Original: To Fire It Shall Return

Chapter 15

As the succeeding days and nights passed by, the towns slipped behind them like water through a child's fingers. They grew smaller and smaller, from villages to hamlets and then finally disappearing entirely as the party of three continued east. The road was the only constant, stretching wide and straight and true, clear to the Ocean. Its surface was cracked in places, but it never wavered. Perhaps it would have continued that way, sinking uncomplainingly into the sea, except Alainna and her companions left it, following one of its many children - roads that seemed to split off from the parent like leaves from a vine - deeper into the forest.

On the third day, Sharra rejoined them, exhausted from her long flight to see Thalla, the sorceress contact in Lacuna City. The company was again whole. Though many of the towns they had passed through had - like Gregoran - lost faith in the Guild, none were as far gone as that destitute city. Apparently the vampire trees had not spread this far east and forced the shifting of faith.

On the fifth day, nearly forty-eight hours after the last town had glided silently over the western horizon, Alainna stood on the coast, looking into the deep blue Ocean. The Sorceress caught her breath as the gazed into the sapphire waters from her vantage point at the top of a rocky, weather-worn cliff. The waves crashed violently against the crags below her, sending a spray into the air that bathed her pale face with comforting coolness. Her blonde hair streamed freely back from her face in the wind. Sharra winged high above her, a tiny white speck in the sky. The sun had risen only minutes before, and the sea was still bathed in the pure reds and oranges that had accompanied its birth. As Alainna stood, entranced, Kelden appeared at her shoulder, his arms crossed, an uncharacteristically grim look on his smooth, tanned face. Karim was nowhere in sight, probably exploring this beautiful country on foot.

"Are you all right?" he asked. Alainna looked at him in surprise, and then realized that she had been standing there looking at the horizon for almost half-an-hour, not speaking to anyone. She smiled comfortingly, trying not to let her distraction show on her face. She felt as if the Ocean were calling to her, in some divine language that she could only barely understand.

"Of course I'm fine," she assured him. She turned away to gaze at the water again. Her next words were more reflective. "I've never seen the Ocean before. I can hardly comprehend it." Kelden put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her toward him. Only then did she realize that she was shivering.

"We're here, Alainna, at the Great Ocean."

"Yes," she whispered.

"And across that clear blue Wonder, is the reason we came so far. Soon we will see this water from the opposite shore."

"And then the real task begins." Alainna shivered again, not with cold this time. She turned to look up at her friend, trying to ignore the feelings that were rising up in her again. Kelden had a soft, tender look on his face, which, for once, didn't go away as he looked down at her.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful," he said softly.

"Neither have I," Alainna answered, and suddenly her head tilted up, and his lips were gently, but firmly on hers.

As suddenly as it had happened, the moment was over. She nearly lost her balance and fell as Kelden released her. She heard him cry out an agonized apology, and then move away. Alainna watched him escape back to camp, cursing herself for succumbing to temptation, despite all efforts. She watched his retreating back, muscular, and knotted with tension.

Dammit, Sharra, what have I done? she complained silently.

I hope, nothing.

I scared him, I can see it. Why did this have to happen now? Sharra's implacable voice was both chiding and comforting.

I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems. You two have been friends for a long time; he'll be all right, love.

I hope you're right.

Even as the pleasure of their kiss rushed through him, warning bells began clamouring in Kelden's head. He made a fumbling apology and fled, his face burning. What have I done? he berated himself. How could he have been so weak, and submitted to temptation so easily? Karim's voice invaded his self-depreciating tirade like a flood of cool water.

Stop this! I'm sure she'll recover.

Yes, answered Kelden morosely, but will our friendship?

I'm sure even the White Sorceress, though she is an unreasonable and unforgiving person, can forgive you this heinous act, Karim said sarcastically. Kelden felt his muscles unknot slightly as he realized that his familiar was right: they had endured worse than this. He reached camp, a collection of blankets they had spread on the ground, a few metres off the road, and sat down with a sigh. Lelahn, who was sitting under a tree apparently lost in thought, ignored him. A few minutes later, Alainna walked into camp, with Sharra sitting contentedly on her shoulder. Lelahn looked up as she came into sight and stood. Alainna didn't look at Kelden, who sat dejectedly on the ground.

"Sharra has seen signs of civilization on the coast a little north of here. If we're lucky, we'll be able to find a boat there that can cross the Great Ocean," she said. Kelden stood, still not able to look at Alainna in the face.

"We should go then," he said quietly. He walked away without another word and began to untie the horses. Karim appeared from nowhere and took his place on Kelden's shoulder, cheeping soothingly into his Familiar's ear. Lelahn gave Alainna a questioning look, which was returned by helplessness.

