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'Oh, Sod,' moaned Gern

Dil struck him across the arm

'Stop that,' he said 'And come with me'

'Oh, master, whatever shall we do?'

Dil looked around at the sleeping city He hadn't the faintest idea

'We'll go to the palace,' he said firmly 'It's probably a trick of the, of the, of the dark Anyway, the sun will be up presently'

He strode off, wishing he could change places with Gern and show just a hint of gibbering terror The apprentice followed hi creep

'I can see shadows against the stars, e of the world, master!'

'Justhis eyes fixed in front of hinified posture as appropriate to the Keeper of the Left Hand Door of the Matron Lodge and holder of several medals for needlework

'There,' he said 'See, Gern, the sun is co up!'

They stood and watched it

Then Gern whi up the sky, very sloas a great flaer than worlds

BOOK III

The Book of the New Son

The sun rose and, because this wasn't the Old Kingdoht of the high desert evaporated under its blowlalare Lizards scuffled into cracks in the rocks You Bastard settled himself down in the sparse shadoas left of the syphacia bushes, peered haughtily at the landscape, and began to chew cud and calculate square roots in base seven

Teppic and Ptraci eventually found the shade of a li out at the waves of heat wobbling off the rocks

'I don't understand,' said Ptraci 'Have you looked everywhere?'

'It's a country! It can't just bloody well fall through a hole in the ground!'

'Where is it, then?' said Ptraci evenly

Teppic growled The heat struck like a hah three hundred squareunder a pebble or behind a bush

The fact was that the track dipped between the cliffs, but alain and continued across the dunes into as quite clearly Tsort He'd recognised a wind-eroded sphinx that had been set up as a boundary end said it prowled the borders in tiend wasn't sure why

He knew they had galloped into Ephebe He should be looking across the fertile, pyramid-speckled valley of the Djel that lay between the two countries

He'd spent an hour looking for it

It was inexplicable It was uncanny It was also extre

He shaded his eyes and stared around for the thousandth ti landscape And moved his head And saw Djelibeybi

It flashed across his vision in an instant He jerked his eyes back and saw it again, a brief flash of misty colour that vanished as soon as he concentrated on it

Soet down on his hands and knees When he started turning over rocks she decided it was time he should come back in out of the sun

He shook her hand off his shoulder, and gestured impatiently 'I've found it!' He pulled a knife fro at the stones

'Where?'

'Here!'

She laid a ringed hand on his forehead

'Oh yes,' she said 'I see Yes Good Now I think you'd better come into the shade'

'No, I mean it! Here! Look!'

She hunkered down and stared at the rock, to humour him

'There's a crack,' she said, doubtfully

'Look at it, will you? You have to turn your head and sort of look out of the corner of your eye' Teppic's dagger smacked into the crack, which was no oes on a long way,' said Ptraci, staring along the burning pavement

'All the way fro your eye with one hand helps Please give it a try Please!'

She put one hesitant hand over her eye and squinted obediently at the rock

Eventually she said 'It's no good, I can't - seeee-' She stayedherself sideways on to the rocks Teppic stopped trying to hammer the knife into the crack and crawled over to her

'I was right on the edge!' she wailed

'You saw it?' he said hopefully

She nodded and, with great care, got to her feet and backed away

'Did your eyes feel as though they were being turned inside out?' said Teppic

'Yes,' said Ptraci coldly 'Can I have les You put them in your pocket I want theed, and fished in his pouch The bangles were mostly copper, with a few bits of chipped enamel Here and there the crafts interesting with twisted bits of wire and lulass She took them and slipped thenificance?' he said

'What's occult uely

'Oh What do you need them for, then?'

'I told you I don't feel properly dressed without the his knife in the crack

'Why are you doing that?' she said He stopped and thought about it

'I don't know,' he said 'But you did see the valley, didn't you?'