The Wyrmling Horde

As Cullossax awaited his fate, far away upon the plains, the humans of the warrior clans fled their fortress at Caer Luciare, nearly forty thousand people racing through the morning light, heading east through fields of oats that had been burned white by the summer sun, past black-eyed Susans that towered above the straw, their golden petals circling their dark eyes, through thickets of thistles with wilted liver-colored leaves and heads of purple.

The people kept away from the alders and pines along the mountain s skirts, where wyrmlings might lurk in the shadows. Instead, they blazed a path through fields so dazzlingly bright that the wyrmlings could not follow.

The folk of Caer Luciare could not move swiftly, burdened as they were. Some women carried babes at their breasts or hoisted toddlers on their shoulders. Older children walked, struggling through the tall grass, while the oldest of the folks hobbled about with staffs to keep them upright.

Many warriors were wounded, and these had to be borne by their comrades, while everyone who could do so had brought something-food, water, a little clothing. The inhabitants of the castle had long known that they might have to flee, and so were prepared.

But where are we going? Talon wondered, as she stopped to shift a keg of ale that she carried upon her back. She walked beside her aged mother, at least the woman who had raised Talon among the warrior clans, a woman named Gatunyea. Talon s father had been much the same man in both worlds, a mighty protector of his people. Talon had known him as Sir Borenson among the small folk on one world and as Aaath Ulber among these warriors. And on each world, Borenson had taken a different woman to wife. Gatunyea of the warrior clan was nothing like Myrrima, the gentle wizardess. Gatunyea was a stern woman, heavy-boned and arthritic, with a blunt face and no tolerance for weakness. She had borne her husband two strong sons with features much like his own. They walked beside Talon now, her brothers, age nine and eleven.

But unlike Talon and Borenson, the rest of the family had not merged with their shadow selves when the worlds were bound.

That can mean only one thing, Talon reasoned: they had no shadow selves to merge with. Their counterparts somehow died or were killed before the worlds combined.

But how could that be? she wondered. How can I, the daughter of Borenson and Myrrima on one world, have different parents on another?

Only one answer sufficed. Gatunyea is not my birth mother, Talon realized.

She looked over at the woman. Gatunyea had wide cheekbones and a wrinkled brow. So did her sons. Talon had always felt grateful not to have inherited those features, for they would have made her appear more brutish.

"Gatunyea," Talon asked, "when were you going to tell me that you were not my birth mother?"

The aging woman faltered in her step and cast a sideways glance at Talon. She seemed to age three years in the space of a heartbeat.

"Never," Gatunyea said. She fell silent a moment, and then explained. "You are my daughter. I took you to my breast when your mother died. I nursed you as my own. That is all that matters."

"What happened to my birth mother?"

Gatunyea shook her head sadly. "She went to hunt for hazelnuts one morning when the clouds were lowering. A wyrmling harvester caught her in the forest. You were a month old. My own husband had been killed in a raid on the wyrmling supply lines months before, a raid that was led by Aaath Ulber. So your father felt… responsible for me. I was expecting a child, a son came two days after your mother disappeared, but his cord was wrapped three times around his neck. We managed to free him, but he did not last a day. So your father took me to wife. I am from good stock. He knew that I could bear him the strong sons that our people would need to fight, and I was happy for the chance. It seemed a prudent union."

Talon s half-brothers peered up at their mother, their faces a study in surprise.

"Do you love my father?"

"More than life or breath," Gatunyea said. "That is the way of it. You cannot sleep with a good man for all those years and not grow into one. But I wonder," she said, glancing off to the horizon, "if he will still love me?"

Talon knew that her father faced a dilemma. His two shadow selves had merged, and on each world he d had a different wife, a different family. Others in the city were facing similar problems. Which wife would he choose now?

Myrrima, Talon decided. Sir Borenson had more children with Myrrima than Aaath Ulber had with Gatunyea, and their bond was closer. They had fought side by side at war, and thus their relationship was probably deeper than the one that Aaath Ulber had with Gatunyea.

But now that his two selves had bound into one, what would Myrrima and their children think of him? He would be a giant in size, with a bony ridge upon his brow, and overlarge incisors. He would seem a monster.

