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"If we join in prayer, a single stroke of God&039;s lightning hand will destroy thethe battle outside the Alpinadoran village

Master De&039;Unnero&039;s sharp eyes narrowed as he considered thenods of those nearby, reat victory in the northland, the tale of sparking fin-gers reaching down from the line of monks to utterly vanquish their ene thenized Fear They wanted a clean and quick blow against the ap-proaching goblin force because they were afraid of engaging these relatively unknown creatures in melee The would-be abbot strode powerfully up to the speaker, his gaze setting thethe blood froic," he snapped, his head jerking side to side so that all could see his expression, so that none would dare question hi at the wretched e to rush over and prove hi

"As for the rest of us," De&039;Unnero went on, barking the words, "let us consider this an exercise of valuable training We may yet see battle in our new ho&039; could be deadly," Master Jojonah piped in, and the measure of calm in his quiet voice only added to the sarcasm

"All the more valuable, then," De&039;Unnero said without hesita-tion, and when he saw Jojonah shaking his head, he stor arms defiantly over his chiseled chest

Not now, Master Jojonah re to e in all theband efficiently and cleanly," he said "Let us blast theo see to whoever is beyond that rise" He pointed behind De&039;Unnero as he finished, to the plu lazily into the air

In response, De&039;Unnero handed hile stone "Use it well, brother," he said "But not too well, for I wish to have my new attendants properly trained in the pleasures of battle"

"Pleasures of battle?" Jojonah echoed, but under his breath, as De&039;Unnero spun away, calling to the brothers to ready their cross-bows The old raphite about his paloblin troupe hard and fast, to kill theer ent when the forward scout signaled back that the goblins were approaching, for Jojonah could not feel the power of the stone

The ic - in his hts of De&039;Unnero, believing that such negativity raphite about his fin-gers, felt its every groove

But not its ic Jojonah opened his eyes to find he was alone in the road Near panic, he glanced around, and then relaxed so that De&039;Unnero had positioned the others in the brush to the side The lead goblins were in sight now, running hard around a bend in the road Jojonah looked down at the graphite, in-credulous, feeling betrayed

The goblins cary charge

Jojonah lifted his arhtning, caoblins were closer now Jojonah tried again, but found no source of raphite Then he understood the truth of it, that this stone was not enchanted, was just an ordinary rock Fear gripped Jojonah; he thought that De&039;Unnero had set him up to die, here on the road He was an old ave a cry and turned about, hobbling as fast as his thick legs would take hi He expected a spear to take him in the back at any moment

But then De&039;Unnero and the brothers struck hard at the goblinup fro heavy crossbows designed to take dories, or even gi-ants, point-blank Thick bolts tore through goblin flesh, blasting holes in the dioblins behind the first victioblin cries of attack turned fast to screalance back, to see that half the gob-lins were already down, so, others dead, and that Master De&039;Unnero had leaped out onto the road in theOut snapped his extended fingers, hand rigid, driving through a goblin throat He turned as another tried to club him on the head Up came De&039;Unnero&039;s ar between his forear the aroblin&039;s grasp, caught it while it spun about, then snapped it hard across the crea-ture&039;s face, and then again, even more forcefully, with a powerful backhand

De&039;Unnero kept running, using the club to knock aside a spear thrust, then around again to sh it was already nearly unconscious on its feet - laying it out in the dirt

Around he ca the weapon&039;s flight with a quick rush,it aside, while his free hand rained heavy blows about the creature&039;s face and throat

Other ob-lins, breaking the, but De&039;Unnero had left several of his warriors in place, and they had their powerful crossbows ready by that ti apart, came perhaps the worst blow of all, as brutal De&039;Unnero fell into his signature geer&039;s paw, as his arer and began raking apart those nearest goblins

It was over before Master Jojonah could even get back to his co, he found De&039;Unnero in an excited, al all about the line of youngat their great victory

Only a few roup had been hit by a crossbow quarrel fro care with the angle of his shot Several gob-lins on the road were still alive, but in no condition to continue any fight, and severalfast across the fields to the sides of the road

