her, his hopes for her future, for a life well lived and well loved.
But it was his final words that caught Talon s attention, for before he left, he whispered, 'Sleep peacefully, my child. I borrow your speed for but a while. It shall not be long before you wake.'
That s when Talon knew.
He plans to return his endowments to the givers, Talon realized.
But the only way that he could do that would be to give up his life.
He can t do it before the battle is won, Talon thought. He must make certain that the wyrmlings are defeated.
So he will die at his own hand thereafter.
It was a noble thing to do. Few were the Runelords in history that had undertaken such a feat.
But Talon knew of the emir s courage and determination. He was just the kind of man to do it.
The thought both thrilled and horrified her. It thrilled her to think that he was so noble of heart. It horrified her because it made her desire him more.
The emir s face was stoic as he began taking his endowments, and then it was time for Talon to go.
She went first to her mother, Gatunyea, and to her little brothers, and said her farewells. Then she gave her thanks to her Dedicates, and to those who would yet grant endowments to her through those Dedicates.
Talon went to get her pack, and sat quietly examining her clothes and her small stores of food, deciding which to take. Nearby sat Alun, who was quiet and sullen. He hunched over his dogs, caring for them from long habit. Now a young girl knelt beside him, his new apprentice.
I should go and thank him, too, Talon decided. He loves his dogs as if they were his own children.
The camp was settled for the night, and in a far room someone was singing, filling the chamber with sweet sound. Nearby, the water lapped on the shore of the underground pool.
Two of Alun s dogs cowered close. These were the ones that had given hearing and scent. They peered up at him with sad eyes, as if stricken and betrayed. After all of their love and service, he had done this.
Other dogs-Wanderlust and some of the old ones-hovered nearby.
Alun sat there petting the dogs. He hadn t liked taking their endowments. Each time an attribute had passed into Talon, the dog that gave it had yelped in pain, then floundered to the ground or crawled off, alternately yelping and whining. They could not understand how deeply Talon needed their gifts, or how grateful she felt. But now Alun sat petting them, and the dogs licked his hands, as if to tell him that all was forgiven between them.
There was movement nearby. Talon ignored it, thinking that someone must just be going to relieve themselves in the night.
'Back with the mutts?' Connor Madoc asked, slipping up behind Alun.
Talon turned to see Connor and Drewish hovering above Alun, leering down.
'Just putting them to sleep,' Alun said, 'for the night.'
'Those should have been mine,' Connor said, nodding at the dogs. 'We had an agreement.' He leaned close, threateningly. Talon could not help but notice that Drewish had his hand on the pommel of his dagger.
'I, I m sorry,' Alun said. 'I, I got so nervous!'
Talon did not hesitate.
She leapt up, rushed five paces, grabbed Connor by the collar of his shirt with one hand, by the belt with the other, and then hurled Connor as far as she could out into the pond.
He only went ten feet, but she was gratified to see how far Connor flew.
Drewish did not have time to react. Talon s endowment of metabolism saw to it that before Drewish could draw his dagger, he went hurtling, as if intent on catching his brother in midair.
Both of them landed with a splash, and from a few yards off came heavy clapping.
'I m glad to see you putting those endowments to good use,' Daylan Hammer said. 'I daresay that those two can use the bath.'
'Aye,' Talon agreed. 'But there is a kind of filth in them that water cannot remove.'
The Madocs peered up at Talon, then at Daylan Hammer, and went slogging off without another word.
Daylan came close to the dogs, knelt next to Alun, and patted Wanderlust, smoothing out the grizzled hairs on her snout. 'Do not use this dog for endowments,' he said. 'She s too old. I fear that she would die from the transfer.'
'I wasn t thinking about that,' Alun said. 'She s earned her retirement. I just want her to live to a ripe old age.'
Daylan smiled. 'Let us hope that that is a very long time indeed.'
That dog might live longer than me, Talon thought, for I am going into the wyrmlings lair.
Even if she survived, Talon would be taking six endowments of metabolism from men and dogs, so that she might move swiftly. But in doing so, it was like taking poison. Her life would pass away as if it were a dream. A day to her would seem like seven, and if she should ever have a daughter, Talon would age and die before the girl ever grew old enough to bear her own children.
I will wither before my parents do, Talon realized.
Daylan said absently to Alun, 'Our facilitators are taking a rest now, but when they have recovered, they will prepare more forcibles, and grant us more endowments.'
'But, aren t you leaving sooner than that?' Alun asked.
'Yes, we re leaving, but our Dedicates are staying. They can take endowments for us now.'
'How can they do that?' Alun asked.
'Imagine that a man gives you his strength. When he gives that endowment, his strength flows to you, like a stream of water flowing into a lake.
'Now, imagine that another man gives more strength to your Dedicate through another endowment. His stream of water flows into that man s flow, just as happens when the winter showers create new streams. What happens then?'
Alun s face crinkled up as he tried to envision it. 'There is more water in the first stream?'
'Exactly. The strength does not pool in your Dedicate. Instead, the strength of both men flows to you.
'Thus, as Talon s Dedicates take endowments, and vector those attributes to her, she will gain their powers as the day progresses. From time to time, she may feel a surge of strength, or a rush of wholesomeness when stamina is added.'
He turned to Talon. 'Are you ready to go?' Daylan asked. 'Have you said your good-byes?' His voice was sober. He knew that they might be going to their deaths.
'I ve spoken my farewells,' Talon said. 'Is the emir ready? The Cormar twins?'
'Give them a few minutes more,' Daylan suggested.
Talon glanced across the chamber and saw the emir talking to some old battle companions. The Wizard Sisel and Lord Erringale stood at his side, waiting for him to finish. At his back were the Cormar twins.
One of the twins was gazing off, deep in thought, when suddenly he burst out laughing. The emir turned to see what had caused the outburst, and the young man said, 'Sorry, just thought of a joke.'
Talon turned back to Daylan.
'Daylan,' she asked softly. 'I heard Lord Erringale say that you had been banished from this world. Why was that?'
Daylan smiled, considered how to answer. 'Ages ago, there was a great danger on your world, the world of the Runelords. It was thousands of years ago. A young king had arisen, and his people were set upon by reavers. He begged for my help. His people were already studying rune lore, and they knew how to give one another blessings, by drawing runes upon their friends with their fingers. But it was a crude craft, barely understood, and those who gave the blessings failed far more often than not. Besides, such blessings fade quickly.
'So they begged for my help.
'I had only begun to suspect something back then. The Bright Ones call this world the One True World, and for countless ages the Bright Ones and Glories alike have thought that when the binding came, it would be upon this world, that it would be bound to some lesser world.
'You see, not all worlds are equal. Many of them are deeply flawed, and of all the worlds, this one reminds us most of what the world should be.
'But I had begun to suspect that looks can be deceiving. For rune magic worked on Fallion s world. In some cases, it worked better there than it does here. It was as if this True World of ours was only partly true, as if it had
