Winds Of Fury

'No, no, no,' Elspeth interrupted. 'No, that's not it at all! But - the Beast is not exactly alone.'

Now Skif was even more bewildered, and he shook his head violently, as if by shaking it, the words would make some sense. 'What in Havens are you talking about?'

:Damn it, you're all missing the point,: Need said with irritation :Except Firesong, but I've been talking to him all morning. Here, let me show you.:

Then, without even a 'by your leave,' Skif found himself inside the thoughts of some other person entirely, just as Need had once flung him inside her own memories when she had first awakened, to explain what she was by showing him. But this was not Need's memory; this person was young, male, and seemed to be Shin'a'in -

:Halfbreed,: Need interrupted :Trust me, it made a difference in how things came out.:

He watched, a silent observer, as the boy discovered his mage-powers, determined to ran away to the Hawkbrothers, got lost in the Pelagiris Forest, tried to light a fire -

 - and the entity that called itself Mornelithe Falconsbane - in this lifetime - came flooding in to take his mind and body and make them his own.

Abruptly, Need flung Skif out of those memories, and he found himself back in the carnival tent, blinking, the others shaking their heads as they, too, recovered from the experience. 'I wish you wouldn't do that without warning a man,' Skif complained, hitting the side of his head lightly with the heel of his hand. 'It - '

:It saves time,: Need replied testily :Well, now you know. That's who my informant has been.:

'The boy?' Skif chewed his lip a little. 'And presumably he still lives within Falconsbane's body. Forgive me, but I don't see how that changes anything.'

:He lives inside his body. Falconsbane has stolen it. What changes everything is that the boy found out how Falconsbane's been doing this. An'desha's body is far from the first he's stolen. Unless we stop Falconsbane in a way that keeps him from taking his spirit off to hide again, it won't be the last. People, this has been happening since the time your folk call the 'Mage Wars.' All he needs is a body out of his bloodline, with Mage-Gift. And trust me on this; he spent a lot of time back then making certain he'd have a lot of descendants. Usually he does the same any time he's had a body for a while.:

After a moment the sense of that penetrated, and Skif cursed softly. 'You mean if we take him the way we had planned and kill him, we might be facing him again in a couple of years?'

:If he finds somebody else with his bloodline, yes. Or takes over Nyara's children. You see, he had another motive for trying out all his Changes on her, first. Mage-Gift will always breed true in her children now, and if and when she decides to have them, despite the lies her father told her, she'll be very - ah - prolific. Catlike in more than looks, it seems.:

Skif froze in place, his body and mind chilled, as his eyes sought Nyara's. She nodded unhappily. 'I could not fight him, Skif. Need could help me, but she cannot be everywhere, at all times, and what are we to do? Insist that our grown children stay with us all their lives?'

:Even if you don't have children, there are always more where An'desha came from. His father was out spending his seed all over the south. Sooner or later, Falconsbane will be back.:

'We can't capture him - we can't kill him - what in the nine hells can we do with him?' Skif demanded, his voice rising. He threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. 'What are we here for? Why don't we just give up? Why are we even trying?'

Firesong gave him a look that shut him up abruptly. 'We can kill him, Skif,' the Healing Adept said calmly, his face an inhuman mask of serenity. 'Need and I have been discussing this since you left. We can be rid of him, forever, and in a way that will allow An'desha to reclaim his body. But it will take four of us working together; you, Nyara, Need, and myself. Possibly even your Companion. It will take superb timing and equally superb cooperation. And it will not be silent.'

'By silent, you mean that it is going to take some very obvious magic?' Skif hazarded. This time it was Darkwind who nodded.

'That's why Elspeth, Vree, Gwena, and I will not be here. We will have to strike after Ancar takes the backlash of this magic or detects it in other ways, but before he has a chance to act on that knowledge. Since Falconsbane bears a great many of his coercion spells, slaying the Beast should snap them, and they will recoil on him like snapped bowstrings.' Darkwind rubbed one temple, then moved his hand up higher to scratch Vree. 'More timing, you see. There will be a moment when he is very stunned, and that is when we must strike. Firesong will give us a signal when Falconsbane is gone. First we will take out Ancar. Then we will deal with Hulda.'

After all the time it had taken to get to this point, things seemed to be cascading much too fast, one plan running into the next like an avalanche. But so far as Skif was concerned there was still one question to be asked.

'If you can kill Falconsbane without killing the other fellow, wouldn't it be easier to kill him straight off and not worry about this boy?' There, it was out. He didn't like it, but how could seeing her father's body walking around do