---

“I think we’re all right.” Patrick murmured, though he remained poised on the balls of his feet as if ready to jump at the first sign of trouble.

Nelvana’s protest that they were now trapped died on her lips when the floor trembled, and the trio felt an unmistakable sensation: the entire room had begun to slowly descend.

“What in the Five Moons?” Lukas gasped.

But Patrick grinned as he visibly relaxed. “The way in.”

But Lukas was also wondering where Patrick had gotten a ring that somehow fit a secret key in an ancient statue of Andraax. Obviously there was much to learn about Partick O’Kiran, and Lukas thought he might know the way to go about learning it.

It was impossible to tell how far down the chamber was going, but their journey continued for some time before it came to a gentle stop. There was a momentary pause, then the doors slid open again. What lay beyond was a chamber completely alien to Lukas and Nelvana, but strangely familiar to Patrick O’Kiran.

It was a hexagonal chamber with grey smooth walls that could have been metal or polished stone. A column or tube of some translucent material in each corner glowed with a soft blue-white light, and the ceiling was a shallow hexagonal pyramid of the same material of the walls. In the center of each wall was a set of double doors of a similar material to the walls.

“What’s this?” Lukas strode eagerly into the room before Nelvanna or Patrick could stop him. He stopped right in the center, bent down and picked up a small object on the floor. The moment he stood up, however, he stepped back as if startled and said--apparently to empty space— “Where did you come from?”

Patrick’s eyes narrowed and he consulted his handheld scanner as he and Nelvana more cautiously entered the chamber.

“Who are you talking to?” The Baragon heiress asked slowly.

Lukas glanced at her in annoyance. “Him! Tya’ar.” The Viscount pointed at, again, apparently nothing.

“There’s nothing there.”

“Of course he’s right—” Lukas stepped forward and reached out as if to touch something, then recoiled. “You’re not really there!” He spoke again to the nothingness, paused, then said “Yes that would be helpful, before they decide that I’m crazy!”

Patrick’s eyes widened and Nelvana gasped as a human figure suddenly appeared right in front of Lukas. He appeared to be a youth in his late teens, with bright violet eyes and short blond hair. He was dressed in a grey, skintight coverall, a type of clothing that the Dia Khovaria monk was familiar with but no doubt seemed alien to the Kultheans. Patrick noted that he also appeared to have six fingers on each hand. He was almost unnaturally handsome.

“They can see—and hear—me now.” The youth said, and turned to them. “Greetings, I am Tya’ar. This is Althan substation Twenty-seven.”

“This is remarkable.” Patrick’s attention returned to his scanner. “You’re not even a holographic projection, are you? You’re created completely within our minds.”

“That’s correct.” Tya’ar nodded. “Normally I can only be seen by the holder of my transmitter, but as long as I am activated, I can also project into the minds of others, within a certain range.”

“What is your purpose here?” Patrick asked, even as he slowly paced around Tya’ar, waving his scanner.

“I am host of this substation, programmed to provide general information for guests and staff. I am also guide to the holder of the amplifier.”

“How long since your last activation?”

Tya’ar cocked his head. “Forty-seven days, six decants, eight dardecants – give or take.”

“Someone was here just forty-seven days ago?” Lukas demanded, incredulous.

“That’s right.” Tya’ar smiled.

“Approximations, interesting. “ Patrick studied his readouts. “And who last activated you?”

“That’s confidential.” Tya’ar said in a manner that could only be considered… smug.

“Would you reveal to someone else that we had been here?”

“That would depend on their clearance level.”

“Would you reveal that we had been here to the person or persons who were here forty-seven days ago?”

“That again is confidential. I’m afraid that I will only be able to provide you with very basic information. I perceive that you have a variation on the Key, which allowed you entry to the substation. However, I’m not authorized to provide you with any detailed instruction. You may also find some areas of the facility are not accessible to you.”

“Disappointing but not surprising.” Muttered Patrick. He had already turned away from Tya’ar and had begun pacing the room, waving his little beeping device.

“Wait, how do you know Shay so well?” Lukas demanded.

“I know it as well as you do; I learned it from your mind.”

Lukas’ lip curled up in distaste. “I don’t think I like the idea of you—or anyone--reading my mind.”