"It's nothing, child, don't worry," said the Sorceress softly.

Illyanna returned to Lorenton, after first discarding the blood-soaked dress and washing in a stream. The thread she was following was the only impression that ended near anywhere she knew well, and she had decided to look there first, despite the danger of her former family discovering her. She arrived in a part of the city as far removed from her old house as she could and stood still, her eyes closed, trying to sense a direction from the string pulling at her. It was difficult to sense that one thread out of the dozen that she could feel, pulling her in every direction, but she nursed the strongest, until she had memorized its specific tenor, and flavour. She had noticed that every thread was a little bit different, as if they reflected the person to which it was attached. Idly, she wondered what hers was like.

She kept her eyes closed and began walking in the direction she sensed, but only got a few steps before bumping into a wall. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she smiled. Of course the impression would not take city streets into account.

She began walking at right angles to the impression. It was difficult to sense it while walking, so she stopped every few steps to see if it had changed direction. After only a few metres, she had managed to get a good idea of where her target was, and followed the impression, after a few dead ends and wrong turns, to its source.

She was standing in front of a small shop, with a huge window in the front, displaying various curiosities in worked metals. Illyanna entered the store, which was deserted except for a clerk puttering around behind a desk. She afforded the man only the briefest of cool glances. The store was dim and cozy inside. Strategically placed candles and lamps highlighted the curves of the metal objects so that it seemed the entire room was filled with millions of tiny flickering flames.

Illyanna walked towards a door in the back of the store, almost hidden behind a huge display of chain-link armour. It was almost as if a knight was guarding the entrance to a secret stronghold. As she reached for the handle, the clerk cleared his throat.

"Uh, excuse me. You aren't allowed in there." Still immaculately trained, Illyanna turned to regard the man with a politely firm air.

"Why not?"

"Yana has ordered that no one disturb her while she's working, ma'am." He had come out of his refuge behind his desk and approached her. Looking at him now, Illyanna realized that he was only a boy, probably at his first job and eager to make a good impression with his boss.

"Yana is the one who has made all of these items?"

"Yes, and she is busy right now." Illyanna smiled.

"I'm sure she can find the time to see me." Before he realized what she was doing, she had pushed the door opened and stepped into the small room beyond. She closed the door in his face, and to her surprise, he didn't try to open it again. A young woman was standing at a small table in the centre of the room, and had not yet noticed Illyanna. A lump of silver was sitting on the table and other, half-finished works lined shelves that covered the walls. Yana was a slight girl, wearing a dark brown dress which covered her spectacular figure modestly. Her long brown hair fell in tresses from a high, aristocratic brow. Though her chin was strong, the overall impression was that of softness.

She reached out a hand to the lump of silver and turned it minutely clockwise. Then she stepped back. Illyanna watched, riveted, barely daring to breathe as she wondered what this woman was about to do with the metal. Yana made no gestures, spoke no words, yet under her gaze, the metal began to grow red hot. When it began to melt and run, the rivulets seemed to drip and flow in predetermined patterns. Within seconds, the shapeless lump of metal had become a tiny scene of a tree and a boy sitting underneath it. The detail was exact, and so tiny that no person could possibly have done it, without the aid of magic.

Illyanna, feeling guiltily like an intruder, cleared her throat softly. Yana looked up, a cry on her lips and then blinked as she saw Illyanna. Yana took a few steps toward her, moving to conceal the exquisite figure behind her back.

"Who are you? I feel as if I know you," she said wonderingly.

"My name is Illyanna, and I am like you. I was born with the power to move things and people anywhere I want. Just as you were born with the ability to heat and shape metal." Blushing, Yana responded.

"Actually, it's not just metal, I can heat and manipulate anything, but I can't move things without heating them, and I don't know how to control it. Anything but metal tends to burst into flame," she said with a mixture of pride and frustration. Illyanna smiled and held out a hand to the other woman, who took it.

"You just need practice. Come with me. I am gathering all of the people like us - the Grey Sorceresses - together. And when we have all been united, we will decide what we want to do with our powers."

"Why are we called that?"

"Because we are neither black, nor white. It is the name that the White Sorceress gave us, and I have adopted it as our own. Will you join us?"

"Yes," Yana said breathlessly. She picked up a small bag which seemed to be full of bits of metal and followed Illyanna out of the store. The boy watched them leave, an unspoken question on his lips. Yana didn't even notice him.

