Coda, Chapter 17: The Long Farewell

The sensation was almost enough to make Aracoeli sick: she was familiar with the leisurely swoop-and-turn through portalspace performed by most recall spells, but with this rite Nalicana had given her she felt like an arrow, darting through the twists and turns at top speed, perhaps taking a few shortcuts through the winding loops (though all was too fast-moving for her to be sure.) Her feet landed on the floor with a hard thump. She had only seconds now.

The small room into which Nalicana had locked away the Lifestone was dark, and Aracoeli had to equip the Light of Alb'arel to see it. She raised the Lifestone Key to its shining surface and it opened. Two names were still visible inside: CASHTAL, VALIND. She raised the Key quickly and erased them.

She stepped back. The panel closed behind her. Any moment now ---

A figure formed beside the Lifestone, thin, battered, his golden skin faded to a sickly yellow: Cashtal Ronain, miscalled Kellin, inglorious last remnant of the proud Haebrous, deposed Emperor, traitor and murderer. She took another step back, to be well out of reach.

"You," he croaked. "What have you done?" In answer, she merely raised the Lifestone Key and smiled.

He reached out; and his hand fell from his wrist. His eyes stared; his jaw dropped --- to the floor. With an inarticulate sound he separated into a hundred fragments, and fell to the ground.

Aracoeli wrinkled her nose; but the fragments were dry and withered, not juicy, and after a moment she shrugged and went in search of a broom and dustpan. She selected out one desiccated buff-colored finger and put it away, wrapped in linen, as evidence, and dumped the rest in the garbage disposal. Midway through the process she said aloud, "I got my wish," and chuckled quietly to herself while she finished sweeping up, and portaled back to Cragstone.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Valind had had, perhaps, some premonition that her old Lifestone tie was not the best place to be. Instead, she recalled to the Heroes' Star, and darted behind its pillars while she looked around. Southern Arramora was deserted; even the Kingdom quest-givers had left their posts, and she had a clear run to the Lifestone on the wooden platform. She ran across the bridge and tied to it. Kellin, that weak reed, was lost no doubt, but she still lived, and would yet regain her strength, restore her power, become again the defender of the name of the Light ---

There was a shadow overhead, a moving shadow, flying against the wind. She glanced upward, saw a silhouetted crescent shape with a long neck, and ---

---and it was upon her, the gigantic black Gromnatross that landed upon the platform and seized her in its jaws, shook her like a rat and flung her lifeless beside the Lifestone.

And she arose again, shimmering with the Lifestone's blue, and raised her hands to cast a bolt at the Gromnatross, and the blue dissipated and the huge creature brushed aside her bolt as if it were thistledown, and seized her again.

And again.

And again.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When Asheron's party arrived in Arramora, they found Orulaan still perched beside the Lifestone, singing a wordless song of triumph like a golden trumpet. Lying prone upon the platform, bleeding from nose and ears, they found Valind, scarcely alive, barely stirring. They raised her carefully to a sitting position. Her eyes stared; her mouth dribbled; her Fors Vitae was at so low an ebb that no one could read it. "She stayed here and fought," Nalicana said. "She could have run while under the Lifestone's protection, but instead she stayed and tried to fight Orulaan. She must have died --- how many times, Tapu?"

"Dozens at least," Tapuaua said. "I see what you see, Nalicana. She's gone mad."

"Let me take her to Cragstone," Thromer said, gently picking up the battered body. "We'll see if Aldwan can heal her, or Durgan."

But Valind died that afternoon, whimpering, without ever having regained her mind.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Tapuaua woke after a long and dreamless sleep and went out to the porch of her tree-house to watch the sun rising over the lagoon.

"Well," Isin Dule said.

"Well, my lord," Tapuaua said, thrusting her hand into her pouch and finding the smooth-surfaced rattle. "I am at your service."

"I have waited so long for this day," Dule said. "Now that it's come, I find I want to delay it. I would like to walk over this world, now at peace, before I leave it. Will you come with me?"

