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"What is this?" demanded Sabella, and it wasn’t clear if she spoke of Alain or the inconvenient stor every ht!" called the captain

Men lit sticks and held the flaht out by the wind

Overhead it flew, vast wings beating as it skiuivre Sabella had captured andthe scales of its underbelly, like golden waters rippling Froasps of surprise There they all stood, rooted to the ground like stone and staring at the creature they meant to track down and make captive

This was all the chance Alain needed He had already ht the scent He saw its tail flick out of sight as it vanished into the night, flown into the northeast where the rough ground reached its worst He whistled softly to alert Sorrow and Rage and, while the rest of the company stood frozen with shock and fear, he and the hounds walked away into the dark forest

PART TWO

THE BLOOD-RED ROSE

VIII

ON A DARK ROAD

1

SECHA sat cross-legged on a reed hter in her left arht, she turned the wheels within wheels of the astrolabe The astrolabe was a strange and cunning tool that gave power and precision to the one who understood how to use it This particular one had been haes of the land once called Abundance-Is-Ours-If-The-Gods-Do-Not-Change-Their-Minds but now co-In-This-Earth The s, and it had been delivered to her three days ago by the latest band of eager young warriors off to try their skill in raiding, burning, and killing

She sighed as the alidade rotated sh the scales inscribed into the disk The cruder instrument she had used for the last two months had a tendency to stick This was a well-made, handsome tool, a testament to the skill of her people’s artisans now that they were freed fro In the old days, so it was said, they had worked in bronze long before such knowledge had spread to the primitive Pale Ones Now, of course, humankind bore weapons of hard iron, and it was the Ashioi who er weapons and tools to combat their ancient enemy

"Secha!" Sparrow Mask called froood-sized band! Maybe more!"

"I hear you!" she called back, but she did notinfant from the nipple except for fire or blood

From her seat on the mat, unrolled on a plank ay out under the cloudy sky, she surveyed the settlement built by huh palisade blocked her view of the landscape The houses and hovels had heft and weight, constructed out of blocks of stone with tile or thatch roofs, but she could never live easily in this place It was too dark and heavy The humans lived without a temple raised up on an earthen platform; there was not even an altar There was no round They did not decorate the exterior of their houses, and within the deserted eaves she had found tools and cloth and tables and benches and crude beds but little she found beautiful She could find no house of youth where the children would be instructed Altogether, she found their life poor even coht possess the secret of iron, and various cunning tools that made work easier, but in all other ways they lived little better than savages

The baby loosed the breast, gurgled, burped, and dozed off Secha called to White Feather, who came and took the child The other infant slept as well; she always fed the all day!

Zuchia the weaver waved to her as she walked to the watchtower Fro that had once housed the hu in unison

"These are the names of the days: