Storm Warning

good. It is called 'the Voice of Flame,' and Vkandis can use the voice of the person to deliver prophecy. But this Fal-cons-bane must have been a very strong demon to displace you; only the strongest and most evil of the demons had that power.' Karal's voice and expression were quite sober. 'You are a very lucky person, An'desha. Most people do not survive the touch of a demon upon their souls. You must be very strong as well.'

'You do understand! Though I think it was luck that let me survive.' For once he was talking to someone who didn't look at him as if he was half an idiot and all mad. 'Strong,' 'evil,' and 'demonic' were certainly all words that could have been used to describe Mornelithe. 'He had lived in many other bodies, and I still am not certain how I remained alive after he took mine. Perhaps it was because I was a coward and tried to flee instead of fighting him.'

'Perhaps he had grown careless,' Karal suggested shrewdly. 'Demons are known for their pride, and great pride makes for carelessness. So he stole your body. Then what occurred?'

'He did great evil with my body, and I could not stop him,' An'desha continued, the words tumbling out of him now. 'Then he sought to bring harm to my people, and to the Hawkbrothers, and these Valdemarans, all at once. But he was damaged by some of what he had done, and my Goddess sent to me two of her—' Now what Valdemaran word could he use to describe the Avatars? '—two of her spirit-beings. They helped me, a mage called 'Need' helped me, and Elspeth and Darkwind and Firesong helped me, and Falconsbane was cast out after much battle. When it was all over, the Goddess made me look the age I had been when he first stole my body, or nearly, returning to me the years he had stolen from me.' Well, it was oversimplified but fundamentally correct. Karal was looking at him with a sober expression on his face, and biting his lip as if he had something he wanted to say but was not certain how it would be accepted.

'Possession is a great evil, if it is not the Voice of Flame,' he said finally. 'I think it is a greater evil than even you know, and you were possessed in truth.'

'How do you mean?' An'desha asked, hoping that perhaps, just perhaps, this Karal might have some real answers for him. He might be the only person in this whole country who truly did understand, completely, what had been done to him.

'Possession can hurt the one possessed,' Karal told him earnestly, leaning forward with the intensity of a greyhound about to be loosed for the chase. 'It can make deep wounds, unseen wounds to the spirit. It is wounds like these, though they are invisible, that are harder to heal than any physical wounding. Evil corrupts, like the touch of any foul thing; it corrodes, like acid. It can etch the shape of itself into a spirit.'

That was exactly what the Avatars had said! An'desha nodded, not bothering to hide his astonishment. But Karal was still not through.

'I do not know you well, An'desha,' he said, diffidently. 'You are not of my faith, you do not swear by the Sunlord, and yet when the Voice of Flame possessed Solaris, Vkandis Himself laid the duty upon all of us to bring the breath of healing to any who needed it. 'He who does good in the name of another god, does it for Vkandis,' He said, 'and he who does ill in the name of Vkandis does it for the darkest demons in hell. Let those of good will bring succor to one another, and dispense with the naming of Names.'' Karal took a deep breath, and An'desha held his, every muscle tight, every nerve singing with tension. 'Healing hurts to the spirit is something of what my training is about,' he continued. 'My master Ulrich knows far, far more than I. There are many who were hurt in this way by the Black-robes that my master and others have later helped.'

He paused, and An'desha nodded, unable to speak. Karal took that as license to continue.

'I think that you are still in pain and fear, An'desha,' he said, as somber as any shaman. 'I cannot see you in pain and not offer to help. If it is your will, my master or I can try to help you.' He smiled shyly when An'desha did not immediately reject the offer or turn away. 'I do not know if we can help you, but I know that we would try. This—healing does not require that you swear by Vkandis—it only requires that you be willing to have it done. Even if we can do nothing, perhaps we can give you the direction to help you heal yourself.'

For a moment, hardly more than the blink of an eye, young Karal was surrounded by a soft, golden glow—as if he sat in the midst of warm summer sunshine. But the waterfall was in shadow—

An'desha blinked, as he realized that there was something more about this young stranger that he had sensed but had not understood. After his own brush with the Avatars, he had become far more sensitive to those the shaman would call 'god-touched.' It did not even matter that the god in question was not his own Star-Eyed Lady. There was something about this Karal—a color, or a sense of Light about him—that was a great deal like the feeling he had when the Avatars were near, though it was much weaker. And now—this glow about him was clearly a confirmation of what he had felt. He had sensed similar Light about the Shin'a'in envoy, although he had been far too shy to approach her; she was sworn to the Goddess, marked so by her dark apparel, and he had not had the courage to speak with her after the way he had run off from his own Clan, so long ago. And this feeling Karal called up in him was also identical to the kind of feeling he had when he was around a Companion....

Whoever, whatever he is, he hasn't made this offer frivolously, or because he wants to impress me. He has something that can help. And Firesong doesn't understand me when I try to tell him what's wrong with me....

If there is any hint of Falconsbane around me, surely someone like Karal or his master can banish it! And he talks as if he understands the horrible things I've been feeling and the terrible things I've almost done!

He flushed with embarrassment and ducked his head a little. 'Yes,' he said softly. 'Please. I don't know why you have offered, but—'

Karal patted his hand, that he had unconsciously clenched into a fist on his knee. 'I have offered because it is