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They did not slon till they were far away froan circled Raven aroundfollowed A couple of ti behind her,of a rock, but even with her senses sharply attuned, she found no evidence of pursuit

They proceeded ing her night vision as they traveled the road that bypassed the Scangly Mounds Eventually they would have to leave the road and rein in toward the base of the Old City’s mount, but she was unsure of the terrain, and it was difficult to reconcile the lines of a ht fog She paused Raven at a lightly trodden track that veered off the road to their right She thought that this was the one that led to the Scangly Mounds If this was the correct turning, she one soain and sat, indecisive The suhts of Silk’s excavation, had vanished frorowth and the shape of the mount itself Not that she couldindistinct Though she stood still, the world streamed around her in vaporous currents

Even had it been clear and sunny, she was not sure she’d be able to find the Heroes Portal She had been there but once, led by a Weapon and the king, and it ell hidden It was possible to pass very close by and never know it She worried that her hesitation would ht, but she worriedit at all

Raven stahts When she finally got hier alone on the road

Meow, said Cloudy the cat He sat with his tail wrapped around his feet right in front of thelad to see a cat

FOLLOWING THE CAT

Raven lowered his head to snuffle Cloudy A puff of air from his nostrils ruffled the cat’s whiskers Cloudy tapped Raven’s nose The stallion jerked his head up and snorted, leaving both horse and cat disgruntled

"Right," Karigan said "Now that you’ve introduced yourselves, what’s next?"

Cloudy flicked his tail, rose, and strutted off with an air of righteous disdain for all horsekind He veered off the road to their left and into so the last time that she, accompanied by several Weapons, had needed to find a way into the tombs, they’d been led to a secret entrance by Ghost Kitty Karigan reined Raven after Cloudy It was utterly ridiculous to even consider following a cat, but what else was she supposed to do?

Maybe, she thought with soods who controlled the universe, but cats Cats who toyed with humans as a puppeteer would a marionette Ghost Kitty had always reater part of her bed

Raven plodded into the brush after Cloudy

I ah, and another part of her was resigned to the absurdity Who was she to judge as utterly ridiculous after all she’d seen and done and experienced?

Cloudy continued into a thatch of woods and thick undergroith his tail erect and crooked at the tip Branches Karigan could not see almost knocked her off Raven’s back, so she diss, then forged onward She hoped he was not leading her to his favorite mouse hole She tried to console herself with the fact that the night she and the Weapons had been so desperate to enter the tombs, Ghost Kitty led thean tripped over rocks and depressions in the earth Fortunately Cloudy’s light coloring lance back to see if she was still there She pushed aet tree li how far they had to go And was this the easiest way for a horse and huo, or just a path convenient for a cat? With Raven plowing through the woods, snapping branches as he plodded behind her, they certainly were notfor her--friend or eneed after Cloudy forever Would she be late? Would so a whole glaring of cats awaiting her, led by one Supree off her nerves It was better than worrying about walking into a trap

So i co was easier--less brush, fewer branches grabbing at her Raven’s hooves clopped solidly on stone and the ground grew an’s hopes lifted--there had been the re to the Heroes Portal If she were able to see the trees that towered overhead, would she find herself passing beneath a grove of hen of where she was and almost missed it The obelisk had toppled over and broken in two at some point, and only a little of its pale stone shone in the dark It appeared it was being claimed by the earth, sed by moss and leaves and pine needles They were close now

She picked up her pace behind Cloudy, her exciteh she also tried to remain alert for trouble Cloudy juroolide her hand across it This was a slab of granite shaped by the hands and tools of people It was pocked by age and covered with forest debris and thick, sodden moss, but it had once been polished sht ahead Not far