"We'll get safely out of sight, then I will send you to where I live. It is called the Guildhall and it is where the white sorceresses and wizards meet. You will be safe there, they know you are coming," said Illyanna. A few minutes later, Yana was gone and Illyanna began moving toward the next town, following the direction that the strongest thread indicated. She moved in steps, looking as far ahead along the road as she could see, and then Teleporting there. It was slower than Transporting directly, but much faster than walking, or even horses, could take her.

She found herself grinning unabashfully. She would succeed in her mission, and then the plans she and her sisters would make! They would have more power collectively than the White Guild could hope to pool, and they would be able to accomplish anything.

Somehow, this part of the world seemed much more beautiful than anywhere else could ever be. It was as if some divine hand had reached down and blessed these few square miles of earth so that they bloomed. Lelahn peered into the forest to see a delicate doe venture haltingly into sight. Her nose quivered as her dewy eyes watched their progress piercingly. Then suddenly, without any warning, she bounded off, disappearing from sight again. A squirrel scolded them from the safety of a high branch that extended over their path. This entire area seemed rife with energy and life, more so than anywhere Lelahn had ever seen. Perhaps because there were so few people here; nature had taken over.

That had been true in the Badlands too, except there had been an undercurrent of perversion. Something had twisted there, and everything went awry. Her wandering mind wondered what had happened there to make it so different, and wrong. No one seemed to know, not even the badlanders. Maybe it has something to do with the Lady, she thought, and shivered. Even now, remembering that first manifestation of her power and what she had seen, she was disturbed.

Karim was standing on Kelden's shoulder, looking around with quick, bird-like movements of his head. Even his usual placid sprawl had been energized by the surroundings. A blackbird landed on a branch near Lelahn, showing a flash of brilliant red before folding its wings properly on its back. It seemed unconcerned by her presence but preened importantly before taking off again. Sharra returned briefly from her flight to land on Alainna's shoulder, but she could only sit still a few moments before she took off again, disappearing through the thick green canopy that arched above them.

Alainna and Kelden seemed to have recovered from... whatever that had been, and had begun talking again. Lelahn listened carefully to their conversation, but didn't hear anything that could give any clue of what had happened between them. She was overcome with curiosity, but didn't dare bring it up. She kept her eyes turned resolutely forward, maintaining her mask of unconcern as always, but inside she was alive with questions. What could have happened to threaten a friendship such as Alainna and Kelden's?

They topped a small rise and suddenly caught a glimpse of the city. It was laid out on the slope leading down to the Ocean, gleaming like silver in the sun. There were no roads into the city except the dirt path they were on, which was really just a neglected tributary of the long Eastern road they had been following. Huge ships waited in a harbour at the mouth of a river, any of which Lelahn suspected could make the trip across the Great Ocean easily. The town itself was built right on the river, and Lelahn could see small canals winding their way between the buildings like city streets. Lelahn was breathless at the sight. She urged her horse down the hill, followed closely by Alainna and Kelden, who seemed as fascinated by the city as she was.

The city itself was filled with brightly-dressed people, bustling everywhere. Small wooden boats took people up and down the canal-streets, but there was also numerous small roads and bridges criss-crossing the town. The people seemed not to notice the trio's presence as they walked through the streets, leading their horses.

Despite the air of celebration and ease that seemed to permeate every surface here, Alainna walked with a frown on her face. Kelden asked her what was wrong but she only shook her head, promising to discuss it later.

At the centre of a virtual maze of streets, they found a hotel which was equipped with a stable. In fact, this was the first hotel of any kind they had seen. The proprietor took their money with an excess of politeness and then showed them to their rooms, which were decorated to an extreme of comfort with plush purple chairs and huge beds with a myriad of pillows and soft blankets.

Kelden looked around the cavernous room and whistled appreciatively. "Check out this room! This is one hell of a place. Are you sure we can't stay here a little longer, Alainna?" He lay down on one of the three beds, folding his arms behind his head. "I could get used to this, very quickly."

"This city does seem very rich. This room wasn't even very expensive," Lelahn agreed, settling back into one of the most comfortable chairs she had ever seen. After weeks of sleeping in modest hotels or even the ground, this was pure, unadulterated heaven.

Alainna nodded distractedly, still frowning. "Yes, it's quite hard to believe, in fact. I don't even know what city this is. Considering the size, and obvious wealth, one would think I would know it." Kelden sat up slightly.

"Actually, I asked the owner of this place what city this was, and he said it was called Illustrium." Lelahn laughed, "Well, it certainly is that."

"I've never heard of it," said Alainna. "And I'm sensing something very strange here." She turned to Lelahn. "Could you use your power on one of the walls?"