“I am the epitome of discretion.” Tya’ar said with a grin.

Meanwhile Patrick had approached one set of doors. When he got to within six feet of the metal panels, they slid apart smoothly, making only a slight whoosh sound. Nelvana and Lukas both jumped in surprise, but Patrick was unphazed. An identical set of doors stood closed at the end of a short corridor. “Airlock?” Why would you need an airlock in a ground station?” He demanded of the projection.

“Just a precaution.” Tya’ar shrugged.

“That’s hardly an answer.” Partrick said, turning back to the doors.

“It’s really all I can say right now.”

“Very well. Lukas, Nelvana, When I enter this corridor, I suspect these doors will close behind me. You can remain out here or join me.”

Both young Kultheans practically ran to the monk’s side. They stepped into the corridor together, and about halfway down, the doors to the main chamber did indeed close. The second pair opened before them just like the others. Beyond lay another hexagonal room, but this one had some strange furnishings. As they entered, the inner set of doors closed behind them.

The floor of most of the far half of the room was covered by a low platform, the top surface of which glowed with a shifting red-orange light. A matching shape projected down from the ceiling directly above it.

Closer to them stood a large U-shaped desk with a sloping surface. That surface, though smooth, was covered with small blinking lights of various shapes and colors. Some were just circles and rectangles, but some looked more like chracters or glyphs of some kind. Though the scale was completely different, the appearance of it reminded Lukas of the Monk’s little handheld item with its blinking lights. He suspected that their patterns and colors must have some kind of significance, though they seemed completely incomprehensible to him. Lukas also noticed how clean the room looked, like it was still in use. It didn’t smell musty like an old, closed-off room either, instead there was a faint metallic odor.

Patrick made a beeline for the desk, but he had barely gotten there when Tya’ar suddenly appeared next to him.

“I urge caution, sir. While I realize your understanding of technology is far superior to that of your comrades, I suspect that this is still a bit advanced for you.”

Patrick glared at the projection, though he knew that Tya'ar was most likely right. This was Althan technology, far ahead of anything the Empire or the Dia Khovaria possessed. “The power output of this is tremendous. It is some kind of transport device, isn’t it? A matter/energy converter? Does it require an operating device at the other end?”

But Tya’ar didn’t answer at once; instead, an alarmed expression crossed his boyish features, and he looked to the doors they had just come in. Then he said “Uh-oh!” And flickered out of existence.

All three turned toward the doors just as they slid open again.

There, standing on the threshold, hands on hips, was the living incarnation of Andraax. “How in the Twelve Hells did you manage to get in here?” His voice seemed to shout in their heads.

---

“Well, that was… different.” T’tania quipped.

“My stomach is still back on Ormian.” Jad made a face.

“Oh come, on.” Kalen elbowed the Squire. “It wasn’t nearly as bad as our skyship takeoff from Haalkitaine!” Then he suddenly remembered that Sulfean--who had most likely saved their lives when that skyship had lurched out of control--was standing a few feet away.

But if Sulfean had overheard the remark, he gave no sign. Instead he was conversing with Kim in hushed tones.

“It doesn’t even seem like morning here, it’s already so light out.” Sten observed innocently. “It’s not as cold as I expected either, not even freezing I don’t think.”

“Don’t forget, it’s the warm seasons here too, and up here the sun is above the horizon most of the day at this time of year. If this is as warm as it gets…” T’tania shifted her pack.

A flash of light and rush of air made them all look to Kim, and where Sulfean had been just a moment earlier. He’d left without so much as a farewell to the rest of them.

“Are all Navigators so standoffish?” Jad asked no one in particular.

“Sulfean can be a little distant.” Kim smiled as he joined them, at the same time slipping something into a pouch on his belt. “It depends to some extent on which Guild they belong to; The Guides of Vurn-kye are among the most aloof.”

“So being snobbish is part of their training?” Jad asked, incredulous.

“Well, I don’t know if they are actually taught how to be arrogant; but some Guilds seem to encourage certain attitudes towards their clients. Others are actually quite friendly… relatively speaking. But enough about Navigators; here we are and we need to get moving. The Loremaster’s home is actually several miles east of the town, so we have some walking to do. Everyone ready?” He didn’t wait for a response before setting off down the long shallow stairway. The Sister of Eissa--who had remained silent since their Jump--followed closely behind him while the others scrambled to catch up.

