He landed in a spot away from the venting gas, on hot black stone. Folding his wings against his body, he shifted the color of his scales from greenish brown to glossy black. He waited, one finger of his awareness touching his muladhara, ready at an instant's notice to manifest a power should the Dmetrio-seed arrive. As shadows crept across the crater's floor, he kept an eye on the sky.
After a time, he felt the tingling in his body that meant his metamorphosis was about to end. Still there was no sign of the Dmetrio-seed. He waited until his body had shifted back into human form before he scrambled to the lip of the crater. It would have been a difficult climb without his magical bracelet, for the rock was indeed as fragile as it appeared. He took a look around but saw nothing that mlght have been a flying carpet. No matter which direction he peered in, the sky was empty.
Perhaps the seed hadn't received Sseth's message.
Arvin laughed at the irony-that he, the last person who would ever embrace the serpent god, had been the only one to understand Sseth's plea.
He was growing impatient. Gods only knew what was happening to Karrel 1. She'd put on a brave front when Arvin had used Zelia's power stone to speak with her, but he had seen the toll that mere survival
had taken on her. That had been days ago. Anything might have happened in the meantime. Karrell might be…
He couldn't bring himself to contemplate it. Not there, not when he was so close. If only the Dmetrioseed would show up, Arvin could get on with it. The waiting was the hardest part. When would the Dmetrio-seed figure out Sseth's message?
Another possiblity occurred to Arvin. Maybe the seed had figured it out. Maybe he'd decided not to betray Zelia but to convey the Circled Serpent to her as ordered. When Arvin had probed the seed's thoughts, a final decision had yet to be made. For all he knew, the Dmetrio-seed had decided to obey Zelia after ail. The seed might be making his way back to Hlondeth even then…
Arvin rubbed the scar on his forehead. There was one way to find out.
The scents of saffron and ginger mingled with the rotten-egg smell of the volcano as Arvin manifested a metamorphosis. Ectoplasm slimed his skin, adding to the discomfort of assuming a form even more distasteful than that of a flying snake. His body became slender, developing curves and breasts. His face took on a serpentine appearance. Even without a mirror to guide him, he could easily visualize his hair turning red as it lengthened, his tongue developing a bluish tinge as it forked. The scales that blossomed on his hands and face were the exact shade of green he remembered. He fought the urge to scratch his itching skin, venting his discomfort instead in a soft, feminine hiss.
Then he manifested his sending.
The Dmetrio-seed's face took several moments to coalesce in Arvin's mind. Eventually, it came into focus: dark hair that swept back from a high forehead, narrow nose and thin lips. His face was dappled in
leaf-shaped shadow; he was somewhere outdoors. Eyelids drooped low over slit-pupiled eyes, and it looked as though the seed had just wakened. He lay on the ground, his body coiled around something that gave off smoke that caused his body to blur then become clear again, probably a brazier filled with burning osssra. That surprised Arvin. Perhaps the seed had decided to find the door and use it himself.
Arvin wasted no time on preliminaries; Zelia certainly wouldn't. He concentrated on the memory of her voice and shaped his own mental words with the inflections she would use.
The door is a volcanic crater at the head of the River Chun, he sent. I am there. How quickly can you reach me?
The Dmetrio-seed looked startled then wary. For a moment, Arvin wondered if something in his tone had given him away. You want me to…?he started to ask, then caught himself. A sly smile crept across his face. I will be there by sunset.
The sending ended as he bent over and picked up the object he had been lying on-the flying carpet.
Arvin took a deep breath, glanced at the sun, then smiled. 'I'll be ready for you,' he promised. Then he began his preparations.
The Dmetrio-seed arrived exactly at sunset, when the sky to the west was a deep purplish red and the crater gloomy with shadow. He circled the peak on the flying carpet, staring down into the crater. Arvin, circling higher above in flying snake form, couldn't make out the expression on the seed's face but could imagine it. The seed, expecting a meeting with Zelia, would be puzzled at finding the crater empty. He would be probing for psionic energies or
scanning the area for thoughts, perhaps even surveying the seemingly empty crater with a power that would banish illusions.
Arvin waited well out of range, not yet daring to make his move. He'd managed to lure the Dmetrioseed there, but had the seed brought the Circled Serpent with him?
The flying carpet landed inside the crater. The seed stepped off it, hesitated, then pulled out a box that had been tucked inside his shirt. The seed looked around warily then shouted something, but Arvin was too high above to make out the words. Then the seed opened the box. Arvin saw a gleam of silver inside. He watched as the seed tossed the box aside and began to fit the two halves of the key together. While the seed was busy assembling the Circled Serpent, was the best moment to strike.
Arvin stiffened his wings and dived.
As he hurtled toward the crater, he clawed ectoplasm out of the air around him and shaped it into a flying snake that hurtled through the air next to him. A loud droning noise surrounded him as he gave his construct a single mental command-seize it! andaimed it like an arrow at the Circled Serpent. Then he attacked.
Imagining his arms lashing forward, he sent strands of mental energy whipping through the air toward the Dmetrio-seed. The seed sent his mind slithering away into emptiness that left Arvin's attack with nothing to latch onto, then countered Arvin's attack with one of his own-a psychic crush that crashed through the mental shield Arvin had erected in front of himself and looped tightly around his mind. Arvin was barely able to remain conscious as it constricted, squeezing his thoughts together like the broken bones of a mouse in a serpent's coils. He tumbled through the air, his mind no longer in
control of his body. Suddenly, he was human again. He slammed into the crater floor, knocking the air from his lungs. Dazed, he looked up.
The Dmetrio-seed was at the other side of the crater, struggling with Arvin's construct. It had seized the Circled Serpent in its mouth and was tugging on it while the seed clung grimly to it. Arvin forced himself to his knees, waving a hand. That way, he commanded. The construct obeyed, dragging the seed with it. At last, it wrenched the Circled Serpent from the seed's hands-but even as it did, a loud hissing filled the air. The seed glared at the construct and it exploded into a mist of ectoplasm. The Circled Serpent clattered to the floor of the crater, practically at the seed's feet.
Instead of picking it up, the seed whirled toward the real threat: Arvin. Surprise flickered across his face as he recognized his attacker. He visibly relaxed, then crooked a finger at Arvin-just as Zelia had done in the rooftop garden. Arvin felt a hollow open at the base of his spine; his muladh ara opening, preparing to spill its psionic energies to the winds.
He smiled. The seed, just as he'd hoped, had chosen to toy with him instead of killing him outright. Arvin knew better than to use his psionics.
'Augesto!' he shouted.
The Dmetio-seed reacted immediately. A sharp hissing filled the air-his secondary display. His psionic attack struck Arvin even as it sounded, and Arvin felt the air rush from his lungs in an explosive breath. His lungs strained as he tried to inhale, but it was as if an invisible rope had cinched tight around his chest. Only by concentrating was he able to draw a thin, gasping breath.
The seed picked up the Circled Serpent, twisted it back into a circle, then bared his fangs in a delighted smile.
'This time, you won't have to play dead, Arvin,' he hissed. 'You'll be-'
A rumbling noise from the crater wall behind him interrupted his gloating. The seed whirled-just as a teetering slab of stone crashed down on him. Dmetrio vanished underneath the slab, which shattered explosively as it struck the crater floor.
Immediately, Arvin could breathe again. 'Nine lives,' he breathed, touching the crystal at his neck. Then he
