amazed; there had to be at least six or seven hundred elves huddled in the ruins. He asked Vvelz who they were.
“All the diggers who have run away,” the sorcerer explained. “They threw down their picks and plows and joined the Blue Sky People. They come to us because they are tired and hungry, and because they can't bear Li El's tyrannical yoke any longer. Someday soon Mors will lead them out of the caverns into the light.”
“So many!” Catchflea marveled. “Why don't you just depart? Surely Li El can't stop such a crowd.”
Di An led Mors to where the old man and the sorcerer were talking. “She can,” Mors said. His voice was deep and rough. “Running from her is not the answer. We must take the fight to Vartoom itself, seize the tyrant and lead
Some of the diggers set up a cheer when they heard that. Mors scowled fiercely at them. “Be quiet, you fools!”
“Li El can't hear them,” Vvelz said with a sly, reassuring grin.
“Why not?” asked Catchflea.
“Long ago, this was a temple to one of the gods, now forgotten,” Vvelz said. “In ages past, the people of Vartoom came here to worship. The priests would inhale fumes from sacred incense and utter prophecies through the image of the god's face. Now, they wouldn't dare come near this place.”
“No one worships here now?”
“Even the god's name has been lost.”
“If there are gods, it is they who have forgotten Hest,” Mors said bitterly. “We do not need them. We shall take destiny into our own hands.”
“The temple is known to be a haunted place,” Vvelz continued. “In the reign of Great Hest's third son, Drev the Mad, the priests were massacred and the sacred hearth extinguished by the king's order. It is said the dying priests cursed the line of Hest and that their ghosts walk the temple, seeking vengeance.”
Catchflea's eyes were wide. “Do they?”
Vvelz looked left and right. “I have heard things-seen glimmers in the deeper sanctuaries.” He shrugged.
Once the Blue Sky People had adjusted to Catchflea's presence, they went about their routine business as if he weren't there. Food was passed around, ragged copper mesh clothing was patched, and teams of elves distributed items stolen from the surface. It was both amusing and touching to Catchflea to see the Hestites tugging on old leather shoes and felt hats as if they were silk and satin, and eating with worn wooden spoons and plates as though they were finest porcelain.
With Di An as his guide, Mors went to the stump of a broken column and sat down. Bread was brought to him, and a wooden cup, carved from a single piece of oak, was placed in his hand. Catchflea was given the same plain victuals, but his cup was Hestite tin.
“Master Mors,” he said, chewing the tasteless, dry bread, “what convinced you to lead this band up from the caverns? After all, it was by going underground that the Hestites managed to survive.”
Mors rumbled, “It was the willfulness of Hestantafalas that condemned us to live like vermin in the dark. Had he obeyed his sovereign and kept peace, none of this suffering would have come to pass.”
“You were not a digger, yes? How did you come to have such sympathy for them?”
“Let me tell him,” Vvelz interjected. Mors took a drink of mineral water and grunted his agreement.
“I shall have to go back quite a ways,” Vvelz said. He cleared his throat. “When the Great Hest and his chief magician, Vedvedsica, died, their children naturally inherited their fathers' places. The first son of Hest became king and the children of Vedvedsica his magic counsel. Before long there was rivalry between the royal house and the sorcerers. To augment themselves, each faction recruited talented ones from the common people. Those who served the royal family formed the Hall of Arms, a warriors' guild, and those who followed the Vedvedsicans were known as the Hall of Light. A system was established whereby children were tested at a very early age to determine if they were fit for either house. Those who were fit for neither, as you know, worked as diggers. A balance was reached, and for centuries the people of Hest flourished.
“Then, in the reign of Great Hest's second son, Jaen the Builder, things began to go wrong. Crops failed repeatedly, and the diggers went hungry. Several of the mines collapsed, killing many. Most strangely, fewer and fewer children were born. Many that were born were barren, and did not grow to adulthood.” Catchflea looked over at Di An. The elf girl sat at Mors's feet, her knees drawn up to her chin. She stared unblinkingly ahead, and her gaze did not waver when Vvelz spoke of the barren children.
