‘Well, it makes no difference now, Apsalar,’ Cutter said. ‘We need to leave this damned island – Traveller can have it, as far as I’m concerned. Are you recovered enough to help me get one of these runners into the water? We’ve a bounty in supplies, too—’

‘Where are we going?’

He hesitated.

Her dark eyes flattened. ‘Cotillion.’

‘Another task for us, aye.’

‘Do not walk this path, Crokus.’

He scowled. ‘I thought you’d appreciate the company.’ He offered her the ladle.

She studied him for a long moment, then slowly accepted it.

‘Pan’potsun Hills.’

‘I know,’ Lostara drawled.

Pearl smiled. ‘Of course you would. And now, at last, you discover the reason I asked you along—’

‘Wait a minute. You couldn’t have known where this trail would lead—’

‘Well, true, but I have faith in blind nature’s penchant for cycles. In any case, is there a buried city nearby?’

‘Nearby? You mean, apart from the one we’re standing on?’ She was pleased to see his jaw drop. ‘What did you think all these flat-topped hills were, Claw?’

He loosened his cloak. ‘Then again, this place will suit just fine.’

‘For what?’

He cast her a sardonic glance. ‘Well, dear, a ritual. We need to find a trail, a sorcerous one, and it’s old. Did you imagine we would just wander directionless through this wasteland in the hopes of finding something?’

‘Odd, I thought that was what we’ve been doing for days.’

‘Just getting some distance between us and that damned Imass head,’ he replied, walking over to a flat stretch of stone, where he began kicking it clear of rubble. ‘I could feel its unhuman eyes on us all the way across that valley.’

‘Him and the vultures, aye.’ She tilted her head back and studied the cloudless sky. ‘Still with us, in fact. Those damned birds. Not surprising. We’re almost out of water, with even less food. In a day or two we’ll be in serious trouble.’

‘I will leave such mundane worries with you, Lostara.’

‘Meaning, if all else fails, you can always kill and eat me, right? But what if I decide to kill you first? Obsessed as I am with mundane worries.’

The Claw settled down into a crosslegged position. ‘It’s become much cooler here, don’t you think? A localized phenomenon, I suspect. Although I would imagine that some measure of success in the ritual I am about to enact should warm things up somewhat.’