«No, it’s okay. I am not tired.»
«Wil, you are exhausted.» There was concern in her voice. «You have to sleep.»
He stared at her wordlessly for a moment, his eyes haunted.
«Do, you know what happened to me back there?» he asked finally.
She shook her head slowly. «No. And I don’t think you do, either.»
«I know, all right. I know exactly what happened. I tried to use the Elfstones and could not. I no longer command their power. I have lost it.»
«You don’t know that. You had trouble with the Stones before when you tried to use them in the Tirfing. Perhaps this time you tried too hard. Perhaps you did not give yourself enough of a chance.»
«I gave myself every chance,” he declared softly. «I used everything I had within me to call up the power of the Elfstones. But nothing happened. Nothing. Allanon told me this might happen. It is because of my Elf blood mixing with my human blood. Only the Elf blood commands the Stones, and mine is thin indeed, it seems. There is a block within me, Amberle. I overcame it once, but I can no longer do so.»
She, moved over to sit close to him, her hand resting lightly on his arm.
«Then we will get by without the Stones.»
He smiled faintly at the suggestion. «The Elfstones are the only weapon we have. If the Demons find us again, we are finished. We have nothing with which to protect ourselves.»
«Then the Demons must not find us.»
«They have found us every time, Amberle, despite every precaution we have taken; they have found us wherever we have gone. They will find us this time as well. You know that.»
«I know that you are the one who insisted that we not turn back after our flight from Havenstead,” she responded. «I know that you are the one who has never once suggested giving up. I know that you are the one Allanon chose as my protector. Would you desert me?»
Wil flushed. «No. Not ever.»
«Nor I you. We began this journey together and we shall end it together. We shall depend on each other, you and I. We shall see each other through. I think maybe that will be enough.» She paused, a quick smile crossing her face. «You realize, of course, that you should be giving this talk to me, not I to you. I was the one without faith in my heritage, without belief in the words the Druid spoke. You have always believed.»
«If the Stones had not failed me…» Wil began glumly.
Amberle’s hand came up quickly against his lips, silencing him. «Do not be so certain that they have failed you. Think a moment on what you tried to do with them. You sought to use them as a weapon of destruction. Is this possible for you, Wil? Remember, you are a Healer. It is your code of life to preserve, not destroy. Elven magic is but an extension of the one who wields it. Perhaps you were not meant to use the Elfstones in the way in which you tried to make them act when you faced the Reaper.»
The Valeman thought it over. Allanon had told him that the three Stones acted to mesh heart, mind, and body into the power that formed the magic. If any one were lacking…
«No.» He shook his head emphatically. «The distinction is too finely drawn. My grandfather believed in the preservation of life as strongly as I and yet he used the Elfstones to destroy. And he did so without the difficulty that I have experienced.»
«Well then, there is another possibility,” she continued. «Allanon warned you of the resistance caused by the mix of human blood with Elven. You have experienced it once already. Perhaps this has caused you to create your own block — a block within your mind that convinces you subconsciously that the power of the Elfstones is lost; when in fact it is not. Perhaps the block you experienced at the catwalk was one of your own making.»
Wil stared at her wordlessly. Was that possible? He shook his head. «I don’t know. I cannot be sure. It happened so fast.»
«Then hear me.» She moved close, so that her face was next to his. «Do not be so quick to accept as truth what is only conjecture. You have used the Elfstones once. You have called upon their power and, made it your own. I do not think that such a gift is so easily lost. Perhaps it is just misplaced. Take time to look for it before you decide that it is no longer yours.»
He looked at her with amazement. «You have more confidence in me than I do. That seems very strange. You thought me worthless on our journey north from Havenstead. You remember that?»
She drew back slightly «I was wrong to think that. I said things that I should not have said. I was afraid…»
For an instant it appeared as if she would say more; but, as on the other occasions when she had seemed ready to explain her fear, she let the matter drop. Wil was wise enough to do likewise.
«Well, you were right about one thing,” he offered, trying to keep the tone of his voice light. «I should be giving this talk to you, not you to me.»
There was a wistful look in her eyes. «Then remember to do so when you see that I need it. Now will you sleep?»
He nodded. «I think I might — for a little while, at least.»
He eased forward, letting the Elf girl slip her arm about the small rudder. Lowering himself into the bottom of the boat, he made a pillow of his cloak and laid his head down wearily. Thoughts of the Elfstones played teasingly within his mind. He closed his eyes, enfolding such thoughts in blackness. Believe in yourself, Allanon had told him. Did he have that belief? Was that belief enough?
The thoughts scattered, drifting. He slept.
He was awake by midafternoon Cramped and sore, he eased himself up from the hard bottom of the skiff and moved back to take the rudder from Amberle. He was hungry and thirsty but there was nothing to eat or drink. They had lost everything in their flight through the Pykon.
A short time later, the channel began to narrow, and the limbs of the trees on either bank closed above them like a canopy. Shadows lengthened across the spread of the river; in the west the sun dropped low above the wall of the Rock Spur, its golden light turning red with the coming of dusk. A stretch of rapids bounced the skiff wildly along the channel, but Wil kept their little boat free of the rocks and, straight on her course until they were clear. When the river again began to swing south on its long journey back toward the grasslands of Callahorn, the Valeman brought the skiff ashore and they disembarked.
They spent the night at the base of a massive old willow several hundred yards back from the river’s edge. Concealing the skiff in the brush beside the riverbank, they gathered fruit and vegetables for an evening meal and set out in search of drinking water. There was none to be found, however, and they were forced to make do with the food. They ate, conversed briefly and fell asleep.
Morning dawned bright and pleasant, and Valeman and Elven girl began the hike westward to the Rock Spur. They walked briskly, enjoying the warmth of the early morning, consuming as they went the remainder of the fruit they had gathered the previous evening. The hours passed quickly, and the stiffness they had experienced on first awakening disappeared as they wound their way steadily ahead. By midmorning, they had discovered a small stream where rapids emptied down into a pond and the water was suitable for drinking. They drank their fill; but, having no containers, they could take nothing with them.
As the day wore on, the mountains of the Rock Spur loomed closer above the wall of the forest in a massive, humped line of peaks that stretched away across the whole of the western horizon. Only to the far south, where lay the vast impenetrable mire of the Shroudslip, were the mountains absent, and there the skyline was filled with thick, gray mist that rose out of the swamp like heavy smoke. For the first time since they had escaped the Pykon, Wil began to worry about where they were going. Their decision to follow the Mermidon down to the forests bordering the mountains had seemed obvious enough. But now that they were there, he found himself wondering how they were ever going to manage a crossing of these monstrous peaks. Neither of them was familiar with this range; neither knew if there were passes that would take them safely through. Without the Elven Hunters to guide them, how were they to keep from becoming hopelessly lost?
By sunset, they were right up against the Rock Spur, staring upward thousands of feet at a maze of peaks that loomed one above the next and offered no sign of passage nor hint of break. Valeman and Elven girl climbed out of the forest until they had reached the lower slopes of the nearest mountain. Broad, grassy pastures there were covered with brilliant bluebells and red centauries. The sun was almost gone, and they looked for a campsite. They quickly found a stream that emptied down out of the rocks; at a small pool within a grove of pine, they settled in for the night. Another meal of fresh fruit and vegetables was consumed, but Wil found himself hungry for meat
