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"Nightbird may play an important role in all this," Lady Dasslerond explained, "to secure the outcome that we most desire"

"As may Jilseponie," Juraviel remarked

"Yes, the woman," said Lady Dasslerond "Tell htbird - that er Lock-less&039; claims"

"She is in Palmaris," Juraviel explained, "or should be"

"You fear for her?"

"The Church seeks her desperately," Juraviel replied "But Jilseponie is an experienced warrior, and her poith the gemstones is considerable indeed"

"But she is not our concern," Lady Dasslerond proht herbi&039;nelle dasada," Juraviel admitted "And she is wonderful"

Lady Dasslerond&039;s jaw tightened and she stood very straight In the trees about theasped and whispered, obviously affronted Juraviel was not surprised by the reaction, for he, too, had been angry when he had first learned that Nightbird had shared such a gift - a gift that was the Touel&039;alfar&039;s alone to give But then he had witnessed Pony&039;s weaving a pattern of beauty with Nightbird as they fought side by side against oblins, and he could not deny that she orthy of the gift, nor that Nightbird had taught her well

"I ask, ed "Or better still, watch her at the dance beside Nightbird The harh, Belli&039;mar Juraviel," Lady Dasslerond interrupted coldly "This is a concern for another day Our focus ave to hie for the Touel&039;alfar"

"Our concern ree

"Because of the gemstones?" asked the lady "Because she has learnedbi&039;nelle dasada? That alone does not qualify her as friend of the Touel - "

"Because she is with child," Juraviel cut in "Nightbird&039;s child"

Lady Dasslerond was intrigued The child of a ranger! This was not without precedent, but it was rare

"The bloodline of Mather will continue, then," caood"

"Good if Jilseponie proves worthy," Lady Dasslerond replied She looked hard at Juraviel

"She will exceed your every hope," the elf told her "Rarely have two so worthy huht forth a child" He couldn&039;t tell if the lady of Andur&039;Blough Inninness was pleased

"Were you going to Palht to take that course," Juraviel ad hoed for the company of kin and kind"

"You have found that company," said Lady Dasslerond "Are you satisfied? "

Juraviel understood the honor Lady Dasslerond had just conferred by offering him a choice "I am satisfied," he said "And so, with your permis-sion, I choose to rehtbird"

"No," Lady Dasslerond replied, surprising him "Till continue to the north to escort the humans, but my course, and yours now, is south"

"To Jilseponie? " Juraviel asked

"I wish to take a htbird," Lady Dasslerond explained, "of this woh it was not the Touel&039;alfar who taught her"

Juraviel smiled, for he was confident that the lady would be pleased

Only a pair of elves continued shadowing the , all of the others running and dancing quickly south

"We build it, they tear it down So we build it again, and they tear it down again," To at the burned-out ruins of Dundalis The place had been cole board left unburned or unbroken "And now here we are, stubborn fools, ready to build the place again" To the profound pain there

"I was a boy when the first Dundalis was sacked," the ranger explained He pointed to the charred re near the center "That was Belster O&039;Co Sheila But before that, long before Belster and the others you met even came to the northland, it was my home"

"Ah, and a fine town it was in those first days," re out of the brush, showing him-self to the people To glieneral

"I preferred that first town to the second," Bradwarden said "More filled with the songs o&039; children Like yer own, Nightbird, and those of Pony"

"Pony, too, was from that first Dundalis?" Tomas asked "I do not know the tale"

"And we&039;ve not the tiht, perhaps, when our work is done and we have gathered about a fire"

"But as the first town full of children, and not the second?" one roup, Belster&039;s companions, came north to a town that had been destroyed," Elbryan explained "As with our caravan, they knew the recent history of Dundalis, and brought no children with them They were a hardier folk than those who lived in the first town"

"And yet, they, too, would&039;ve been killed to the er lookin&039; over them," the centaur remarked

