“And I sincerely hope we’re right about that,” said Seregil.

“Even if it’s instant, the portal between her plane and ours will be open before I can get off a shot, leaving the three of you to face her unprotected.”

“I took that into consideration.” Thero took up the pen again and drew a wavering line between the two caves, and another at the mouth of the tunnel leading up from the painted cave to the second. “Here, and here, I plan to lay down a defensive magic she shouldn’t be able to cross, or at least not without expending a significant amount of her strength. If she recognizes what it is, she’s more likely to turn and run toward you, Alec.”

“Making her a better target,” he replied with a dark grin.

“Timing is everything in love and war,” said Seregil. “Either you stop her or she’ll fly straight for her tower. The last thing I want to do is have to hunt her in there, on her own ground. Not to mention the fact that if she gets that far, Alec will most likely be dead.”

“What do we do with the parts of her?” asked Micum.

“We must contain the head and hands. I’ll bring containers for them. The rest I’ll try to burn,” Thero replied.

“Ah, you and fire,” Seregil said with a chuckle.

Thero smiled. “You get ready. I need a few hours to prepare and sleep, then we’ll go.”

Seregil sat on the bed, watching as Alec unlocked the ferrule in the handgrip of the Radly and pulled the two halves apart. He wrapped them with a well-waxed bowstring, then laid them and his quiver in the center of a small blanket and rolled them up into what appeared to be a traveler’s bundle secured with twine. Dressed in his rags again, Alec wrapped his sword belt around his slim hips, put on a cloak to hide the blade, and slung the bundle over his shoulder.

“Do I look sufficiently harmless?” he asked, striking a stooped pose.

Seregil smiled. “The real question, I suppose, is do you look sufficiently ghostly?”

“I must. No one has bothered me there except for the occasional dra’gorgos since that first night.”

“Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

“A little,” Alec admitted. “I don’t think the ghosts really notice me.”

“It just makes me wonder how much control the dyrmagnos has over her realm. Or is it you? Can’t she see you?”

“Why wouldn’t she be able to? She saw Mika well enough.”

“Yes, but he didn’t die completely the way you did.” Alec raised a brow. “He didn’t die enough?”

“You know what I mean. There’s something not right about this.”

“What choice do we have, though?”

“Not one I dislike any less than this.”