The stairway cleft widened, affording them an expanding view of the town below. Rapata spread across both banks of the Korinor River, the shores joined by a huge stone bridge. Rapata was actually a fairly large town, with a colonnaded market square by the river, and a few official-looking structures several stories tall clustered nearby. Hundreds of other buildings huddled along narrow winding roads, most were built at least partly of stone with shuttered windows and sharply-peaked slate roofs. Smoke streamed from tall chimneys.

“We don’t even need to cross the river.” Kim called back over his shoulder. “We’ll just head down to the eastern gate and out onto the road. Hoods up and try not to provoke anyone.” He added, shooting a glance at T’tania.

“He makes it sound like we were going to look for trouble!” Jad muttered.

Kim led the way, followed by T’tania and Sten, then Jad and Kalen, and Liria moved to the rear. They actually met few people as they made their way through the town; Rapata’s residents were apparently just waking up and starting their day. On two occasions they passed pairs of stocky, ruddy-faced men in matching blue uniforms; Kalen assumed the must be some kind of city guard. Kim nodded to each pair as they passed and the men responded similarly—even as they scrutinized the group, sometimes with apprehensive looks.

Rapata almost felt like a miniature Haalkitaine, with its narrow, twisting cobbled roads that rose and fell with the slope the town was built on, and the mostly stone construction of the buildings. Sel-kai and Lethys were flat and the buildings more often of wood, and the windows generally larger and more abundant. In cooler climes the windows were in the main fewer and smaller, since they were an invitation to let warmth out and cold winds in.

They exited Rapata without incident, being let out through a small door built into the large reinforced eastern city gate. The doorward—a burly man with thinning red hair and a short wiry beard--gave each of them an appraising look as they passed through the narrow door.

Once out on the unprotected road, the wind gusts struck them with full force, making their long coats flap and furl at times. Though the sun was no doubt already fairly high in the sky, its position was impossible to tell behind the layers of heavy clouds. On the positive side, the road was wide and paved with tightly-set stones—old kingdom highway work from the last age. From Rapata east, Kalen surmised that this must have been the Northern Passage, one of two that spanned the continent from east to west. Thirty feet wide and sloped slightly from the center for drainage, the highways were a major feat of engineering for the Six Kingdoms, but paid for themselves by increasing trade throughout the continent. Kalen remembered being on the North-South Steppe Highway years ago and imagining the crossroads far to the north where it intersected the Northern Passage. He never really believed that he would find himself walking that road, hundreds of miles from his home. This section of the Northern Passage was not in as good repair as the Steppe Highway in Rhakhaan: it had some broken stones, and weeds growing up in the cracks, but for the most part it was intact.

Beyond the road on their left rose the mountains of the Saral March, looming ever higher ahead of them to the east. The ridged lower regions were blanketed with trees, a mix of conifers with a few deciduous varieties mixed in. Further up, the peaks were covered with snow even now in the Autumn. On their right, rolling hills descended away into a grey haze under the churning clouds.

Kim held his hood up as he turned to face the rest of the group. “If we set a good pace, we should be at Vena Nascharath’s house by midday.”

“Well let’s set a good pace then! It looks like it could rain any minute. And I don’t care to be caught in the rain.” T’tania snapped.

“We’d be there sooner if we’d gotten horses.” Jad muttered.

“I think strangers buying six horses first thing in the morning would draw some unwanted attention.” Kalen ventured. “And it’s just a half-day’s walk. It won’t kill us.”

They did indeed set a brisk pace on the road, meeting a few people along the way. Most were obviously merchants, riding in mule-pulled carts or wagons loaded with wares. There were others on foot in groups leading beasts that carried their merchandise, and a few lone travelers on foot, burdened only by a pack.

After perhaps an hour of walking, Liria strode up parallel to the cousins and said curtly “Take the rear for a moment please,” before hurrying further forward to catch up with Kim.

He gave her a questioning look.

“We’re being followed.” Liria said in Shay.

“Followed? How do you know? Couldn’t it just be other travelers on the road behind us?” Kim’s tone was skeptical.