“The Hall of Light blamed the warriors' greed for the failures,” Vvelz continued. “Too much time was spent digging for iron and gold, and not enough care was paid to growing crops, they said. The Hall of Arms blamed the sorcerers. They claimed the magicians weren't providing enough light in the cavern, making the crops sickly and thin.”
“Who was right?” asked Catchflea.
“Both,” Mors said suddenly. When he offered nothing more, Vvelz went on.
“Jaen died in a fit of apoplexy, and his younger brother, Drev, became king. Drev spoke darkly of magical plots against his brother's life. When he was sure of the warriors' loyalty, he tried to crush the Hall of Light. The temples were closed and priests were killed. Many of the elder sorcerers were imprisoned and executed, including Vedvedsica's daughter Ri Om. I was but an apprentice then, and my sister a journeyman.”
“Are you descendants of Vedvedsica?”
“He was my great-uncle,” Vvelz said with pride. “The conflict seemed over, and the warriors triumphant, but they did not reckon on the ambition of Li El. Her powers, even as an unlearned girl, were extraordinary. She accomplished the great levitation at ten and could forcibly read minds at fourteen-” Mors cleared his throat and rapped his rod on the floor. Vvelz said in a low voice. “Mors does not want the diggers to hear how powerful my sister really is. He says it undermines their morale.”
“Mine too, yes,” said Catchflea shakily.
“Li El advanced rapidly through the depleted ranks of the Hall of Light,” said Vvelz. “Usually it takes a century or more for a journeyman sorcerer to reach the first rank, but she did it in thirty years. Only much later did I discover how she accomplished this; Li El would secretly challenge higher ranking magicians to contests, duels of magic.” He shook his head. His voice was tight. “She was an astonishingly beautiful girl. Most of the other magicians were male, and very, very foolish. She bested them all and confined their souls in crystal spheres.”
“The blue globes!” Catchflea exclaimed. Vvelz nodded. Catchflea recalled Karn's laugh when he had asked if the globes were lamps. What a fine jest Li El must think it was, to light the corners of her realm with the captive souls of her rival sorcerers!
“By the time my sister became First Light of the Hall, there were barely a dozen sorcerers left. They were all elderly and ineffectual,” Vvelz said.
“And you suspected nothing during her rise?” the old soothsayer asked, incredulous.
Mors let out a loud laugh. “He knew, old giant! For a long time our Master Vvelz thought his sister's ambitions would further his own. Only later did he realize she would not spare him either if she perceived him as a threat to her plans. To save his neck, he acted lazy and weak. Li El did not consider him a threat-which, indeed, he was not- so she spared him.”
Anger replaced sadness on Vvelz's face. Catchflea quickly spoke up and explained his own position among the Que-Shu, and how he had adopted a similar policy. Vvelz warmed noticeably to him after hearing the tale. “You see, Mors,” he said. “Wisdom is the same in the Empty World as it is in Hest.” Mors snorted derisively.
The old man sensed a certain chilliness between Vvelz and Mors, so he quickly returned to Vvelz's narrative. “So Li El conquered her fellow magicians. How did she overcome Drev and the Host?”
Vvelz glanced at Mors, but the blind elf turned his gaze down toward Di An. His expression was unreadable. With a shrug, Vvelz resumed. “There my sister relied on more ancient methods. She convinced the captain of the palace guard that she loved him, and won him to her cause. He in turn found disgruntled warriors in the ranks to join the conspiracy. It wasn't difficult. Having suppressed the Hall of Light, Drev thought his throne was secure. He paid his soldiers poorly, and put many to work in the mines alongside the diggers. He had an insatiable lust for gold.
“The day came when Li El and her captain seized the palace. Very little blood was shed. One or two confused guards resisted the plotters and were slain. Drev fled to the upper floors, pursued by Li El and a hundred warriors. They trapped him at the audience window, where the rulers of Hest were wont to throw coins or gems to the