Lelahn shrugged. "Sure." She stood up and walked over to the nearest wall. It had a rough unfinished surface, as if the paint had been scraped by a hairbrush before it dried. She touched it, and the sensations began to rush through her--

--A ruined building, held up by sagging wooden beams and stone pillars. It is ancient, silent, destroyed by folly and then crumbled by weather and wear--

--Lelahn stepped back in shock, having seen enough.

"It's not real. This hotel is a sagging ruin. I doubt if any of this is real," she said. Kelden frowned, running a hand over the plush velvet cover of a pillow.

"Are you sure? If this is an illusion, it's some illusion."

Alainna ignored him. "If this was the doing of a Grey sorceress, could you sense it?" Lelahn shook her head.

"I don't know, but if there is one of my kind here - and there would have to be if she were to maintain this sort of illusion - I could probably find her."

"Do it then."

Lelahn closed her eyes, mentally feeling those thin strands, trying to isolate the strongest and get a direction. A moment later, she opened her eyes.

"She's very close." At that moment, the door opened, and a princess stepped into the room.

Actually, she wasn't a princess, but with the flowing, red dress and rich jewelry adorning every part of her, the overall impression was of royalty. Kelden caught his breath just looking at her. Her red hair was piled on her head in a Victorian style, and diamonds sparked from her ears, wrists, neck, and fingers. Her eyes flashed fire.

"What are you doing here? Who are you?"

Alainna spoke, her voice soothing and placating. "I am the White Sorceress, Alainna, and these are my friends, Kelden and Lelahn. We are just passing through."

"No one 'just passes through' Illustrium," the girl said haughtily, seeming even more the aristocrat. "We are somewhat out of the way and we pride ourselves in our independance."

"We are an expedition, heading across the Great Ocean. Is there any way you can help us?"

"No. I want you to leave. Now," she said firmly. Lelahn stepped forward, hoping her status as a fellow Grey Sorceress would help them.

"We will certainly leave if you want us to. Are you the one who has constructed this city?"

"Yes, I am the only real person here." She said this with great pride. Lelahn kept her voice soft and friendly, exactly the way she had seen Alainna do it.

"What exactly do you do? Is it just to fool the eye, or does it fool every sense?"

"I create perfect illusions. I create sight, touch, smell, sound, even taste. All of my illusions can be told to perform random acts and will do them without me directing every aspect. This city is indistinguishable with reality in every way."

"I am like you; born with an ability. I can sense the past as objects see it, like this wall here," said Lelahn. "That's how we discovered that all this was an illusion." She paused, taking a breath. "I know many more people like us," she lied. "If you tell me your name, I can arrange for you to meet them."

"I have no need to meet them," said the girl with an air of superiority. "But I will tell you my name anyway. It is Velistria."

"We need to cross the Ocean, Velistria. Will you help us?"

"I see no reason for me to help you. I am happy here, alone. And you deserve none of my help."

Kelden spoke up. "Why not?"

Velistria turned a piercing gaze on him. "Because the White Sorceress abandoned us, and for that reason, I was condemned as a child of Satan for having magic. I was sent into exile for my sin."

"Wait a minute," said Lelahn. "You're from Gregoran?"

"Yes. And I never want to go back there. It was the Lord's will that I come here and construct this beautiful city, and here I must stay, to carry out His work." Alainna looked miserable.

"You refuse to help us then?"

"Yes, you must leave now."

"Then we will, if we must," Alainna sighed. Velistria nodded and suddenly disappeared, cloaking herself in illusion, no doubt. She hadn't closed the door when she came in, so they had no way of knowing if she had left or not.

"Well," said Kelden ruefully, running his hand over the pillow again. "I guess we have to do what the woman says."

Koldar descended the stairs from the tower where he kept his viewing pool. He stamped and swore his way into the courtyard where Karanis was sitting on a bench, looking up at the cloudless sky.

"What is it darling?" she asked calmly.

"Damnit Karanis! My viewing pool just went blank. There was some city on the coast, and they went into it. Now I can't find them. It's as if they just vanished."

"Well then, wait until they reappear, love." Koldar shook his head violently.

"The fact that this has happened shows that something very strange is going on. What if they get into trouble? I wouldn't be able to help them." Karanis rolled her eyes.

"Well, that would be a loss, wouldn't it."

"You know it would be."

"I don't even know why you care," Karanis shot back. "They aren't going to survive the sea passage anyway. Face it, you're going to have to try again with the next White Sorceress."

"No, I'm not going through this again. I'm sending the troops after them. They'll find them, and bring Alainna to me."

Karanis shook her head. "You do whatever you like, Koldar."