“No, we were observed in Rapata, and they slipped out soon after us. They have been keeping just out of sight for the most part, but I have spotted them a few times.”

“Who?”

“I’m not sure, but it looked to be two men, and they seem too tall and slender to be Haid.”

“Interesting. Let’s just continue on for now, but we may want to change our plans before we turn off the main road to the Loremaster’s house. Let me know if our followers change their behavior.”

“As you wish.” Liria nodded, then slipped back to the rear position, ignoring the curious looks from everyone else in the party.

Another hour or so passed uneventfully. The weather remained unchanged except that the wind died down somewhat. Trees thickened along the north side of the road, while grass and heather on the south side gradually gave way to underbrush and additional clusters of pines. As the road made a turn around a rocky outcrop on the northern side, Kim halted abruptly and turned back to Liria with a questioning look. She shook her head slowly in the negative, and the Monk addressed the group. “We’re going off the road for a bit to try to elude some people following us. Then Liria will stay with you while I circle back to see just who it is. Come on!” With that he plunged off the road to the north with the stone outcrop to his left. T’tania and Sten exchanged quizzical glances but followed close behind.

Kalen and Jad hesitated a moment, until Liria almost pushed them off the road. “Hurry up before we are seen!” She hissed.

“Okay, we’re going!” Jad half-laughed. “At least something exciting for a change.”

The trees were mostly pines, with a few oaks and maples interspersed. There was little underbrush here, the ground covered by brown needles that crunched under their boots. They had traveled a few hundred feet when the trees opened to a small clearing, perhaps a hundred feet across. The ground here was covered in a kind of short grass and a few low shrubs. Most interesting, however, were the tumbled stone ruins that were scattered around the open space. In the southern portion they were just a few piles of worn, roughly square stones; but on the far side of the clearing were more substantial remains, including the base of an oval tower and some partial walls. A narrow dirt path ran through the clearing near the southern edge where the group had entered, apparently parallel to the road.

“Seems like we aren’t the only ones who don’t like traveling on the main road,” T’tania observed, kneeling by the path.

Sten joined her. “From the look of the path and the prints on it, it’s traveled fairly heavily, by humans and animals.” Sten added as he paced along the dirt trail to the edge of the clearing.

“Look here.” T’tania slipped around where two walls came together, though they only rose up to about her waist. “Here are signs of an old campfire. They must have made it here behind the wall so as to shield the light from anyone passing on the road.” She knelt down at the edge of the ring of small stones surrounding the blackened area of the fire. “The ashes are cold and wet; the grass doesn’t look recently trampled. I’d say no one has been here in at least a few days.”

Kalen was secretly impressed by the Tanaran couple’s deduction and tracking skills as he watched Sten slowly walk along the muddy rut of the trail. But he was even more interested in the ruins. He didn’t recognize the architecture, though there was not much left to interpret. There was one tall, slender pointed archway and some decorative carving that looked possibly Elven.

“All right, you stay here until I return.” Kim said briskly. “I shouldn’t be long; I just want a look at our ‘shadows.’ Don’t do anything to attract attention.” Their leader then vanished along the path that led back towards the west.

“Who would be following us… and why?” Kalen asked no one in particular, a moment after Kim had disappeared into the forest. “Why would we even be that suspicious or interesting?”

“I smell something.” Jad announced suddenly, and wrinkled his nose.

“What?” Kalen looked at his squire skeptically. “Food?”

“No. Something… dead.”

T’tania and Sten and Liria all turned to Jad with sudden interest. “’Dead’?” The Sister of Eissa raised an eyebrow, her lips seemingly on the edge of curving into a derisive smile.

“Yep… can’t you smell it?” Jad tilted his head back and sniffed, then winced. “Ugh! I think it’s this way!” He strode to the eastern edge of the clearing, then plunged into the trees. Kalen hurried to catch up, while behind them he heard Liria say, her voice tinged with exasperation, “Kim told us to stay in the clearing!” Despite that plea, he heard T’tania and Sten following behind him.

Up ahead, Jad had paused and was looking around. There was more underbrush here, holly and other evergreen bushes mostly, and it seemed quite dark under the pines for midday.

