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"Ah, but ye&039;d be the fool to go back," Bradwarden said to Sharoup had returned to the ca easily The captain had insisted that he and histo return to Palmaris and openly oppose Bishop De&039;Unnero in a court convened by the King "He&039;ll not let ye even get word to the King afore he has ye killed in the public square"

"The Church does not rule in Honce-the-Bear," Shamus Kilronney asserted with as much determination as he could muster But even that pitiful atte the foundation upon which his entire world had been built

"Bradwarden speaks the truth," Elbryan added "We&039;ll not catch De&039;Un-nero before he returns to Palreat a force We cannot fight hithat made the man bishop?" Bradwarden asked dryly

"He did not know " Shaave a frustrated growl Shamus now had to face the obvious facts The Bishop of Pal and the Father Abbot, held all the power in Palmaris, and thus, in all the northern reaches of Honce-the-Bear

"King Danube ht not understand the truth of theto ease his friend&039;s pain "And when he learns that truth, perhaps we can return to Palmaris and throw ourselves on the mercy of an open and just court But that day has not yet arrived - far fro," Shah De&039;Unnero to do that," Bradwarden re his head even as the centaur spoke "We have an ally who h I a Danube would listen to her words The easier course for hi with the Father Abbot and his lackey the Bishop"

"And then?" Shamus asked

"And then we are outlaws forever more," Elbryan replied "And then we shall spend our days in the northland, in the deep forests of the Timberlands, perhaps, and oppose any who co position," Brother Brau, for Braumin and his monk coer

"What ally?" Shaer replied i secretly with those who oppose De&039;Unnero Do not underestimate her!" he added when he saw Shamus and several others frown

"And are we to hide and wait, then?" one of the other soldiers re north, to the Barbacan," Elbryan explained That brought gasps of astonishment

"It was rave of Brother Avelyn, ill find our peace and our purpose I know this frolory to those who accoht wide smiles, even cheers, froer, and Bradwarden all er smiles, it seemed obvious to theh

A o and talk privately about these events," he infor a decision to be made without the consent of all involved" He climbed on his own horse then, and walked past his soldiers, leading them away

"Suren that there&039;s soet us," Bradwarden reasoned after several h they were too far away for the ranger or the cen-taur to make out more than a feords "Now that they&039;re knowin&039; the truth o&039; their plight, De&039;Unnero&039;s offer&039;s likely seeer replied "Soainst us, nor will he allow any of the others to do so"

"And I&039;reed "But be knowin&039;, me friend, that if yer captain friend turns on us, I&039;ll take hie"

Elbryan saw that Bradwarden had set another arrow to his great bow, and, given the size and treer had little doubt that a single shot would be h

It didn&039;t come to that, for Shamus Kilronney trotted his mount over to theer and the centaur "A few do not wish toEven those doubters have decided to follow, seeing few options"

Elbryan gave a gri of the road ahead to be thrilled by the captain&039;s decision "Tiel&039;, perhaps," he replied "Until then, let us be extra vigilant We do not know if De&039;Unnero has decided to turn about, looking to strike at us once again"

The rest of the day, and that night, passed uneventfully Tiel&039;er the next day, and Brother Brau as the pace was not too fast

They set off, hoping that no late winter storms would arise before them

"You know," theinto full view

King Danube gasped and, clutching the candlestick he had picked up as an impromptu weapon, took a step back

"You are of the noble line," Lady Dasslerond scolded, "from your father, to his before him, to his before him You were told the truth of the Touel&039;alfar froreater fools than I believe"

"Fairy tales," King Danube said weakly

"And you know the truth ofQuestel ni&039;touel, which you call boggle," Dasslerond went on, advancing cal Danube, so find your heart and your cos I reatest kingdo line of royalty Noas unnerved by this tiny winged creature, a fairy tale come to life But Dassle-rond had spoken truly - he had indeed been told stories of the Touel&039;alfar ain his composure

She left him some time later, via the secret entry her scouts had created by cleaning out an unused chimney in the mansion

Danube had learned the elves&039; opinion of the overwhelment that did not favor Father Abbot Markwart and the Abellican Church But Danube still saw clearly the specter of Markwart, the nightti and all his years of ruling could not overcome

Lady Dasslerond e every one of Pony&039;s stones, to Belster O&039;Co hands "What if she does not recover?" he asked, looking at Pony, who lay, looking fragile, on a padded cot next to the side wall of the basement

"That is for you to decide," Lady Dasslerond replied "We have entrusted Jilseponie to your care, and the responsibility for the gemstones rests with her It is not a matter for the Touel&039;alfar, nor is she"

Belli&039;mar Juraviel winced when he heard those words He could not come to terms with Dasslerond&039;s brutal decision out on the field when Pony lay near death, but he knew that he had to accept that decision

"W-we have friends," Belster stuttered "The Behrenese sailor - "

"I care not," Lady Dasslerond said coldly, stopping hist yourselves, so fight well, I offer - and know that oodwill is more than any of you deserve Do what you ith the woht at this time to Father Abbot Markwart, she chose her course - and chose wrongly, I say, though I wish her no ill"

Belster started to reply, but Dasslerond turned away and, gathering up her elven companions, left the cellar of the Fellowship Way Belster fol-lowed the her the gelanced nervously at the unexpected nonhuuests, then rushed down to be at Pony&039;s side

"There is nothing I can say to change your mind?" Belster tried one last ti enough for one of theo to the openand look out to a co the alley, to make sure that the area was clear of soldiers