They left the room, walked down the stairs and exited the building. All of the people had vanished, turning a bright, bustling city into a silent wasteland. Though the shops were still bright and colourful, bursting with rare treasures, the energy of life was missing.

"You know," said Kelden, "We really should try to figure out which of the ships really exists - assuming any of them do - and leave that way. If it's all the same to her."

"I'm sure we'll find out if it's not the same to her if we try," said Alainna as they passed through the door of the stable.

They entered the stable only to find the horses lying on the ground, their throats cut and blood pooling behind their heads. Lelahn gasped, suddenly realizing.

"She doesn't want us to leave and tell people where she is. She means to kill us."

Alainna's voice was quiet and intense. "And with her powers of illusion, we won't even notice our impending deaths until too late." Kelden strode forward, ignoring the blood sucking at his shoes. He untied the packs from the horses' backs and handed them out.

"We have to find our way out of here. She could be covering all sorts of traps with illusion, and we would never see it until we fell to our deaths." Kelden turned to Lelahn. "Could you use your power to see what this town really looks like, so we can find a ship and get out of here?" Lelahn shook her head distressedly.

"I can't sense the outside world when I'm using my power. I wouldn't be able to walk while touching the building, and I wouldn't be able to see through the illusions while walking. It would be slow going."

"Once you determine what's real and what isn't, I can Banish the illusion with one of my powders. It will have to do," said Alainna.

The Soldiers of the Black Guild - called Dark Knights in the Badlands- sped through the air on their gleaming ebony horses over the sparkling waters of the Great Ocean. They were a secret society, kept carefully hidden from the White Guild. No one but a select few of the Black wizards and sorceresses - those who worked closely with Koldar on his plan - were even aware of their existence, despite the fact that they, too, were wizards and sorceresses. They'd been painstakingly trained and conditioned never to reveal their identities, and were they incapacitated or killed they had special, automatic spells built into their armour that would destroy any evidence of their identities.

In a few hours, the phalanx of soldiers would arrive in Anata, in search for their master's greatest enemy. They would do as they were ordered, and that was all they would ever conceive of doing.

The sea rolled on beneath them.

They felt their way along, trying to keep the Ocean in sight while navigating the twisting streets and bridges of Illustrium. It seemed as if the buildings themselves had shifted, and continued to move to obstruct their path to the blue salvation. Every few feet, Lelahn would put a hand to the ground or a wall and describe their true surroundings. Alainna had to know what was illusion and what wasn't in order to Banish the magic. After Lelahn described it, Alainna then scattered a white powder into the air, which drifted on the breeze and settled down, Banishing the magic obscuring what it landed on. It was slow progress, but the numerous potholes and other traps that Velistria had herded them towards were revealed and bypassed safely.

They had only gotten about halfway to their objective when they began to hear the rumble of pounding feet. It sounded as if an army was marching toward them. As the columns of soldiers approached, walking purposefully toward them from a side street, Lelahn placed a hand on the newly-revealed structure of a tumbled building. Kelden and Alainna drew their weapons and walked toward the girl, waiting for her judgment. As the soldiers drew closer, they began to look more and more hideous. They were covered in wiry hairs, with pig snouts. Sharp tusks protruded from their mouths and forced them open into wide, grotesque grins.

There was little doubt that they were illusions, nothing like that lived in Anata, but there could be real people concealed within that crowd. Suddenly Lelahn looked up.

"None of them are real." As the army descended on them, swords drawn, Alainna opened the canister of powder and tossed whole handfuls on the monsters. As the grains of powder touched them, they vanished, but the space was immediately filled by another. Alainna continued to spread powder until the last one was gone. The sudden silence and emptiness of the streets was a shock. The area was covered with white dust, and the canister was almost empty. The three looked at the miserable dusting of powder on the bottom.

"Now what?" asked Kelden.

"I don't know," Alainna responded helplessly. In response to her words, they heard the rumble of another approaching army. Lelahn gasped - this one sounded even bigger than the last one, and they had no powder left to combat it.

"Run!" she yelled. They took off in the opposite direction, ignoring the terrible uncertainty of every step. Sharra flew high above them, giving Alainna instructions on how to proceed, which quickly turned out to be untrustworthy as the intersections she predicted never appeared. The calm city streets twisted and turned, trying to force them towards the approaching horror and away from the Ocean. They kept it in sight, leaping over fences and going right through buildings to keep their objective.

