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A wisp of smoke drifted in through one of the slits; the floor where she was
sitting and the air around her began to heat.
They re roasting me. She sprang up, looked frantically about the room, but
nothing had changed;
there was no way out. The iron floor began to burn through her bootsoles. I
won t let this happen. I
won t. She pushed the cage against the wall, climbed up on it so she was
close to one of the slits.
Chil-dren, she cried. Help me. Kamen, come to me. Nixies. Lamia. All of
you. Come to me. HELP
ME!
2.
Honeydew circled in a last farewell with the shapsa Sfirin, then darted away
to catch up with the com-pany. She settled on Adlayr s shoulder, sighing and
si-lent for once, too lost in old memories and new to talk about them.
The mire was only fingers of stagnant water out here, except for a silt-laden
stream that wandered
through the thinning trees. They followed that stream into rolling grassland
with a range of low brushy mountains to the east and a pall of black that
covered the sky in the northwest. A few high-flying raptors made angular
hieroglyphs across the patches of sky visible between poufs of cloud, and on
the ho-rizon in the west a dark blot oozed slowly along, a herd of grazers
with riders like bright dots moving with them.
Hedivy stopped beside one of the last trees, a low gnarled thing
with pointed, pale leaves and clusters of small, star-shaped flowers
yellow as egg yolks with an over-sweet, rotten smell. He stood scowling at the
distant herd, then turned his head. Riding macs, he said. We need those.
Honeydew stirred, the sound of his voice breaking through her doze. After
fluttering up to sit on one of the crooked branches, she stretched, yawned.
Glanced around. Blinked. Halisan was gone.
She went spiralling up above the tree and hovered there, looking back along
the stream. A few birds, a furtive shadow or two scurrying from bush to bush.
Nothing larger anywhere in sight.
Below her the two men were talking, but this dis-appearance was far more
intriguing than what they were saying. She circled higher, zipped back along
the stream a short way and looked again. Nothing.
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She fluttered down, flew along the stream bank, scanning the tracks they d
left. Men s tracks. None of the smaller, narrower prints from Halisan s boots.
Honeydew hovered a moment, then started back, more puzzled than ever. It was
as if the Harper had climbed into that place where she d put her harp, and
left not a smell of herself behind. Was she gone to help Serroi? Or ...
Honeydew shook her head and flew faster so Adlayr and the others wouldn t
vanish on her as Halisan had.
She saw Hedivy and Adlayr where she d left them and fluttered wearily toward
them, picking up the discussion that had started up before she went off and
hadn t got very far the whole time she d been gone.
... how long it d take. After dark, maybe. Adlayr was seated on one of the
roots, his legs drawn up, his eyes on the grass. See how many remounts
they ve got and what the watch is like. And we ve got to get lot closer
before I try it.
a
Hedivy scratched at the beard that was long enough now to be a mat of wiry
curls like his head hair, though it was a faded red instead of a faded brown
and looked like a bad fake. Mm. Guards re no problem. You just wait till that
herd s well settled then go sicamar upwind. If those beasts are like the ones
m da had, they ll hit for the horizon soon s they get a whiff of you. Just be
sure you drive them my way.
Look, it s not as easy as that. Flying takes a lot out of me. And too much
shifting too fast, I can get lost in there.
Honeydew heard the panic Adlayr tried to push down deep and hurried to hover
by his shoulder, breaking into the tension growing between the two
men. Hallee s gone, look round, Adlee, she s nowhere bout. You see her
go? Honeydew didn t She was there when Sfirin left, next time Honeydew look
round, no Harper. Honeydew went back along the stream, no tracks, Adlee. You
think something got her? Or did she just go?
Adlayr got to his feet, looked around. You re right. He wiped his hand
across his face. It s like I
couldn t remember she was supposed to be here until you said something, Honey.
He , Halisan s gone.
y
Honeydew says she came out of the swamp with us, disappeared after that. You
see her go? Because I
sure didn t.
Hedivy looked round, confusion then annoyance putting a momentary touch of
color in.his cold gray eyes. Her business, he said. She can take care of
herself. Let s get moving. Be a couple days anyway before we get close enough
to that herd.
Honeydew nestled on Adlayr s shoulder as he strode along, keeping on Hedivy s
heels; he was tense and unhappy, nerving himself for the shifts to come.
Though he kept up a good face for the others, she could feel his fears in the
tightness of his shoulder muscles. Since that time in the Forest he was never
sure he could come back once he shifted. He d gone quietly berserk in the days
afterward, forcing himself through shift after shift ... well, he d needed to,
the way things were ... but he did more than he needed to prove he could ...
and it didn t prove anything, the doubt was always there ... and when he went
in the water, it was a bad one ... he was almost late be-cause he was so close
to getting lost ... he didn t say anything to the others, but he told Honeydew
about it a few nights ago ... when nightmares wouldn t let him sleep ... I
wanted to stay there, he said, I wanted it so bad ... if I d had a hair more
space, a hair less pressure, I don t think I could have come out of it ...
water pulls me now ... even this muck ...
He nodded his head at the muddy water of the stream.
.. though not so much as the sea ... I have to be careful, Honey. Very very
careful.
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Serroi had fixed Hedivy s leg so his limp was gone, which was just as well
because when the stream turned east and they plunged into the grass, walking
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