"He will come to you," Talon decided. "Father will look more like one of the warrior clan than the small folk. He ll come to you."

Talon s mother let out a small sob, a strange sound. Talon had never heard the stern woman cry. Talon hadn t known that Gatunyea was even capable of it.

Yet Talon feared that she had guessed wrong and thus given Gatunyea false hope.

Talon wondered if her two mothers might share her husband, as women in Indhopal did. But Talon doubted that they could manage it.

The company forged ahead. With each step full heads of grain scattered at Talon s feet, and the occasional grasshopper rose up on buzzing wings.

So how far can we run with all of these children? Talon wondered.

The wyrmlings had taken Caer Luciare, and they also held the fortress at Cantular. The River Dyll-Tandor had flooded after the change, and was all but impassable. And by destroying the bridge at Cantular during last night s battle, Warlord Madoc had been able to forestall some of the wyrmling invaders, but now it seemed that his heroic deed had also blocked his own people s escape.

I m glad that Madoc s dead, Talon thought. I only wish that I could claim a part in his killing.

But now, by all accounts, Talon s people were on something of an island, with waters rushing all around, and only the mountains of the Great Spine to the south.

South, Talon thought, we will have to flee south.

But with women and wounded and old folks and children to slow them, the wyrmlings would harry their retreat.

Perhaps, she considered, there are some narrow mountain passes we can escape through. Certainly, the High King had plotted just such a retreat many times. He and his counselors had huddled over ancient maps for hours, considering what trails to use, where water and shelter might be found, and how best to defend themselves in just such an event. They d spent months choosing the safest course, and planning for every contingency.

Just as surely, the wyrmlings had plotted how to defeat them.

But now everything was changed. Two "shadow" worlds had combined. Mountains had shifted position. Some had risen and others fallen as the two worlds merged into one. The old maps, the old escape plans, were all but useless.

Still, we have to try, Talon considered.

Talon s mother and brothers carried food, bundled in blankets. But there were no spare clothes for winter, no food to last them even through a week. Still the refugees trudged through the fields, heading north.

But why? Talon wondered. There was no escape that way.

At midmorning, the Emir Tuul Ra called a halt in a huge meadow. A stream ran through it, and willows sprouted along its banks, so that some could stand in the shade.

Soldiers guarded the bank, lest any wyrmlings be hiding in the trees.

A young man of this world named Alun had been trudging beside Talon all day. Alun was the Master of the Hounds at Caer Luciare. He had but fourteen war dogs left to his credit, and on this morning he let them run. The dogs wagged their stubby tails and raced about in the fields, startling yellow butterflies and winged grasshoppers into flight, woofing at all of the excitement. In their lacquered armor and spiked collars, they looked fierce.

Now Alun sent some dogs east to scout for scents in the brushy thickets along the creek, and others to the west. If a wyrmling hid there, the dogs barking would give ample warning.

After a brief halt, Talon spotted the Wizard Sisel, Daylan Hammer, and the Emir Tuul Ra off from the main body of the company. The emir s daughter, Siyaddah, a dark-skinned girl with a doe s soft eyes, was talking to her father.

Talon could not help but notice that Alun was gazing at her longingly.

Alun was not a huge man. He was a gangrel, thin in the ribs with a misshapen nose, spindly arms, and oversized hands.

Talon had hardly noticed him before. She had been born to the warrior caste, and so he, a mere slave, had not merited attention.

But now that the worlds had merged, a part of Talon suddenly recognized that he was another human being, a person who by birthright should have been treasured and treated with honor. She tried to imagine what his life was like.

Until recently, he had lived a life of hopelessness, never dreaming that he might be allowed to bear children. He had not even hoped that he would be free to buy a home, or to marry.

I was born with riches, Talon thought, but Alun had to work for what little he s got.

Only recently had he been accepted into the warrior clan, and rumor said that he had fought like a badger when the clans took the wyrmling fortress at Cantular.

I should give him his due, Talon decided.

"Why don t you go speak to her?" Talon asked.

"Oh," he said, "she wouldn t go for the likes of me."

"Don t underestimate yourself," Talon said. "Siyaddah has a way of seeing through people, gauging their worth. You fought against wyrmlings yesterday, and you acquitted yourself well. Surely saying hello to her would require less courage."