As night began to obscure landmarks, making progress much more difficult, the much slower army finally fell behind and the sound began to fade. Just as hope flared in their breasts, Kelden, who was leading, stumbled on nothing and fell forward. Simultaneously, he whipped out a red energy strand, which tied tightly around a promontory jutting out of one of the buildings, which fortunately proved solid, and Alainna sent hers, a shimmering blue, out to encircle his waist. Between the two, they dragged Kelden out of the pit which they could now see yawning before them. Kelden stood at the edge, staring wildly at the dark cavity, his breathing ragged, his heart pounding. Alainna came up and touched him on the shoulder. He turned and tried to smile, but she could see the remembrance of fear behind his eyes.

"Maybe we should go into one of these buildings and rest for a while. It certainly can't make things worse to be somewhere protected and enclosed," she suggested gently.

Kelden shook his head. "No. We have to keep moving."

"Do you really think Velistria can't find us wherever we are? It doesn't matter how fast we move, she'll still be able to fight us, so why should we face it tired and afraid? Alainna's right," Lelahn said forcefully. Kelden regarded her with surprise for a moment, taken aback by her uncharacteristic decisiveness. All of this must have scared her as much as he, to produce such a reaction. He nodded, and lead the way into the nearest building.

Once inside, Alainna used the last of the powder to reveal a relatively intact structure, which even had a few chairs in the middle of the room. Kelden sat heavily in one of the chairs, shaking from adrenaline. They had only rested a moment, when the door slammed open, revealing Velistria.

The woman was a stark contrast to the dust-covered threesome, with her jewels and flowing dress. Her eyes flashed and burned with anger.

"I am finished playing with you. You refuse to leave Illustrium, instead you insist on penetrating deeper within. I refuse to tolerate any more disturbance to my fair city," she said. Alainna rose to her feet in protest.

"I'm sorry Velistria. We meant no harm. We have no problem with leaving, we only want to leave by sea, rather than having to retrace our steps on this very important mission we are on." Velistria put on a smile, sculpted on disdainful lips.

"I care nothing for your mission. You will leave the way I dictate, or you will not leave at all. Since you have forfeited the former, I am forced to carry out the latter." She drew a knife, barbed with metal spikes that would tear the insides more coming out than going in, and vanished.

Renah, Norath, and Ferris arrived at their destination and immediately stumbled and fell to their knees, breathing heavily. As the dizziness faded, Norath shook her head sadly, prompting a sudden wave of nausea; their ancient lifeline had obviously degenerated as much as the Chief had led them to believe. After a moment, she struggled to her feet, trying to do so as gracefully as possible while simultaneously shaking off the last of the disorientation. She helped Ferris to his feet as Renah got up by herself. The girl seemed excited, grinning from ear to ear in the dimness of the underground room.

"Well, let's get above ground, then," she said. Without waiting to see if her foster parents would follow, she raced up the stairs, her shapely, tanned legs pumping. As she burst out into the late-evening sunshine, she suddenly stopped, her smile fading, as she saw the hostile crowd that faced her.

Norath caught up to her and put her own imposing body in between her daughter and the citizens of the costal City of Saintanel. Renah had never left the confines of Garothan before now, and didn't know how dangerous it could be, even among her own kind, but Renah pushed her mother aside, gently but firmly, and addressed the crowd, her voice carrying clearly as if she were a trained orator.

"We are on a very important mission from the Chief. We don't mean to intrude on your lives, we simply wish space for the night and then we will be on our way." A man pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

"There is still daylight left, you can take the boat we have prepared for you and leave now. We have no space for Garothans here." Renah smiled and suddenly seemed to glow with the power that coursed through her. Despite himself, the man took a step backwards.

"What about a sorceress?" she said, raising a hand. A blue flame leapt up from her fingertips and then vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Do you have room for someone sent by the White Sorceress Herself?" The man swallowed, his Adam's Apple bobbing up and down. He raised a six-fingered hand and pointed a trembling, taloned finger towards one of the nearest buildings.

"There is room for you all there. I hope you enjoy your stay." Renah nodded.

"Thank you, you're very kind."

She was somewhere in the room, about to strike. Lelahn's vision of the past would not help them here; by the time she found Velistria, the woman would have moved. So she focused inward, searching for those threads, trying to sense a direction. Suddenly she pointed. Kelden, wound tightly by tension, reacted instantly and thrust his sword through the area she had indicated. There was the dull, wet thud of crystal biting into flesh and suddenly they could see her.

She lay on the ground, blood flowing from a deep cut in her stomach. All around them, the illusion of the city began to flicker, cutting in and out as she struggled against her pain. Through a window, Alainna saw that the Ocean was in the opposite direction from where they'd been going, on the other side of the city. She shivered, such power. Velistria herself had changed as well. Her vibrant red dress had faded into a drab, blood-stained Gregoran-style cloak, and all of the jewellery had disappeared. Her face was streaked with dirt and blood, and her hair, still piled on her head, was coming out of the pins and hanging over her face in wisps.

