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The vord Queen's s black eyes widened as the sun-fire streaked toward her She crossed her forearms in front of her with another brassy screaain at Tavi's vision with a furious light bright enough to blind hiainst it

He opened theone in a great, gaping circle, the canvas charred to fine ash, cut as neatly as with shears The ground all around the blast area was several inches lower than it had been a lass

Except for one small circle around the vord Queen She stood up slowly, uncrossing her arain as she stood over Tavi Though her tattered old goas singed black over most of its surface, she was apparently unharht his way up to one knee, sword in hand

"I came here only to weaken you, Father," the Queen said in a purring voice "This wasas good fortune, after all"

A ht it on his sword, willing the weapon to absorb the heat, to htly - but the effort hten down to a narrow tunnel His heart was racing, faster than he'd ever felt it He couldn't breathe She was co for the speed of windcrafting, and he couldn't get his sword to move -

Maxie, his ar into her, a self-contained avalanche of steel He carried her past Tavi and through a second upright, shattering it to kindling, and bringing two-thirds of the ree tent down upon the blanket

Tavi lifted his sword and cut an opening alht, through the opening, only to see the vord Queen neatly duplicate hisa e force onto a thrashing lued and abruptly went still

The vord turned toward Tavi, a wild grin twisting her lips, showing hireen-black running in crazed lines over their surfaces

Tavi lifted his sword, callingforth He couldn't , too weak He knew that he now stood nearer death's door than he ever had before, though his furycraft allowed hirandfather," the vord Queen said, "died just that way Defiant to the last, his sword in hand"

Tavi showed her his teeth, and said, "This isn't a guard position It's a signal fire"

The Queen tilted her head, her eyes narrowed, and a steel balest bolt hit her in the ribs, just below her left arly soft skin, but the sheer force behind the bolt struck her froain almost instantly Thirty yards away, all but invisible in the dark and thea second such weapon, already loaded, fro it to his shoulder to shoot as he shouted, "Go!"

Windstrea past Fidelias, thirty strong, so only inches over his head A solid wall of wind preceded the her back and away froale

She looked at them for an instant, unimpressed and unafraid, her s laugh and bounded away, toward the northeast She leapt into the air, gathering up a windstream of her own that ripped every tent within fifty yards froone in a howl of cyclonic thunder