Alun just looked at Talon helplessly, as if she had asked too much of him.

Suddenly Daylan waved into the air, and Talon s foster sister Rhianna came swooping to the ground in front of him, her bright magical wings flashing like rubies in the morning sun. She landed with a jar. Rhianna spoke to Daylan and the emir.

She d been scouting the trail from the sky, using the wings that she had won last night by defeating a Knight Eternal in single combat.

Rhianna was pretty in her way. She had cinnamon-colored hair and eyes more fiercely blue than any rain-washed sky. Her red hair nearly matched the color of her wings. The tunic and pants that she wore were made of doeskin, the hue of summer fields. But right now her face looked wan and careworn.

She did not have Talon s great size or blunt features.

Talon whispered to Alun, "Come with me. Now s your chance."

Talon went to hear Rhianna s report, while Alun followed in a nervous daze, but before Talon reached the spot, Rhianna rose up from the ground and flew east, flapping furiously.

Talon reached the party, and Alun stood beside Siyaddah shyly, as if wondering what to say. After a moment, he mumbled a greeting, and Siyaddah answered more boldly.

Talon left the two to their own conversation, and asked Daylan. "Where is Rhianna going?"

"To warn the small folk of the world," Daylan replied. "If we can get them to unite against the wyrmlings, we might stand a chance."

"She ll never reach help in time," Talon said. "The wyrmlings will be on our trail by nightfall."

"There are trails that the wyrmlings cannot follow," Daylan said mysteriously, and went trundling away.

The emir stood watching Rhianna fly off, and then turned to Talon and asked, "Tholna, is it not-daughter of Aaath Ulber?"

"I go by the name Talon, now."

The emir smiled at that, an odd smile full of concern. "Why go by that name?"

Talon had to think before answering. The emir came near, standing just a bit above her. He was not tall. He did not tower above her. Yet his presence was imposing. He was a legend among her people, one of the great heroes of all time. Frequently he had led raids against the wyrmling harvesters that hunted her people, or had raided wyrmling supply trains or destroyed enemy outposts. In his youth, he had led the last of his people on a daring assault on Rugassa itself-and had returned wounded and beaten, the sole survivor.

Most important, Talon s own father, Aaath Ulber, credited the emir with saving his life in two separate raids.

So he was a legend, and Talon felt both honored and intimidated by his presence. By training, Talon s shadow self Tholna had been raised to hope to wed such a man, to bear him warrior sons. The hope had been drilled into her from the time she was born, and she found herself excited to be near him.

Or maybe, she thought, it is just his animal magnetism that excites me.

The emir was handsome. His dark hair was cropped short and brushed back. His eyes were a brown so deep that they were almost black, and they had a fire in them that smoldered.

So Talon found that she struggled for words as she tried to frame an answer to his question. "I suppose that I wish to be called Talon because… I am not at all like the Tholna that my friends knew."

The emir seemed intrigued. "Interesting. And how have you changed, my little Talon?"

Talon had never spoken to the emir, not above a casual greeting when she had met him while in the company of her father.

"I… Tholna was a nothing. She was a breeder, meant only to bear sons to some warrior. Talon is a warrior."

The emir smiled, obviously amused. "There are women warriors among the small folk?"

"It is not common," Talon admitted, "but among the Runelords, a person s gender does not matter much. Forcibles tend to be great equalizers. Besides, my father was the king s personal bodyguard, and at times we were in great danger, so he taught me everything that he knew."

The emir nodded appreciatively at that. "The better to protect you. Very well, I shall call you Talon from now on. What does the name mean, in the tongue of the small folk?"

"It is a claw, like that found on a hawk," Talon said.

"Interesting," the emir said. "Do you know what the name Tholna means?"

Tholna was a common name among girls. "It is an ancient weapon, I ve heard."

"Not so ancient. It was often used in Dalharristan, when I was a lad. It had a handle that one could grasp in the hand, with two long hooks attached to it-hooks that protruded on either side of the middle finger. Thus, in ancient Dalharristan, the weapon was called a talon.

"It is odd, don t you think," the emir continued, "that your father would give you the same name on both worlds? It makes me wonder how many other similarities there might be."

