working any direct magic, she had been acting as an energy source for both of them, plus giving the more timid creatures a good scare when she charged them. She must be as exhausted as they were.
'That's all right,' he said. 'It isn't that far.' He oriented himself, recognizing a clump of mingled evergreen and goldenoak, stand of willows, and a rock formation. 'We've been working in circles, actually.
We're hardly more than a dozen furlongs from the edge of the ruins.'
'Then what are we waiting for?' Elspeth asked.
'For me to get my second wind,' he told her. 'I haven't your youthful resilience.' She chuckled. He closed his eyes for a moment, drew up reserves of energy, then pushed away from the tree he had been leaning on. 'Let's go see what the news is.'
The visible component of the message was a tiny, incandescent spark that danced in the air above the exact center of the crude building in the ruins. It brightened as soon as they entered the building, and the moment they were both in place, with Darkwind to the east of the node and Elspeth beside him, the spark flared suddenly.
Then it-unfolded, was the only word Darkwind could think of. It stretched down in a line that just touched the ground, then the line opened up on either side, until it formed a soft-edged mirror that hung in the air between them.
For a moment, Darkwind saw only his own reflection. Then the mirror dimmed and darkened to blue starlight, and the face of another Tayledras, this one a contemporary of his father at a guess, looked solemnly out at him.
It was hard to remember that this was only a message, that he could not actually speak to the one in the mirror, any more than he could hold a conversation with a piece of parchment. The illusion was so complete that it took an effort of will to keep from greeting the stranger.
'K'Treva has heard the need of k'sheyna,' came the mind-voice of the stranger. 'While we are grieved by your situation we are relieved that you came at last to us. We feared for you but saw no way to help you without acting like tyrants or well-meaning but intrusive siblings.' Darkwind nodded; that made sense. No Clan interfered in the affairs of another without some kind of truly catastrophic emergency involved.
'We have the help you need,' the other continued, 'A Healing Adept, strong and well-versed in his craft, and who is one of the most creative mages this Clan has ever held.' The other smiled, briefly. 'Such praise may seem excessive, but as the Shin'a'in saying goes, 'It is no boast when it is fact.' I will build him a Gate to a place I know within your territory, one that I hope will be far enough away that it will not disturb your Stone. From the Gate terminus, I believe it will be about a half day's ride to your Vale under good conditions, and certainly no more than a full day. Expect him within that time once you feel the perturbations of the Gate. If Firesong cannot help you, no one of k'treva can. Be of good cheer, brothers.' With that, the entire construction sparkled and winked out. Darkwind stared across the room at Elspeth, unable to believe their good fortune.
'You look like a stunned bird,' she observed.
'I feel like a stunned bird,' he admitted. 'It's incredible.
'I have to tell you,' she said, shaking off her daze, 'I was standing here waiting for the ax to fall. I never thought there'd be anyone in the first Clan we sought help from powerful enough-and willing-to handle this mess. Especially not after what it did to our mages.'
'Nor did I,' he admitted. 'I thought that surely even if there was a Healing Adept within k'treva that we would have to convince him to come here. And then we would have to convince his Clan to permit him to put himself at risk. They must have been convinced already that we needed their help and were just waiting for us to ask for it.' Elspeth crossed the room to stand closer to him. 'Was I missing something, or did he imply that he was here after the Stone shattered and that his Clan was worried about yours?' Darkwind winced, but felt comfortable enough with her now not to bother covering it. 'You are correct. He said-or implied-exactly that.' Memories, though dimmed with time, still had the power to hurt him. Heart and mind in agony, as well as body-the dim shapes of strangers in his sickroom. Shock holding him silent in the face of their gentle questioning. then the voice of his father, harshly telling them to leave the boy alone...Right after the Stone shattered, I was told that k'treva sent mages to discover what had happened and to volunteer their help,' he told her. 'I was-still in shock, hurt, and I do not recall most of it. But they went away without doing much except to help treat some of the worst wounded. I suppose that Father must have sent them away as soon as he could.'
'Evidently if he tried to cover things up, he didn't manage as well as he thought he had,' she replied, dryly. 'Not if they were still concerned after all this time.'
'Or he managed to let them see enough that there were still doubts; kept from completely covering things up, despite Falconsbane's control.' That seemed the more likely, given what else Starblade had done.
Like protecting his son by driving him away...Elspeth shook her head. 'I wonder sometimes if you realize just how strong your father is. When you think what that kind of attempt must have cost him... I can't imagine doing half that much. It took some kind of cleverness, too, to get around Falconsbane's compulsions. Starblade's a strong man.'
'It is a brittle strength,' he replied, sadly. 'And like a bit of metal that has been bent too often, he is apt to break if he is stressed again.' He shook his head. 'Ah, this is gloomy thinking and poorly suited to our good news. Who knows? It may speed Father's recovery.'
'It might at that.' It seemed to him when she stood up that she moved with a bit more energy; certainly he felt that way. A great burden had been taken from his shoulders. K'Sheyna would have the help it needed. The long nightmare would soon be over.
He refused to think beyond that. There would be time enough for plans later. Let the Stone be dealt with first, and worry about what followed that when the time came.
He stopped at the gryphons' lair long enough to give them the good news, then they trudged back to the Vale through the snow, though it was nowhere near the job it was yesterday. They had been this way so often they were making a trail between the ruins and the Vale. A few months ago he would have worried about that, but not now. There wasn't any real reason to worry about leaving signs of where they had been. He sighed with relieved contentment, and relaxed a bit more, feeling muscles unknot all over his back. Shortly this would all be true Tayledras land again, and things like the Changewolves would not get past the borders: UP! Help!' His head snapped up to a call only he heard. Vree!
He froze where he stood and linked with the gyre, fearing the worst.
Dawnfire and her redshouldered all over again. Elspeth and Gwena stared at him for a half-heartbeat, then went into defensive postures. He prepared to break the link with Vree if he had to, to save himselfbut caught no