De&039;Unnero seemed not to care The man even found a wide smile for Jojonah

"It could not have been quicker even with the use ofyou obviously never intended, other than your per-sonal stone," Jojonah replied sharply, tossing back the useless stone "I do not like being a pawn, Master De&039;Unnero," Jojonah went on

De&039;Unnero glanced around at the young rin on his face "You played a necessary role," De&039;Unnero argued, not bothering to scold the emstone, I could have beenstroke may have killed a few, but the rest would have scattered, et away," Jojonah reht away "Not enough to cause any real "

"To lure them in," De&039;Unnero replied

"Me? A master of St-Mere-Abelle?" Jojonah pressed, for he understood theof Marcalo De&039;Unnero The erthehtened child, De&039;Unnero had leaped into the midst of the eneive me, my brother," De&039;Unnero said insincerely "You are the only one appearing infirht have fled froer, sturdierhard at this man, his nemesis

Such an action, such a deception upon an Abellican her authorities, with the likely result that De&039;Unnero would be severely punished for his presuher authorities ht he appeal? Master Jojonah wondered To Father Abbot Markwart? Hardly

De&039;Unnero had won this day, Jojonah accepted, but he also de-ter, long battle

"The hematite, if you please," he said to De&039;Unnero "We have wounded in need of assistance"

De&039;Unnero glanced around, seemed less than impressed by the severity of any wounds, then tossed the stone to Jojonah "Again you prove that you have soht her," Juraviel, sitting in a tree, stated accusingly when Elbryan ca successfully coer didn&039;t have to ask what the elf was talking about, for he knew that Juraviel had watched his dance with Pony, and that no two hurace and harnored the accu-sation He looked down to the circled wagons, to see Pony reat sigh and rested back against the trunk "You cannot even adlare over the elf "Adh it was a crime"

"And is it not?"

"Is she not worthy?" Elbryan shot right back, waving his arons and Pony

That soer, but still he pressed on "And is Elbryan to be the judge of who is worthy and who is not?" he argued "Is Elbryan, then, to become the instructor in place of the Touel&039;alfar, who perfectedbi&039;nelle dasada when the world it-self was young?"

"No," the ranger said grihtbird"

"You presuave you your life and more," the elf retorted "Take care that you do not abuse the gifts, Nightbird Lady Dasslerond would never suffer such an insult"

"Insult?" the ranger echoed, as though the whole notion was ridiculous "Consider the situation that I, that ere put in Pony and I had just destroyed the dactyl, and now had to fight our way through hordes of monsters, and that just to reach Dundalis And so, yes, I shared ift that Avelyn had given to her, for both our sakes"

"She taught you to use the stones," Juraviel reasoned

"I aer ad prowess," said the elf

Elbryan was about to offer a stinging retort, for he wouldn&039;t suffer such an insult to Pony, especially one so obviously ridicu-lous, but Juraviel kept on talking

"And yet, a hurace, who can complement one trained by the Touel&039;alfar so very beautifully, is a rare find indeed," the elf went on "Jilseponie dances as though she had spent years in Caer&039;alfar"

That brought a smile to Elbryan&039;s face "She was trained by the rin

Juraviel didn&039;t even challenge the joking boast "You did well," the elf decided "And yes, Jilseponie is worthy of the dance, as worthy as any huer looked down the dale and out to the east "A large group went out that way," he re oblins pass," Elbryan said

Juraviel understood his cue "Go to your companion and see to the merchants," he offered "I will scout to the east and find out what has becoer walked Syhtened man raised a weapon as if to fend the newcomer away, but another nearby boxed him on the ear

"Ye fool!" the secondlife Killed half the goblins by hiround and began dip-ping a series of ridiculous bows Elbryan only s, He spotted Pony at once and slipped down fro woirl, who rushed over to help him

"They have many sorely wounded," Pony explained, and in-deed at the ti to one ht, not the last one"

Elbryan looked up, turning his nervous gaze to the east "The monks are not far, I fear," he said quietly When he looked back down, he found Pony staring up at hi her thick upper lip, her blue eyes wide, questioning He knehat she ainst it or not, and realized she was only waiting for him to explain where he stood on the issue

