She felt the worms detach, paralyzed by the chemicals that had been washed into the blood. She felt the wolfwalker untangle the parasite clots and pull them from the body. And she felt the pulse of Xiame's body as if it were her own. Asuli's fingers dug into Dion's arms. She began to shake.

She wondered vaguely, as she felt her knees wobble and her body weaken abruptly, if she would hit the floor hard or if one of the men would bother to catch her even though they hated her so.

Finally, Dion thrust her away. The wolfwalker opened her eyes; her own hands trembled like leaves. Her eyes were glinting. "It's not enough," she managed.

Roethke tried to take Asuli's place. "Use me," he said to her.

Automatically, almost repulsed, Dion warded off his hands. "You're just a child."

"I can do it."

"No," she said.

"I want her to live."

"You haven't the strength," Dion said sharply, but her voice was hoarse.

"She's my mother."

"You're too small, too young."

"Stand back, boy." Tehena pulled at his shoulder, her own voice flat and

hard. But deep in her mind, an image flickered of a child of her own she

had killed.

His young face set in stubborn lines. "I might not be as big or strong as you, but I have will," he said.

Dion turned unfocused eyes to him. Through wolf eyes, she saw his shoulders, straight; his face, set.

He stood his ground. "She has to live," he said. "Use me."

She stared at him for a long moment. Her voice was a murmur, more in the wolves than outside of them. "It is fitting, perhaps... that her life comes from you, since your life came from her." She hesitated, then stretched out her hand and touched him.

A minute only, and the boy was trembling. Tehena started to pull him away, but he cursed her with a childish word, and the lanky woman nodded grimly and let him stay with Dion. But another minute, and Roethke shook like a wire. Abruptly, Dion shoved him away. The wolfwalker trembled herself.

She stared at his mother, unseeing. Her hand groped for something- anything, but what she found was the bedpost. Unconsciously, she clenched it. There was a sound without noise, as if the air compressed around her.

Something seemed to explode. The wolf eyes glimmered; slitted eyes blinked. Energy flowed for a moment. The bedpost burned white-hot. And Dion pushed the last large mass of worms out of the woman's chest.

The spell was broken; the wolfsong dimmed and died. Dion slumped to the

floor.

Kiyun leaped forward, his arms, weakened, were still strong enough to keep her from hitting the floor hard. Carefully, he lifted her and carried her out to the couch in the living room. Roethke was torn between following and staying with his mother, and he caught at Asuli's arms. "Is she healed? Is she all right? Will she be okay?"

Blankly, Asuli looked down. "She'll live," the intern said slowly. She got

her healing kit again and began to close up the incisions.

Gamon and Tehena looked at each other. Kiyun rubbed his eyes. "Carry her back now, or wait?"

Tehena shook her head. "With the wolves outside? Who knows what they would do?"

"We'll wait," Gamon said flatly.

He nodded and sat heavily in one of the chairs near Dion. Ten minutes later they heard steps on the porch. Tehena stiffened and rose. It was the woman who had originally let them in, and she had a healer in tow. "Roethke?" the first woman called out.

The boy appeared. "It's okay," he told them. He half bowed to the old

healer.

Elibi looked at him, then at the three who stood in the cramped living room, then caught a glimpse of Dion. The old woman stared. "But this is the Master Healer Dione." She moved to the wolfwalker's side, ignoring Tehena's automatically protective stance. Gently, she touched Dion's face.

"Ah, Dione," she said softly. "It's been so long since you've come home to us."

"Who is she?" Roethke asked.

Elibi turned. "The wolfwalker, Roethke-you've heard of her. She was

born just over those hills. Grew up climbing the same mountains that those in the inn are here to scale."

Gamon had gotten to his feet. "You knew her when she was young?"

"I trained her in Ethran medicine. She was barely a young woman then. So

eager to learn-so eager to do. She looks... " Her voice trailed off. "She looks exhausted," she said flatly.Roethke studied Dion. "She came to heal my mother.""Aye, she would. She has that kind of stubbornness-never could accept the inevitable."

Gamon smiled without humor. "You know her, all right."

"Enough to be worried about her still."

"Worried?"

"That she still takes each patient on as part of her personal war against

death. It always seemed to me as though since the moons had taken her

mother from her, she would keep every one else from their path. I thought

once that she'd try to depopulate the heavens one by one till she found her

mother again."

Roethke's voice was low. "I told her I'd share Momma with her, if she

could keep my momma from dying."

"Ah, child." Elibi's voice was gentle. "There's not much even Dione could

do to help your mother now."

"But she did."

"Did what?"

"Healed Momma."

Elibi sighed. "Roethke... "

"I saw it," he insisted. "Her eyes turned gray, then yellow, and she melted

the wood. And the worms came out of Momma's skin."

"Roethke," Gamon said quickly.

Elibi stared at him. "Dione has always tried her best, and she would have

wanted to help your mother, but... "

Roethke shook his head. "She didn't want to do it."

"Dione would not have turned you down, Roethke."