Kalen saw his cousin slowly draw his saren, and figured it wouldn’t hurt to do the same. Then he noticed that his bracelet—the one that his mother had given him, the twin to Jad’s—had begun to glimmer very faintly. He wondered how long it had been doing that, hidden in his sleeve. “Jad…” He whispered, not sure who he was afraid he would disturb.

“Shh! Here!” The Squire was squatting next to a low mound of earth and brush. “There’s something there on the ground, partly covered by leaves and needles. It looks white or grey. Whew, the smell is getting really bad now!” Jad held his nose.

Kalen and the others gathered around the mound.

“You can say that again!” Sten covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

T’tania drew her own long knife and dug gingerly at the dirt. “It’s a body.” She announced bluntly.

“Actually, I think it may be two bodies.” Jad said, still grimacing.

“Do all of you always have so much trouble following instructions?” Liria demanded as she stalked up to the gathering. “Kim said—oh!” She gasped softly as she saw what they were all looking at, then she quickly recovered herself. “Step back everyone! The bodies could be diseased, or even Undead.”

“That seems improbable, doesn’t it?” T’tania was derisive. “A more likely scenario is that they were travelers along the highway, maybe camped here for the night, were ambushed by lazy highwaymen who didn’t bother to bury the evidence very well.”

While the Dúranak was talking, Liria was waving the tip of her staff over the bodies. “It is true, I don’t sense anything unusual about the bodies.” She set her staff aside and removed a pair of grey gloves from her shoulder bag. After slipping the gloves on, she knelt next to the bodies. “If only I had studied the Communal Ways I might be able to cast Death’s Tale and discover what happened here.” She said, more to herself than the others gathered around.

“I have some knowledge of this sort of thing,” T’tania stepped closer again. She already had on her black leather gloves. Though of fine construction, they seemed heavy and clumsy compared to the light, form-fitting ones Liria wore.

The Cleric gave T’tania a hard look, seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded. “Let us carefully uncover them and see what we can learn. Something about this suggests more than a simple robber-murder to me. You three--” She looked up at the trio of young men “—keep watch. Sten you go to the edge of the clearing but stay in sight of Jad and Kalen. You two just stay nearby and keep your eyes open. These two look like death occurred very recently. The killers could still be in the vicinity.”

They gingerly brushed the debris away from the bodies. They lay side-by-side, face up. Both had on nondescript brown outer garments, but in both cases the outer clothes had been torn open at the chest to reveal a white quilted tunic underneath. Sewn on the left breast of each was an emblem:

“Quilted cloth armor, I’ve heard of that. I’ve never seen that symbol before though.” T’tania said softly, indicating the embroidery.

“Neither have I, though they seem to be uniforms, and yet they were intended to be concealed under these other clothes. Yet the outer garments have only been pulled back here, as if to confirm the identity of the victims.” Liria said as she began to clear the debris from the face of the one nearest her. It was a man, possibly middle aged, with collar-length black hair partly gone to grey. And by his features, he was of a race related to Kim. The high cheekbones, and the folds over the eyelids marked him clearly of the Y’nar race.

Meanwhile T’tania was revealing the face of a woman, somewhat younger, with short black hair and of the same race. “Lotana.” Liria said decisively. There are many of their people in this region.”

Kalen wondered how and why a young woman from Tanara, a land far to the southeast of Jaiman, would know about a people here in the northwest that he had never heard of. He resisted the temptation to make a comment.

Both had a mark on their forehead: at first it just seemed to be a smear of blood, but then as the women cleared bits of dirt away (Liria delicately used dry leaves to brush off the sticky debris) it was obvious that marks had been cut into their foreheads after death. It seemed to be some kind of flower-shaped design.

Kalen grimaced at the cruelty of it. Even though the victims had probably not felt any pain (their spirits long gone) it seemed like a barbaric thing to do.

Further examination revealed several minor wounds on both, and a deep abdominal stab wound on the woman. Liria reported nothing on the man that seemed to be a fatal wound, though he could have been killed by an internal injury or a spell. She seemed reluctant to make a more than cursory examination.

Meanwhile, though, T’tania searched both bodies with a detached efficiency, making little sounds of triumph every time she made a discovery.

