The Turic answered without his usual humor. "We are safe for the moment."
Tam and the colt trotted up the bank and hurried into temple to join Sayyed. He seemed relieved to see her, so Gabria merely shook her head and let the girl stay for the moment. Tam was already slipping out of the temple to help Afer free his leg, and several Hunnuli from the herd were coming to join her.
Tam would be well protected.
The gorthling saw the Hunnuli coming, too, and his anger rekindled. He could still slaughter these people and drive away the infuriating horses. Abruptly he ended the respite and fired a bolt at Athlone, hoping to catch the chief unprepared. To his fury, the man’s big stal ion stopped the magic on his powerful chest.
“Give up, you feeble humans. You wil never defeat me,” the gorthling taunted. "I will be here forever! As long as there are bodies to inhabit. No one has ever conquered the gorthlings of Sorh."
“You're forgetting Valorian,” Athlone retorted, "and Matrah. He shot a blue bolt at the gorthling's defense shield.
His blast exploded harmlessly, but his words set off a small spark of thought in Gabria's mind. Like a streak of lightning, the thought burst into an incandescent inspiration.
She slapped the heavy bag at her side. "That's it! Of course. Valorian knows!" she cried. The diamond splinter in her wrist flared from her excited burst of energy.
Athlone stared at her sudden transformation. "What are you talking about?"
"The mask!" she said, trying to keep her voice down. "Quick, Athlone, Tam! Get into the temple and join Sayyed."
The little girl had just released Afer's broken leg from the rocks, so she patted the injured horse and hurried to obey, leaving him with the other Hunnuli.
Athlone hesitated. "What are you planning?"
"If Branth can summon something from the realm of the dead, so can I," Gabria replied excitedly.
"Not another gorthling."
"Of course not. I'm going to try to use the power in the mask to summon Valorian. If I am successful, he can tell us how to rid ourselves of that beast."
Athlone was awestruck by the simplicity and audacity of her plan. Valorian. My gods! Athlone thought. Without another word he took Eurus into the temple.
Gabria loosed two quick bolts at the ground by the gorthling's shield. As they exploded in a cloud of dirt and gravel, she and Nara hurried through the ring of stones after Athlone and joined the group of people in the center of the temple.
Before the gorthling could retaliate, Sayyed lowered his shield and renewed it around the entire group, including Nara, Eurus, and the colt.
"By the gods," Wer-tain Guthlac said to his chief, "I'm glad to see you!" He instinctively ducked when the gorthling fired a blast at the shield.
The other hostages stared at Gabria in confusion and hope. She gave them what she hoped was a confident smile and untied the bag from her belt. The mask felt heavy in her hands. She turned to Athlone and said, "I will not be able to help you maintain the shield while I do this spel . You, Sayyed, and Tam will have to protect us all."
He grinned. "Gladly."
Her green eyes sparkled at his reply. "Two months ago I would never have thought you would say that."
"You've taught me well," the chieftain replied.
He went to stand by Sayyed and Tam, and the three joined their wills together to hold the magical shield around the beleaguered group. The gorthling shrieked in rage. He fired more arcane blasts at the shield to try to weaken it, but for now, the three magic-wielders held it firm.
Gabria slid to the ground and leaned back against Nara. The mare curved her neck around Gabria and nickered softly. In the memory of my sires, Valorian was a tall man, dark-haired, proud, kind, and fearless. Bend your wil toward him through the mask. Perhaps he wil hear you.
The sorceress bowed her head. She did not know a formal spel for summoning a being from the realm of the immortals, so she would have to create one of her own. Nara's suggestion sounded as plausible as any idea she might decide upon. She straightened and turned to face the flat stone altar on the eastern side of the temple.
The hostages watched her in growing amazement. The clanspeople on the riverbanks who could see her muttered among themselves, wondering what was happening.
The sorceress studied the stones stil standing around her. Legends said that Valorian dwelled with the gods, beyond the realm of the dead. What better place from which to summon him than a sacred temple? If there was any place on the Dark Horse Plains where the world of man touched the unseen realm of the gods, the Tir Samod was it.
"Amara, give me strength," Gabria prayed.
Reverently, she held the golden mask up to the sky. As the sunlight sparkled on the enigmatic face, the mask tingled in her hands.
Gabria closed her eyes. One by one, she focused on the sounds around her---the curses of the gorthling as it struggled to break through their defenses, the murmur of the hostages behind her, the click of the horses' hooves on stone, the ripple of the rivers-and one by one, she shut them out of her mind until there was only a vast silence.
Into the silence she sent her plea to Valorian. She bent her wil into the magic of the mask and called him with every fiber of her being. The world around her seemed to recede until she was floating in a limitless, lightless, ethereal realm beyond the bounds of her earthly senses. She went without fear into the darkness and continued to cal Valorian with her heart, mind, and soul.
Time passed, although Gabria did not feel it. Her mind was wrapped around the
