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Flashes of odd light, like broken lighting, writhed through the cloud The lights flashed across the rock, chasing the darkness back in bursts The sickness of the chains tried to numb her h the chains?"

"They are a powerful enchanted"

"Yes, yes, I know that"

Poth looked up at Keleios andplaintive note

"I know, Poth, the stor" There had to be a way "Eroar, could you break them between your claws?"

"The proble they will explode"

She nodded "But if you touch between the runes, on the bare chain, the runes will be intact They won&039;t explode"

"I can no longer see ic I cannot see where the runes are"

"Nor I" Keleios looked at the others "Does anyone have a better idea?"

There was silence The wind grew stronger, bringing the scent of old death

She turned to Eroar "I remember two runes per bracelet" She closed her eyes and said, "Here and here" She touched the metal above and below her wrist

"Are you sure?" he asked

"No, but I&039;on nodded He bent over her hands His black claws, like ebony knives, hovered delicately over her manacles Poth struck at his claws She hissed, tail bushed, eyes wild

Lothor said, "What is wrong with that cat?"

Keleios stared at the cat She had never realized that her ability to coic, but now Keleios was deaf and du into the cat&039;s yellow eyes She didn&039;t knohat the cat was trying to say "Tobin, hold her out of the way"

Tobin, still crouched on the ground,at him

"Poth" Keleios couldn&039;t understand this, and there wasn&039;t tion bent over the manacles once more The cat attacked

"Poth!"

Lothor dived for the cat and caught her snarling and spitting

The cat continued to yowl as Eroar started to work on the chains

Keleios said, "Stop"

The dragon hesitated "What is it?"

"Let her go, Lothor"

"There isn&039;t time for this, Keleios"

"Don&039;t you see, Poth can see the runes Her "

Eroar said, "If she could see ic before this, the cat should still be able to see the runes"

Lothor released the cat, "Our last chance is a cat&039;s ht We are doomed"

Tobin said, "Shut up, Lothor"

Poth hissed at Lothor and then walked daintily over to Keleios Eroar touched the chains Poth struck at hi, wary but satisfied

There was a sharp crack, and the ic With one bracelet off, the spell was released The chains fell to the ground

She stared into the cat&039;s yellow eyes and said, "Thank you, Poth"

The leg irons were not enchanted Keleios reached down and spelled open the lock

Eroar nearly bugled his relief at being free again, but kept silent and began to work on Tobin&039;s chains Keleios freed Lothor at al toward the stunted forest

Eroar shapeshifted into his young human form and ran after thean a laborious climb upward upon the rock itself

The wind chased the the e of Keleios&039; vision She did not turn her head to follow thetrailed

At least a dozen things h the trees, too silent even for elves Flashes of pale light began to wink through on either side, red, blue, and green The colors seemed watered down, as if barely able to be seen

Lothor said, "They are dehts No real harm in and of themselves, but they will report our movements and we cannot outrun them"

"I knohat they are, black healer I&039;ve been here before"

She doubled her pace and theyan easier ti not to lose toonear here where we can protect ourselves frohts" As if conjured by her words, they broke through to a large clearing It was bare of all vegetation and irregular in shape, but time was short They wouldn&039;t find better It looked as if it had been blasted clean In the center of it lay a skeleton in elven chain mail with a sword still sheathed at its side The bones were a bad oo else where The wind felt like a real storm except for the stench; bits of bark and leaves filled the air

The sickly lights hovered round the clearing, and Keleios fought an urge to strike at one "Sorcery is quick but draining, and easily broken by the more powerful"

Eroar spoke "Yes, herb-witchery is best, I think, if we have the tools for it"

The first howl floated long and lonely on the stor with baying

"The hounds"

Tobin asked, "What are you whispering, Lothor?"

"The howling, it is not dogs; it is the hounds of Verm"

Keleios paled, "There is no time to finish an herb-witch circle Master Eroar, if you will erect a sorcerous circle at the li, I will try to back it with an herb-witch one, but you&039;ll need to buy me time"

Eroar stood, and with a sweep of both arms, a shield slipped over the; only bare rock showed -- no ash, no anything "Tobin, do you have a dagger?"

