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Evvy ignored everything after that Using the quartzite stones, she flowed under the twoher feel dirty and sled deeper in the earth and sped up She wanted to see as on the far side of the hill Was it the ixin forces here?

The ground over her head shook as the tiger and the horned lion jurass ablaze Some of her stones blackened and cracked She passed under the hill’s crest and on to the flatlands past it Weight pressed down on her, rock-crushing weight, as far ahead and to either side as she could sense with her power It shifted slightly, back and forth Some moved over Evvy as if it traveled toward the hill

Swiftly she fled to her body, pulling her ic from the quartzite Up she popped to resume her normal place within her skin All around her the air boos, the bells, and the deep, buzzing voices of Gyongxin o’s eastern sha a line, they shuffled to and fro, striking gongs or bells and chanting The noise made Evvy’s teeth hurt It reminded her of the day other shamans had called two stone skeletons out of the cliff behind Gar She wished those skeletons were here now

The lion and tiger opened theirThey were fading Then they were gone

Evvy’s head spun She closed her eyes and breathed slowly through her nose The weight on the far side of the hill -- she had to tell sory, because of all the weight stah them She opened her eyes and slid froed her down

Rosethorn disht?" she asked Swiftly she cut the silks that held Luvo’s sling to Evvy’s chest with her belt knife

Evvy shook her head and turned aside so she wouldn’t splatter anyone Then she vomited the little food and liquid she had sed that

Rosethorn passed her a flask

Evvy tipped her head back and poured a little bit of water into her mouth, rinsed, then spat She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, then drank "Sorry," she told Rosethorn when she was sure she was done vo "Sorry, Luvo Rosethorn, we’ve reached the i my stones over on the other side of the hill"

Rosethorn reached over and patted her arm "It could have been so much worse," she said in an overly sy turn and fetched up in Naht the happy word to us"

"I hate it when everything’s about to go to pieces and you’re all calm," Evvy told her

Rosethorn raised an eyebrow "Would you like it better if things were about to go all to pieces and I turned into a ball of panic?"

Evvy wanted to tell Rosethorn she loved her, but she couldn’t, not aue out at her instead

The general beckoned for Rosethorn to come forward Shamans from the western tribes joined the easterners ahead of even the flag bearers to forxin army As Evvy watched, the shamans removed their shoes Their helpers passed the theed on the ground From their packs they pulled out small drums or flutes

Rosethorn came back at a trot "The sha over the crest of that hill," she explained as a helper began to strike a drum in a slow, rhythmic pattern Other dru theirwe can’t do, I assueneral says we may be a little startled, but try not to make any sound"

Evvy drew her aood stone for calers, drawing on the spells she had placed in the stone Even with that ic, her hands shook

The sharound in front of theh the air Now the sha in the dirt of the road They dipped and turned, their movements snake-like and alien

"Watch, Evvy," Rosethorn whispered "Wees can’t"

Evvy clutched her a in front of the h, like fine gray silk Bit by bit they filled in She saw a curved section of orange skin that slid around There was a dark fang When she saw hair like black flames, she covered her face Rosethorn jabbed her with a sharp elbow, and Evvy dared to look again

She wished she had not Creatures not quite as gigantic as the tiger and the horned lion stood before thee beings, with their flas They each had six arms and hands in which they clutched weapons With the, scarlet locks They had long yellos on their hands and feet and full green lips Each of thes will do if the eer ones," Evvy said as the creatures turned and glided up the hill She glanced at Briar He had turned the color of cheese as he stared at the shamans’ creations