"Of course."

"So will I," Asheron said, developing upon the air like an extra ray from the rising sun.

"I shall never get used to the way you appear and disappear like that," Tapuaua said.

"No, you never will," Asheron said calmly. "I am free now, bound to Auberean only by my own will; I shall depart when I choose. And so will Isin, for when he gives the word, you will release him. But first, we'll see the world." He raised his hands.

They stood on a patch of greensward between high encircling bluffs. A path led away toward the south, and they followed it, winding between the hills and down a steep slope to where a river ran --- "I know this place," Tapuaua said. "This is where we used to arrive on leaving the Shelters, before Nalicana found the direct Arwic connection. Isn't it?"

"I believe so," Asheron said. "I know nothing lives here now but a huge colony of red wasps that have built their combs all around and through an old house in the valley there. I told Daraua about it yesterday and he wants to bring an expedition here, to see if the honey has any medicinal value. There will be time, now. We already know what Onyx Honeycomb does," and they laughed, and followed the path past the great buzzing hive, through tall redwood groves floored with trunk-climbing moss and rustling ferns and tall blue speedwells, till they reached the Arwic portal and stepped through.

Below them, a great gulf of sparkling morning air hung between them and Arwic mount, rising proud and green out of the plain like the display table in a jeweler's stall, presenting to its best advantage Arwic's fortress on its many levels, shining in the rising sun.

They descended the ramp and climbed again into Arwic, where some were celebrating the victory, and some were packing their belongings to return to their homes in the Arwic Outposts, and most were doing a little of both at once. They cheered Asheron and Isin Dule as the two great shades walked through the town, waving banners or baldrics or dishtowels or whatever was handy, and wasting a few Drudge fireworks in the daylight air; but there seemed to be plenty left. No one cheered the little Tonk who walked behind them, because none of them recognized her, which suited her fine.

They took the road south out of Arwic, where the Wandering Folk had pulled their wagons back into place, and set up a tent to sell pastries and fiery fruit brandies. Word was that every city, town and outpost was holding its own victory party, but that the largest was in Cragstone. They could have portaled, but the day was pleasant and so was the company, so they walked down the road, passing from redwood country to rocky outcrops and tuft trees, and then into rolling hills dotted with swaying willows. In a few places they could see dark stains and scorched grass where the Hopeslayer's army had passed two days before, but already the green blades were springing up again. "Good sheep country," Tapuaua remarked, and Asheron said, "Yes, if you have sheep." "Oh, there are plenty down in the Shelters; they'll bring them up in a few weeks now that it's safe --- if it doesn't snow this winter."

They met no one at all on the roads, except for a handful of Vermin, wearing their tattered jackets and hoods and carrying their stone-tipped spears. They stared and stared at the travellers, chittering together and pointing, but seemed reluctant to attack anything that looked like a walking shadow, let alone a walking sunbeam. "Once you get settled down a little," Asheron said, "you must start trying to communicate with them. Their Rat ancestors were certainly not intelligent, but these certainly are, and if they can learn, then you must teach them."

"We will, my Lord," Tapuaua said. "And the Monouga, and the Scraven. Not to mention the Burun. What happened to them was horrible, but it may be the saving of them: to develop a new culture without the bloodthirstiness of the old, with no one left older than Muurrgh, and the Fetish destroyed. Rino is already planning to settle in Ithaenc and teach them, and so is Lataua, and Lavanna and Tuamoa of course. Together they'll clear out the polluted swamps, burn the Tonk who were buried there. It will be a better way for both our races."

The sun climbed higher, veiled by clouds in a dozen shades of lavender and rose and gold. Even the Hopeslayer's Scythe, cleansed of all its menace, had achieved beauty: it drifted like a strand of rosy lace, east to west across the sky. They passed a fountain in an empty meadow, the base of a Lifestone that Nalicana had removed for safety during the war. Perhaps she would replace it; if not, the fountain remained, where one day shepherds and their sheep would drink in the heat of the day.

