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"But for you," the Father Abbot went on, "there can be no de-lays I must promote you to immaculate before I can then move you into the position of ardless of situation"

Francis teetered and felt faint Of course, he had predicted as much to Braumin Herde that day in the seawall corridor, but had no idea that his mentor would move so quickly And now that he had heard the proclamation out loud, had heard firsthand that Father Abbot Markwart did indeed mean to promote him to one of the two vacant master positions, he was surely overwhel the pedestal of self- righteousness he had broken by killing Grady Chilichunk, as if, byhimself, or even that he needed no redemption, that it had been, after all, merely an unfortunate accident

"But you must stay far from me until the promotion is final-ized," Markwart explained "Better for protocol I do have aBradwardenThe centaur will speak for us, against Avelyn and against this woemstones"

Brother Francis shook his head "He thinks of theree

Markwart brushed the notion away "Everypoint," he insisted "With the ical armband, you can inflict upon Bradwarden such horrors that he will beg for death, and that he will give up his friends as enemies of the Church merely on your promise to kill him quickly Be inventive, i, but Francis&039; face soured anyway at the thought of the distasteful job

"Do not fail me in this," Markwart said sternly "That wretched beast ainst Avelyn, and do not doubt that that declaration is vital to the survival of the Abellican Church"

Francis bit his lip, his emotions obviously torn

"Without the centaur&039;s confirainst us, and the very best weof Avelyn Desbris as a heretic will be taken under consideration," Markwart explained "Such a &039;consideration&039; process will take years to complete"

"But if he truly was a heretic - and he was," Francis quickly added, seeing the Father Abbot&039;s eyes going ith rage, "then time is our ally Avelyn&039;s own actions will damn him, in the eyes of God and in the eyes of the Church"

"Fool!" Markwart snapped at him, and the Father Abbot spun away, as if he couldn&039;t stand the sight of Francis, a gesture that pro-foundly stung the younger ainst emstones are not recovered And if Avelyn is not openly declared a heretic, then the general populace and the King&039;s ar her to justice"

Francis followed that reasoning; anyone officially deemed a heretic becadoe rave with this issue unresolved? Would you have my presidency over St-Mere-Abelle be marred by this black mark?"

"Of course not, Father Abbot," Francis replied

"Then go to the centaur," Markwart said so coldly that the hairs on the back of Francis&039; neck stood up"Enlist hiered out of the room, as shaken as if Markwart had physically struck hih his hair and started for the lower dungeons, determined that he would not fail his Father Abbot

Markwarthiiven the se-cret and telling floor design in the adjoining rooram was perfect, exactly as it had appeared in the book, scratched into the floor and with the grooves filled by multicolored wax

The Father Abbot had not slept in rossed in his work and in thehie of Abbots Markwart could bring spirits up to reinhabit their bodies, and with hematite he could all but eliminate the natural decay

It was a risky move, he knew, but it was not without precedenceThe Incantations Sorcerous clearly spelled out a siainst the second abbess of St Gwendolyn Two of St Gwen-dolyn&039;sthat no woman should hold such a position of power - indeed, other than the abbey of St Gwendolyn, women played only a minor role in all the Church When one of those e, he understood his predicament, for he knew that he could not battle the abbess alone But through prudent use ofThe Incantations Sorcerous, the master had not been alone He had summoned a minor ether they waged war on the abbess for nearly a year to co to sit and consider his course The Chilichunk ie for a short while It was possible that the decep-tion would succeed, for only he and Francis kneith certainty that the couple had died, and then he would have two strong wit-nesses against the woht be the cost of failure? Markwart had to wonder, and the possibilities seerim indeed

"But I&039;ll not know until I see the ani He decided to follow the course He would bring the Chilichunks - their bodies, at least - under his control, and seehow fine the deception appeared Then he could decide, while watching the progress of Bradwarden&039;s bending, whether or not to present the his hands with anticipation, Markwart took up the black book and a pair of candles and went into the prepared room He placed the candles in the appropriate positions and lit the theht instead of yellow Then he sat between thes crossed

Soul stone in one hand,The Incantations Sorcerous in the other, Markalked free of his body

The rooe dimensions, seemed to warp and twist before his spiritual eyes He saw the physical exit, and then another, a portal in the floor with a long, sloping passageway be-hind it

He took this darker route, his soul going down, down

Sheila was directly above the abbey, and the water was far, far out when Jojonah led the ranger and his companions to the wharves and the lower door Symphony and Greystone had been left far behind, as had ht prove necessary She now held a mala-chite, the stone of levitation and telekinesis, and a lodestone

Jojonah led the way to the great doors in front of the wharves, then inspected the it under one worn area As he moved the blade back and forth he felt the barriers - the portcullis was down

"We should search south along the cliff face," Jojonah reasoned, speaking in a whisper and h that as several hundred feet above the companions "That is the most likely place for us to find a uards will be posted within this portal?" Pony asked

"At this tiht, I doubt there are any below the second level of the abbey," Jojonah replied with confidence "Except perhaps for guards Markwart has posted near the prisoners"

"Then let us try these," Pony replied

"The portcullis is down," Jojonah explained, trying hard, but fu-tilely, to keep the edge of hope in his voice

Pony held up the malachite, but the e," he explained "Perhaps three thousand pounds That is why this gate is hardly guarded The front doors swing in, but they cannot open while the portcullis is down And of course that portcullis is inaccessible to any lever we ht construct while the solid doors are closed"