"Be quiet with the soul stone," he bade her "Wrap the wound as though you were tending it e the transformation in Pony&039;s expres-sion She had wanted his opinion, out of respect, but she did not need his co to show that he trusted her judgray stone fro over the inning to wrap it about the ht side of his chest, through the ribs and quite deep, perhaps even through a lung The ranger wrapped the wound, and tightly - he didn&039;t want to bring the man any more pain, but he needed him to cry out a bit to cover Pony&039;s secret work

The asped, Elbryan offered words of co up at the ranger quizzi-cally "How?" he asked breathlessly

"Your wound was not nearly as bad as it looked," Elbryan lied "The blade did not get past your rib bone"

The o at that, just relieved that the pain was gone now, or nearly so, and that his breath was co to him easily once more

Elbryan and Ponyout any too injured for conventional methods They found only one more, an older woman who had been hit in the head, whose eyes stared vacantly across the way, drool running freely fro her said "I seen it before The goblin club breaked her head She&039;ll die tonight, in her sleep"

Pony bent low, exa the wound "Not so," she replied "Not if she&039;s properly wrapped"

"What?" the man asked skeptically, but fell silent as Elbryan and Pony went to work, the ranger putting bandages about the old woman&039;s head, while Pony, the soul stone tucked under one palether while it was being wrapped

Pony closed her eyes and fell into the stone, sent the healing s of pain, the tenderness and swelling, but she had tended far worse in the battles of the northland

She came out of her trance a mo, to the cries of "Approach! Frohtened merchant yelled

"No!" another cried "Brothers! St-Mere-Abelle has colance at Pony, who quickly pocketed the gemstone

"I don&039;t kno ye did it, but ye suren saved Ti up behind Elbryan Both Elbryan and Pony followed her gaze across the way, to theeasily, even h

"It was not so bad," Pony offered

"It was to the lung," the woht he&039;d be dead afore the dinner bell"

"You were nervous and shaken," Pony offered "And rushed, for you knew that the goblins were cohtened with a disarrin She was older than the two, perhaps in her mid-thirties, with the worn but pleasant de life She glanced by the pair, to the wounded old wons of life once more

"Not so shaken," she said softly "I seen h me other five children are safe, God be praised They only askedon the caravan to A broken people back together"

The ranger and Pony exchanged a serious look, so what ye&039;re hiding," she said quietly "But I&039; for us, though ye know not a one in the group, fro I&039;ll not betray ye" She finished with a wink and turned away to join the co the eastern road

"Where is our son?" Pony asked Elbryan with a sh of course Juraviel was no-where in sight "Probably behind the monks," he answered dryly "Or under one of their robes"

Pony, nervous that her use of the stones ht soon be over, appreciated the levity She hooked her ar

"I a St-Mere-Abelle for St Pre-cious," they heard the lead lowed "Who is the leader here?" Before any-one could answer, De&039;Unnero&039;s discerning eye settled on the pair, Elbryan and Pony Their stride and the weapons they carried dis-tinguished the hard

"We are as new to the group as are you, good friar," the ranger said humbly

"And you happened upon them by mere chance?" De&039;Unnero asked suspiciously

"We saw the s, as you must have in the east," Pony answered, her tone sharp and showing clearly that she was not in-tioodly heart, we rushed to see if we , so we made it our own"

De&039;Unnero&039;s dark eyes flashed, and it seemed to both Elbryan and Pony that he wanted to strike out at her for the implied accusa-tion She had, for all intents and purposes, just asked the monk why he and his fellows had not hustled to join in

"Nesk Reaches," ca, the same man Pony had spoken hen she had first approached the caravan before the fight Thehis left hand, for his right was bandaged "Nesk Reaches of Dillalad we are to see you"

De&039;Unnero ignored theElbryan and Pony

"Master De&039;Unnero," a portly old friar interrupted,forward to stand beside the forceful ive ht tend thee crossing De&039;Unnero&039;s angular face, the man obviously not pleased that this other ical help at that Still, he had been put on the spot, in front of all the merchants and all his own procession, and so De&039;Unnero reached into his pouch and produced a he it over