They came to the bank of the Prosper, and instead of crossing by the island they went downstream so that they could see the double waterfall at its best advantage, from just below it. The two shades drifted over the surface of the water; the Tonk swam through air full of mist and rainbows, and water full of bubbles, and at that moment it began to rain and the surface overhead was covered with spreading rings of ripples.

The rain was warm, and passed unchanged through light and shadow and beaded and rolled off thick fur. They walked through it to Old Cragstone to see the Crater and the ruins of the Shadow Spire. They passed by the Excavations, and Asheron looked at the statue of himself --- one of the innumerable copies of the lost original carved by Kresovus in the last year of his life --- and laughed, and they continued southward.

"This was Hildar House," Asheron said, "and this was the inn. Down here was the smithy, and here --- " they climbed a little ridge overlooking the river --- "this was Gondibyr Langarl's shop. Poor Gondibyr. And from here you can see the Crater."

They walked along the bank, past the stony fragments of the Shadow Spire, where in Elysa's day Asheron had stood against Bael'Zharon, and Celdiseth had stormed the Spire's core and released the prisoned Gromnatross. None of them spoke; each of the shades had bitter memories of the place, and Tapuaua had read the histories. The rain fell like tears, and then drifted away to the south. After a while they turned west and walked till they met the road and walked north along it, so that they could come over the top of the hill and see the walls and towers of Cragstone, bright under the sun. The bridges were still broken down, so they portaled into the city.

It was scarcely after noon, but Cragstone was already dancing in the streets. The cheers made the towers tremble. They were embracing and kissing one another without reference to species. Three young Tonk grabbed Tapuaua's hands and whirled her into an impromptu ring-dance. When she got free she saw that Asheron and Isin Dule had climbed the stairs to the tower of the Order Shrine. Nagual and Nalicana were there, with Thromer and Shi Ehrietawa of Zu, and Akkilea. Aracoeli and some other juniors were passing round food and drink. As Tapuaua joined them she heard Aracoeli say, "And the next thing I thought was, 'Now I forgive him; now I can forgive him, because he can't threaten us any more," and Nalicana answer cautiously, "Well, that's a start."

The two shades remained there for some time, speaking quietly with those who would be ruling Auberean, at least for the time being. Then they collected Tapuaua and Asheron said, "Where next? Ikeras?"

"I'd like to walk a little further south," Tapuaua said. "There's something I'd like to show you, since I can't show anyone else --- and I can't give you coordinates, but I'll know it when I see it."

They portaled to the road that led to Molwirth, and ran south through rising uplands into the Cobalt Sweeps, where a few early snowflakes were falling and one or two blue fungi struggled to survive where Shi Daraua's spells had not penetrated yet. They came to a fork in the road, and Tapuaua stopped for a moment, and said "This way, I think," and took the path that led, not to Molwirth, but over the mountains toward the Western Cobalt Outpost. They ran along this road till they came to a spur leading up to the left, where a Lifestone stood frosty among the snowflakes. Beyond this the road broke into scattered patches of pavement, and at the end stood a ruined farmhouse.

"I promised never to tell this to any living soul," she explained, "lest it become a shrine. But the way I see it, you two ---" and she grinned, showing many sharp teeth --- "don't count. The ashes have all blown away, as was proper. This is the place where Shi Honauri burned the body of Aun Tanua, after he climbed the mountain and died fighting the Kemeroi that called itself Wharu." They stood there in silence for a moment. "He killed me, when he was running mad outside Ikeras, but I don't bear a grudge. Greet him for me, when you see him." Then they portaled to Ikeras.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Ikeras had suffered more obvious damage to fortress and palisade than Cragstone, but repair work had been postponed for celebration. Again the Tonk swept Tapuaua into the dance, and would have done the same with Asheron and Isin Dule if they could have grasped them. It occurred to her to wonder what the Tonk in Shinoko was doing, who had already been holding festival for months. From Ikeras they went to Rakani, to pay their respects to the Great Deru Tree. On their way they paused to look at the abundance of wildflowers at the portal drop, flames and jewels and fragments of sun-drenched clouds on tall green stems. While the shades spoke to the shrine of the Tree in no words that Tapuaua could hear, she walked around the crown and looked at the many waterfalls that poured out from the base of the Tree's root-system, foaming and splashing and scattering the sunlight; and wondered down which of them Nagual had taken his plunge to purify the Sword, and decided that it didn't matter.

