like his clan and had been as summarily abandoned by the patriarch as the rest.
The newcomer, an unremarkable example of Vraad perfection, was dismounting when the two of them arrived in the courtyard. His hand twitched as if something had bitten him. The latest of the storm’s minor assaults; everyone in the courtyard had been struck with pains of varying degree that came and went without warning. It was perhaps not so minor an assault. One Vraad was comatose; the searing pain in his head having ravaged his brain. No one assumed he would recover, but Dru intended on bringing him anyway.
“Dru Zeree.” Tiel Bokalee acknowledged him with a bow. Gerrod received a dark glance, but nothing more. “We have a visitor. One of the dragon clan.”
Gerrod turned away even though it would have been impossible to read his emotions if he had not.
Dru considered the rampant possibilities before responding. This was not the time to begin a war with the Tezerenee. “And what has Silesti done?”
“He insists this is your task to perform. Your decision will be his decision.” The choice did not sit well with the messenger.
“That means you need to cross-over.” Gerrod’s voice wavered. “They’re my cursed kin. I’ll go with you, make certain they haven’t something else in mind.”
The unspoken reason was that he, like Rendel, did not care for the idea of separating from the one person who preserved his existence. A Tezerenee was a Tezerenee to the other Vraad.
“There will be no one to watch this end.”
“Sharissa can do it. The familiar will guide her and that-your elfin friend-will be here to aid her, also.” Gerrod indicated the next group of Vraad, who were already departing. “It works on its own now that they understand cooperation. She won’t have much to do. The bulk of the storm is still beyond us,” he added, jerking in sharp, sudden pain. “Thankfully. We should be back before it reaches your land. We should be finished here before it grows too wild.”
Dru’s hands stung. “Then let’s be done with it. Give me but a moment to contact my daughter.”
“I’ll retrieve a pair of mounts.”
He nodded absently, his mind already reaching out. Sharissa?
Father?
Gerrod and I must be gone to the other side. The Tezerenee have arrived. I want you to watch things while I am gone. Xiri and Sirvak will aid you. I’m certain.
Her fear was evident, but she held it in check. I understand. It won’t be anything terrible?
I don’t think either side can afford a battle. If the Tezerenee have sent someone, it means they want to talk. Barakas would not talk if he held the advantage.
Good luck, then.
I leave it to you to tell Xiri and Sirvak. Watch the storm. What we’ve experienced is no more than a prelude. The worst is still coming. If it looks as if it will roll over the area before everyone is through… He held back for a breath, wondering what she would do if it depended on her. Even he would have been hard-pressed to come up with a solution. At last, he simply finished, Send them all through, but not in a rout. A rush will kill more than the storm will.
You’ll be back before that, won’t you?
I should be. He broke contact, hoping his own emotions had not influenced her. It was not possible to maintain complete confidence in the face of the storm and no contact whatsoever with the guardians, whom he had expected to see long before this. Were they waiting to see if the Vraad had enough sense to complete the task themselves? There was so much that made so little sense where the guardians and their enigmatic masters were concerned.
“Get down, damn you!”
Tiel Bokalee’s steed, a black animal that reminded Dru of the missing Darkhorse-would the creature from the Void ever find his way back? — in both form and temperament, reared and kicked at the ground. Bokalee managed to bring the horse under control, cursing because he had to risk himself physically rather than simply use his sorcery. Any excess use strengthened the growing assaults of the storm, something no one wanted.
A tiny figure scurried over Dru’s feet. He started to look down, but agony ripped his knees and he ended up half sprawled on the courtyard floor. Rats or magical imps became secondary to merely surviving the pain.
It turned out to be a mercifully short attack with no aftereffects save an uncontrollable fear that standing would bring about a relapse. Gerrod had just been returning with a pair of mounts, but he let them wander loose as he rushed to Dru’s side.
“Are you all right? What happened? I heard a horse shrieking…”
“He was spooked. Something tiny, but probably spawned by the storm, like my pain.” Dru recalled the chaos of Melenea’s citadel and realized that there must be less time than he had calculated earlier. “Forget it. Let’s move on.”
With Bokalee leading them, they departed the citadel grounds and, before long, entered the shadowy ghost lands.
I will not fear this, Dru repeated to himself over and over again. He could not forget his first encounter and the chaos that had precipitated. They had no idea if the path through would remain open indefinitely. He had been told that the intrusions had been instigated by the mind of the land, the thing that had once been the individuals of the founding race, but not once had the guardian really said that they still controlled it. The one had even admitted that they did not understand the faceless incarnations of their lords. If it was the whim of the masters to further test their potential successors, then Dru would not put it past them to seal off Nimth at any moment and see if those trapped within were intelligent enough to find another solution. He had a nagging suspicion that the founders had not been that different from the Vraad.
The sun gleamed bright, nearly blinding him with its abrupt appearance. Dru blinked and looked around. They had already crossed. He had been so entangled in his fears that he had missed the entire trek. It was a loss he could live with, the sorcerer decided.
Vraad were everywhere. It was the first thing Dru noticed. It was the first thing anyone would have noticed. The woods and the fields were filled with men and women who stood or sat or walked about. The one thing they shared in common was an aura of disbelief, disbelief that the sky was blue and the wind was only a gentle whisper. No one thought to build themselves vast fortresses-unless they had tried and failed already-and it seemed as if no one had even broken away and departed to find their own destiny. If anything, the Vraad were even more interested in the company of one another than they had back in Dru’s domicile. There, it had been forced; here, it was done out of an increasing insecurity. So used to being the masters of all they surveyed, the spellcaster’s people were having trouble coming to terms with a new and very defiant land.
The lone Tezerenee stood away from the rest, visibly nervous. He wore one of the face-concealing helms, but Gerrod had evidently recognized him, for he raised a hand and shouted out the other’s name. “Lochivan!”
“Gerrod?” The armored figure relaxed a bit, likely thinking that if one of his own could ride among the outsiders, then his life was not in danger.
Silesti stood nearby, close enough so that the Tezerenee knew he was there because of him and far enough away so that the dragon warrior knew better than to try to deal with him. The somber Vraad greeted Dru but said nothing more, emphasizing with his silence that he would listen but not take part. The hour belonged to Dru.
Dismounting, the master mage and Gerrod met with Lochivan.
“How is dear father?” the faceless warlock asked his brother, the sarcasm in his tone deep and biting.
Within the narrow slits of his helm, Lochivan’s eyes closed in weariness. “Insane with anger, or perhaps just insane. We were betrayed, Gerrod, betrayed by Rendel to a race of bird creatures!”
“How appropriate! Familial betrayals seem the norm with the clan of the dragon!”
Dru silenced his companion with a curt wave of one hand. “You said ‘bird creatures’? Manlike?”
“Very. They used Tezerenee tactics and Father believed it must be Rendel…”
“Well, you needn’t worry about punishing him for his crimes,” Gerrod broke in. “Rendel is very, very dead.”
Lochivan would have asked for details, but Dru did not have the patience. “We don’t have the time for this! Why did Barakas send you?”
The other Tezerenee looked uncomfortable again, but for different reasons now. “He did not… not exactly. He… he sent me to find out what was happening here and whether we faced annihilation from our own kind as well
