opposite bank. The ford itself looked to be no more than three feet deep, though much deeper water approached, and flowed away from, the spot.
'That's
'You might be onto something,' admitted Lord Pawldo.
They quickly mounted, and the horses needed little urging to enter the cold, slow-moving, water. They crossed in single file and soon emerged onto the far bank.
'It doesn't look nearly so steep from here!.' the princess noted. The slope still climbed away from them, but at a much more gentle angle than before. It looked as if they would have no difficulty walking, though she still doubted that they could ride. Still, she urged her horse forward, and the animal climbed smoothly up a gradual incline. The waterfalls that had trickled downward had disappeared, though the river remained deep and regal beside her. Then, in a flash, the princess understood.
'The river! It comes from here. It looks like a trickle from over there, but this is the real valley! That ravine we followed before is just a little side stream!'
In moments, the excitement of the truth propelling them, they moved forward at a trot, climbing the slowly ascending valley on a much better trail than the illusionary diversion they had followed earlier. It turned out to be an even more gentle grade that Alicia had perceived from this side of the stream. The farther they progressed, the more normal the valley around them became.
As they rode, however, Robyn dampened their joy somewhat with an explanation of the spell she had used to find the path. 'It was a
They rode with unsuppressed urgency, fearing what they would find, yet eager to make the discovery. They crossed the highland ridge, and finally the shimmering vista of Synnoria opened before them. In the distance, they saw the blue lake in the center of the main valley, the city of glass gleaming in the sunlight on a verdant island. A wooded side valley passed before them, and the trail dropped steeply toward its floor. They urged the horses down the path at a dangerous pace.
As they plunged lower, Robyn remained alert for any of the seductive effects of Synnoria she had encountered before. But the wind that blew past her ears seemed mundane, and nothing like magic twinkled in the shaking branches of the trees. If anything, it seemed as if they rode into a place of oppression and fear.
When they came to the trail of splintered trees, many of them more than an armspan in girth, the damage seemed like a monstrous effrontery to this place of beauty. They rode at a gallop now, unspeaking, following the spoor left by something of tremendous proportion and horribly destructive in its passage.
Finally they broke from the enclosing trees, and several of their horses reared in sudden fright. Pools of water, churned to mud, dotted the field. Thousands of colorful fish flopped helplessly in the mud, suffocating. Across the meadow rose a thing that, at first, Alicia mistook for a small domed building.
Then the building moved.
Talos and Malar relished the rampage of the Elf-Eater, vicariously feeding their evil natures on the killing and destruction wrought by their pet. The two gods were well pleased, but for different reasons-Talos, for the blow struck to the Moonshaes; and Malar, for the destruction in the great elven escape path.
Yet the Destructor had other plans to make, and to this end he summoned his avatar, bidding Sinioth to appear in a guise of master in his new domain. Thus, beneath the waters of the Trackless Sea, Coss-Axell-Sinioth assumed the shape of a proper creature. Long tentacles trailed from his head, and a beaklike mouth clamped shut with crushing power. As large as a good-sized ship, the giant squid waited to hear his master's words.
At the same time, Talos summoned Sythissal, king of the sahuagin, into his immortal presence. The scaly creature, his humanoid body layered with supple sinew, a column of bristling spines extending down his back, soon floated before the squid.
'This is your master,' came the voice of Talos, like a distant landslide rumbling under the sea. 'You will obey him in all his commands.
'The two of you must journey to Kyrasti, to the great city of the sea trolls in the Coral Kingdom. There, you, Sythissal, are to assume personal command of the prisoner.
'And you, my favorite pet'-the voice of Talos lowered to an affectionate growl-'are to prepare my minions for mastery of the Moonshaes!'
5
Keane was the first to attack, spurring his horse into a charge across the meadow with reckless abandon. The others raced behind him as the magic-user raised his hand and started barking the commands to a spell.
The awful appearance of the monster before them belied any kind of rational explanation-from its three legs, to its monstrous size, to the lack of any apparent face, except for the fluid opening and closing of its grotesque mouth. Two humanlike figures, barely visible below the banks of a nearby stream, took advantage of the momentary distraction to scramble away from the horror.
The beast turned slowly through a full circle, waving long, whiplike tentacles in the air, as if seeking some clue to the approaching party.
Alicia's first thoughts about the monster told her that the thing was impossibly huge-too big to fight, much less hope to kill. Her second thoughts followed closely as she understood that this was not a beast of this world. But even as these apprehensions whirled through her brain, she spurred her horse to join the thundering charge of her companions trailing after Keane.
The lanky wizard, his robes flapping from the speed of his horse's gait, extended his right hand, pointing a finger toward the monstrosity looming over the riverbank. He shouted hoarsely, his words blurring with the pounding thunder of his suddenly animated steed. In fact, the gelding seemed to have abruptly come to life, throwing every ounce of its strength into a desperate and surprisingly fast gallop.
A crackling bolt of energy exploded from Keane's hand, slashing through the air like a flaming spear to impact against the monster's bony carapace, hissing for a split second as sparks flew from the wound. The domed monster bellowed in a droning, almost metallic sound and reared backward. Tentacles lashed the air before it as it sought the source of the painful attack.
But Keane reined in, well back from the monster's clutching tendrils. The muddy figures in the streambed dropped out of sight, but Alicia caught a glimpse of their wide eyes staring at the fight in the field. One of them wore a steel helmet, its silvery sheen streaked brown with mud.
Robyn joined Keane, leaping down from her saddle to stamp the end of her staff on the ground before her.
'
Immediately a mound of dirt began to rise from the ground, ripping itself free from the surrounding soil, tearing away a great patch of sod and rising into a giant, vaguely human form. Clumps of grass clung to its back and shoulders, for the creature had been formed from the earth itself. Growing steadily, it soon towered like a giant over the heads of the mounted Ffolk. It was an earth elemental, a creature summoned by the power of a druid and sent by the goddess to aid a cause in the world of men.
The elemental tore its great feet free from the ground and clumped toward the monster. A tentacle lashed across the elemental's face, and the creature of earth seized the tendril in hands the size of boulders, planting its feet and tugging. The strand grew taut, and for a moment, the two creatures held in equilibrium, each struggling to dislodge the other.
Warlike chords of music rang through the air as Tavish took up her harp. The music infused the humans with courage. Suddenly Alicia found her fears vanquished, replaced by a grim determination to smite this horrific creature. Hanrald and Brandon urged their horses toward the monster, shouting challenges and raising their
