"Not bad," he said. "I can walk." Paks started to say he could run, but decided not to. She turned back to Star, checking her legs and hooves for injuries, and the packsaddle for balance. Everything seemed to be in place. Macenion, meanwhile, mended the broken rein. They traveled until nearly dark, hardly speaking.

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

More than ever Paks realized how she had depended on the plain honesty of her friends in the Duke's Company. Perhaps they were not magicians or elves with mysterious powers—but they did not pretend to powers they did not have. What they promised, they performed. And in a fight of any kind, they would never leave her behind, possibly injured or dead. Now, wandering in the mountain wilderness with Macenion for a guide, she wondered if he even knew where they were. He had said nothing more about the wardstones—nor had she. He seemed as confident as ever. But she felt almost as trapped as if she were in a dungeon.

Their way—or the way Macenion led them—continued upward, day by day. The distant sea was hidden behind the shoulders of mountains now. Paks had asked if that meant they were across the pass, but Macenion had laughed. He tried to show her, on the map, how far they had come. But to Paks, the intricate folds of the mountains and the flat map had little to do with each other. Most of the time the trail ran through open forest, broken with small meadows. Paks thought it might be good sheep country. Macenion said no one farmed so far away from any market.

Wild animals had been scarce. Macenion told her of the wild sheep, the black-fleeced korylin, that spent the summers just above timberline. He had pointed out an occasional red deer in the trees, but Paks lacked the experience to spot them. They had seen plenty of rock-rabbits and other small furry beasts, but nothing dangerous. Nor did Macenion seem especially worried. Wolves, he'd said, were scarce in this region. The wild cats were too small to attack them, at least until they were high above timber-line. If they saw a snowcat, he said—but Paks had never heard of snowcats.

"I'm not surprised," said Macenion, with his usual tone of superiority. "They are large—very large. I suppose you've seen the short-tailed forest cats?" Paks had not, but hated to admit it. "Hmph. Well, snowcats are about three times that size, with long tails. They're called snowcats because they live high in the mountains, among the icepacks and snow; they're white and gray."

"What do they live on, up there?"

Macenion frowned. Paks saw his shoulders twitch. Finally he answered. "Souls," he said.

"Souls?"