great River Ne'er Ending, thinking it was wise to travel the less populated western fields first before springing the grandeur of mighty Pallendara on his newest traveling companion. Ardaz readily agreed with the course, as did Andovar, knowing that the smaller villages would be less imposing to Rhiannon until she became more familiar with the ways of the settlements.

"Donnings Down," Ardaz said, recognizing the next town they crossed through. "And after Donnings Down is Torthenberry."

"Where ye leave us?" Belexus asked, obviously disappointed. The wizard's tales had been the best of the lot, and few could steal the tedium from a long road as well as Ardaz.

"I meant to go there, I think I did," Ardaz replied. "But too long we've wandered. Too, too long, I do dare say. Why, May is blooming upon us. No, I have to go now, straightaway."

"What could be so important in the empty east?" Andovar asked, obviously as unhappy about the parting as the others.

"The east?" Ardaz echoed, not seeming to understand.

Rhiannon smiled at his expression, recognizing the fairly common glazed look in the wizard's eye.

"Ye're going to the east, so ye said," Andovar tried to explain.

"Who said?" the wizard demanded.

"Ye did yerself," said Andovar. "To some ruins. The meat of a farmer's tale."

"I did?" Ardaz's face crinkled in confusion. "Of course I did not! Oh, why do you try to confuse me, you nasty boy? But why would I want to go there, if it is so empty, after all? Or are you just trying to get rid of me?"

"No, never that," laughed Andovar, familiar enough with the wizard's forgetfulness to let the issue drop. "Ride along with us, then, for as long as ye wish."

"Well, how can I do that?" Ardaz demanded. He looked at Belexus in sincere concern. "The boy's bitten," he said with a sly nod at Rhiannon.

"But enough," the wizard said, rising straight in his saddle and pulling out a long oaken staff. "I've business in the east, of course-and no tricks by you!" he added quickly before the fl.u.s.tered Andovar could put his thoughts in. Ardaz mumbled some arcane chants into his horse's ear, and the beast perked up, snorting anxiously to be off at a gallop.

"Good-bye and farewell!" Ardaz said to the three. "A busy summer sits before me." He stopped and snapped his fingers as if he suddenly remembered something, then reached under his robes.

"Grrr," came a m.u.f.fled reply to his intrusion.

"Oh, silly puss," Ardaz huffed, rubbing the newest of many scratches on his hand. He reached back into his robe more forcefully and pulled Desdemona from her catnapping slumbers. "Go now!" he demanded, and to the astonishment of his companions, he threw the cat high into the air.

Desdemona shrieked in protest, but her cry was transformed into the excited caw of a raven as the cat shifted into her avian state and flew off ahead of the wizard.

"Got to light a fire under them sometimes," the wizard explained to the others.

"She likes her sleep," Rhiannon agreed.

"But she likes the adventures more," Ardaz replied. "You just have to remind her of that sometimes."

High overhead, Desdemona squawked out a complaint at the wizard's delay.

"Well, good-bye again," Ardaz said to them. "And have a fine summer. I will return to the north before winter. Or maybe I won't. One can never tell about such things. But I will return, I do dare say."

"With new tales to tell?" Rhiannon asked hopefully.

The wizard put his arms out wide. "One never knows when one might walk into a tale," he said, and he kicked his horse off into a blinding run that seemed impossibly swift.

In the springtime sunshine on the peaceful Calvan plain, none of the group, or the wizard himself, could have guessed how prophetic those final words would prove to be.