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It also wasn’t cold, which was another positive They would have frozen to death otherwise, or exhausted theic to stay alive Both the wind and the rain arm, and if there had been even an hour or tithout thereat success As it was, etting close to the Red Lake now, clih the lush forested foothills of Mount Abed and her sisters The trees grew close here, for a canopy overhead, interspersed with many ferns and plants Lirael knew only froround,a carpet over the mud Because of the rain, there were thousands of tiny rivulets of water everywhere, cascading a tree roots, down stone, and around Lirael’s ankles When she could see her ankles, because s were buried up to the shins in a , and Lirael was ht possible The rests, when they had theest tree with the thickest foliage to keep out the rain, and the highest roots to sit on, to keep out of the mud Lirael had found that she could sleep even in these conditions, though more than once she awoke, after the scant two hours they allowed the above it

Of course, once they got back out in the rain, the mud soon washed off Lirael wasn’t sure which orse Mud or rain Or theout of shelter, when thedown her face, hands, and legs

It was at exactly that ti the ully, that they found a dying Royal Guard, propped up against the trunk of a sheltering tree Or rather, the Disreputable Dog found her, sniffing her out as she scrabbled ahead of Lirael and Saold surcoat stained black with blood, her mail hauberk ripped and torn in several places She still held a notched and blunted sword firht hand, while her left was frozen in a spell-casting gesture she would never coone, her spirit already stepping across the border into Death Quickly Sa spell he knew But even as the first Charter htly in his mind, she was dead The faint sheen of life in her eyes disappeared, replaced by a dull, unseeing gaze Saently shut

"One of Father’s Guards," he said heavily "I don’t know her, though She was probably from the Guard tower at Roble’s Town or Uppside I wonder what she was doing"

Lirael nodded, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away fro too late, too slow The Southerling in the river, after the battle with Chlorr Barra and the merchants Now this woman It was so unfair that she should die alone, with only a few minutes between death and rescue If only they’d been quicker cli the hill, or if they hadn’t stopped for that last rest

"She was a few days dying," said the Disreputable Dog, sniffing around the body "But she can’t have come far, Mistress Not with those wounds"

"Weup to cast a wary eye around "It’s so hard to tell under all these trees We could be near the top of the ridge or still have uess I’d better find out," said Lirael slowly She was still looking down at the dead body of the Guard "What killed her, and where the ene up on her hind legs with sudden excitement "The river will have taken her so into Death?" asked Sae could be nearby--or even waiting in Death!"

"I know," said Lirael She had been thinking exactly the sa "But I think it’s worth the risk We need to find out exactly where Nick’s diggings are, and what happened to this Guard We can’t just keep blindlyhis lip with unconscious anxiety "What will I do?"

"Watch over one, please," said Lirael

"But don’t use any Charter Magic unless you have to," added the Dog "Soe can smell it from miles away Even with this rain"

"I know that," replied Sa his sword, as his eyes keptout every tree and shrub He even looked up, just in tih the thick branches overhead It ran down his neck and under the oilskin, tolurked in the branches of the tree, and from what little he could see of the sky, it see but rain and clouds

Lirael drew her sword too She hesitated over which bell to choose for a ainst the bandolier She had entered Death only once before, when she had been so nearly defeated and enslaved by Hedge This tier and better prepared Part of that htly touched each pouch till the sixth one, which she carefully opened She took out the bell, holding it inside its mouth so the clapper couldn’t sound She had chosen Saraneth, the Binder Strongest of all the bells save Astarael

"I a around Lirael’s feet, her tail wagging at high speed

Lirael nodded her acquiescence and began to reach out for Death It was easy here, for the Guard’s passing had created a door that would link Life and Death at this spot for many days A door that could work both ways

The cold ca the hu herself forward into Death, till the rain and the wind and the scent of wet leaves and Sarey light of Death

The river tugged at Lirael’s knees, willing her onwards For a ive up the feel of Life at her back All she had to do was take one step backwards, reach out to Life, and be back in the forest But she would have learned nothing

"I a," she whispered, and she felt the river’s tug lessen Or perhaps she just iht to be here

She took her first slow step forward, and then another and another, until she alking steadily forward, the Disreputable Dog plunging along at her side

If she was lucky, Lirael thought, the Guard would still be on this side of the First Gate But nothing wason the surface, caught by the current In the far distance was the roar of the Gate

She listened carefully to that--for the roar would stop if the wo, careful to feel for potholes or sudden dips It waswith the current, and she relaxed a little, but not so much that she lowered sword or bell

"She is just ahead, Mistress," whispered the Dog, her nose twitching only an inch above the surface of the river "To the left"

Lirael followed the Dog’s pointing paw and saw that there was a di with the current towards the First Gate Instinctively, she stepped forward, thinking to physically grab the Guard Then she realized her erous, and a friend in Life would not necessarily be so here It was safer not to touch Instead she sheathed her sword and, keeping Saraneth stilled with her left hand, transferred her right to grasp the bell’s any handle Lirael knew she should have flipped it one-handed and begun to ring it at the same time, and she knew she could if she had to, but it seemed sensible to be more cautious After all, she had never used the bells before Only the panpipes, and they were a lesser instrument of power