hippogriff as its wings beat the air. Kyaphar kicked at one as Rienne slashed at the other, then the hippogriff bounded up and out of reach.
'Thank you again,' Rienne said. All her pain and exhaustion suddenly crashed down on her, making her vision swim for a moment-or perhaps it was the vertigo of their hasty takeoff. 'How goes the battle?'
'Poorly,' Kyaphar said over his shoulder. 'The Blasphemer's horde keeps pushing our defenders back. Even our bears can't stand against the dragons, let alone the farmers who call themselves soldiers. There are only a handful of us who are making any difference in the battle, and most of us are as tired and bloodied as you are.'
'What about the seal?'
'The Blasphemer marches at the back of his forces-there.' Kyaphar pointed down and behind them, turning the hippogriff slightly to give Rienne a better view. 'He has almost reached the outer lines.'
From their altitude, the figure Kyaphar identified as the Blasphemer was a tiny shadow against a wall of flame. The forest blazed at his back, and he seemed to wield tongues of fire like whips to drive his horde forward. Even at such a distance, the sight of him brought her dream vividly to life in her memory-his demonic visage, his sword alight with blood red fire. Darkness closed around her vision.
Kyaphar caught her before she slipped off his mount, jolting her back to her senses. Only then did she see what Kyaphar had been trying to point out-the dimly glowing purple line that she had seen from the sky before the attack had already been crossed by the front lines of Kathrik Mel's horde, and the Blasphemer himself would reach it soon.
'Are you hurt?' Kyaphar asked, his arm awkwardly holding her in place, pressed against his back.
'I'm fine. We should head back down. We have to stop him.'
'The Mosswood Warden is planning to lead a counterattack to drive the Blasphemer back from the seal. We will join her shortly, but you'll see a healer first.'
'No, really, I'm fine.'
'You're covered with blood.'
'Dragon blood! I've killed four dragons-'
'And no one alive can take down four dragons without suffering a single wound. Look at your shoulder. You'll see a healer.'
Rienne looked down at her shoulder, where she had a vague memory of being injured. It did look terrible-the gold dragon's fangs had pierced and torn the flesh, and it must have had fire in its mouth as well, for both skin and clothing were scorched black around the wound. She felt dizzy again, and looked away. 'Very well,' she said. 'I'll see a healer.'
'Don't worry. We'll have you back on the front lines in no time.'
Rienne closed her eyes and rested her head against Kyaphar's shoulder.
When she opened her eyes again, Rienne saw trees stretching up to a smoke-filled sky, and Kyaphar's face looking down at her. The Sky Warden was carrying her, and his face betrayed his concern even as he smiled with relief. 'Good morning,' he said. 'We're almost to the healer now. Stay with me, all right?'
She could manage only a nod. She watched his face as he carried her a dozen more paces, then she heard someone say, 'Put her there.' Kyaphar looked around, took a couple of steps, and gently laid her on a bed of moss at the roots of one of the towering trees.
Startled, Rienne tried to lift her head and see where she was. A healer, to her mind, meant an heir of House Jorasco, a skilled halfling who combined the magic of the Mark of Healing with careful study and perhaps prayers for divine intercession. The Jorasco Houses of Healing were immaculately clean and almost as comfortable as the hostels run by the other dragon-marked halflings, House Ghallanda. Her mind had not been prepared for a bed of moss.
Nor could she have anticipated the healer, a shifter woman clad in leather and fur. Her wild mane of hair was woven with beads and bones, making her look every bit as savage as the shifters in the Blasphemer's horde who had tried to pull the hippogriff back down to earth with their claws. Even so, she smiled as she crouched at Rienne's side, and Rienne instantly warmed to the compassion in the woman's eyes.
'So you are the dragonslayer,' the shifter said. 'I am honored to have you in my care, Lady Alastra.'
'Thank you.'
'I am Kauna.'
As the healer spoke, Rienne saw an enormous bear lumber up behind her, then realized that she could still see the trees and sky through the bear's smoky form. Kauna smiled and looked over her shoulder at the bear, then back down at Rienne.
'The bear is my link to the spirit world.' The smile faded from her face. 'The spirits are troubled this morning. We must get you back to the battle.'
Kauna produced a basin and washed Rienne's shoulder. Pain stabbed through her at first, but then the bear started a low grumble and she felt better. She could barely hear the low pitch of its voice, but it seemed almost like a song, and its vibrations soothed away the pain and weariness from her body. Kauna began to hum softly as well, and Rienne felt warmth spread gently up from the moss beneath her, as if she were drawing strength through roots like the tree that towered above her.
She closed her eyes again, lost in the peaceful song. She felt as though a warm river washed over her body, carrying away all her aches and wounds, cleansing her and refreshing her spirit. She started drifting to sleep, reached for it with longing-
The bear spirit roared-a terrible, pained sound that jolted Rienne awake. Kauna spilled her basin in surprise, and Rienne saw her panicked face as she looked at the bear.
'There is no more time,' Kauna said. 'On your feet, Lady Alastra. Kyaphar will take you where you must go.'
As Rienne got to her feet, her eyes fixed on the bloodstained water from Kauna's basin as it slowly seeped into the earth.
CHAPTER 26
A door slammed somewhere in the cathedral, jolting Aunn to his feet. He shook his head to clear it and looked down at the mosaic. Tira's face in colored tile seemed to smile back at him, urging him on his way.
'I am yours,' he whispered, 'and if by my life or death I can make your flame burn brighter, I will.'
The noise had come from an open doorway across the sanctuary from where he'd entered, so he crept to that entrance and listened. A stairway led down, presumably to offices or storerooms, perhaps catacombs. He heard footsteps echoing in the stairwell, but they receded as he listened. He followed them, cupping his glowstone in his hand to light the stairs as he descended. At the first landing, he found a door, which he suspected led to another alley outside the cathedral-probably the door he had heard.
He felt as if he were walking in a dream, moving for the sake of moving without knowing why, with no idea who or what he was following. Was it some angel of the Silver Flame sent to lead him to what he sought? A criminal using the cathedral as a hiding place, drawing him down into an ambush? A haunting spirit? He had no idea, but he felt drawn to follow it, and the part of his mind that questioned why was not strong enough, or perhaps awake enough, to stop him.
Light washed over the bottom of the stairs, and Aunn pocketed his glowstone as he moved to the shadows at the outer edge of the stairway. A narrow passage stretched back under the cathedral from the bottom of the stairs, with doors every few yards on both sides, and at least one intersection where passages branched out in each direction. Everbright lanterns hung at intervals from the low ceiling, bathing the entire hall in bright light. And the figure turning a corner at the far end of the hall gave more credence to the haunting spirit idea-it looked like Kelas.
He felt a brief tingle of fear, but stifled it. After all, he had seen Kelas just the night before-for that matter, he had been Kelas. The figure in the hall was more likely to be the changeling, Vec, than some kind of ghost. And that suggested that he'd been right to come to the cathedral. Or at least, Vec shared his suspicion that Kelas might have
