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It hadn&039;t snowed in several days and the air had been relatively warher elevations along the er, and several of Shaone down to the valley floor and even into the foothills on several occasions, hunting ga for a clear trail south They hadn&039;t found er&039;s hter, for every trip had taken them deeper into the mountains and Elbryan believed that the ti near
"This will be the day," Elbryan had said earlier that , as he set out to inspect the trails But Bradwarden knew froer&039;s face as he climbed back up to the plateau that he had not yet found a clear trail out of the Barbacan The ranger wanted to ride Symphony hard to the south, to Pony; but while he, with his elven training, could possibly get through the snowy mountain passes, the horse could not
"Too thick on the top?" Bradwarden asked
"I never got near the top," Elbryan replied glu drifts"
"Well, but she&039;s meltin&039; then," Bradwarden said hopefully
"Not fast enough," the ranger replied, staring back at the southern moun-tains "And if we see a freeze, then all will ice over and I shall be trapped in this place for another month"
"No freeze and no more snow," Bradwarden insisted "And if we do see one, or a snowfall, it&039;ll be gone with theof all is that I around is clear south of the h, the run to Palmaris would be fast"
"She&039;s fine, boy," the centaur said "I know ye&039;re worrying for her, and with good cause But ye got to trust in her Ye can bet that Pony&039;s got her-self surrounded by allies She&039;ll handle that Markwart - and De&039;Unnero,too - or she&039;ll be sh to keep her head down Ye need to find yer trust If the snow&039;s rumblin&039; down, then ye can expect to be here for a fewstorm, then ye can expect a few more than that Symphony&039;s a fine horse, finest I ever seen, but he&039;s not for walkin&039; mountain trails hidden under snowdrifts Nor a for any o&039; yer huntin&039; trips, now have ye? No, boy, ye find yer trust and ye find yer patience We&039;re here until winter decides to let us out"
Elbryan gave a nod, and his smile showed that the centaur&039;s point ell taken
"At least we got the food for it!" Bradwarden declared
True enough, Elbryan had to admit They had plenty of supplies, warmth from Avelyn&039;s arob-lins, no other monsters had dared approach the place, or had even dared to come anywhere near Elbryan and the others when they went out hunting
So it could have been worse, , it could have been better He could be in Pony&039;s ar her as she birthed their child He knew that she would be getting close to that tiet out of the Bar-bacan soon, even et him to Palmaris in time
Markwart, Danube, and their minions found no such obstacles The trails north of Dundalis were clear, and the procession proceeded at a tre the day they stopped only briefly, to rest and let their horses graze and for a bit of food of their own; they didn&039;t untie the prisoners until they caht
By that tihten Poor Pony, who had just survived the trau her child, could not even stand She curled up on the ground, clutching at her belly
Toed their captors to allow them, or at least Pony, to ride her horse the next day Markould have none of it, saying that she had created her own prison, and that she would be treated accordingly But then De&039;Unnero pointed out to him that if her condition deteriorated, it would slow thereatly when at last they confronted Nightbird
The next day, Pony rode upright, though she remained dreadfully unco and sharp She tried to hide it, refusing to give the Father Abbot and the others the pleasure of seeing her distress She kept her focus on poor Tomas and the other pris-oners, strapped over the backs of the horses like corpses or saddlebags, and kept telling herself that they orse off by far
Soh the day, and when they canore the continuing pain She could eat little, though, just enough - she hoped - to keep up her strength
Sitting on the ground, her eyes were dohen a e and knew that it was Markwart before he spoke to her
"If you die on the road, I will summon a spirit to inhabit your body," he said "And then your pretty voice will guide the unsuspecting Nightbird to htened to look up at the oldthe hatred in his eyes "A demon, you mean" She spat "Call it the pretty wordspirit, but still it remains a foul beast from hell"
"You do recall the spectacle of a body so inhabited, do you not?" Mark-wart remarked, unfazed by her accusation
Pony looked away She wanted nothing ain, with his fists or with a soul stone, however he chose She would beat him, she knew, despite her pain and weakness She would destroy hi Danube see the black heart of Father Abbot Markwart, and Pony would have a powerful ally in her war against the Abellican Church!