"Not inaccessible to ued Before the master could protest, she fished out the soul stone and was soon out of body, slipping through the crack between the front doors to view the portcullis She went back to her physical coil quickly, not wanting to expend too y "This is the way," she an-nounced "The inner doors are not closed, nor did I see any sign of guards in the hallway beyond"

Jojonah didn&039;t doubt her; he had done enough spirit-walking to know its potential, and to understand that even in the darkened tunnels, the woh

"The front doors are barred, as well as blocked by the port-cullis," Pony explained "Prepare a torch and go and listen care-fully, for the lifting portcullis and then the bar When you hear it rise, go quickly, for I know not how long I can offer you"

"You cannot lift - " Jojonah started to protest, but Pony had al-ready raised her hand with the reenish stone

Elbryan moved near thehi," Juraviel whispered after a few ainst the large doors Elbryan and a stunned Jojonah rushed to join him, and despite the monk&039;s protests that it was iate lifting into the ceiling

Pony felt the tre of this e of that port-cullis and fell deep, deep within the power of the stone, channeling its energy The portcullis was up high enough, she believed, above the top of the doors, but then she had to reach even deeper, to grab the locking bar as well and somehow try to lift it

She trembled violently; sweat beaded on her forehead and her eyes blinked rapidly She pictured the bar, found it in her th

Juraviel pressed his ear closer, could hear the bar shifting, one end going up "Now, Nightbird!" he said, and the ranger put his shoulder to the great doors and heaved with all his strength The bar fell free, the doors swung open, and Elbryan slipped down to one knee in the passageway, quicklyht," the monk said to the elf as Juraviel ran past Elbryan

A moment later the torch came up and the elf announced that the portcullis was secured Jojonah, back at Pony&039;s side, shook the wo her fro over for lack of strength

"I have seen but one other with such power," Jojonah ree

"He is withher claireat comfort in the possibility He quietly closed the inner doors then, explaining that the draft would be felt deep into the abbey if the corridor were left open to the sea

"Where do we go?" the ranger asked

Jojonah thought on it for a eons," he said, "but only by going up several levels, then co back down at another point"

"Lead on," said Elbryan

But thehis head "I do not like the possibili-ties," he explained "If we encounter any brothers, the alarht indeed ht a wave of panic over Jojonah, not for this powerful trio and their ht encounter

"I beg you not to kill any," he blurted suddenly

Elbryan and Pony exchanged curious glances

"Brothers, Ipawns for Markwart, at worst, and not deserving of - "

"We did not come in here to kill anyone," Elbryan interrupted "And so we shall not, on reeh the elf wasn&039;t so sure that the ranger had spoken wisely

"There eons," Jojonah said "There are old tunnels off to the side, just a hundred feet in Most are blocked, but we can pass those barriers"

"And you will know your way along theer asked

"No," Jojonah adether - the oldestparts of the abbey - and I ah to a place I can recognize"

Elbryan looked to his friends for confir a trek down unused passageways to a course that would likely put them in contact with other , they also closed the portcullis, preferring to leave no sign that the abbey&039;s security had been breached

They found the old passageway soon after, and, as Jojonah pre-dicted, had no trouble in getting through the barrier thethe most ancient corri-dors and rooms of St-Mere-Abelle, sections that had not been used in centuries The floors and walls were all broken, the uneven angles of stone casting oht Water stood calf-deep inthe walls and ceiling At one point Elbryan had to draw out Teh a myriad of thick webs

They were intruders here, as any person would be, for these re-gions had been left for the lizards and the spiders, for the dareatest adversary, tih the often narroays twisting corridors, spurred by thoughts of Bradwarden and the Chilichunks

The tunnel was dark and without detail, just a swirlingdrifted up about the spirit of wandering Markwart, and though his form was noncorporeal, in this place he felt the cold touch of thatwhile, Markwart considered his course and wondered if he andering too far froSt-Mere-Abelle half a century before He had been so full of idealish the ranks, attaining immaculate on the tenth anniversary of his entrance to the Order, and master only three short years later Unlike so many of the previous Father Abbots, Markwart had never left St-Mere-Abelle to serve as abbot of another abbey, had spent all of his years in the presence of the gemstones, in the ereater path He was beyond the liions unexplored and unexploited And so, after only a reat pride, bolstered by his unwa-vering confidence in hi the dark and cold tunnel He understood the perils here, but was certain he would be able to take whatever evils he found and twist the the ray fog, and athe darkness, hunched and twisted

Several nearby sensed his spirit and approached hungrily, clawed hands extended

Markwart held up his hand and ordered them back, and to his satisfaction, they did indeed retreat, for at hiain the world of the living?" the spirit asked of the two closest

They leaped forward, cold hands grasping Markwart&039;s ghostly wrists

A sense of elation filled the Father Abbot&039;s spirit So very easy! He turned and started back up the tunnel, the demon spirits in tow He opened his eyes then, his physical eyes, blinking in the sudden candlelight, the twin fla black, but not for long, for they flared red and huge sud-denly, great fires spouting up fro all the roo Markwart&039;s eyes

But he did not, could not, look away,within those fires, humanoid shapes, hunched and twisted

Out they stepped, side by side, the two hideous for into the seated Father Abbot Be-side them the candles flared one last time and returned to normal, and all the room was hushed

Markwart sensed that these de upon him and rend him to pieces, but he was not afraid

"Come," he bade them, "I will show you to your new hosts" He fell into the hematite and his spirit walked free of his body once more