Elbryan took the coreatest pride that he had helped to save the majority of the folk of Dundalis before Bestesbulzibar&039;s army had arrived He had found people in the exact situa-tion that had taken the lives of his own faifts of the Touel&039;alfar, he hadof building the place again," Toer," said the centaur

To and hard at Elbryan, and saw that the cloud of pain had not gone froreen eyes "We caer&039;s shoulder "But it does not have to be here There are other fitting locations"

Elbryan looked at the man, sincerely touched by his concern and his offer "Here," he replied "Dundalis will rise again, in defiance of the gob-lins and the deht here, a town again as it was before; and when the region is secure, we shall bring others - folk with children - to fill the air with song"

Murroup "But where to start?" one woman asked

"Up that hill," Elbryan answered without hesitation, pointing up the north slope "A tower up there will command a view of all the northern trails And down here, ill start with a strongin times of peace, a shelter should winter at last descend, and a fortress should war find its way here again"

"You sound as if you&039;ve planned it all," Tomas remarked

"A thousand times," Elbryan replied, "every day from the day I was forced to run and hide in the forest Dundalis will rise froht s whispers, and even cheers

"And the other towns?" Tomas asked

"We have not the manpower to reclaim Weedy Meadow and End-o&039;-the-World at present," Elbryan explained "Bradwarden and I will scout them out, but for now, let theain, more settlers will come north, and ill aid them in the reclahouse fortress?" Torin

"And a tower," Elbryan replied

"And a ranger," said Bradwarden with a laugh "Ah, but ye&039;ll be runnin&039; all about, Nightbird"

And so they began that very day, clearing debris and staking out lines for some of the new structures The foundation of the central building was cleared, the walls outlined, and first poles - the botto the valley of caribou moss - were placed later that sae of that northern slope, the ranger relived some of the most vivid and powerfulthe hunters back with the dead goblin, the first sign of trouble; hisdown at the beautiful white brush blan-keting the ground about the rows of fir trees; the night he and Pony started up here, only to be stopped by the spectacular sight of Corona&039;sacross the southern sky like a heavenly rainbow

And, perhaps the most vivid memory of all and the most painful, he remembered his first kiss with Pony, the delicious and waroblins sacked the town

He told all that to Toht around the campfire They all eary from a hard day of work, and all knew that they would have another equally grueling schedule the next day Yet not a person fell asleep, entranced by the tale the ranger wove for them The moon had already set by the time he finished, and every one of them went to sleep with even ain

PART

THREE

POLITIC

There is so true and without hypocrisy in living aers on the borderlands of so-called civilized lands I have been watching Tomas and his friends, many of whom have lived e: gradual, but not so subtle if I ainst the attitudes I saw in them when first I caradually slipped away, I think, to allow the real faces of these h And I, as raised in Dundalis and then areatly prefer these true faces

Simple survival out here requires trust, and trust requires honesty Without it, all is in jeopardy, for when danger descends, cooperation holds the key to survival I know ly take a spear aimed at a friend, as any of them would for me That notion of mutual benefit, of true community, has been buried in the lands where the thrill of life on the edge of peril has been replaced by the co of secret alliances A secure, comfortable life, it seee

I have spent h the populated lands, through Palht be that the people there are bored, for much of life&039;s risk and adventure have been removed; and thus, the folk have added their own adventures, false adventures The levels of intrigue that I found in the populated South, particularly in the Church, have overwhelmed me It almost seems to me as if these people have tooiuided beliefs

I could not survive in that world, and would not deign to try I shall let the rise and set of the sun and the uide h to sustain life and never descend to gluttony, and always shall I remember to appreciate the animal, or plant, that provided odliness and stand hu always that she could destroy me in the flicker of an instant I shall tolerate weaknesses in others, for in them, I see my own And I shall raise ain

These are the vows that have come to me in my reflections, Uncle Mather, and I know theer I choose to live simply, and honestly, as did my father, as did you, Uncle Mather, and as the Touel&039;alfar showed dootten

I shudder at the concept of a world tamed