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"He is dead, I think," said Alain gently

"What is death?" it asked hirier It did not comprehend the emotions of huht strive to do so It was a creature of the aether--its substance blazed blue behind the eyes of the prince--and although Alain did not kno it had been coerced out of the spheres and down to Earth, he could see that it had become trapped here because the dai in common with humankind: they can love

"Our souls depart this Earth when it is tiht, a place which lies above the uppermost sphere," he said "Where is the soul of the body you now inhabit?"

"There is no soul here It was here when I first ca, and I pushed it aside while I searched for the one I love But then a weight struck us and I felt how the threads that weave it to the flesh were severed"

"How can this be? No creature male or female can kill him You are sure no other soul resides in that body?"

Horribly, it cracked its head sideways, looking up into the sky Blood leaked froh otherwise the face was unuished Here noas e of indifferent features "I can apprehend its track It has crossed out of the lower air into the sphere of Erekes"

"Ai, God," whispered Alain His tears fell as Sorrohined and Rage gave a hesitant wag to her tail "He is a goodhier, without curiosity, without desire, the daimone spoke "Why should I?"

Alain shrugged helplessly The hounds nosed his hands, and he stroked them, who loved him and who had stayed with him all this time only because of the affection that binds creatures one to the other This essence cannot be touched and cannot truly be named, but it exists in the world just as the Lady of Battles does, knit into the bones of the Earth and of every living creature that dwells on Earth or in heaven

"Because Heribert loved him"

It stared at hiuage he expects to understand but does not It blinked, but thelizard One shoulder twitched It lifted a hand and regarded fingers and pal, and turned around in a full circle as if seeking a round E, he pressed a hand against the dead man’s forehead His voice was no more than a whisper "God, please heal him"

But the corpse did not breathe, and did not stir No heart’s blood pulsed under the skin

The guivre’s hot breath blew over his back It hit the road so hard that the shudder passed up through his feet Its huge beaklike snout lowered until it was at a level with his face Its breath was hot but not unpleasant; it s neck swayed hypnotically, and its eyes whirled until he fell into those depths and saithin, the field of battle laid below him and all the forestlands and even farther beyond, as the land fell away until all earthly landmarks became tiny scratches on the vast tapestry that is the world Rivers were threads of blue, and forest swathes of ed holes in brighter colors Here and there the many creatures craithin the interstices of the weave as dotheappeared as an infinitesihtier spans of stone which buttress the architecture of life

Spread across the lands lie the eways link therow taut, or loose, as the world shifts its position, ever rolling, and the stars rise and set on their endless round A bright figure trailing a wispy blue ghost of aetherical wings races along one of those corridors in the company of shadowy co above the solid, fanizes as Hersford Monastery

But greater wonders draw his gaze away

For an instant he believes he can glimpse the span of the heavens and the spheres themselves: the pearl that is the Moon, icy Erekes, rosy Sory lair, the hall of Mok, the dazzling light of Aturna Beyond these and locked around them rests the realm of the fixed stars, with its heavy silver sheet of sky and flashing, molten surface of liquid aether