Analivia, Swallow, Ahmedri and I went in, after I had farsent Rasial to let the others know what we were doing. I knew that Faraf would explain to Dameon, who we had left sitting on the edge of Dragon’s travois, which now lay flat on the ground. It was immediately clear that the cave mouth was too narrow for the horses to pass through, but after a short distance it opened out into not just one cave but a whole series of linked caves, all of them lit by pool after pool of glimmering spring water, some tiny and bubbling furiously, some lukewarm and wide enough to swim across. The air itself was hot but unpleasantly damp, and as I had guessed, there were clusters of the shining creatures round the sides of all the pools. There were a good many more in the boiling pools than the tepid ones, judging by the brightness of the glow coming from them, I noticed.

‘It is beautiful,’ Analivia said, gazing around with delight.

‘The air is too wet,’ Ahmedri complained. He glanced up at the cave roof with mistrust and unease.

‘Everything is wet,’ Swallow said, touching the wall. ‘We won’t be able to sleep in here.’

‘Maybe there are drier caves deeper in,’ I said. ‘They do seem to go on and on.’

‘Which is a good reason not to go wandering without marking a trail,’ Swallow warned. He went back out to check on Dameon and had not been gone long when Ahmedri called out to say that he had found a passage leading off one of the caves which might come out further along the canyon, since he could feel air flowing along it. He wanted to find out if the way was wide enough to bring the horses in out of the canyon.

‘Take care,’ I called.

‘This draught is strong enough to guide me,’ he replied.

I wondered if his eagerness to bring the horses in arose from the fact that, like me, he had felt that we were being watched. Analivia asked whether it was safe to refill the water bottles, for hers was empty, and I went back with her to the largest cave, where there had been several warm pools.

‘Darga said the water is clean, but I think it would be unwise to consume the taint-devouring insects,’ I said. ‘Perhaps we can use a bit of muslin from your healing pack to strain the water.’

We were in the midst of trying this when Ahmedri returned, panting, to say that not only did the passage lead back to the canyon, it was easily wide enough for the horses. Also, he had found a good dry cavern close to the end of it where we could make a fire and sleep until dusk, when presumably the wolves would come.