"Yes" He unsheathed it and gave it to her It was six inches of slie to overdecorate on the carved hilt

"What are you going to do with the dagger?"

"I will use blood for the syripped her wrist "But there is nothing tobefore you had enough blood for it"

Lothor called, "Keleios"

He was kneeling by the skeleton, the unsheathed long sword in his hands He threw it to her, and she caught it hilt first Tobin&039;s dagger clattered to the stone, and she gasped The thing was powerful Sheathed, she would never have seen it, but naked, it shone with a powerful enchantment The runes on its hilt and blade were Vallerian Keleios traced the runes, demon, pain, death, silver, elf, and suddenly she knehat sword she held Ache silvestri, Aching Silver, a name half-elven and half-deher deh it remained quiet, she kneas al for a moment of weakness so it could control Keleios knew better There would be no moment of weakness, if she were careful

Lothor said, "I have , transfixed "Oh, yes, I can use it"

"I will not need your dagger, Tobin, or blood for the circle"

He bent and retrieved his weapon, but hesitated to ask about the sword His owncaet to theathered the sword belt and sheath and fitted the sword, silver death, and spoke to it "I am sorry to ill-use such a fine blade as yourself, but I need ic Will you aid me?" It pulsed once in her hands, a dim throb, but it concurred

She held it two-handed above her head and prayed to Urle to give strength to these two things of his art, enchanter and enchant the blade, and they seeed the blade doard to bite into the rock With a metal screa Silver began to carve a circle in the rock Her chanting rose above the sounds of sword and rock The circle closed, and it looked as if a thin line of fire had cut the ground She stood uncertain, holding the blade just inches from her face Steam rose from the blade into the cool wind She sat in the center of the new circle, cross-legged, and drove the sword into the ground in front of her The chant changed but reister the howling that came in over the twisted trees She bent forward and sliced her aran the sy erupted into the clearing She forced memories down and continued The spell was all important

The first hound broke cover, pale as death It had a naked huapped open to howl skyward, exposing a horde of needlelike teeth Fingernails like white razors clawed at the edge of the shielding A dozen of the in frustration Parts of husaw puzzles of flesh

Lothor spoke quietly to Tobin "Notice their claws and mouths have a yellowish cast to them, very faint over the white It is a deadly poison toto elaborate, and Tobin let it go

As Keleios traced the stick man in the dirt, she felt the pull of the sword like an invisible rope of power, a strengthening, a joining Each low reic to hers She knew the sword longed for union with an enchanter as all enchanters long for a great enchantment hich to share themselves

The hounds had quieted and lay or sat around the clearing, waiting The winds had died down, and the stench of death was vanishing with each breath of fresh wind

Froht feet tall, covered in red scales, barrel-chested, with black talons on feet and hands A necklace of gold links draped around his thick neck Three stones were set in it -- two red that shone like new blood and one black that reflected nothing His face broke into a toothy grin, batlike ears curling ever so slightly The demon bent and petted one of the hounds with a floppy red and white hound ear on one side and on the other a young boy&039;s face "I apologize for being late I had to reason with thatcloud This is too fine a catch for the storm to have" He chuckled "Prince Lothor, are you in favor or out of favor this season?"

"Well, Alharzor, reat debate this year"

"Ahhh, soer it is Velen the Black"

Lothor acknowledged it with a nod of his head

"How do I know this, trapped on the godforsaken isle tending to the whih in Verives orders, and I listen"

"What were his orders, Alharzor?"

"To kill you and anyone with you"

"You may find that task far from easy"

"I know, so I debate" He sat down, and two hounds crowded close to lie near him

"Does Harque rate a minion of Verm?"

"No, but your brother does He wanted to make sure you died, one way or another He leaves little to chance Fear him, prince, for he means to have you dead"