The news was indeed intriguing. Talon had been trained in many weapons, but had never even seen a tholna. "Why would I want to pull a foe in close, where he might strike within my kill zone?"

The emir seemed mildly surprised by the question, and appreciative of it. "In the close combat of a large battle it was surprisingly effective. It was used only as an off-hand weapon, usually with a parry blade. The tholna could be hooked into the shoulder or leg of an opponent, to throw him off balance. Originally, it was developed by the wyrmlings-used to grasp fleeing humans."

Talon considered. The parry blade was a short sword with a round guard so large that it was almost as big as a targe. In close combat, where hundreds of men might be fighting at once, the parry blade was an effective stabbing weapon, for it was difficult to avoid an expert blow.

"An interesting combination of weapons," Talon said. "But I do not think they would be of much use in our war against wyrmlings."

"No," the emir said, "which is why they lost popularity."

The company began to move out, and Talon prepared to march with it.

The emir asked, "May I walk with you?"

"Me?" Talon asked. She could not understand why he would want to.

"I need to learn the tongue of the small folk," the emir said. "I was hoping that you could teach me?" Talon wondered why he did not just ask one of his warriors. Several men among the warrior clans had been bound into one, and thus knew how to speak Rofehavanish. As if divining her thoughts the emir added, "I could ask one of my men, but to tell the truth, you are more pleasant to look upon."

The compliment took Talon off guard and left her feeling weak in the knees.

She found the emir attractive. He was a widower, and therefore available. But she had never considered herself worthy of his attention.

Nevertheless, they were both of marriageable age, and among the warrior clans, men and women were taught to wed the strongest possible mate.

The Emir Tuul Ra was older than Talon, but he was blessed with a face and figure that were somehow timeless. He could have been any age between thirty and forty-five. Though he had a daughter just a few months older than Talon, she found him beguiling, and she imagined him to be young. She imagined that he had married as a young teen, as royals often did in his land.

Talon was eighteen years old-a free woman on her world, old enough to select her own husband-and she was considered to be of prime breeding age and stock.

The emir took her elbow gently, and walked beside her in a courtly manner.

She smiled shyly, and walked with him, pointing out things-grass, trees, sky, sun-and teaching him their Rofehavanish names.

The emir listened intently and experimented with each word, trying it on his tongue. He turned out to be a marvelously adept student, for in his youth he had been forced to master several languages. More important, he was from the ruling caste in his own land, and thus had been bred for intelligence. Thus, his forefathers had been selected not just to be great warriors, but to be men of sound character and deep wisdom.

They walked along for a pair of hours, Talon trying to match the emir s faster pace, until at last they reached the front of the column, matching stride for stride. The emir learned with surprising rapidity, and kept demanding to learn more, as if he hoped to master the Rofehavanish tongue in a single day.

He feels an onus is upon him, she realized. His every muscle is strung as tight as a bow. He has an entire nation to save, and he thinks that knowing this language might be the key.

At Talon s back, Alun and Siyaddah were lost in their own conversation, and time and again the war dogs came boiling around them all in a pack.

But as they talked, Talon heard one man a few rows behind question loudly, "Where are we going? Ah, this is madness! Who is in charge here?"

She realized that she had been hearing similar grumbles farther off all morning long, and she herself had wondered who was in charge, but the emir s lessons had captured her attention and taken her mind from the problem.

The emir rounded and called, "Halt! Halt! Everyone gather around!" He leapt up on a fallen tree. The bark had stripped away over the years, so that the bole was bleached whiter than a skull. The Wizard Sisel came to stand at the emir s back on the right, and Daylan Hammer to his left. Thus, with the emir having some elevation, it felt almost as if they had formed a natural amphitheater. The crowd began to gather around. There was nervousness in the air. Talon found herself backing away, farther into the crowd, hoping to assess its mood.

"There is grumbling among you," the emir said-loudly, so that he could be heard by all who were pleased to listen. "You are worried, as you should be. You ask, Where are we going?" At that there were grunts of assent and wise nods. " Who leads us now, and by what right? Our king is dead. Warlord Madoc is dead. Why are we traveling north, when the way is blocked?"

They were good questions all, Talon knew.

