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the right, the Fhelethyr to the woods on the left. The piercing voices ceased
and the singers vanished into the trees.
The plain fell quiet. Energies were still leaping about, but more softly now,
gradually subsiding.
Eldareth saw the figures of Fhelethyr warriors moving about on the battlefield
to tend their fallen. Some
Valahyr, too. But the two sides ignored each other, as if a truce had been
called.
'Who won?' said Tanthe. There were tears on her face. Eldareth could think of
no easy way to reassure her.
'I doubt that the war is finished yet,' said Elrill.
'Do you know where we are?' Eldareth asked.
'I think we are on the Plains of Hethryr,' Elrill answered. 'If that means
anything.'
'I have seen maps and drawings of Verdanholm,' Eldareth answered. "The
geography corresponds very roughly to that of Aventuria. I know that much.'
Elrill sighed. 'My friend, I was not accusing you of ignorance. My remark, "If
that means anything,"
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was addressed to the fact that Verdanholm itself changes. No map can truly
describe it.'
'What shall we do?' Tanthe said, her hand taut on Redbird's reins.
'Vanish, if possible,' Elrill answered. 'My position in Verdanholm is much the
same as Eldareth's in
Torith Mir.'
Tanthe looked shocked. 'Why, what have you done?'
'I am not accused of any crime, but the Shaelahyr, if you recall, are
forbidden to enter Verdanholm.'
'Of course. I forgot,' Tanthe said stiffly. 'Maybe you'll even tell us why,
one of these days. Would they arrest you?'
Elrill smiled mysteriously. 'They might try, but I should talk my way out of
it. I'd rather it didn't come to that, however.'
'So you can talk your way out of it?' said Tanthe. 'Good. In that case,
shouldn't we go down and help the wounded?'
Elrill looked from her to Jthery to Eldareth, a frown corrugating his white
forehead. 'We'd be more sensible to save our skins than be charitable, but
I'll abide with the majority.'
'I agree with Tanthe. Jthery said simply.
'So do I,' added Eldareth. 'She's right, Rill. Dozens of Aelyr have already
seen us. We might as well be of some use to them. It's our human duty.'
'As you wish,' Elrill said coolly, turning his horse.
They rode at a walk down on to the plain, then dismounted and went on foot,
leading their horses.
The Fhelethyr men and women began to notice them, looking up with subdued
surprise rather than shock. Their grey and violet eyes were troubled, yet calm
- almost serene, in a grave way. Eldareth noticed Tanthe looking keenly at
each of them and he suspected why. She was searching for a face - or even some
element in their beautiful, oval faces - that was familiar, that resembled her
own.
She was looking for her Aelyr parents.
He wanted to tell her not to, but there was no point; he'd only embarrass her.
So he kept his counsel as they walked over the bruised, silvery grass. Even
its scent was unlike that of grass at home; its poignant freshness was laced
with a herbal bite. Rainbows sparked on the bent stems. The realm was as he
remembered from his first, brief encounter, yet infinitely more vivid, and it
caught at his heart.
No one stopped them. Presently they came to a wounded man who was alone. He
was on his side, one arm covering his head. Tanthe knelt down on the grass
beside him. Eldareth thought for a moment that he was dead, but as she spoke,
he stirred.
'Hello, we're friends. We're going to help you.'
The Aelyr groaned and turned on to his back. His hair was brown with a lot of
red in it, his eyes dark sapphires, his garments the soft dew-grey of the
Fhelethyr. When he saw the figures above him he looked amazed and pushed
himself up on one elbow.
'Humans? Who are you?'
'I'm Tanthe,' she said, smiling at him. 'We came through a rothanamir back
there . . . never mind.
Where's your injury?'
'My arm ... I was bleeding, and thefaldatriu
He had taken a sword cut across his upper arm, which was still oozing.
Eldareth and Elrill helped, but Tanthe did most of the work; made a tourniquet
to stem the bleeding, gave him water and a tincture of chamomile sweetened
with honey from her flasks. She asked, 'What was the other thing you
mentioned?'
'Faldatriu?'
Elrill said quietly. 'The voices. They're meant to disorientate. If the
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vibration resonates with your own roth, it will make you pass out. Even kill
you.'
'Breyid's tits,' Tanthe said under her breath. 'I wish I hadn't asked.'
The Aelyr man seemed more shocked than badly hurt. It always amazed Eldareth
that the Aelyr could at one moment be so human; at another, so alien.
As they tended the man, another Fhelethyr came towards them. It was a woman
slightly taller than
Tanthe, carrying a spear in her left hand. Her aquiline face was clasped with
what Eldareth took for a moment to be a headdress; which he then saw was long,
thick, feathery hair, like a mass of red scales each tipped with gold.
'Where are you from? Which side did you fight on?' she demanded.
'My lady, we have just come from Aventuria. Eldareth said politely. He stood
up and bowed his head to her. 'We blundered into your battle by accident and
we fought on neither side.'
She studied them carefully hi turn. 'Aventuria? Why?'
'It's a long story. We're hoping to find someone who might help us. Someone in
charge.'
She laughed. 'No one is in charge of the Fhelethyr. Perhaps we would fight our
cause better if we were that organised. You may as well speak to us as
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