She groaned, still fighting against them, trying to speak through the fog of pain that enveloped her.

"It's not fair…" she whispered, her dying lips muttering the words as if they were some divine truth, just like a child. Alainna knelt beside the girl and desperately tried to Heal her, but the damage was too extensive. She watched her die with a feeling of indescribable sadness - Velistria had been a child, playing with her toys and not wanting the game to end. As the last breath of life bled out of her, Lelahn gave a small cry and sank to the ground, sobbing.

…Renah sat up suddenly, hitting her head on the underside of the top of the cubicle she'd been sleeping in. A wave of despair swept over her and tears rolled down her face. It was as if something inside her had snapped…

…Yana gave a soft moan and stirred restlessly in the bed they had given her at the Guildhall. Tears dripped from her soft cheeks but she did not awaken…

…Illyanna's eyes snapped open and she let out a scream that rended and tore the night. One of the threads had just snapped and she felt the pain of the whiplash shivering through her entire body. Her face grew red and hot with fury. One of her people had been killed. She knew, without really being sure why, she knew. Her fists clenched and unclenched, her fingernails biting into her palms in the darkness of a hotel room.

Kelden tried to pull Lelahn away from the body of Velistria, but she threw him off. She sobbed tearlessly over the hostile stranger until Alainna laid her hand on her shoulder and drew the girl into a close embrace.

"It's all right, child," she crooned stroking Lelahn's hair softly. After a moment, she pulled away from Alainna.

"I'm fine, I just didn't realize it would… hurt that much," she said. Kelden saw her shoot an accusatory glance at him before a mask slipped over her face. He realized suddenly that this was the first time in a while that she had retreated behind her disguise of neutrality to such a degree. It was always there, behind the animation that time had put back in her face. But now it was as if she had regressed to an earlier time, and her face had no memory of the laughter it had shaped just hours before. The guilt was crushing to Kelden; he hadn't meant to kill her, only incapacitate her until they could leave. It had been an accident, and now Lelahn was paying for it.

"I'm sorry, Lelahn," he said, suddenly feeling as helpless as he had felt seven years before, "but it was an accident. She would have killed us, and I couldn't see her, or I would have just disabled her until we could leave. I swear." Lelahn nodded easily, her mask never slipping for a moment.

"I know, Kelden. I don't blame you." He nodded, of course you don't. She took one final, sorrowful look at the bloodstained form on the floor and they left the building, exiting into the clear night air.

Outside, Alainna looked around with a sigh. "I finally remembered, a thousand years ago, this was a city called Erutreia. It was one of the centres of trade for all of Anata, because their access to the Ocean meant that they could transport goods inland along the rivers from any point, faster than any land-bound good could travel. It was one of the greatest cities in the world, and now it's only ruins." Kelden started - he had never heard this story before.

"Where did the people go?"

Alainna shrugged, "I don't know, they just vanished and no one dared to move back in afterwards. Gradually the city decayed and was forgotten." Taking another look around at the windswept mausoleum, Alainna began leading the way towards the Ocean, in silence.

When they reached the shore, they could barely make out the shapes of the boats in the water. Instead of trying to find a sea-worthy ship in the darkness, they set up camp at the edge of a beach beside the docks and decided to wait until morning. They had only been there a few minutes when Karim suddenly cheeped in alarm, raising his head to look out onto the water. Alainna was instantly alert.

"What is it?"

Kelden looked at her. "Karim hears Horses, out over the water." Alainna rose to her feet, pulling her dagger. Kelden and Lelahn followed suit and they stood together in the darkness, waiting for their enemy to appear.

Within moments, the rushing of the Horses' bodies against the wind was audible to all, and they could make out the forms of the approaching foe against the starlit sky. At least ten black Horses, almost invisible in the moonless night, were flying towards them. The starlight glinted off the armour of the leader and Alainna gasped in realization.

"It's the Dark Knights."

The lead Horse passed low over them and its rider reached down to grasp Alainna around the waist, bearing her up into the air, while another engaged Kelden, fending off his sword with difficulty. Alainna slashed at the Knight with her daggar, but it was ineffective against the armour, which was literally glowing with magical power. He ignored her efforts, only allowing her to see his baleful glare through the dark slit in his armour. Finally, she slashed at the Horse, her dagger expertly evading the Knight's parry, and winced in empathy as it whinnied and dipped lower. She slashed at its throat until it expired and crashed to the ground, sending her and the Knight flying. Lelahn stepped up and stabbed the Knight through the vulnerable spot at the base of the neck before it could recover.

