Disclaimers: see part 1, chapter 1

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Lorimal's Chalice

Part Four - The Chalice

By Jane Fletcher

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Chapter 5: The Ruins of Graka

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Stars still shone undimmed but the black sky was yielding to the first shades of blue. The shadows were starting to soften. To one side of the inn, stables were set around a small courtyard. The warm smell of hay and animals countered the predawn chill. Jemeryl and Tevi escorted Levannue to the three horses tethered in one corner. The porter and innkeeper trailed behind, bearing Levannue's hastily collected belongings. Tevi held the stirrup as the prisoner mounted and then tied her hands securely to the saddle. At one side, Jemeryl knelt to rifle through the baggage.

"I want to be sure there's nothing nasty in here. It all..." Jemeryl's voice trailed off.

"What is it?" Tevi asked.

Jemeryl pulled out a chalice. "Do you recognise this?"

Tevi took the chalice from Jemeryl's hands. Her finger ran slowly over the remembered pattern of small dents that distorted the rim. "Yes. This is it." Tevi's voice was no more than a whisper.

"So, you may get to complete your quest after all."

A succession of emotions chased across Tevi's face. "It might be best if I don't." She spoke softly, almost sadly.

The innkeeper's relief at their departure was unmistakable. He dithered outside his inn as they rode away, his need to be certain they were gone battling his urge to run away and hide. The three women passed through empty streets on their way to the southern gate of the citadel. They saw no one until the solid bulk of the gatehouse loomed before them. Even at that early hour, a full compliment of vacant-eyed sentries stood watch. Jemeryl held out Bykoda's talisman. Immediately, the guards unbarred the gate. Tevi felt her face grimace with abhorrence at the soldier's mechanical movements that were as devoid of true life as the walls around her.

Dawn was breaking as the riders emerged onto the open road. The southern approach to Uzhenek was less populated than the east, where they had entered. Only a scattering of shoddy huts littered the scene. Beyond them, were cultivated fields leading down on the river. The road crossed the dark, sluggish water on a solid and very real looking bridge before dividing on the far bank.

Jemeryl reined in her horse at the junction and looked back. Thin bands of golden cloud lined the horizon. The pink flush in the eastern sky was reflected in the citadel walls. Graceful spires and turrets caught the first of the dawn light. Soft ripples of colour washed over the buildings.

"Isn't that an amazing way to deconstruct transient cross-flow!"

Tevi laughed at Jemeryl's tone of wonder. "I'm afraid I haven't got a clue what you mean and I doubt you'll have much luck getting any show of enthusiasm from Levannue."

No word came from the prisoner. Levannue had hardly spoken since her capture. The collar was clearly troubling her. She rode with her eyes fixed on the middle distance and an expression of strained disbelief on her face.

"I guess you're right." Jemeryl conceded. "I'll save my praise until I meet Bykoda in person when I return. I want to learn whatever she's willing to teach. That's the road to Tirakhalod." She indicated the wider fork, heading north, with deep ruts gouged by the passage of carts. Jemeryl's eyes fixed on the point where it faded from view. She then turned away and urged her horse onto the smaller western track. "But first it's back to Lyremouth. This will link with the Old West Road to the pass above Denbury. Once there, we can catch a barge down the river Lyre."

Jemeryl set off across the featureless plain with the sun creeping into the sky behind her. Levannue's horse trotted forward to go two abreast.

Tevi fell in behind. Several times, she glanced back over her shoulder at the road to Tirakhalod. For her, it was a relief to be out of Uzhenek and heading back to the Protectorate with Levannue as prisoner. She had seen enough of Bykoda's empire. Jemeryl had not discussed her plans for the future and Tevi had chosen not to ask, unsure of what part she would be allowed, or wanted, to play. Yet, there were decisions to be made and they were not going to be simple. Tevi's eyes fixed on Jemeryl, full of doubt, but then they shifted back to Levannue and her face hardened. When Levannue was safely delivered to Lyremouth, there would be time consider her options.

* * * * * *

That evening, they camped on the open plains under a translucent new moon in a pale blue sky. A sharp wind blew from the north. It surged through the long grass in hissing waves and snapped at the campfire made from knots of grass and dried dung. The horses grazed nearby. Beyond them, an immense herd of shaggy, cow-like animals shuffled through the dusk. Apart from the track, there was no sign of other human life. Uzhenek lay many miles behind them - a fair day's journey, but one planned not to push the horses too hard. It was a long ride to Denbury, with no chance to swap mounts until then.

Jemeryl and Tevi talked of routine matters, their speech inhibited by the sullen presence of Levannue. She sat a few yards off, listening to what was said but making no attempt to join in. Her expression had settled into one of resentful scorn.

