Nessa sipped from the cup; the brew was strong and bitter, herbs used to deepen the trance and open the pathways of the mind. She forced herself to finish it. Now there was no sense of time passing. There was only the earth above her, and the voice inside. The bones, the ash shifted and stirred of themselves; now she could see an image there, fire, men running, and somewhere in the shadowy corners of the underground chamber there was a terrible screaming that went on and on, and behind it the sound of the sea. There was a vision of the islands, but the islands were changed. The Kin Stone was cast down, the great circle was laid waste, there was burning and destruction and hatred. She could not see herself or Rona. She could not see Engus or Kinart or any man of the Folk. She could not see Eyvind. It was a place empty of spirit.

What do you see?

“I–I cannot say…”

You called me forth from my sleep, daughter. This is no time for cowardice. A wise woman does not shrink from the truth.

“This cannot be the future! It cannot be! We must be able to stop this!”

Is the Wolf faithful?

“Yes.” Her voice was a whisper.

Is the old woman strong?

“Yes.”

And what of you, priestess? You flinch away from these images. But there are no easy answers for you. You think you have seen sorrow, but you face a sorrow far greater than any your mind can imagine. You will see all that is dear to you hanging by a thread fine as a single filament of cobweb. Are you strong enough to lose all you have, and still go on?

“This is…it is a true vision, then? This is what awaits the Folk, as Somerled threatened?”

The answer is within you, daughter. In ash and bone you seek the truth, in the shards and dust that are man’s destiny. In ash and bone shall you find the truth, hidden deep. Summon your courage, for tonight’s dark vision shows you the path to come. Follow it steadfastly, or all fails.

“Or all fails? Then…there is some hope to be found in this, a chance? The single strand? Tell me. Tell me, can the Folk be saved? Or are we—are he and I destined to fight and fail, each of us alone in this dark time to come?”

The Wolf does not know surrender. A cruel god binds him.

“He’s changed. He has learned what it means to take a life, and what it means to live one.”

He will go unarmed into this battle. His adversary has all the weapons.