"You should take her from this place," Dasslerond replied "The Father Abbot found her here, and here he will look again Take her, and be gone yourself That isBelster standing at the open , frightened and uncertain He had sent Mallory and Prim O&039;Bryen out already to secure an escape route He could only hope that Captain Al&039;u&039;met and the other Behrenese would accept Pony - and the rest of the and thinking

"She woke up," came Dainsey&039;s voice behind hirabbed him by the arm to stop hih to know that her belly was e for Pony, this woedy in her short life

"She said that Markwart killed hi on the field, and knew even then that the foul creature had struck Now she&039;s vowin&039; to kill the hed, and wiped the tears froe and hate, so torn apart

"And then she started cryin&039; and shakin&039;, but she couldn&039;t stay aith all the pain," Dainsey explained "She tried using the gray stone, and using th, but I&039;m thinkin&039; that her pain&039;s too deep, and not just of the body"

"It is good that she woke up," Belster said, trying to sound hopeful

Dainsey put a coht not live," the woman said bluntly "She&039;s hurt, Belster, and ye should keep rereat sigh

A very distressed Heathcomb Mallory entered the Way

"Too many," Bradwarden said, the centaur obviously distressed - and it was one of the few times Elbryan had ever seen hiht that the damned creatures would&039;ve run far from this place after the explosion killed all o&039; them that was in here"

"They have wandered back in desperate hopes that their leader er reasoned

"Wandered back and plannin&039; to stay," said the centaur

Elbryan&039;s gaze subconsciously turned back to the south

"We came too far to surrender now," Brother Braue overlooking the Barbacan bowl "Bishop De&039;Unnero could not stop us; his soldiers joined us!"

True enough, the ranger knew Over the last few days, they had braved the cold winds and blowing snoork their way through the mountains, and now they had stopped near the exit of the mountain pass, the same trail Elbryan and the others had taken on their first trip to Mount Aida Within a couple hundred yards of their present position began the sloping descent into the blasted, bowl-shaped valley that had once housed the delanced at the place - and had been overwhelmed, and even saddened, by the barrenness of it Even the white snow could not hide the desolate grayness and ens of Aida&039;s eruption When they paused to con-sider the sight, though, Brau, for such emptiness would likely keep the monsters away perrave be realized: turning the place into a shrine, a new syht on the e, they had spotted distant ca had shown theer looked to the centaur now for help in e part of Elbryan wanted to turn around and rush to Palmaris, for he feared De&039;Unnero was there and was not certain if the man had learned that Pony was there

Pony and his unborn child

And yet, he had come to this place for a specific purpose, one shown to hih Oracle The ie of Avelyn&039;s extended ar that one session with his uncle Mather, and reinforced in subse-quent sessions As rave site again, to learn what Oracle was trying to teach hiht," the centaur offered "Not oblins on this side o&039; the er asked

Bradwarden nodded "All that I seen, but hunnerds o&039; the da the northern and western walls o&039; the Barbacan"

The ranger scanned the ring of e and then back to the west Then he looked at flat-topped Aida again, the lone , several miles away He could tell frohest sections the approxiion where Avelyn was entoht spot that are in his iant," the centaur admitted, "but not n that any powries reer added He, like all the others who had battled the cunning and tough dwarves during the war, had little desire ever to see one again

"We can get there," Brother Brau

"But what do e get there?" the ranger asked "We shall need a fire if we ht on the exposed top of Aida, and that will surely be seen by our unfriendly neighbors, no matter how hard we try to conceal it"

"The place has caves," Brauive up this close to his goal

"And thank ye for remindin&039; me," the centaur replied dryly

"Still" Brother Braumin pressed

"If the place has caves, then it is possible that those caves are full of gob-lins," Elbryan interrupted, "or worse things"

Brother Brauh and turned away

"We have cooing to Aida, to see Brother Avelyn&039;s grave, even if I must make the journey alone," added the usually tiiven my life to the principles of Master Jojonah, and of Avelyn Desbris, and I will see that special place now, even if it ht theuard and pleased the other monks - except perhaps for poor Marlboro Viscenti, as so nervous that he had been treo," Shamus Kilronney put in, "some of us, at least, while the rest will stay with the horses back here"

Elbryan looked to Bradwarden for counsel, knowing that his decision would be vital, but the centaur only shrugged, apparently willing to go along hatever decision they all made

"I do not knoe, I at least, can reer said "But if Bradwarden says that weto take the chance We have cois, and I, too, wish to visit the grave of er Lockless appeared on a trail i oblins on the lower slopes," he called up "The way is clear to the valley"

They set out at once, Bradwarden and Elbryan, Roger and the five monks, Shaent that had continued north with Elbryan&039;s band after the unpleasantwith Bishop De&039;Unnero They left a still-weak Tiel&039; with Symphony and all the other horses

The journey doas easy, the windblown trails relatively clear of any snow, except on one or two icy and treacherous descents By early after-noon, they were in the valley, er now, since the eruption had added tremendous width to the base of the mountain - that Elbryan and the others had followed on their first trip into the dactyl&039;s home It was much warmer down here, even co stone, though the eruption had occurred many months before Or, Elbryan mused with some concern, perhaps the , molten lava

"We should caer decided as they neared the hugean alcove sheltered frooblin eyes"

They found such a spot soon after, set a fire, and spent a peaceful, uneventful night, waking early, full of anticipation for what the new day would bring They had barely gotten out of their alcove and were pick-ing their way along the broken and jagged mountain face, when hope turned to dread Goblins - a horde of goblins! - poured out of a cave far below them, pointed up at them, and howled Within moly creatures, cutting off any escape