As true dark fell, Tevi shook out the blankets and made ready to cover the fire with cut turf. She looked at the prisoner. "What about keeping watch? Should we take turns?"

Jemeryl shook her head. "No need. The horses are mind-locked so they won't wander and won't let Levannue get within twenty yards without one of us present. And Klara's been asleep on my saddle all day; she can stand sentry. She'll wake me if Levannue sends so much as a filthy look in our direction."

"If Klara does that, on today's evidence, you won't get much sleep." Tevi said, grinning.

"True. I don't think Levannue is our friend at the moment."

This finally provoked an outburst from Levannue. "You're so pleased with yourself. Does it feel good, getting revenge for what happened in Ekranos?"

"Revenge doesn't come into it. I'm just obeying the Guardian's orders." Jemeryl raised her voice without bothering to turn her head in the older woman's direction.

"Obeying the Guardian's orders - you make it sound so virtuous." Levannue sneered.

"If you remember, it's something you once swore to do as well."

Levannue's face twisted in angry derision. "Look at you, the Guardian's trusted follower! I'll bet she hasn't even let you to know what the spell is all about."

"No - and we don't want to know either." Tevi cut in.

"I wasn't addressing you. You shouldn't interrupt when your betters are speaking."

"You can drop that attitude." Jemeryl exploded, stung far more by Levannue's arrogant rebuke of Tevi than by the venomous tones directed at herself. "You're a traitor who has broken her oath of allegiance. The Coven has already withdrawn your rank of sorcerer. You've got a nerve to claim superiority to Tevi."

"I don't have to claim it. If you took this collar off my neck I could demonstrate it." Levannue snapped back.

"No. All you could demonstrate is that you're more powerful than her. Every honest citizen of the Protectorate counts as a better person than you." Jemeryl said with fierce passion. "You once swore to support the Coven but, for the sake of your own ambition, you've been trying to recreate a spell that will destroy it."

Levannue's anger faded into amused contempt. "You think the spell is intended to destroy the Coven? Is that the lie the Guardian told you? You're wrong. Lorimal's spell poses no treat to the Coven. It won't hurt anyone. In fact it does completely the opposite. All Lorimal's spell does is give eternal youth. Immortality - nothing more, nothing less."

"You're lying. If that was all, the Coven wouldn't ban it." Tevi said quickly.

"How dare you accuse me of lying!" Levannue spluttered in anger.

"Why not? I think it goes quite well with theft and murder."

While Levannue floundered for a reply, Jemeryl answered Tevi. "Levannue might be telling the truth, as far as immortality goes, but it's not that simple. The Coven has banned work on immortality because it's impossible. All attempts have done more harm than good. At best, they've raised false hopes. At worst, they've been..." Jemeryl paused, considering her words. "Evil - sacrificing the lives of others in an attempt to prolong one's own."

Levannue made a sweeping gesture, as if knocking the argument aside. "No. Lorimal's spell is different. For one thing it works - look at me! And the spell is only beginning to show its effect."

Jemeryl opened her mouth to speak but froze and stared at the other sorcerer. Now her attention was drawn, it was obvious that Levannue was more youthful than the woman who had left Ekranos. The lines on her face had softened, skin and muscle were firmer than before. There was a long silence.

Jemeryl's expression hardened, "I concede that it's done something, for now. But do you really think it will work forever? And what about the rest? Who pays the cost of your youth?"

"No one."

"I don't believe you." Jemeryl said curtly.

"Don't you..." Levannue bit back her words. She glared into the fire while she mastered her anger. At last, she raised her head and fixed her attention on Jemeryl. "I'll tell you how the spell works."

Jemeryl cut her off. "I don't want to know."

"If you're going to accuse me of lying, you might have the decency to let me defend myself." Levannue continued without waiting for agreement. "What Lorimal worked out is this... our bodies grow from conception to adulthood, following a plan held within our cells. But then the plan fails. It builds a healthy, strong body out of nothing but can't maintain what it created."

"I know the theory." Jemeryl interrupted. "The plan becomes corrupted with time."

"Not completely, else what do we pass on to our children? If the plan had worn out then babies would be born as old as their parents."

Jemeryl shook her head. "There's more to it than that."

"True, there is. But it's the starting point of Lorimal's work. The other attempts at immortality went wrong when they saw 'Death' embodied, as an enemy to defeat. Messing about with zombies and life forces was childish idiocy. Lorimal's great achievement was to realise that death is merely the failure to remain living. All she had to do was to work out how to make the plan repair itself and keep the youthful momentum going."

"If that was all, why would the Coven ban it?" Jemeryl said sceptically.

"A good question. You tell me." Levannue's voice was quietly triumphant.

The two sorcerers stared at each other. For the first time, Jemeryl looked unsure.

