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Finally, I settled myself The river had shifted I could see the former bed It was marked with dried slime and dead creatures who had not been able to follow it Rocks along the original banks had tumbled from their places The old stones were cross They were used to water sliding over them They did not care for this new life in the sun

"Luck of the circle, lads," I told them "One day you’re under water, the next you’re not"

"You talk like a dedicate," Oswin said I jumped I hadn’t even heard hi? Are you followingdown from his swaybacked horse and took off the saddle, like I’d reuseful Your Rosethorn is badgering people to get packed and get their carts in line Word got out that Luvo said we ht have a few more days, so our people act as if they have forever I’ve done all I can for theHe’d get bored fast enough People always do "Don’t th and draw all of it I can"

"Why?"

"Why? Because I ht need it," I said, testy "I’ht? Because I’m a squirrel who stores up nuts of power for the winter Why" I closed round I searched out the fizzing rocks that showed me where the old line of power had been Then I spread out and down, seeking the new one Just as I thought, it was under the changed riverbed, a seaht down It blazed white-hot with the earth’s pure strength

I soaked it up like the rays of the sun after a long winter I bathed in it, drank it, filled athered, the h s I was connected to, e kit We bri fault where the power floay fro the Makray It ical body down to the place where the river et away froh sand and basalt The ocean’s floor rose high over me Far froma that rose into the ocean floor It carried poith it I followed it, curious to see where this thin pipe of ic went It opened into a hole in the ocean floor, at the bottole-eyed creatures with rippling flaps of skin raced away They were used to lava, it see with it The touch of the water made me shiver It didn’t like me I darted back into the s the fault I found other cracks like the one that opened into the crater--like the one Luvo had shown me, that day we reached Starns There were tiny volcanoes, soer than my head, all around the Battle Islands And the faults in the sea, big ones and little ones, were roads under the skin of the earth They could lead me to other islands, or even the shores that surrounded the Pebbled Sea It was a! I could travel back to Ehed down bywith people, noof freedom, when all the world--or at least my part of it--shuddered The seam where I traveled squeezed Volcano spirits from deep within the heart of the world roared Heat rose to pressup into the fault If I didn’t leave, it ht catch me I didn’t want to be there, far below the sea, when that happened I didn’t think I could survive it

I raced back tobetween layers of basalt Up I flew fro into the fault that led under the Makray River with relief

I tried to slip into ical self was bigger than usual, built up with all the power I had taken froic in a certain way All that ro under the sea had interfered withever be simple?

I ordered ether You’re a tight little ball of you

I pulled athered, but I needed to concentrate it When I was packed together as tightly as I could e, I tried once more to slip into my real skin This tihten roan I was horribly stiff Oswin offered rabbed one and bit down The beef and wheat were greasy, but good, though someone had overdone the cinnarinned "She always puts in too much cinnamon Tell her, if you want your nose bitten off She likes cinnaood, cool mint tea I looked at him as I drank He had ht his saddlebags over One was open There was a pad of paper sheets stitched together, an ink brush, and an ink bottle HeI sniffed food in the other cloth bundles I could see in the bag I also spotted books around the food bundles Oswin used the other saddlebag as a backrest