Darkness fell while Alec lay in the little hollow he’d used before, the black Radly and his quiver on the cloak beside him. Without any other form of light, it was like being blind, and that made Alec uneasy. The only creatures he had to fear here were dra’gorgos and the dyrmagnos herself, and he had no doubt that either of them could find him easily enough and that he wouldn’t have any warning before anything grabbed him. At least it wasn’t cold or damp.

The mute boy had appeared as Mika rode up the river road, and ran along beside Little Star. As they neared the stone where they’d first met he got in front of the pony, motioning for Mika to stop.

He reined in, trying to figure out what was wrong.

The boy pointed to Little Star and shook his head, then to the sack of food, and then Mika.

“My pony can’t go in?” Then he remembered the chicken Alec had tried to carry into the other plane. He dismounted and untied the sack of food. It seemed he’d have to go on foot from here. His friend motioned for him to follow him. Mika walked beside him toward the rise leading up to the plain, where the man who’d broken his arm had come from. As they neared the top, the ghost took his hand, pulling him along into the darkness.

“Bilairy’s Balls, Seregil, will you quit pacing and sit down?” Micum murmured as he came back into the cave. “We’re all on edge.”

“Sorry.” Seregil stopped next to Khazireen’s skull. He knew how it felt, waiting and staring at that damn wall. Between the tension, the cold and damp of the cave, and the smell of piss from the far side of it, he was having a hard time not climbing out of his own skin. It had been far too long; Alec’s food would be running low by now, and who knew what being there for so long would do to him?

“What’s the hour?”

“Just at dawn.”

“Bilairy’s Balls! Alec must be low on food by now. Thero, you awake?” he asked. The wizard was sitting against the wall near the tunnel entrance, head back, eyes closed.

Thero opened his eyes. “Yes. I take it nothing’s happened?”

“That’s right,” Seregil muttered, staring at the wall again where the Great Seal had once been. This was where something would begin.

Micum came over and rested his hand on Seregil’s shoulder. “You’re as jumpy as a cat on a griddle. That’s not like you. You’re not doing anyone any good by wearing yourself out.”

“I’m fine,” Seregil said, sighing. “It’s just the waiting.”

“We need to eat,” said Thero, standing and stretching.