It was Tevi who broke the silence. "Perhaps they thought the Protectorate couldn't sustain such a massive rise in population. How could the farmers feed us if nobody ever died?"

Levannue replied condescendingly. "You couldn't give the drug to everyone. It would be limited to the most important people."

"Oh, of course - people like sorcerers." Scorn dripped from Tevi's voice.

"Of course."

"Anyone else you'd want to include in your elite band of deserving cases?" Tevi said, sarcastically.

"You can't be expected to understand the issues but you should know when it's your place to keep silent." Levannue spoke as if addressing a naughty child.

"I think I understand you very well."

Levannue turned away from the hostile mercenary. "You see, Jemeryl, what happens when you become involved with the ungifted. They get an inflated idea of their own importance."

"At least I keep my word." Tevi spat.

"I'm sure that's a very desirable trait for one of your social status."

Unable to withstand the patronising tone, Tevi jumped to her feet and marched off into the darkness. When Jemeryl caught up with her, she was standing by the horses and staring out across the darkening plain.

"Tevi?"

"Wouldn't you rather talk to a fellow sorcerer?"

"Tevi!" Genuine distress moderated the outrage in Jemeryl's voice.

"I'm sorry." Tevi was instantly contrite. She clasped her hands behind her head while she composed her thoughts. "What do you see in me?" she asked at last.

"I love you."

"You're a Coven sorcerer and I'm just a junior mercenary. Levannue is being spiteful - but honest. I'm not in your class."

"No - you're a far rarer thing than I am." Jemeryl took hold of Tevi's shoulder and pulled her around so their eyes met. "There are far too many people around who think like Levannue, including most of the ungifted. You don't know what it's like to be a sorcerer. Most people could accept me easier if I were bright green and had three heads. It's hard enough to make friends, let alone anything deeper. Even other sorcerers have their own ideas they expect me to match." Jemeryl's voice dropped. "But not you. Because you don't see sorcerers as particularly different to anyone else - forget Levannue winding you up just now. You've got no expectations of me as a sorcerer. You don't see me as a sorcerer - you see me as me. I need that. I need you."

"I can't see that I'm so rare." Tevi mumbled.

"There can't be more than a dozen like you in the length and breadth of the Protectorate, and I probably wouldn't get on with most of them if we met. I like you. If nothing else, I'd want to be your friend." Jemeryl's arms slipped around Tevi's waist. "On top of that, even after nine months of knowing you, you can still smile at me and turn my knees to water. Don't let Levannue get to you. Come back to the fire and sleep."

Tevi let herself be drawn back to the light but she knew, no matter what Jemeryl might say, that as far as the rest of the world was concerned, Jemeryl's name and hers did not fit together in the same breath.

* * * * * *

By the following afternoon, Levannue's mood had softened to dejected resignation. She even relented enough to make an effort to be pleasant to Jemeryl, although she treated Tevi with indifference bordering on contempt. When they stopped to rest the horses, she made a point to sit close by Jemeryl. Tevi stood to one side, arms folded, certain there was something on the elderly sorcerer's mind.

Levannue addressed Jemeryl with a studied nonchalance. "Have you given any further thought to what I said last night?"

"Of course, lots." Jemeryl replied.

"And?"

"If you think I'm going to say the Coven is wrong and let you go, in exchange for the formula, I'm afraid you're in for a disappointment."

From the way Levannue's face fell, Tevi guessed something close to that hope had inspired the question.

"What purpose does banning the spell serve? Who benefits?" Levannue's composure was already unravelling.

"I'm not sure if benefit is the right word but I think, if this spell is allowed to be used, then the Protectorate will be greatly harmed." Jemeryl said thoughtfully.

"That's ridiculous."

"Not if you think it through."

"I have!" Levannue asserted.

"So, what do you think about Tevi's point that the Protectorate couldn't support an overwhelming and unceasing rise in population?"

"I agreed. Which means Lorimal's potion would have to be strictly limited."

"How would those who didn't get the potion react?"

"They'd be no worse off than before." Levannue said reasonably.

"Would they see it like that?"

"Exceptions could be made, if you're worried about your mercenary sweetheart, though I'd warn you it's unlikely your affection for her will last all eternity." Levannue's smile did nothing to remove the barb from her words.

Jemeryl was undeterred. "It's not the particular cases that are the problem. It's the general effect on all citizens."

"I don't see your point." Levannue sounded genuinely confused.

"That's because you make no attempt to put yourself in their shoes. Withholding this potion..." Jemeryl ran her hand through her hair. "It's hard to think of anything that could cause more resentment. In most people's eyes there's a very thin line between allowing someone to die through inaction and murdering them, particularly when it's their own life in question. Try to imagine if you were an ordinary citizen, getting old and watching the people you loved die. Imagine there were immortal sorcerers, selfishly denying you the means to save your life. How would you feel?"