All the while this was going on, Jad and Kalen stood back-to-back, swords drawn, each occasionally glancing down at the bodies. The smell was beginning to nauseate Kalen, and he felt that if they had to stay here much longer he was going to be sick.

“Look at this!” The Dúranak exclaimed, raising the man’s left arm in the air. On his wrist was a narrow band of gold metal. “It has no inscription on it other than that same symbol that was embroidered on their tunics. And…” She grasped for the woman’s arm, and pulled the sleeve up. “She has the same bracelet. Surely these would have some value. I’ve also found a small purse on each with a fair number of coins of various minting, and the woman had this simple map, and this sealed letter. They both had these unremarkable daggers. Doesn’t look much like a simple robbery now, I must agree. And in fact it almost looks like the bodies were meant to be found, if someone was actually looking for them. Certainly the killers did not go to great effort to conceal them.”

“No, this does not have the look of a random killing. This pair was targeted. Either they were followed—as we were—and killed, or they were lured here into a trap. By the emblems and matching armor, they are clearly of some organization, but not one I am familiar with.” Liria stood up and brushed herself off. “We should give these people a decent burial. I know we don’t have any digging tools, but perhaps we can improvise something so they are covered, and build a cairn of rocks so the bodies are protected from scavengers. Jad and Kalen, could you take care of that? T’tania will go back to the clearing and send Sten to help you.”

When the Cleric turned away from her, T’tania deftly slipped the bracelets off the bodies and pocketed them. Liria turned back to face her, an eyebrow raised. “May I see the map and that letter?”

T’tania handed the documents to her as the two women started back to the ruins.

Sten and the cousins worked mostly in silence, except for a brief discussion over how to bury the pair and a few complaints from Jad that Liria seemed to have taken over the expedition. Over an hour later the cairn was built. Sten had done most of the really heavy lifting but the three of them were tired and sweating even in the cool weather. Sharing a drink of water, they trudged back to the clearing.

When they rejoined the women, who were sitting side by side on a tumbled wall and talking softly, Jad voiced what was on all their minds. “It’s got to be past midday by now. Kim should have been back long ago, don’t you think? If he was only going a mile or so back down the road to observe them, it shouldn’t have taken nearly this long”

Liria didn’t reply, but the fixed expression on her face was answer enough: Kim was indeed long overdue, and she, too was concerned about the monk.

“It’s hard to believe anything would be too much for Kim to handle; he’s a Changramai Monk, and he took on all four of us at once without breaking a sweat.” Sten muttered.

“There are beings and creatures in this world that could defeat Kim, and all of us, and even Randae Terisonen, without taking so much as a scratch.” Liria said seriously.

“Like what?” Sten was incredulous.

“An Ordainer, a High Priest Arnak, a Dragonlord, any number of greater demons. Shards.” Liria pursed her lips.

“What’s an Ordainer?” Jad asked.

“A Lord Demon, once they were the bodyguards of Kadaena. I have never seen one--thank Eissa--but they are said to stand as tall as three men, wielding huge swords. Supposedly they had the power of immolation as well: some had skin that would burn with an intense fire and others had flesh that smoked with cold, but they remained unharmed. One Ordainer slew hundreds of men at Saralis’ capital city of Turak, killed the king and destroyed the Wyvern Crown. That was thousands of years ago in the previous Era, but I do know Elves who have seen Ordainers, as recently as a few hundred years ago. They are uncommon, but they still exist.”

“Sounds like a myth to me.” Jad snorted.

“Believe what you will, or not.” Liria stood up dismissively, then addressed them as a group. “Let’s eat and let the men rest from their labor, and I will hold a brief service for the slain. Then I will decide our course of action.”

“Kim left you in charge?” Jad asked sarcastically.

“As a matter of fact, he did.”

The Squire scowled. “Oh. So, what was in the letter?”

Liria matched Jad’s sour expression, clearly not appreciating his attitude. “I haven’t opened it. However, I believe it was from Vena Nascharath, to be delivered to the head of an organization, of which those two were members. I suspect they were on their way from the Loremaster to their home when they were attacked. The map they carried directed them to Nascharath’s house.”

“So perhaps they were killed as a warning.” T’tania speculated.

“Quite possibly. Someone does not want this order—they are apparently called The Winter Light, by the way--to ally with the Loremasters. This is important information to get to Nascharath as soon as possible.”

