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The sun’s light hammered her They came up over the hill, and she saw the stone circle below them just as a wave of dizziness swept her The air seemed to boil and the sands to heave and shake Sparks spit fro, arrows hissed out from the stones Laoina shouted out in pain Adica’s sphinx threw her head back, crying out, but no sound cas bunched under her as she readied to leap, all coiled power and fierce anticipation

But the lion woman on whom Alain rode veered away at the last ht showered out of the stones

"Cursed Ones’" cried Laoina

Figures with the bodies of lare of the sun painted their feathered cloaks bright

Her steed lurched, and Adica barely caught a leg around a wing as she slipped, dragging herself back up If she fell now, she would be dead The trilling war cry of the Cursed Ones rose from the stones A dozen of them bolted out from the shelter of the stones The sphinxes turned tail and raced away into the desert Adica was too busy holding on even to call a spell of distraction

The cries of the Cursed Ones receded in the distance Faintly, Adica heard the blatting of a raent The sound faded as the sphinxes crested a hill and descended onto a plain so flat and devoid of vegetation that it looked as though fire had scoured it clean Her head poundedoff the sun, and sweat streahs becaainst the sphinx’s coarse fur coat as they ran on, and on, and on, endlessly on until she shut her eyes, hoping for respite, praying for water

The Cursed Ones had learned the secret of the loo they could do to stop the Cursed Ones fro the war if they could walk the looms

Waves of dizziness spun her She had a death grip on the sphinx’s fur, finding the places where it was looser along the skin Spots danced before her eyes The earth radiated the sun’s heat up like a ray before she struggled back to consciousness How far were they going? Where did the lion wo enough to get there?

As if in response to Adica’s thought, the sphinx slowed to a walk together with her co tent through which the sun’s light filtered, round, her eyes stung with the jolt of heat and light, so she shut her eyes instead and rested her head against the creature’s neck Inside the shelter of its wings, the air flowed in cool currents around her as they went on, and on, but she could endure it now She could hold on

If only they could rid the

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ALAIN’S heart was still pounding fro darkly out of the stone circle, the bright flash of feathered helht Maybe the Cursed Ones were sies bent on destruction and war He licked his lips with a parched tongue Reflexively, he groped for the water pouch tied to his belt, but an arrow had punctured it

The sun slid ard In ties carved into the earth as though a cat ten tiround The sphinxes brought them to shelter in the shadow of a cliff where the afternoon sun could not reach A spring lay hidden ae drink, then pulled the his own thirst While Alain rubbed a salve into the hounds’ paws, Adica investigated the shallow graze along Laoina’s left thigh, festering from whatever poison the Cursed Ones dipped their arrow points in With spring water and a mash of lavender, Adica cleaned the wound When she was done, Laoina leaned back against the rock face to rest

Alain crouched beside Adica, stroking her hair Even when she acted strangely, as she sometimes did, she was a joy to watch Like Spits-last, she was full to overfloith vitality, such a contrast to the rerief that often touched her eyes that he alanted to ainst the rock They shared a hank of bread, but he dozed off with it still in his hand

When he woke, it was gone Sorrow and Rage sat with their big heads on their forelegs, staring at hi for more

Beyond the shadow of the rock face, the three sphinxes sat enig One had her paws crossed Another licked a gash on her foreleg Their gaze, on their charges, did not waver