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With that, she vanished fro back down the ruined watchtower The old sorcerer cla at the base of the tower, although White Feather was not with his

"She doesn’t trust me," Liath said, surprised at the intensity of the woman’s emotions "I don’t think she likedbefore the to condemn me"

"Not even I, who areat cataclysment the council will pass"

"How can you rereat cataclysm? If the calculations of the Seven Sleepers are correct, then that cataclyso, as humankind measures time No one can be that old"

"Nor am I that old, as humankind measures years The measure of days and years h What has passed in the world of limpses I know only that humankind has overrun all of the land, as we feared they would"

None of thisstone, then?" She would not make the same mistake she had ned patience as they taught her in spirals that never quite got to the heart of what she needed to learn "If it’s a gateway between ht it be better for me to escape back to Earth rather than stand before the council?"

He considered her words gravely before replying "The burning stone is not ours to call It appears at intervals dictated by those fluxes that disturb the fabric of the universe It is the rereat spell worked on us by your ancestors, although I do not suppose that theyus have learned how to ht I do so?"

"Learn to call the power of the stars, and the power that lies in the heart of every object The first you have soe of, I think The second is not a discipline known to humankind" He paused to smile wryly He had faint scars around his mouth and others on the lobes of his ears, on his hands, and even a fewhis heels with old white scar lines "You s You must learn to use it, even when it causes pain I do not think you should retreat It is rarely wise to run"

That Anne considered this ancient sorcerer and all his kind the sworn enemy of humankind, and of her own cause, inclined Liath to take their part But in the end it was his words that swayed her How different he sounded froht her to run

"I’ll go with you to the council," she said finally

"Heh" The grunt folded into that curt laugh which seemed to encompass all he knew of amusement "So you will Do not think I atime since any of your kind have trusted mine"

"Or your kind, mine," she retorted The tart answer pleased hie, and didn’t mind sharp questions

"Get what you need, then"

"I’ve everything I came with"

He waited while she coiled the rope

"It’s well made" The praise warh on his own person for their journey She had finally gotten used to his clothing, the beaded loincloth, the decorated ar sheaths, and the topknot made of his black hair, ornah he did not look one bit well fed He took the coiled rope fro out an arrow from her quiver As always, he fondled the iron point for a moment, his expression distant

"I fear what your kinfolk have become," he said at random, "to make arms such as this arrow, and that sword" But he only offered her the fletched end of the arrow to hold "Grasp this Do not let go as alk into the borderlands"

"Shouldn’t we tie ourselves to the tree? What if we fall off the edge? You said yourself that this fog e of your lands"

He chuckled "A worthy idea, and a cautious plan that speaks well of you But there is no danger in the borderlands We are prisoners in our own land, because all the borders fold back on the stone"