"I will tell you," the emir said. "No one leads us now." At that the folks in the crowd glanced from side to side, and some shook their heads. It was a problem that they had never faced before. "Here in our hour of greatest need, no one leads us."

"You should lead us!" one of the young warlords cried in a husky voice, and there were cheers from many. But almost instantly Warlord Madoc s sons shouted, "No! No!" and their supporters chimed in, while others hissed and jeered.

Talon was astonished by the ferocity of their response. The Emir Tuul Ra had always been a man of high station, well liked by the people. But many a peasant shook a fist in the air and adamantly rejected the notion that he should lead.

"Who are you to tell us what to do?" an old woman demanded at Talon s side. Others cried, "Madoc! Clan Madoc!"

Old warlords raised their axes in the air and began to chant, "Madoc! Madoc! Madoc!"

Talon felt bewildered, and had to wonder why so few would support the emir. In part, she suspected that it was because he was foreign-born and had lost his own war against the wyrmlings.

But the people didn t just seem to be rising up against him. There was genuine support for Clan Madoc.

Old Warlord Madoc had been a bold man, it was true, but his character had been flawed. He had gained popularity among the lesser lords by flattering them and offering bribes. If the Madocs took power, many a man would find himself given an office that he was not fit for, shoving aside men who were wiser and better qualified. The resulting upheaval, in this difficult time, would be a disaster.

But it wasn t just secondary posts that Talon had to worry about. Madoc s sons were not their father s equal-not in courage, not in battle prowess, not in wisdom or intelligence or cunning.

But apparently some of the lords did not care. So long as the bribes continued and undeserved wealth and honors flowed into their hands…

"Emir Tuul Ra!" Talon cried. "Emir Tuul Ra!" A few others raised the chant, and some old woman turned to Talon and raged, "Shut your mouth, damn you. You don t know what you re saying!"

But Talon cried all the louder, and soon tempers were flaring. In some knots, weapons were drawn. It almost looked as if it would turn to civil war.

A great good that will do, Talon thought. The wyrmlings will rejoice to see it.

Daylan Hammer whistled loudly, to capture folks attention.

The emir held his hands up, begging for quiet, seemingly as baffled by the outcry and clamor as Talon was. He tried to dispel the rising tide of rage. "I do not propose to be your leader," he said. "I led a nation once, a proud nation that was larger than all of your eastern realms combined. Where is it now? I will tell you: I led it to ruin. The wyrmlings destroyed it."

Talon wanted to argue. It was not the emir s fault. Tuul Ra had been but a youth at the time when his father died in battle, and his people had been refugees fleeing the wyrmling horde. The war that destroyed them had been waged for centuries, and Tuul Ra had inherited his defeat. She remembered even as a tot how her father had said that the emir "did a miraculous job of fighting an unwinnable war."

Apparently, others knew the truth, too, for some cried, "No! That is not how it was."

The emir was a hero in Talon s mind. He had dealt savage blows to the wyrmlings against all odds. He d captured the wyrmling princess, and thus forestalled last night s attack for more than a decade. He was such a hero Talon believed that his name would be remembered in the Halls of Eternity.

But the emir called the protesters to quiet. "I will tell you who should lead you," he shouted. "Your prince-Areth Sul Urstone."

There was silence for a moment. The naysayers had not expected that. Their prince had been taken captive by the wyrmlings years ago, and it was believed that he was still held in the dungeons of Rugassa.

"He can t lead us," Connor Madoc shouted, striding from the crowd to confront the emir. "If he s even alive, what s left of him-a gibbering shell of a man? The wyrmling torturers will have made a wreck of him."

"I doubt it," the emir said resolutely. "All who knew Prince Urstone doubt it. The prince that I knew was the best man that I have ever met. If all men were such as he, there would be no need for prisons or judges or barristers, for there would be no crime. All men would dwell in peace and deal honorably and courteously with one another. All husbands would love their wives, and hold to their wives alone. All children would love and emulate their fathers, for their fathers would be worthy of their love. There would be no need for armies, for there would be no wars.

"Can you imagine what kind of world that would make? So much of our labor is only a waste. We wage an endless war against the evils among us, and it drains our every resource-our time, our wealth, and even our very hope.