As she got to her feet, Alainna heard a scream rip the night and turned to see Kelden drop his sword, clutching at his arm, which was streaming with blood. At his sound, the Knights suddenly disengaged. They flew away soundlessly, leaving the dead Knight and horse behind. As Alainna moved to Kelden's side, she saw the one who had injured him tumble from its Horse like a dead body being thrown from a ship into the sea. She shivered. What were they?

The Soldiers of the Black Guild flew until they were a comfortable distance away from the objective's camp. This was their orders: to ensure that the objective was not in danger, and that they had sufficient transportation across the Ocean. If they were not in need of rescue, the Soldiers were to wait until they were and then return them to Akarris. The incident on the beach had been simply to distract the objective from the Ones bringing a ship to the docks for their use. Though they had had to leave before the anticipated time, this had been achieved.

The Disobedient One had been eliminated for his stupidity in wounding one of the objective, despite the Master's orders. Now all that was left was to wait. They hovered over the Ocean, secure in the knowledge that they were carrying out the Master's orders properly. That was all that mattered.

Several hours later, Kelden found himself still unable to sleep. Despite Alainna's Healing, his arm still harboured a ghost of the remembered pain. But it wasn't just his injury that kept him awake, it was also worry; he knew now, without having to hear Karanis remind him this time, that the Black Wizard was watching them. This attack had only confirmed what the sorceress had told them. They couldn't make a move without Koldar knowing about it. Furthermore, why hadn't their attackers killed them? It seemed almost as if they had been trying to capture them, rather than stop them from leaving Anata. With their superior numbers and flying Horses, they should have easily overwhelmed the three of them. And from what Alainna had described, it seemed as if the one who had injured him had killed itself because of it. Why would the Black Wizard want them to come to Akarris? Finally, Kelden got to his feet, taking care not to disturb Karim. Wrapping his blanket around his shivering body, he walked out onto the beach.

The water was comforting on his bare feet, and its soft roar hid the footsteps of someone approaching him along the sand. He didn't notice her presence until her voice floated over his shoulder.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Kelden jumped in surprise and turned to face Alainna with a smile. Her nightgown was billowy white silk that moved slightly in the wind. She looked like an angel, her face framed by stars. He smiled, overcome.

"Yes, it is. I guess neither of us could sleep."

She smiled. "No, I had something on my mind. I wanted to talk to you about it."

"What is it, my friend?" he asked. Alainna dropped her crystal blue eyes and then raised them boldly to meet his own.

"About what happened today, I-"

"I'm sorry about that, Alainna. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Kelden broke in, a blush rising on his fair cheeks. Alainna seemed to withdraw into herself, and she cast her eyes down again.

"So what your saying is, you didn't mean it."

Kelden's mind raced, could it be true? "No, I-" he said hurriedly, "I did mean it. I just didn't know you did." Alainna looked at him again, joy and disbelief filling her gaze. Kelden smiled. "Do you really think I could resist you?" Alainna smiled in response.

"I was beginning to wonder." They sat down together on the blanket Kelden had brought and looked out at the Ocean, reveling in this new truth they had discovered. After a moment, Kelden drew Alainna's face towards him and kissed her. This time, it was tender and gentle, unhurried. Their worlds were filled only with each other for an eternity.

They made love there, united at last, on the edge of the greatest frontier they had ever known.

Hours later, Kelden lay, barely awake, with Alainna in his arms. He shivered slightly in the cold and drew her closer to him. Alainna was warm and comfortable in the frigid night, but Kelden, for the first time, felt his black nature manifest itself in this sensitivity to the cold. What is happening to me? he wondered. He closed his eyes, pushing the thought away and finally dropped off into sleep--

--A glass of red wine, overturned on a table. Drops fall to the floor, glittering in the candlelight like rubies. It is almost impossible to distinguish the wine from the flowing blood on the floor. Floating on the pool of blood is her shining blonde hair. Gold, inset in rubies.

A candlestick, encrusted with jewels. A scream echoes and blood runs from the candle, bubbling up from the cracks and ruptures in the blackened wax. A man holds out his hands, cupped to receive the precious liquid and draws it to his mouth. He smiles, and his bloodstained gums are squirming with maggots. One curls over his lip and out of his mouth as he speaks.

"Join me."

The maggot on the floor begins to grow, pulsating, flowing over the floor. Getting bigger and bigger until it swallows the world...

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