I was appalled. I wanted to tell him that the loss of his memories of Jik’s love and laughter and his delight in those things were too great a price to pay for the cool calm numbness he had attained, but Darga’s serenity was like a wall of ice that could not be surmounted. I was glad to be distracted from my conversation with him by the sight of the great mound of boulders and rocks that contained the caverns and tunnels of the Teknoguild. Since we were approaching the complex from behind, there was no sign of its entrance and no danger of our being seen, but as we circled it, Gahltha moved slowly and cautiously, knowing as well as I did that there were oft-used paths and trails crossing the area on the other side of the caves.

We moved parallel to the first path we came to, which led away from the Teknoguild caves to the west, and then Gahltha cut across it and we plunged into the forest on the other side. Later we came to another path, which we also crossed. For the remainder of the morning we continued in this slow, careful way, finding and crossing, swiftly and carefully, any path or trail we came upon, moving ever northward. By midday the last shreds of night mist had burned off even in the damp shadows under the biggest trees, and shafts of light cutting down through the branches transformed the dark tangle to a cage of green lit by an occasional splash of colour from a flower or cluster of mushrooms. The weight of the stone sword and the pack were making my back and shoulders ache, but when I suggested a stop so that I could rearrange them, Maruman only said that we must go on.

I thought it highly unlikely that we would encounter anyone in thick forest this far from Obernewtyn, but I made no protest. As the afternoon wore on, Gahltha continued doggedly to ignore trails and paths, but when we reached a proper wide stream instead of the narrow rills that criss-crossed the sodden ground, he announced that we should stop for a short time.