The burial ceremony after lunch was mercifully (to Kalen) brief. As they filed back to the clearing, Jad pressed the issue.

“So, have you made a decision?” The Squire demanded.

Liria did not answer immediately, instead returning to what had become her favorite seat on a large stone. She settled there, set her staff aside, and folded her arms across her chest as if hugging herself. “I don’t want to leave the place where we agreed to wait, yet it seems foolish to remain vulnerable here in the wilderness with the Loremaster’s house just a few hours away. Certainly Kim would know to look for us there when he didn’t find us here.

“But what if he’s in trouble and needs our help?” Jad protested. “He could be dying beside the road somewhere, attacked by the same people who killed those two!” He waved his arm angrily in the general direction of where the bodies were buried.

“How would we find him unless he is lying right on the road in plain sight? Is any of you an expert tracker?” Liria demanded. T’tania and Sten, I know you have some skill, but have you any confidence of tracking him down in this wilderness?”

The couple looked at each other, then Sten lowered his gaze. T’tania looked back to the Cleric. “No, we couldn’t promise being able to find him if he was unconscious and in the wilderness. I have the Mentalist power of Perception, but my range is very short. It would not be that useful in a search like you suggest.”

“I appreciate you sharing even your limited Mentalist abilities.” Liria’s tone was surprisingly sincere.

“So, armed with nothing else, I’m afraid that the only reasonable option is to proceed on to the Loremaster’s house and hope that Kim rejoins us there. The day is slipping away from us, and I do not fancy being in unfamiliar wilderness at night.”

“Um, my sword is starting to glow…” Jad announced to no one in particular. He held out his saren for everyone to see. In the darkly overcast afternoon, the light was obvious. A fine blue-white tracery began to appear along the sides of the blade, like glimmering swirls of delicate etching.

Even as they stared at the saren, the glowing lines seemed to brighten.

Liria’s eyes narrowed. “What is the significance of this?” She demanded. “This is a gift from Randae, is it not? What did he tell you of the powers of this sword?”

“Well, he really didn’t explain too much, saying that the swords would tell us when they thought we were ready. It seemed a little weird; swords talking and all... not that Kalen hasn’t had inanimate objects talking to him for awhile, so he says.” Jad laughed nervously.

“Typically an item like that would glow to signify the proximity of a potential danger. Close your eyes and concentrate, try to get a 'feeling' from the sword. The rest of you stand ready; we may have to fight.” Liria nodded to T'tania and Sten.

Kalen drew his own saren and stood close to Jad, his heart already pounding in his chest. T’tania seemed much more calm as she held a long, stiletto-like black knife in one hand and a shorter black blade in her left. Sten unsheathed a heavy-looking short sword.

Liria stood and held up her staff in one hand, while raising her free hand, palm towards them. Her lips moved, yet Kalen heard no words. Then a moment later he felt a calmness come over him. Liria seemed bathed in a faint aura of pale golden light. The advantages of having a Cleric along… he thought.

Kalen could hear Jad’s breathing next to him before the Squire said carefully “I feel… cold… dark, something that hungers… for life.”

“That certainly sounds like the Unlife.” Liria said, again her voice without a touch of irony. “I suspect your sword detects when servants of the Unlife are near.” Then her voice took on a softer tone, rhythmic, almost hypnotic. “Try to learn more: can you sense direction? Distance? The nature of the danger? Concentrate. As you become more familiar with the sword, you may be able to learn more.”

Kalen was sure it was his imagination, but the overcast sky above them seemed to grow even darker as they waited, and Jad’s sword shone ever brighter.

But they did not have to wait long before hearing the obvious sounds of someone crashing through the underbrush towards them.

“Form a circle facing out!” Liria commanded. “That could be a diversion!”

Kalen struggled to keep his breathing steady, despite the effects of the Cleric’s spell.

The suspense was short-lived when a figure burst from the shadow of the trees. They all turned to see Kim stumble into the clearing and collapse against a pillar. As they all rushed to meet him (disobeying Liria's orders and breaking their circle), Kalen could see his clothes seemed to be burned in places, and he had a red circular wound on one cheek.

“Neng!” Kim gasped before falling to the ground.