From there they went to the Ithaenc Sanctuary, and seeing it, Asheron sighed. "This was a beautiful place once, and sacred to the Light. Rebuild it someday, when you have time," and went to talk to the young Burun and their teachers. Lataua was making soup for the little Broodlings, and gave Tapuaua a cup of tea. Together they walked outside the broken Sanctuary, and looked out over the Four Falls. "Don't grieve too much," Lataua said. "We all go into the Light eventually, and in its radiance we find everything we ever sought. All that was lost will be found again. Even this world, that is so fair and so fragile, will die as we die; its shining skies, its towering mountains and green fields, and the works we have built upon them, all will crumble into dust and be lost in darkness, like a candle flame that is blown out. But in the end we shall have it all again, and more; the little moon restored, the broken hills smoothed out, the twisted creatures returned to their proper forms, all made new and whole again. All we have to do is what's asked of us, while our time lasts."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It was the end of Frostfell, and the snow that had touched Osteth only a little and Omishan not at all had blanketed Linvak Massif from shore to shore; even the green valleys of Ondekodo were white. Asheron spoke to Officer Cameron, who was carousing with his Lugian friends in Linvak Tukal, and then he went to Goarata, whose icy halls were being refurbished, and spoke with Lodrog and the elder Gurogs for a long time. Isin Dule and Tapuaua went out to stand on the ridge and look down on the Archons' Holding, locked and barred now till a team of senior mages could go through it and dispel whatever evil things still lay in it --- and if that were impossible, to call in Prospero and his puddings and other destructive apparatus, to collapse the Holding upon itself and forbid entrance into it forever.

It was now early afternoon, and they went by way of Arhovas, whose ground was still green in spots and which had real trees, straight and tall, growing around it. Just down the road three Invincible Waraths attacked them; Isin Dule raised his hand and slew one with a gesture, and another; the third ran away whimpering with fright. From there they ran down to the Icefall, because it was well worth seeing, an aqueduct broken off halfway across its valley, ice pouring out of it in a frozen cascade. "You will want to rebuild that too," Asheron remarked, "if Arhovas ever outgrows its water supply and the weather warms a bit."

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Now they went to Knorr, and spent a few hours wandering the sunny slopes under the flame trees, admiring the graceful lines of the Skyport overhead. "There was a city here once," Asheron said. "I cannot see any trace of it now. But much of it was built of marble --- imported from Dericost, there's none on Knorr --- and perhaps the acid from myriads of Olthoi over hundreds of years ate it all away. Never mind. When you are ready, you'll build here again."

The next portal landed them on a road leading up to a great house, crowned with three towers, and displaying before its gate two banners whose device Tapuaua knew, for she had half of it pinned to her wall.

"I thought at first that I might have a task for you, Tapu," Asheron said, "but I came here yesterday evening and found that it was not so. Come in anyway." They opened the massive front doors and went through an entryway into a great hall, empty for the most part, except for a small, crude-looking Lifestone in one corner, and a fiery portal in another, and in the center yet another copy of the Kresovus statue of Asheron himself. "Absurd, isn't it?" he said. "Yet it took him centuries to bring it here. I never earned such service, faithful beyond death --- yet I cannot disclaim it. Come over here. Aldamon, these are my friends, Isin Dule of Dericost and Tapuaua of Ireth Lassel. My servant, the mage Aldamon."

The ghostly figure, its thin face and wispy beard barely visible against the dark walls, bowed. "Lord Master Asheron. You have returned."