"But that s the kind of man I knew-a good man, a just man. Perhaps he is just a memory. Perhaps you re right. Maybe he has been tormented beyond all reason, and his mind has gone to waste. He might now be nothing more than a maddened animal, craving his own death.

"But I hope for something better. There was a firmness in Areth Sul Urstone that put iron to shame. Never have I known a man of stronger resolve. I believe that he resisted his torturers through these years. I have been told that upon the shadow world, his shadow self was great indeed, and that he was a king beloved of his people more than any other. It is said that even the earth loved him, and granted to him great powers to protect his realm. Thus he was called an Earth King.

"It is my hope that now that the worlds have combined, he may become such once again. I believe that he still lives, and it is my intent"-Emir Tuul Ra s voice suddenly turned to a snarl, as if terrible passions had long been building inside and only now fought their way free-"to bring him home!"

At that some of the older men cheered and raised their battle-axes and danced in celebration. Some of the older women swiped tears from their eyes.

But Talon felt little. She had never known the prince. He d been captured when she was just a toddler. Most of the younger generation had never met him.

She had met his shadow self, of course-the Earth King Gaborn Val Orden. But how much like him could Areth Sul Urstone be? Areth Sul Urstone was from a world that had never heard of Earth Kings.

The Wizard Sisel hoped that with the binding of the worlds, the Earth Spirit would grant that title to Areth s shadow self. But Talon wasn t sure if that would happen.

"What would you have us do," Drewish Madoc shouted at the emir, "squat here in the field while you plot some mad rescue? We should get going. We should devise some fortification, prepare for battle. The wyrmlings will be upon us after dusk."

"What fortification would you suggest?" the emir asked. "Shall we dig a trench and build a nice little battle wall? How will that help us, when the wyrmlings took Caer Luciare-one of our greatest fortresses-only hours ago? It would be madness to fight them, and there is nowhere to run." He jutted his chin toward Daylan. The immortal stood calmly. "But Daylan Hammer has a plan for escape, one that is not without its own risks. I will let him tell you of it."

Daylan stepped forward a few paces. "As you know, our passage is blocked to the north. With the colliding of the worlds, a great sea is emptying and filling the River Dyll-Tandor. It has flooded to the north and the east, and it is filling the valleys to the west. We cannot escape in those directions. The mountains to the south might seem the only logical choice, but you all know the dangers. The weather there is likely to be harsh, even at this time of year. But there is another danger: with the great change that has been wrought, the mountains themselves will be unstable. Landslides are common enough in the wet season, they will be far more likely now. I do not think we should venture south.

"That leaves only one hope. You folk of Caer Luciare have no memory of how the worlds were formed. Among the wyrmlings it is taught that the Great Wyrm formed the world, and that is half-true.

"But a better world than this existed once, a world so pure and beautiful that your imaginations cannot do it justice. The Great Wyrm tried to seize control of it, and in the battle that ensued, the One True World splintered into millions and millions of lesser worlds.

"Your world is but a shadow of that perfect world, as many of you now know. And these shadows were wrought by Despair.

"But the One World, the netherworld, still remains. It is diminished from what it once was, but it exists. I can open a door into it, if you desire to enter."

"And who will lead us," Drewish Madoc demanded, "you?"

"I have no desire to lead these people," Daylan said.

"Damn you, I think you do!" Drewish growled.

"Please," the emir said. "Let us not quarrel-I beg you. Let us not choose a leader until after I bring my friend home."

The Madocs could not easily mount an argument against that, not without seeming churlish. But their expressions showed that they wanted to.

Talon studied Connor Madoc, and inwardly she fumed. Her father had warned her of the danger posed by that man. Dozens of times he had tried to lure her father to his side with petty bribes and flattery.

Daylan said, "I must warn you that even the One True World holds its risks. Still, it is much like your world, and you will not have to abide there long. There may be dangers ahead, but compared to the certain destruction that awaits us if we stay here, the risks are worth taking.

"I intend to open a door into that world, and over the next few days you can march at your leisure. In time, I will open another door to this world, and we can enter somewhere far away from here, beyond the knowledge of the wyrmling hordes."

For an instant, the crowd was stone silent. But they could not remain silent for long. Daylan Hammer was offering hope where only minutes before there had been none, and now Talon whooped in triumph. All of the rest of the people joined into the shout.