Levannue shrugged. "What could the ungifted do?"

"Get angry and resentful." Jemeryl answered succinctly. "At the moment, ordinary folk see the Coven as a necessary evil. They don't like sorcerers and they don't understand us, but we provide stability and protection. The Protectorate exists in this balance. Lorimal's potion would shift everything."

"Bykoda on her own holds the north in thrall. I'm sure the Coven could contain the disquiet."

"Yes - and that's the problem." Jemeryl countered. "At the moment, the Coven governs by consent, when it bothers to govern at all. Mostly, we leave the guilds to sort out their own business. If we withheld the potion from the guilds, we'd lose their trust and, in turn, we'd be unable to trust them. The Coven would have to govern by decree and enforce its commands. No matter how well intentioned we might start out, in time we'd become corrupt. When you run other peoples lives for them, you begin by treating them as children and end up treating them as slaves. The Protectorate would become a tyranny, run solely for the benefit of the Coven."

"You'd see sorcerers die, just to keep the ungifted happy?" Levannue was incredulous.

" If you think about your oath to the Coven, that's exactly what you swore to do - to give your life, if need be, to protect the citizens of the Protectorate."

"I don't see the oath as referring to something like this."

"Neither did I at the time. I guess we all think about something dramatic, like fighting a horde of dragons. Agreeing to submit to old age is no different, just less heroic sounding. You don't end up any deader."

Levannue was not ready to give up. "Dragons would affect the citizens safety, this potion would not."

"What point is safety without happiness?"

Levannue got to her feet and said vehemently, "One sorcerer is worth ten thousand ungifted."

"Why?" Tevi entered the debate for the first time. Levannue ignored her, so she asked again "Can a sorcerer be happier or suffer more than a potter?"

"No, but they can achieve greater things." Levannue condescended to snap an answer.

"What do their achievements count for? You obviously don't think the well-being of people in general has any value. If you discount other people's opinion, how do you measure worth? All you're left with is personal satisfaction. I'm sure a potter can get as much satisfaction from a well thrown pot as you can from a spell."

"Some things are more important than others."

"True. I'd say a useful pot is better than a useless spell."

"And we're taking about a spell which could inflict misery on millions." Jemeryl added her weight.

"I see your mind's made up." Levannue turned her back and stormed off.

"Don't go far." Tevi called after her.

"I'm hardly likely to run away on foot and I see you have the horses tightly mind-locked." Levannue threw over her shoulder.

"So you've tried?" Tevi said, amused.

Jemeryl stood by Tevi's shoulder. "Now, am I being brave or stupid?"

"In doing what?"

"Refusing Levannue's offer to share the spell. That's what this whole discussion was about."

"You sounded totally against using the drug." Tevi said, surprised.

"I was arguing generally. It's harder when it gets to specifics, like you and me. Will I remember this day when I'm old and on my death bed and curse myself as a fool? No wonder the Coven leaders were so concerned to keep Lorimal's work secret. Levannue setting herself up as an immortal empress would be bad enough, but they couldn't risk the truth becoming common knowledge. It presents an utterly appalling temptation." Jemeryl's face twisted in a pained grimace. "Say something helpful. What do you think?"

"I think I'd take a very simple view." Tevi said, after a short pause.

"Which is?"

"I'm oath-bound to the guild. I've never broken my word in my life."

"If I broke my own oath to the Coven, would you follow me?"

"I..." Tevi's voice died in confusion. She realised she did not have the first idea of what to answer. "I don't know. But, if it helps, I'll still love you when you're old and wrinkly." Of that much she was quite sure.

* * * * * *

On the following day, their path joined with another road, running straight and true across the open plains - unnaturally so. It travelled from one horizon to the other, unbending, as if a giant craftsman had lain a ruler across the terrain to score a line. The road was raised a little above the surrounding ground. Paving slabs were revealed in places where the wheel ruts dug more deeply, or wind and rain had scoured the topsoil. At one spot, the coils of a meandering stream had undercut the road and washed away the foundations. Crumbling slabs of dressed stone jutted from the sides of the gully. Tevi dismounted to examine the ancient workmanship.

"Who made this?" she asked.

"I'd guess slave labour did the actual laying of the stones. A sorcerer must have commanded it. Don't ask me their name, they were long gone before the Coven was founded." Jemeryl answered.

"Where does it lead?"

"Ahead of us, it goes over the pass at Denbury and down to the sea. There's still a port where it ends. Behind us, it probably goes to the ruins of a city, way beyond Uzhenek."

"To have a paved road, over this distance... it must have been an amazing city."