"I went out earlier this evening, scouting the road ahead," Markwart remarked "I found him, you know" Thefact about his spiritual journey: so up to the plateau on Mount Aida, though he had seen the ranger and the others frohtbird, the centaur, and their friends, including the five traitorousthe moment, "perched atop Mount Aida, snowbound within the Barbacan, awaiting our arrival Three days, dear girl, and your friend Nightbird will join you How I long to watch him on the road back to Palmaris! Strapped over the back of a horse - what a hero he will seeh the streets"
Pony looked away
"Oh, but they love an execution, you see," Markent on, bending down to come into Pony&039;s line of vision "The peasants They love to see a ed or crushed under stones or burned - yes, especially burned Seeing death so real before theives them a sense of i others in agony," the withered old man finished
"A rabbed her roughly by the chin and jerked her head up "Yes, a man of God," he sneered, his breath hot in her face "A eful God to those who do not I have watched your games, Jilseponie You fancy yourself so the truth that others cannot see But you are not a hero You and your friend bring only ht but ridiculous pity, with no discipline and no greater designs than the alleviation of terasp, but did not look away For just awith some measure of truth, and she was afraid But then she considered more carefully the path of her life, reminded herself of the work she and Elbryan had done on behalf of sothe hile the monks stayed safely in their fortress abbeys And she considered the sword dance Elbryan had taught to her, the very pinnacle of discipline
There was her truth There was her strength; in light of that, she consid-ered lean any helpful inforerous enemy Most of all, she understood that Elbryan would not be able to escape hirew very short
She spent the next day in deepthe best posture atop her horse to alleviate it She felt stronger now, as if Markwart&039;s talk had given her a sense of purpose once more She tried hard not to reveal that, for De&039;Unnero had beco beside her mount most of the time
She could use that concern, she decided, and as the towering ht, she began to forht she appeared very uncoh in truth, Pony knew that she was better off than the other prisoners who still had to ride every day strapped over their horses Her subdued moans increased whenever De&039;Unnero walked by
Bythe next day, on which the monks and soldiers expected to reach the southern foothills of the Barbacan, the caravan wasnear Pony&039;s horse She glanced about to make sure that no other eyes were upon her, then bit hard on the inside of her cheek When she tasted her own blood, she lurched over suddenly, so violently that she slid along the side of the horse
De&039;Unnerohard to help her, and soon he had her back atop the ain
"Just let me down and let htening her lips
The abbot of St Precious stared up at her, noticing the blood "Broken already?" he said "Markwart has not yet even begun with you and already you beg for death"
"No begging," Pony replied groggily, shaking her head and nearly falling once , I know I bleed inside, terribly so, and will not survive the day"
De&039;Unnero looked up at her, truly concerned He didn&039;t want her dead, not now, not with Nightbird and the others waiting for theer and his friends would fight thehter them with ease But De&039;Unnero did not want it resolved that way, and certainly neither did Markwart For then the King could claihtbird and the conspiracy that threatened the Church More ismen would be brushed aside
No, they needed Pony, alive and well enough to lure Nightbird and the others in And as ainst one, De&039;Unnero understood a clean and silanced back at Markwart and saas sitting coe, eyes closed as he concentrated on the gehtness to the otherto disturb him, De&039;Unnero acted on instinct, confident in his own decisions, and reached up with his soul-stone ring, touching Pony&039;s belly, then sending his thoughts into the ring to heighten its ic
Pony felt the connection i depths of the soul stone Into it went her spirit, flying past De&039;Unnero&039;s healing hand, out of her body, rushing over the miles to the mountains and beyond
She saw Aida&039;s flat top and flew to it, saw Elbryan - dear Elbryan! - and came upon him in a rushMarkwart! she i Danube approach! Run! Run away for all your lives!
"What?" the ranger asked Bradwarden, as standing nearby; but as soon as the centaur turned a quizzical look his way, Elbryan recognized the source of the communication, knew that it was Pony who had co; but she was already gone, already back in her body, though lying on the ground now, Abbot De&039;Unnero standing over her, one of his fists covered with her blood
Dazed, Pony looked up at hi from her nose A small victory, she knew as the man reached down and shly and threw her across her saddle, instructing the other monks nearby to tie her as they had tied the other prisoners
Pony accepted the treatment without complaint She could only hope that Elbryan had heard her, that her lover would run free
"What is this about?" Markwart asked De&039;Unnero, rushing to theDanube had taken note of the commotion
"She tried to possess me," the monk lied "Sent her spirit into the soul stone even as I used it to heal her wounds - wounds, I discovered, not nearly as grievous as she led lare fall upon PonyNot to possess, but to escape, the voice in his head told him, and then his eyes widened!To send her spirit to her allies
"How long was she within the power of the stone before you noticed?" the Father Abbot asked
De&039;Unnero shrugged "A few er to spirit-walking, he understood how far Pony ht have traveled in those few moments "She is to have no contact with any stones, even if her life is fast fading away froe and took out his own soul stone He guessed Pony&039;s course, and now he followed that sah the mountains, down past the valley floor and up the side of Mount Aida They were still there, he knew - Nightbird and the other conspirators Noould see theotten to theain his spirit was stopped at the edge of the plateau as surely as if his corporeal body had run into a stone wall
Markwart tried to break through the barrier, but was blocked by a force th of Dasslerond when she had sent hi back to his corporeal form in Palmaris
He didn&039;t understand it, but he knew - and so did the voice within hiured that Braumin and the other monks must have come into possession of a very powerful sun-stone, but unless it was a stonethe Father Abbot had seen, he could hardly believe that even the five together could so completely deny him access
Shaken, the Father Abbot returned to his corporeal for behind, he went back to his ht about thatthe day, and he was glad he had brought powerful allies with hih they&039;ll have trouble negotiating the snoith their heavy horses and arht, returned fro expedition
Elbryan understood: the Father Abbot and the King had co "Instruct Shaer said to Bradwarden "The Bishop ht decide to pay us a visit preht be the only chance we get to hit at that one afore the whole daer asked in disbelief