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going all the
way to Linheath.
    She
had come to the boundary of the lighted part of the city when she heard a
sound, the echo of booted feet on stone, distant, but drawing nearer. Ryia
froze, gripping the staff with both hands. She was reminded again of how alone
she was, and that she was surrounded by foes. She listened, ears straining.
Someone was coming. No, many someones. More than one at least.
    She
looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide. She ran to the side of the
passage, to a closed door, beneath a stone arch. She pulled on the ring, but
the door would not open. Ryia flattened her back against the wood, trying to
press her body into the shadows. It wasn’t much of a hiding place, but it was
all she had. She would kill whoever was coming, even Sir Egan. She didn’t want
to, but would do whatever she had to do to escape.

Chapter 7

 
    It
was well past midnight when the three companions reached Ibridion. They slowed
their horses to a walk, passing through the cleft in single file, and emerged
into a landscape of dust and broken rocks. The night was mostly clear with only
a few high clouds. A full moon hung in the velvet sky, lighting their way.
    At
the edge of the courtyard, they dismounted, tethering their mounts in the
shadow of one of the monolithic stone pillars that surrounded the place. Ander
drew his sword, the blade glinting in the moonlight. Tristan did the same and Loth
unslung his bow, fitting an arrow to the string. The three crept forward to the
thick wooden post in the center.
    “She
was here,” Loth said, stooping to examine the area around the base of the pole.
“There are marks in the dirt, small sandaled feet.”
    “How
can you possibly see that?” Tristan asked.
    “With
this moon I can see as well as you do in daylight.” Loth glanced up at the round,
white face hanging in the sky above them. “The elluen existed before the sun
and moon. We see well, even on the darkest night. There are other tracks here.
Some were made by men. Others...” he frowned. “These look like...”
    “The
beast,” Tristan said, unable to contain his anxiety. “The beast has her!”
    “I
don’t think so. It appears as if she was bound to this pole, probably from that
hook up there, but somehow managed to free herself and ran away.”
    “Aye,”
Ander said, “the girl’s got spirit. Well then, if you can make out her tracks,
which way did she go?”
    “This
way,” Loth said, rising. They followed Ryia’s footsteps into the rocks,
wandering through the maze of pillars to the point of Ryia’s capture. Here Loth
paused again, examining the ground for a long time.
    “There
was a struggle,” Loth said. “The girl was subdued and dragged...”
    “The
beast--” Tristan said.
    “No,
not the beast. Something else. Someone else. Two persons in fact. These tracks were
not made by men. They are more like...“ Loth scanned the darkness. “These are
kerram tracks.”
    “Kerram?”
Ander said. “What in Onar’s name are they doing here?”
    “I
don’t know, but it was kerram that took her, without a doubt. They bore her
away, back toward the city.”
    “That’s
almost good news,” Ander said.
    “How
is that good?” Tristan shot back, clearly agitated.
    “If
the beast of Elddon had come for her, she would most likely be dead now.”
Tristan grimaced at this and Ander laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “But
if the kerram have her, then she may still be alive. We can still save her.”
    The
three made their way back to the courtyard, moving quickly over the stones to
the entrance of the city. They paused outside the great double doors,
listening, but no sound came from within. The night remained still and quiet. Ander
placed his hands on the doors and heaved them open. The doors swung inward, moving
easily on well oiled hinges, revealing a large hall shrouded in darkness.
    “Since
I’m the only one who can see, I’ll take the lead,” Loth said, gesturing for Ander
and Tristan to