Jemeryl nodded. "And an amazing sorcerer. But, whoever it was, nothing remains of their empire except this road. The trade route has followed its path for centuries; it's known as the Old West Road."

Shaking her head, Tevi swung back into her saddle and turned to look both ways along the road. No one else was in sight. "It doesn't seem very well used."

"Too late in the year. We'll be alright as long as we don't hang about, but this isn't the season that most people chose to set out."

The truth of Jemeryl's words was self evident. Autumn was well advanced, with shortening days. Already, they woke most mornings to a glistening rime of frost on the long grass, making it crunch underfoot. There was probably little more than a month of safe travel before the harsh northern winter swept over the plains.

* * * * * *

Over the following days, they met scarcely anyone, only a couple of caravans hastening back to Uzhenek or Tirakhalod after their summer trade cycle. They overtook no one going in the same direction as themselves. The few villages they rode through were little more than huddles of temporary shelters for the nomadic plainsmen.

The interaction of the three women improved with time. Levannue seemed to make the purposeful decision to accept her capture with as much grace as she could command, although sometimes her mood gave way to bouts of bitterness when she was best left on her own, fidgeting irritably with the collar at her neck. Her relationship with Tevi could never be called warm but, with Jemeryl, a degree of mutual regard lightened at times into camaraderie. Lorimal's spell continued to work on Levannue and she became slowly, but unmistakably, more youthful. Tevi guessed that, by the time they reached Lyremouth, the three of them would appear to be about the same age.

The landscape changed. The level plains slowly gave way to undulating slopes, crowned with the outcrops of rock. To the south, the high Barrodens marched into view as the trail skirted their northern foothills. The vegetation became more profuse: first stubby bushes dotted the grassland, followed by isolated trees, and then small clumps of thicket. By the tenth day out from Uzhenek, they were riding through what might charitably be called woodland. Still the road continued on its remorseless advance, although now the trees encroached, narrowing the highway in places to barely the width of the wheel ruts. Roots ploughed through old paving, littering the ground with rubble. Yet, even under the assault of the forest, the road continued straight and true, over the folded ridges and off into the distance.

The unbending road held a hypnotic quality. It gave Tevi a jolt of surprise when they rode over one hilltop and began the descent into a thickly wooded valley, to see the road ahead turn sharply to the left. She reined in her horse at the bend. Despite a thick covering of bramble, it was possible to pick out the original line of the road on its old, unwavering course. The new route curved over the hillside, its camber lurching up and down with the contours of the land. The ruts of wagon wheels followed the new detour.

"Do we leave the old road? I thought you said it went all the way to Denbury." Tevi asked.

"It's just for a while. We'll join up with the road again soon." Jemeryl answered.

"Why? You're not going to tell me this is a short cut."

Jemeryl laughed. "No. There's an obstruction in the way."

"Can't it be moved?"

"No one's found the courage to try. It's the village of Graka or, by now, the ruins of it." Jemeryl guided her horse onto the new track. "The ghouls have taken it. Lots of them, which is unusual. Normally you don't get more than one or two at a time. Graka is notorious. It's the result of a sorcerer's experiment that went very, very wrong."

"What are ghouls?"

"No one knows for sure. It's hard to get close enough to study them." Jemeryl paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Actually, that's not quite true. It's easy to get close to them. It's getting away afterwards that's the problem."

"They're dangerous?" Tevi said, alarmed.

"Oh, highly." Despite her words, Jemeryl's tone was unconcerned. "They enjoy scaring people to death - quite literally. There's no physical violence but, if they touch you, they induce a state of terror which gives lucky people heart attacks. The unlucky ones go through stages of madness before hitting catatonic shock. But ghouls have absolutely no effect on animals. In fact, most non-humans can't even see them."

"It's assumed they directly stimulate the compound fields of the human aura and need to interact with complex reasoning. Even their appearance is thought to be purely a mental projection." Levannue added.

Tevi nodded to be polite, although she had only a vague idea of what was meant.

The trail climbed a wooded hillside. Tevi stared over the treetops, trying to catch sight of the cursed village. At first, she saw nothing but the rolling forest. Then her eyes picked out the crumbling finger of a ruined tower, maybe half a mile distant. Slightly closer a broken wall peeked between the crowding trees. To one side, a roof with half its tiles missing seemed to detach itself from the vegetation.

Tevi turned back to where Jemeryl rode, a few feet in front. "You don't sound alarmed. You're sure you can handle them?"

"I'd have no problems with one. The whole village would be a different matter but we're in no danger. Ghouls are tied to one place. People used to think it was their graves that held them, but ghouls aren't human, or the remains of anything that used to be human. They do base their general shape on people; however, they have a poor grasp of basic biology and probably the world's worst taste in colours."

"We're outside their range?" Tevi guessed, hopefully.

