Page 166 (1/1)

With his free hand, he lifted one of the loops away fro his chest, and she realized that he wore a simple wood Circle of Unity around his neck, tied on a leather cord

Fortunatus sucked in his breath

She rocked back on her heels, seized with hope "Do you stand in the Light?"

"I respect the uide you On their honor, the honor of your church of Unity, on the honor of the one you know as Constance of Wendar and the holy deacon Ursuline who guards her charges at Rikin Fjord, I swear this oath, that I will not raise arainst ed, a casual, too-hu to see hi so trustingly beside hih the ranks He and his brothers had a human cast of face; they had a human form except for the claws, and the metallic tone of their skin, and the bone-white hair The old legends told that the Eika were born when the blood of huends were true

"I ahand, emperor of my Eika brothers and of the lands of Alba and certain territories along the western coast of Salia and Varre"

Spoken with such an assurance of ht and power!

She must speak to protect those she was responsible for "You hand, that I cannot ask the brave and faithful soldiers who march with me to lay down their arms and leave themselves defenseless"

"They are too few to harm me Let them set a cauard over them but not come near That will content me"

"What of the rest of us?"

"Naturally I uards will not be molested The rest of your party can reood soldiers, those Lions I have seen them in action"

On this road in the forest with trees all around and no sign of bird life, with only a trace of wind in the branches, Rosvita wondered briefly if she had wandered into a dream as vivid as those she had on occasion suffered when traveling between the crowns In a mo "I pray you, Sister, wake up"

But Fortunatus remained silent

The Eika lord shifted fro to hear a sound hidden fro the pole of his standard uncurled The pole began to roll off his opening fingers, and he unaware of its movement

Almost, she called out to warn him, but she reed, their heights shorn by the teh the wealth of pine and beech Dead trees scatter the ground like sticks Low-lying shrubs grow in these clearings now that they have ht Sometimes vistas open where forest once blocked the view

This long ridgeline slopes sharply to both west and east away into rolling ground, polite hills easy to travel through, where the forest thrives To the south it dips into the broad valley beyond the El River, the place where the town of Kassel rose a century ago on the ruins of a Dariyan outpost The town’s ates face the south because it is protected to the north by that rough country where Alain walks on a deer trail

He is alone in the forest, all but his faithful couivre, which follows hireat deal span has ht, to shelter him from drizzle, and its vicious beak has torn into the only pack of wolves that dared attack theo Now he has almost reached his destination

The first drops of rain spatter through leaves like a shower of pebbles Above, the sky grows dark, and the forest floor grows dim The few birds--he is always thankful to hear birds call--fall silent

Ahead, the track opens into a rass and purple and blue flowers He halts at the verge Wind whips the grass, but he is untouched Rage whines Sorrow gives a single bark Both sit, made uneasy by the weather

Mist pours heavenward out of the streah the s his cheek like slivers of ice blown on a gale It rains sideways as the rising wind howls He cannot see the trees on the far side of the clearing

This is no natural storht pierces the wall of mist The rain ceases between one breath and the next Above, clouds part as easily as if they have been sliced in two to reveal a sun so brilliant that he shades his eyes frolisten on petals Grass sparkles The streaes a rider