Steel and Stone

The cave loomed again right before them. Tanis flung himself down into the feathers on the bird's back

and shut his eyes. He sensed the bird pass from the blinding sandstorm into cool, silent darkness. The bird skidded to a crashing stop against a wall. Tanis released the harness and slid off Xanthar's back. He looked around him, his elven nightvision probing for signs of warmth. The den appeared to be devoid of all life, save half-elf and owl.

The storm thundered outside for hours. Xanthar paced and fretted. When the owl's voice came into the half- elf's mind at last, it was clear why.

I must summon help, Kai-lid. Tanis didn't bother to correct the owl. / thought my strength would be sufficient, but you were right, Kai-lid. I should not have gone so far away.

'Sufficient?'

The half-elf's voice seemed to jolt the owl back to reality. Against Kai-lid's enemies, Tanis. But I am weakening fast. You will need help, and the Kernan will not be enough. Indeed, he may already be lost.

'Kitiara will help. And Lida-Kai-lid.'

What if they are dead?

Tanis leaned toward the owl. He laid a gentle hand on the bird's wing. 'You said you would know if the lady mage was dead.'

I am no longer certain of anything. I may have overestimated my own ability. Humility was never my strength. I fear…

'What?'

Nothing. Everything. I must summon help.

'Who?'

The giant bird didn't answer. Xanthar's feet scratched against the sandstone as he waddled away from the half-elf. The bird's breathing grew stertorous. Tanis felt the tickling in his mind that he'd felt before when the bird was speaking telepathically to Lida but to no one else. Eventually the owl grew quiet, and Tanis realized that Xanthar had fallen asleep. The half-elf pulled his sword from his pack and stayed on guard. Although the den had been unoccupied, there was no telling if some former occupant might return. Tanis opened Kitiara's pack and forced back the false bottom. The ice jewels provided a cold violet light, offering some bare comfort.

Finally the storm abated. It was the silence, not Tanis, that awakened the giant owl.

It is over.

'Yes.'

The owl shuffled toward the opening of the den. Sand and dust now spilled down the incline into their hiding place. We must go now.

'What about Caven?'

He knew the expedition would be dangerous. He could have ridden one of my children, but he insisted on staying with his horse. We must continue on. We have lost time.

'Caven may be lost in the plains. I don't think we should go on without him.'

Xanthar sighed. You have an oddly generous attitude toward your rival for Kitiara's affections. I suspect it is your elven upbringing; certain this philanthropy does not come from your human side.

It took the two half an hour to dig themselves out of the den. As soon as they swept away some of the dun- colored sand, more spilled in. The sand was a variety of colors: tan, of course, but green and pink and gray as well. In any other circumstances, it would have been beautiful. But now dust and grit filled Tanis's mouth and nose and clouded his vision. The half-elf and giant owl were hacking and sneezing when they finally scrabbled into daylight.

Caven and his pony may be dead and buried under tons of this stuff, for all we know. We should go on, for Kai-lid's sake. And Kitiara's.

Tanis shook his head again. The owl squinted at him. When the bird spoke, he sounded more like the Xanthar of old. An interesting situation. I will be nearly useless to Kai-lid in the Icereach without you, and you cannot travel far without me in this shifting ocean of grit. We could waste long hours, you and I, trying to sort this out. Tanis didn't drop his gaze. Very well, we will look for the oaf.

The sky was as blue and cloudless as it had been when they'd entered the dusty plains. Tanis climbed on the bird's back and they set off, retracing their flight from the north. They'd traveled only an hour when Tanis shouted and pointed. On the horizon, looking like a beetle from their altitude, something black crawled at the center of the sea of sand. Within moments, they had landed near the struggling form.

It was Maleficent they had spotted. Caven clung to the horse's back. The animal, its hide streaked with sweat and lather, plunged and bucked, panicked by the sands that flowed around its hooves. Caven was hoarse from shouting. His hands were bloodied from sawing at the reins, his face lined with fatigue. Man and horse alike were encrusted with grime.

Tanis reached for Maleficent's bridle, fought with the mount for a moment, then soothed it. Within seconds, he was stroking the stallion's muzzle. The horse still breathed in bursts, but it stood still. Caven slid from the animal into the sand. His knees buckled, but he waved away Tanis's hand irritably. 'I'm all right, damn it.'

Xanthar snickered. Certainly you are. Humans!

Caven glared at the bird. 'I see your parakeet friend still speaks, half-elf.' Bird and human exchanged nasty looks.

'Where did you wait out the storm?' Tanis asked.

Caven rose to his feet, dusted off his clothes, and brushed his hand through his beard. Sand fell from him like snow. 'We found an outcropping of rock back there.' He pointed to the north. 'I thought we would be sheltered on the leeward side.'

Xanthar snorted, an odd sound coming through a beak. Caven snapped at the owl. 'All right, you overgrown canary, I was naive. I didn't know there wouldn't be a leeward side in a swirling mess like that.' Caven narrowed his eyes, then turned again to Tanis. 'I covered our heads so we could breathe. But the power of the sandstorm, by the gods! I can see why everything in this forsaken region is scoured to nothing. So would we have been if it had lasted much longer.'

Tanis saw that the outsides of the mercenary's hands were as raw as his palms. Blood trickled from the wounds. Caven's gaze followed Tanis's. 'I had to hold Maleficent. My hands were exposed.' The half-elf's gaze returned to the horse; sand had blasted patches of hair from the creature's skin. 'The question is,' Caven said, 'what do we do now?'

Leave the pony behind. I will carry you both.

'You can't,' Tanis said to Xanthar. 'You're weakening even with one passenger, and you're losing your sight. You couldn't have carried two men at your peak. You certainly can't do it now.'

I will if I have to. The bird pulled himself to his full height, towering over the two men. Get on, both of you.

Clearly Xanthar couldn't be dissuaded. They didn't have too many other choices. Tanis climbed aboard, but Caven Mackid stubbornly remained standing aside, one hand on his horse's bridle. 'I'm not leaving Maleficent,' he insisted.

'The stallion can make his own way out of the plains,' Tanis said. 'We've lost enough time.' When Caven showed no sign of budging, Tanis added, 'What's more important to you, Mackid, a horse or the fate of Kitiara and the lady mage?'

To say nothing of the horrors that the Valdane will unleash on Ansalon if he isn't stopped.

Caven glowered at both of them. 'Unlike Kitiara, half-elf, Maleficent has never robbed me of my savings. And I don't owe this Lida woman anything. Anyway, owl, who's to say we'll be able to stop the mage and the Valdane, if it comes to that?'

The portent…

Caven snorted. 'A veiled dream. And dreamed in Darken Wood, at that. Based on that weak logic, we're going to risk our lives?'

'We are continuing,' Tanis said wearily. 'Will you come with us, or are you going to stay here and die with