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They entered the sanctuary before nightfall, anxious to be there before the blood-red disc of Lady Moon rose into the winter sky Few noticed that their ranks had been infiltrated by a group of hooded figures One alking with bent knees to disguise his height Another wore the robes of a high priest of the Duideth under his long cloak

To stone and waited for the night's proceedings to begin Thunder stood on one side and Aaroen on the other They crouched down and watched as the priests left the sacred grove and walked in procession towards the awaiting crowd

They were led by their Grand Master, Grimwald, who strode in front dressed in a white robe and carrying a staff The crowd parted to let him pass Tom noticed that the men stood on one side and the woation The sexes mixed and festivals were noisy affairs with lots of booze and laughter

The procession entered the circle of stones and Grimwald advanced to the centre Cyrasping it in his outstretched arht hold a wand The crowd fell silent

Tom didn't like the way the priest had captured their attention And he didn't like the way he atching the moon as it passed between the stones The Grand Master looked faridiot Aaroen had described

Soolden disc was an instrument of divine power To Tom it lookedit fro measurements

It wasn't difficult to see why the Duideth were held in such awe The circle of standing stones was like a vast outdoor theatre Grier looked s robes, silhouetted against the n'

He cried out it the native language

'Let your ascendancy begin'

He raised his staff and the croatched as the uessed that the crucial ht the eclipse would start and no one would doubt the supremacy of the Duideth

Aaroen appeared as confident as ever The former priest held a parch to take part in a learned debate Minutes passed and nothing happened Touessed his hunch had been right Eclipses are daht with a ring of stones is exceedingly low