so many secrets, especially about the Eye.” He paused, thinking. “I remember hearing of an emperor of long ago who tried to pour blood over it, he said it gave it power. He was prevented and forced to abdicate.
“But perhaps he knew more about the Eye than we do. Perhaps the reason it was kept so secret is that it is so evil. Perhaps Telish IV died because he did not pour blood over the Eye. I don't believe it had anything to do with his not being descended from Gilish.”
“It is an evil thing,” said Azkun. “I saw it. It is the source of the Gashans’ evil.”
“What else did you see?” asked Menish. He remembered how Azkun had echoed the words of the woman with the snakes. “We must know if they are really planning an attack on Anthor.”
“Of course they are. How could you think otherwise? Could you not feel their hatred at all? That… rite that they were performing, they were worshipping the Eye and the Eye was speaking to them through the women with the snakes. It was instructing them…” Azkun was pale as he spoke and his hands trembled. He rubbed at his wrists involuntarily, remembering the snakebites.
“And what was it telling them?” asked Althak gently.
“There was much about murder and death, that is what delighted the Gashans.”
“Yes, but was there any information about when the attack will come? Will it be before or after the winter?”
“They have not gathered their people together yet. They will attack when the lake, Lake Kel I think, when the lake is no longer frozen. They will wait until it freezes and then wait until it thaws.”
“It'll freeze over soon when winter sets in, then it's difficult to cross because of the shifting ice. Do you mean they won't attack until spring?”
“I suppose I do.”
Menish felt a coldness in his spine. Thalissa, or his dream of Thalissa, had said the attack would be in the spring. She had also said he would be killed.
“Then we have time to get help from Vorish, provided we can find our way home.”
“But what good will that do you? They have the Eye. You saw it yourself.”
“We will fight them the best way we know how.”
The old man had been out gathering herbs, and he returned with a basket of fennel and sage and a rabbit he had caught. The day was fine and warm and they sat outside while he roasted the rabbit. Azkun remembered the Gashan he had murdered with his own hands as he watched them eat it. He could no longer afford to despise others. This was corruption, there was no answer to it but the power of the dragons. Somewhere in the depths of his soul he could still feel that Gashan. It watched the others eat with relish.
When they had eaten the old man left them and went inside his hut. “Who is he?” asked Althak.
“He found us in the forest,” said Menish. “I'm not surprised you don't remember. Unfortunately he doesn't speak any tongue I know, although once or twice he has gabbled something that sounded like Anthorian. I could make no sense of it.”
“And does he always smell that bad?” Althak grinned.
“Yes, so far he has anyway. I don't know who or what he is, though.”
“He is a Monnar,” shuddered Azkun. “He is evil. There is an eye painted on his forehead.”
“A Monnar? I suppose he could be,” said Menish. “What eye?”
“You must have seen it. It is painted in blood.”
“I've seen no eye,” said Althak. “I don't care if he's a Gashan at the moment. We owe him much, I think.”
“Hrangil told me they were the ones who sent Gilish to Kelerish to get the Eye. I do not trust him. He is preparing us for some evil. We should leave here as soon as Althak can travel.”
“That would be a good plan if we knew where to go,” said Althak. “I think we must rely on our host for directions at least if we're to find our way home. Don't think too harshly of him, Azkun. He saved my life. Besides, the story I heard was that Gilish forced the information about where to find the Eye from them. They didn't give it willingly.”
“I would have thought you, of all people, would know that,” said Menish.
“You mock me because of what I told poor Hrangil. What else could I do for him? I could not heal him. I tried, but I could not. You think I did not want to? Do not look at me like that. I lied to him and I murdered a Gashan the next day. I am evil too, but I am not a Monnar. I had a dream before we reached Meyathal. It warned me against the Monnar. Tenari is in their power, they were watching me through her.”
“A dream?” asked Menish, suddenly interested. “Dreams don't always show all the truth. I had a dream. It led me to the Chasm and you emerged. But in my dream something else came out of the Chasm.”
“What?”
“The ghost of Thalissa.”
Althak looked at him sharply for a moment then he said, “Those eyes, I wondered where I'd seen them before. But she died when they threw her into the Chasm, and good riddance. Why should you dream of her?”
“They didn't throw her into the Chasm, they lowered her into it to prolong her punishment. She's Azkun’s mother, and she's alive in Lianar. I spoke with her there.”
“Kopth’s balls! Alive? You saw her?” Menish nodded. “I thought that was one service Thealum had done us, but it seems he could be trusted with nothing.”
“Althak, she's Azkun’s mother. Have a care what you say.”
“He doesn't know the crimes left unpunished in his mother.”
“Don't say unpunished. She's suffered enough. Let her be.”
“And what of Vorish? Does he know she's alive? Would he let her be if he knew?”
“He already knows. I told him when we last saw him and he told me he'd known for years. She'll not trouble us again. Don't seek retribution for crimes gone cold.”
Althak did not reply. He stared at the ground between his feet, and Menish knew he was far from convinced.
They slept one more night in the old man’s hut. The next morning he picked up his staff and beckoned them to follow him back to the road. Althak still could not clench his hand around his sword properly but his strength had returned to his legs. Menish was also ready to travel. In spite of Azkun’s warnings they followed him. Azkun had no choice but to go with them, he did not want to remain in the Monnar’s hut alone.
It was a strange journey. They seemed to travel faster than they walked. The sensation was such that Azkun could not quite grasp hold of it. When he looked around him nothing was amiss. The countryside was forest and meadow, pleasant to walk through, but when he looked ahead he would see a mountain or a pass that was impossibly closer than when he had last noticed it. So it was that they found themselves high in the mountains, the road strewn with snow, and the day was not half over.
The strangeness of their journey was contrasted sharply by the old man. He muttered and snorted, stopping every once in a while in a fit of coughing. Often he blew his nose on his hands and wiped them on his dirty robe.
Still they travelled on. The snow became thicker and the mountains steeper, yet the road always ran level. Once they crossed a wide ravine on a bridge of ice, or they appeared to. When Azkun looked back at it the bridge was no longer there and the road curved away behind a hill. It was dreamlike, and he wondered if he would wake up back in the hut, or even in the forest of Gashan. But then the old man would spit or cough again and the dreamlike air would vanish.
When the sun finally set that day they found themselves on a wide hillside with the mountains behind them. The road had deteriorated to a rough track that was barely discernible in the mountain tussock. Ahead of them the hills swept down to a wide plain that stretched to the horizon. They could see two rivers winding their way across it, glinting redly in the last rays of the sun.
One of the rivers curved close to the base of the slope on which they stood, and there they could see a cluster of white tents with a plume of smoke rising from it. It was a thal. They had reached Anthor.
At about the time they noticed the thal, they also noticed that the old man was no longer with them. It seemed that he had not been with them for some time, although they could not say when he had left.
Although the sun had set before they reached the thal the light of the camp fires and the crescent moon guided them. Even so their way was slow, for the remains of the road did not run towards the camp and they were forced to pick their way through the tussock which was strewn with boulders. Several of these were large enough to
