Taranath sent elves scurrying to ready the windlass. Others brought shielded torches closer to the hole. A harness was affixed to a second rope and lowered down the shaft. Vixona came up first, dusty, heavy-eyed with exhaustion, but beaming. The next person to appear was Hytanthas. As soon as the captain was free of the rope harness, Taranath clapped him on the back with such enthusiasm, he nearly went sprawling.
The three elf warriors were brought up, and the harness was lowered again, for the old general, Taranath assumed. When the person who appeared was not Hamaramis but a human, consternation bloomed on Taranath’s face. The human made no hostile moves, but the three warriors from the rescue party surrounded him quickly and made certain his hands were securely bound.
At last Hamaramis appeared. Before he had even shed the harness, he asked about the Speaker. Taranath was extremely grave.
“I’m afraid the Speaker’s condition has worsened,” he said quietly. He explained that Gilthas’s bearers had found him barely conscious in the center of the circular platform. The Speaker was back in his tent again, quite feverish.
“And Lady Kerianseray?” Hytanthas asked.
No good news greeted this question. The Lioness had not returned from her solo mission to Khuri-Khan.
“She went alone?” exclaimed Hytanthas. “How could the Speaker allow that?”
The two generals exchanged glances, then Hamaramis addressed Hytanthas, his habitual frown softening. “Lad, you’ll not serve our brave Speaker nor his valiant lady by standing out in the rain.” He gave Hytanthas a push to get him moving.
Hytanthas let himself be herded along. “I would greatly appreciate food and a bath, sir.”
The old general assured him that half his request could be provided.
Sa’ida was sleeping slumped against Kerian’s back. Abruptly she flinched awake and slid sideways. Feeling herself falling, she grabbed wildly for Kerian. The sudden movement caused the elf woman to overbalance. Out of habit Kerian threw herself forward to hug Eagle Eye’s feathered neck.
“Peace, holy one! You are safe.” The restraining straps buckled around the priestess’s waist held her snugly in the griffon’s saddle.
“Forgive me!” Sa’ida rasped. The constant wind had dried her throat. “i thought I was falling.”
Kerian sympathized. Passing a leather-wrapped water bottle to the priestess she related the experience of her first overnight flight. She’d not secured the saddle rig properly and had tossed so hard in her sleep that she and the saddle ended up hanging underneath the flying griffon. When she opened her eyes, she found herself upside down in a thick cloudbank.
“i thought I had gone over into the next life!” she said. When a mountain peak rushed out of the fog, she nearly was knocked into eternity.
The priestess handed the bottle back. The white scarf covering her head had been knocked askew. She straightened the scarf, tightening the knot that secured it at the nape of her neck, but tendrils of hair still streamed across her eyes. As she worked to tuck them away, she found herself regarding the Lioness’s shorn head with envy.
They were still miles away from the elves’ camp, descending in gentle stages through cool night air. The range ringing Inath-Wakenti bulked large before them. Sa’ida peered over Kerian’s shoulder at the rugged pinnacles. She had never seen mountains before.
Suddenly she trembled down the length of her frame and inhaled sharply.
“Shall I land?” Kerian asked, thinking the priestess was in need of a respite from the unaccustomed constant motion.
Sa’ida shuddered harder. “This place is saturated with power!” she gasped.
“What sort of power?”
“Not godly magic.” That was Sa’ida’s stock in trade. “Something wilder, very old, and very dark! It’s horrible! What a troubled place!”
Kerian made silent note of that. Trust Gilthas to pin his hopes on a sanctuary awash in ancient dark sorcery. She’d make certain Sa’ida shared her impressions with him. Perhaps the priestess’s opinion of the peril would carry more weight than hers had so far.
Sa’ida was muttering. Leaning close to Kerian’s ear, she said more loudly, “One power balances the other, but both are deteriorating. A war has raged here for untold centuries. Both sides are fading, but their power is still potent.” She scanned the shadowy horizons as if she could see the magical forces mustered like armies on a battlefield.
“The lines are blurred. I cannot tell one from the other.” She bent forward, resting her forehead against Kerian’s back. “Just
Sympathizing with her pain, Kerian nevertheless kept Eagle Eye flying straight on to the center of the valley and the camp. However, when the distance to the mountains declined to a few hundred yards, the priestess’s trembling and complaints gave way to something stronger. She gripped Kerian’s cloak in both fists and jerked hard.
“Turn away! Turn away