Jemeryl studied the ruins, her face twisting as she judged the distance. "A bit close at the moment to be absolutely safe, but they only come out at night. We'll be miles away by sunset. The new road has been cut because the traders get nervous but, as long as it's daylight, you could walk through the centre of the village. Do you want to go and see?"

Tevi smiled, realising she was being teased. She began to relax just as a trio of crows erupted from their nests. Tevi jumped at the disturbance. However, there was no sign of danger. The crows flapped in untidy excitement, wheeling in the wind, and then equally abruptly they sank back to their roost. The midday sun bathed the scene, defying any threat. Still, Tevi felt a cold shiver run through her. She fixed her eyes on the road ahead.

* * * * * *

By evening, they had rejoined the Old West Road and put several miles between themselves and the ruins of Graka. They camped under the spreading arms of an old oak, which hung over them like the rafters of a hall. Klara took a sentry post high in the branches, among heavy clumps of acorns. The ferns of summer had died back, leaving the ground beneath the trees clear of undergrowth. To the south, an expanse of exposed broken rock impeded the growth of trees, giving a view of the high Barrodens piercing the open sky.

While they ate their evening meal, Jemeryl sat chatting with Tevi and watched the sunset fade from red to purple behind the mountaintops. Levannue kept to one side, eating in silence. Her mood was withdrawn, as it had been since the ghoul village. At last, she put down her bowl and shifted closer to Jemeryl.

Levannue hesitated, as if searching for words. "Is there nothing I can say to make you reconsider your views on Lorimal's spell?"

It was not the first time Levannue had returned to the subject. Jemeryl sighed, she was beginning to find it tedious. "No. We've been over it enough."

"You think the Protectorate depends on keeping this spell secret?"

"Yes."

"Because of some vague idea of how the ungifted would react?"

"There's more to it." Jemeryl said patiently.

"Such as?"

"The sorcerers in the Coven. At the moment, we juniors know our place. We obey the Guardian and seniors largely in the hope of being seniors ourselves. The fact that the seniors will die one day is essential in sustaining the ambition. Take Alendy - he's been deputy for a few years. He seems content but he must have his eye on becoming Guardian himself. How many centuries would he be content to play second fiddle to Gilliart? If we were all immortal it could only be a question of time before the Coven fell apart."

"You don't think knowledge and the freedom to learn count for anything?"

Jemeryl shrugged. "I wouldn't say that, but I'm suspicious of disembodied ideals. The ideals themselves are fine but, when they're needed to excuse actions, they're usually a blanket to hide a feeble justification. If there's a genuine problem, people will point to tangible facts; they only resort to words like freedom when they need a smokescreen."

Levannue leant forward, impatient. "If you want a tangible fact? How about dying? It's easy for you. You're young and death must seem a long way off. It's getting much closer for me. Each year passes quicker than the last. Surely, you understand that I don't want to die if it isn't necessary?"

"It depends how you define what is necessary. I think the Coven is something worth dying for."

"Because you value the freedom of the ungifted."

"No - their happiness. The Coven allows millions to live out their mundane lives with adequate food and shelter for today and the reasonable hope of the same for tomorrow. It may be uninspiring to say we should be willing to die so that lots of people can have a tolerably nice time, but that's what it comes down to." Jemeryl met Levannue's eyes with an ironic smile. "I just hope they appreciate it."

"Surely you cannot value the lives of sorcerers so cheaply?"

"Like you did when you tried to murder Jemeryl?" Tevi cut in. Jemeryl saw Levannue flinch at the bite of sarcasm.

"I had no desire to harm her." Levannue said, quietly.

"Then I'd hate to see what you'd do to someone you really had it in for. And how about Druse and Aris?" Tevi asked.

Levannue slumped back. When she spoke, her voice was soft and hollow. "Aris was an accident. I knew she was unstable but I didn't think she'd kill herself. I had all her treatment planned for when she came back. I didn't mean for her to die." Levannue stared, unseeing, into the fire. "That's when it became serious. Until then, finding the spell had been a game - piecing together scrambled information from Orrago, hunting through the library, chasing clues. It was such an absurd rule there seemed no harm in breaking it. Then Aris killed herself. She was under a loose link to me but when her mind slipped over the edge, I couldn't pull her back. I felt her die and I knew that it wasn't a game anymore. It was only a couple of hours later that Druse called for me about the book I'd taken from the restricted part of the library. I was in a state of shock. I had no time to think. I wasn't able to think. I panicked and swapped his drugs. He didn't notice. He was too ill..." Levannue's voice fell to a torn whisper. "and too trusting. Next morning, when I woke, I rushed back to stop him taking them... but it was too late. Druse was a friend of mine. Do you know how much I've regretted his death?"

