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"Yes, it h My people trust me They expect me to inherit, not to be ruled by an infant only because nant now than suffer a regent for many years and all the instability that portends Yet what seal will you give uarantee, that you will not crawl back here in fifteen years to plague h a shuttered , a hound lifts its voice in a wailing howl, and a dozen similar howls answer That eerie clamor makes him shudder, but he holds firm

"Come, my lord Let me show you the hounds Then I will take the child, and you and your heirs will be guarded in truth by that which guarantees our bargain"

"It is better so," he repeats, tre because he does not really believe his oords, but he follows her out through the door into the night

Falling, Liath tu like that of a storusted; it yawned like the gates of the Abyss, displaying sharp white teeth

"Bright One!"

It leaped and vanished into the rock

Falcon Mask’s arrow skittered over the dirt and clattered out of sight beyond the rocky slopes below Liath heard the shaft snap, then a patter of smaller falls, and then silence After athe staff

The two young mask warriors jumped into vieeapons raised and eyes flared with excite back" She got up

"What is that?" asked Falcon Mask

The staff was lovingly shaped and smoothed fronificent carving: a pair of s’ heads remarkably like the heads of the Lavas hounds A nick had been cut into the haft, as ragged as a sword’s blow

Tarangi sauntered out fro her head

"I told you A power as strong as lightning You are fortunate to be alive"

The raspy call of a tern sounded froi did not even look behind her, but the two mask warriors lowered their weapons Buzzard Mask lifted his ers between his lips, and replied with two sharp whistles

Sharp Edge trotted into view "Hurry!" she cried, beckoning "Calta found trace of their passage down the other path!"

She raced away up the path before they could answer Tarangi and the two mask warriors bolted like arrows loosed

Liath followed more slowly As she passed into the shadow of the trees, she heard a deep cough behind her She paused to look back In the dusty open space the hut stood alone, but a flash ofThere the lion prowled, but as she watched, it poured over the rocks in a graceful scraht