"Let us see this world first!" Connor Madoc clamored to be heard above the crowd.

Daylan Hammer shrugged in acquiescence, then begged use of a staff from the Wizard Sisel; the wizard complied.

Daylan touched the ground with the tip of the staff, and then swung it into a high arc, as if tracing the path of a rainbow.

When he brought the staff back to the ground, he stood for a moment, muttering an incantation. He raised his staff again and began drawing a rune in the air with its tip.

The air around the company suddenly seemed to harden: that was the only way that Talon could describe it. She could still breathe, but there was a heft to the air, as if it had grown heavy and torpid, like a pudding as it thickens.

The smell of a storm filled the field, and lightning sizzled and popped at the point of Daylan s staff.

Suddenly, it was as if an invisible wall fell away.

One instant, Talon was peering at Daylan and the others, and behind them she could see the white fields of summer, thick with dying thistles and black-eyed Susans. The next moment, it was as if a curtain had opened, revealing something Talon had never imagined.

There was a door in the air, shaped like a rainbow, high and arching, large enough so that several people could march through it abreast.

Beyond the door was a land different from her own. There was a vast glade with grass an emerald green. It was dawn there, or perhaps it only looked like dawn because of the huge trees that blocked the sunlight. A numinous opalescent haze filled the water-heavy air.

Not a mile ahead, at the edge of a small lake, a stand of pine trees rose up impossibly high, as if trees were mountains in that world.

Rich flowers filled the meadow. There were pink posies on the ground, each blossom the size of a child s fist, and bright yellow buttercups, and bluebells that grew so tall that one could look up into the hollow within their flowers.

Bees droned lazily as they trundled about in the morning air. A sweet scent blew from the netherworld, a perfume of flowers so rich that it threatened to overwhelm Talon, but it was mingled with an earthy scent of rich soil and sweet grass.

But even more than the serenity of the scene before her or the fragrance that blew from the netherworld, the call of morning birds beckoned Talon.

There were larks at the fringe of the meadow singing songs that were more intricate, more complex and variant in tone, than the loveliest song from a flute.

Almost by instinct, Talon longed to be there. She suddenly found herself shoved from the back as someone lunged toward the door. A shout rose from among Talon s people, and it seemed that they would stampede through the opening and bolt into the netherworld-not from fear but from desire.

Daylan Hammer shouted, "Hold! Hold! All of you!" He held the staff at ready, barring the way, as if he would club the first person who tried to get past him.

A woman, a young mother holding her child, stopped in front of him, and a wordless cry of longing rose from her throat.

"Listen," Daylan said. "All is not as it seems. The world you see is beautiful, yes, but it can also be treacherous. There is perfect beauty there, and perfect horror, too.

"Some who walk through this door will die, I fear.

"Touch nothing until I tell you that it is safe. Keep quiet, lest you attract attention. Do not drink from any stream until I tell you that it is all right. Do not eat anything without asking me first."

There were shouts of agreement to the terms, but still Daylan Hammer barred the way. He looked into the eyes of the women and children, as if to be certain that they understood, that they would heed his warning.

"One last thing," he said. "There are men on this world. Some of you have heard of them. You call them the Bright Ones. Their ways will be strange to you, and their magics may be frightening. You must not anger them. Neither should you quarrel with them, or lie to them, or steal from them.

"They have no desire to harm you, but their conduct to you may seem impossibly harsh.

"Most importantly, they will not welcome you. It is my hope that we will meet none on our journey. And if you happen upon them, and think them cruel, know only that their enemies are far crueler.

"If we are discovered, the Bright Ones will likely banish us back to your world. You will not be allowed to stay. I am opening a door to paradise, but only for a brief moment. You cannot stay forever. Understand this, and enter at your own peril."

He tried to bar the way for an instant more, but the netherworld beckoned, and with a shout of triumph the woman went charging through the door in the air.

Daylan is wiser than I thought, Talon decided. He has just made himself our king, for no one will support the Madocs so long as they find themselves in a new and dangerous world.

While the crowd streamed through, nearly forty thousand strong, Talon suddenly felt a strange reticence.

This is more dangerous than we know, she thought. It may be more dangerous than it is possible for us to know.