Would you have regretted Jemeryl's? The words were on Tevi's lips. Jemeryl could see them as clearly as if they had been spoken but the mercenary bit them back.

The thick silence under the trees was broken only by the hiss and crackle of the campfire and the rush of wind over the high branches. Jemeryl watched the column of sparks rise up from the fire and drift away into the gathering gloom. A whinny and stomp of hooves came from a short distance off.

Tevi got to her feet. "I'm going to have a last check on the horses before it gets too dark."

Jemeryl smiled and nodded. Levannue did not stir as Tevi left the fireside. The elderly sorcerer's eyes were fixed on the flames. By the pained set of her lips, she was viewing other scenes, other times. Jemeryl sat quietly, ready for Levannue to speak or keep silent as she wished.

"Did you talk with Bramell after I left Ekranos?" Levannue's voice was stretched with the effort. It was the first time she had mentioned her partner's name.

"No. Tevi spoke to him a few times but he'd left for Lyremouth by the time I was up and about."

"Do you know how he took my... departure?"

"As I said, I didn't talk to him." Jemeryl paused. "Word was that he was very upset, but he was coping."

"He would." Levannue managed the ghost of a smile. "There was no talk of him resigning?"

"None that I heard."

"Do you think he knows that I still care about..." Levannue's voice broke off. Her head dropped.

Jemeryl reached out, about to touch the older woman's shoulder. She was interrupted by Tevi's excited shout from a vantage point on the rocks.

"Look at that!"

Levannue tensed and drew away.

"What?" Jemeryl's attention was torn.

"Do you get fireflies here? I saw some before once, in the desert."

"No. We're too far north."

Jemeryl scrambled to her feet, about to investigate. She halted, unwilling to desert Levannue in her distress. However, the older sorcerer had withdrawn into herself. Her face was averted and both hands gripped the opposing elbow, so her arms crossed, barrier-like, in front of her. Levannue's jaw was clenched tight, as if to dam the flow of words. It was clearly an end to the conversation.

After one last, pitying look, Jemeryl turned away.

* * * * * *

Tevi waited on the other side of the road for Jemeryl to join her. "Look there, by the large beech tree."

"What is it?"

"I'm sure I saw lights flicker."

Jemeryl's face scrunched as she made the effort to peer into the darkening forest. Suddenly, her expression changed to one of horror. She spun back to where Klara sat sentry, oblivious to any danger.

"Oh, gods no!" There was panic rather than denial in Jemeryl's voice. "Klara can't see them."

"What is it?" Even as she asked, Tevi felt a cold fist clamp her stomach. "Ghouls?"

Jemeryl did not bother to give confirmation. She held her hands out, as if to ward off an attack and slowly turned around. Her eyes were wide open and her breath came in shallow gasps.

"How many?" The news had shaken Levannue from the painful brooding and brought her to her feet.

"The whole foul village. We're surrounded."

"You said they didn't travel." Tevi protested, in a mixture of confusion and fear.

"These ones have." Jemeryl stood frozen.

Cautiously, Tevi put out a hand to her shoulder. "Jem?"

Instead of answering, Jemeryl looked to where Levannue stood by the fire. "What do you recommend?"

"Rissom's web?"

Jemeryl gave a sharp nod of agreement. "Tevi, quickly, get the collar off her."

The urgency in Jemeryl's voice goaded Tevi to retrieve the key from the cord about her neck but, as she reached for the collar, she hesitated. "Can we trust her?"

"We've got no choice. I can't hold them off on my own and right now she's in as much danger as us." Jemeryl was no longer watching. The words were thrown over her shoulder while she dug frantically through the pile of baggage.

The collar fell from Levannue's neck. The elderly sorcerer gave a convulsive shudder. Her shoulders pulled back square and she took a deep breath, sucked through flared nostrils. Jemeryl stood up, wrenching two sorcerer's staffs free from the jumble. She tossed one to Levannue and then spoke to Tevi.

"Stand between us. We're going to create a barrier that will keep them out. Stay inside and try not to panic. Ignore them, if you can. It won't be easy but the barrier will dampen their projections." Jemeryl's voice dropped. "Keep your sword unsheathed and to hand - if you see the net fail before sunrise, use it on yourself." She swallowed. "I'll be doing the magical equivalent... if I can."

The two sorcerers faced each other, a dozen feet apart. Levannue clasped her staff in both hands and raised it high above her head, in an action that was copied immediately by Jemeryl. They began to chant in unison, a driving rhythm that rose and fell in power; strange words, yet disquietingly familiar to Tevi's ears.

She stared around, wondering what to expect. The chant stopped, as abruptly as if a knife had severed the string of arcane syllables. Lines of white light leapt between the tips of the staffs and collided in mid air. New rays shot out from the points of impact, criss-crossing, colliding and bouncing their way to the ground. More lines flared out from the staffs. Within seconds, a complete dome of fine lines had been formed over the three women. The web of light glowed luminously in the gloom under the trees.

