shouted.
Her brother burst into the room with Rue Meridian, Tagwen, and an Elven girl she took to be Khyber Elessedil right behind. There was a quick exchange of grateful hugs between Pen and his parents and Khyber. Only Bek hugged her. Grianne saw dismay and shock reflected in their faces when they looked at her. She could even see pity.
I’m all right,” she said to them.
Her brother shook his head. «You are not all right. Shadea a’Ru and all those others who betrayed you will pay for this. We will hunt them down. We will find out everything. But we have something else we have to talk about now, something that won’t wait. A demon was set free when you were taken. It’s still here, and it’s trying to break down the Forbidding.»
« I know of this,” she said.
« I thought as much. What you don’t know is that the only way to stop it is for Pen to find it and use the darkwand to return it, just as he used the staff to return you.»
« Penderrin has to do this?» she asked in surprise.
« The King of the Silver River said he must. Only the darkwand can complete the transfer from one world to the other, and only Pen can command the magic. I have to take him with us to find the demon.»
In the hallway outside the sleeping chamber door, there was new activity, the sound of running and of shouts.
« They’re coming,” she said to the others. She brought up her hands, summoned her magic once more, and sealed the door from the inside. «That will hold them for a few minutes, no more.» She turned back to Bek. «Take the others and go. You found your way here through the secret passageways—can you find your way back again?»
He nodded. «Between us, Tagwen and I can manage.»
« I’m not coming,” the Dwarf declared almost belligerently. «I belong here with the Ard Rhys.»
Grianne moved over to him quickly and knelt. «Yes, you do. But you must leave anyway. All of you must. There’s nothing you can do for me by staying. I have to face Shadea and the others alone. I am the one who can deal with them best. Only Bek might be able to help, but his place is with Pen, finding that demon and dispatching it. Listen to me.» She gripped the Dwarfs shoulders tightly. «I’ve seen the inside of the Forbidding, Tagwen. It is a horror beyond anything you can imagine. If the creatures that live there were to be set free in this world, it would be the end of us all. You have to stop that from happening. Whatever becomes of me, you have to stop that.»
She held his gaze. Finally, he gave her a small nod, his bearded face twisted into an unhappy knot. «I will do this because you ask it,” he said quietly. «But not willingly.»
She turned at once to Pen. «This won’t be easy. You won’t know what you have to do until you find the demon. Perhaps you will have to find a way to get it to touch the staff. Perhaps it will take more. I wish 1 could tell you something helpful, but you know as much as I do about how it works. Trust your instincts, Pen. They won’t betray you.»
The boy nodded. «I don’t want to leave you, either.»
She smiled. «I’ll see you again. Just go. Do what you must. Do what is needed.» She looked around. «All of you. Go, now.»
They did so, one by one, disappearing through the door into the secret passageway, glancing back at her as they did, a mix of reluctance and dismay mirrored on their faces. Bek was the last to depart.
« Don’t let anything happen to you,” he said. «It’s taken too much out of us getting you back to bear the thought of losing you again.» He paused. «I love you, Grianne.»
Then he pulled the door shut behind him and was gone, his words still echoing in her mind.
I love you, too, she thought.
She turned back to the sleeping chamber and looked at the sealed door. She had come a long way to face what awaited her on the other side. She had fought hard for a chance to put things right. But all of a sudden, she was unsure if she could do so.
How odd, she thought.
On the floor in front of her, the last strands of the ruined triagenel were slowly dissolving as their magic leached away. She stared for a moment, then caught sight of herself in the mirror and saw what Bek and the others had seen: a ghost, a tattered imitation of herself.
She walked to the closet on the other side of the room, opened it, and took out one of the robes hanging there, clean and sleekly black. She draped it around her shoulders and fastened it in place with the clasp she had fashioned in the shape of the Eilt Drain, the Druid chain of office, the symbol of their order.
Her enemies would see her this last time, she told herself, as she meant for them to see her. As leader. As Ard Rhys.
She fingered the clasp, tracing the raised image of a hand holding forth a burning torch. The meaning of the Elfish words came back to her. THROUGH KNOWLEDGE, POWER.
Perhaps. This day, she would see.
Then she crossed the room and swept the air in front of the chamber door with one hand to remove the magic that sealed it. Tightening her resolve, she flung open the door.
Shadea a’Ru stood on the battlements of Paranor’s north wall with Traunt Rowan and looked down at the army of Rock Trolls amassed before the gates. On hearing of this new threat, she had come at once, determined that she would deal with it herself, that she would not leave it up to her less–than–reliable allies. But having seen for herself how many Trolls were gathered—in excess of a thousand—she was unsure of what to do.
« Have they made any sort of demand?» she asked Traunt Rowan.
He shook his head. «Not a word out of any of them. They simply walked out of the trees and formed up in ranks and haven’t moved or said anything since.»
« This must have something to do with Kermadec,” she said quietly. «Those Trolls bear the banner of Taupo Rough. They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Are you sure you left him safely behind at Stridegate? After all, that girl managed to find a way onto one of the ships.»
« He was on the ground with the others when we lifted off. He was trapped by thousands of Urdas. Even if he got past them, he would have had to walk out. It would have taken days.» Traunt Rowan shook his head, and then gestured toward the Troll army. «Maybe they’ve come looking for him. Maybe they think he’s here.»
She considered the possibility. «Maybe.»
But that suggestion didn’t feel right. A few might come, but not an entire army. It was something else, something much more dangerous. She glanced at the lower walls, where the Gnome Hunters were hiding behind the battlements. They could hold against an attack if the Trolls did not get past the walls. But there were too few of them to withstand an assault if the attackers broke through.
She had already ordered that the gates be reinforced. There was nothing more she could think of to do at that point. She would let the Trolls stand out there all day if that was what they wanted to do. If they were still standing there the next day, she might consider using her magic to disperse them. But that would require an enormous drain on her reserves, a last resort when all else failed. She would need a good reason to commit herself to such an action.
She was considering the possibility of sending word to the East–land Gnomes that they needed reinforcements when Pyson Wence came flying down the stairs from the north tower, his black robes billowing wildly, his sharp features stricken.
« The triagenel has collapsed!» he shouted to them.
She’s back,Shadea thought instantly.
« You’re sure about this?» she snapped, exchanging a quick glance with Traunt Rowan.
Pyson Wence sneered, trying to hide the fear in his eyes. «Do you think me a fool? The magic’s gone dark. What else could it mean?»
She ignored the taunt, brushing past him as she moved quickly toward the tower stairs, her strong features hard and set. «Let’s finish this,” she said softly.
They went up the stairs in a rush. Already, Shadea felt the magic building inside her in anticipation of the battle ahead. She smiled fiercely. This time there would be no mistakes.
They had gained the head of the stairs and were turning down the hallway leading to the sleeping chamber when its north wall blew apart.