All action stopped. Minutes passed and nothing happened. The silence was unnerving. Both sorcerers were motionless, rooted to the ground, their sight fixed on other dimensions. Tevi drew her sword, more for comfort than with any idea of action. She scanned the woods, trying to spot florescent lights flitting under the trees.

Jemeryl's final sentence kept echoing in her head. It was too late now to wish that they had exchanged more personal words - if they were to be their last. Tevi rubbed a hand across her face, feeling the chill of her skin. It was also too late to wish that they had positioned the barrier so the campfire was inside. Tevi stood and stared ruefully at the warming blaze. With no one to tend it, the flames would soon die.

There was an unearthly scream behind her. Tevi spun about as a green, glowing figure hurled itself against the net, shrieking in maniac fury. Behind it a second form, pale as a corpse and blotched with vivid purple, crawled across the ground. It shuffled through the leaves until it nosed close to the net, then plucked at the lines with stubs of fingers sprouting from a wasted arm. Its movements were confused clawing swipes, like a drunken harper, and all the while the ghoul whined and sobbed. More figures emerged from between the trees, clothed in yellow and green fluorescence. They spun about the web, tearing the silence of the night with screams and howls. Eyes, set in molten faces, leered in.

The sword slipped from Tevi's hand and she dropped to her knees. Her whole body shook as she fought back the nausea that churned her stomach and the terror that set the pulse jumping at her throat.

On the other side of the road, the horses grazed calmly, as if nothing more dangerous than gnats were abroad in the forest. The ghouls seemed equally unaware of them. The focus of their onslaught was the net of light and the three women it sheltered. The deformed shapes twisted and writhed around the dome, flowing in a depraved dance. Sounds erupted and faded away. Whispers came from lipless mouths. Towering shapes crashed down upon the net and senseless, silly, smiling faces chewed on its strands. Unbelievably, the web held firm.

Slowly, as if she feared a rash movement might provoke the ghouls to greater frenzy, Tevi reached out and grasped the handle of her sword, then edged back to sit by Jemeryl's feet. She raised her head, averting her eyes from the horror that surged outside the net and picked a point, near the apex of the dome, where the lines of light showed crisp against the night sky. All Tevi could do then was to sit and wait and pray for morning.

Above the mountains, the stars stepped slowly across the heavens, while hell ran brawling through the forest. Tevi marked the progress of the night by watching the turning sky slide stars from line to line across the web. In desperation, she kept her eyes locked on the rays of light, battling the urge to cheat herself by moving her head. As tiredness grew, she also had to contend with the illusion that the strength of the net was fading.

Hours crawled by. A dozen times, Tevi's hopes betrayed her when she thought she saw the first hints of morning in the eastern sky. In the end, it was with surprise she realised that the sky beyond the mountains was truly beginning to pale. She rubbed her eyes and took several deep breaths, then looked again. There was no doubt.

Even as relief flooded over her, it seemed that the intensity of the ghoul's attack was decreasing. For a last time, she lowered her eyes and looked at the monstrosities that beset the web. They were weakening, drawing off. Abruptly, the sounds of chaos stopped. The last pale figures faded away as the peace of pre-dawn settled beneath the trees. In the distance, the first bird sang. Still, the net held, as clean and true as it had been all night.

The muscles in Tevi's legs were cramped and frozen. The cold of the night had gnawed into her bones. It took minutes of careful, painful exercise before she could stumble to her feet. She wondered whether it would be possible to step through the net and light the fire. In the absence of advice she thought it best not to try. Instead, she concentrated on stamping some feeling back into her limbs.

To the east, the light was growing into a yellowy haze behind the mountains. The stars above were twinkling out when, with an audible snap, the net vanished. Tevi spun about at Jemeryl's gasp and the sorcerer fell forward into her protective arms. Jemeryl's skin was as cold as ice. Tevi could feel her body trembling violently.

"Are you all right?" Tevi asked.

"I will be. I just want to sit down." Jemeryl's voice was barely a whisper.

Tevi supported Jemeryl's weight and lowered her gently to the ground, when, to her inner ear, came Blaze's sardonic voice, drilling out the lessons of the islands, Never, never, never turn your back on your enemy.

Still holding Jemeryl, Tevi twisted to face Levannue just in time to see the older sorcerer complete a throwing motion - an attack. There was an instant for Tevi to realise that nothing as ordinary as a knife was aimed at them. The invisible projectile hit and red light exploded in her face. Tevi had the distinct sensation of being turned inside out. Up became down as darkness overwhelmed her.

Continued in chapter 6.

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