"I have returned, for the last time. Good and faithful servant, I release you. Go into the Light. I shall be coming after."

Aldamon bowed again. "Come soon," he whispered, and rose from the floor and vanished like a ray of moonlight when a cloud hides it.

"Those were all the tasks I had to fulfill," Asheron said, "but I wouldn't mind seeing the Lyceum again, and Fort Strathelar. Isin, is there anywhere you'd like to visit?"

"I've seen a world full of beautiful things," the Shadow answered. "I'll gladly go wherever you lead."

"The Lyceum, then," Asheron said, and they were there.

Yalaini and Falatacot scholars, Tonk and Humans and Lugians, were working their way through the halls of the Lyceum. There were no Olthoi left within and had not been for weeks, but Falatacot incense and Daraua's runes were still being employed to clean the last of the fungal spores away. They saw Helethiska, seated across a table full of scrolls and codices from Ethq'oq'atl, still floating in its blue crystalline flower. The Slithis waved its tendril politely and returned to the study of the book lying open before it, but Helethiska rose with tears in her eyes and said, "You're going, aren't you. Nor ought I to hold you back if I had the power, Child of Light, but oh dear, I shall miss you." And she knelt before him and tried to touch his feet, but could not. Tapuaua had to help the old woman to her feet again. "Go then, with all my blessings, and you too, Isin Dule. Go quickly, before I disgrace myself." And Asheron raised his hand, and they were in Fort Strathelar.

"Tapuaua, go inside," Asheron said, and let General Lord Byros depart."

She obeyed, and when she returned she found Asheron hearing a very polite and determined argument between Brigadier Maekarn and Malatawa. "My Lord Asheron!" the Tonk cried. "I appeal to your judgment. Do we, now that the Hopeslayer and the Nameless are defeated, still have to add this extra ring of curtain walls to the Fort, as per previous orders? Could not the time and energy be better applied to exploration and research?"

"There are still Olthoi beyond the Shieldwall," Maekarn said. "There may yet come Olthoi to this side of the Shieldwall."

"You must ask Nalicana for orders," Asheron said, "or Nagual. I no longer command on Auberean. If you want my advice as a private citizen, it is that you continue building the walls. You might divide the time between building and research. Tapu, tell Nalicana, next time you see her, that that is my advice."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Because --- I think perhaps I need to make one more speech." He ascended the west wall of the Fort and collected the attention of everyone in it. "I have been asked whether you should continue to build the walls of this fortress. I believe you should. Even if no enemy threatens for centuries to come. You must build your walls. But build gates. Open your gates to travellers and traders; but put guards on them. Never forget this: tell your children and your grandchildren. Auberean is the navel of the universe. Here the Living Shadow will come again and again, trying to break through a fissure of its own making, to war against the Light. To attempt once more to fulfill its dream of devouring the stars. Auberean will always stand in its path. So you must not forget; you also must stand in its path, to fight it with all that is in you, until it is defeated again."

The people stood in the square below, nodding dumbly, too awed to cheer. As Asheron descended from the wall, they backed away and returned to their work. The two shades and the Tonk were alone again.

"Anything else? I am finished. Isin, do you desire to see anything else?"

"No, my Lord." "Don't say that." "My brother. I am finished too."

"No, you're not," Tapuaua spoke up. "If you've seen everything else, then there is one more place to see. We must go to Dericost."

"Tapu, dear, I would much rather not ---"

"Daraua and I have been cleaning it for months," she said firmly. "You will not see a single Olthoi there; I promise. You might even see something that will please you. Come, I have the portal myself." She rummaged in her pouch, pulled out a handful of portal gems, and selected one. Asheron looked from her to Dule, and smiled, and stepped through the portal. Dule sighed, and followed, and Tapuaua followed him.

The sun was now falling into the west; there were perhaps two hours of daylight left. They stood on a high ridge overlooking the sea, having a line of rune-stakes strung out along it from where they stood to the ruined buildings in the distance. The land was dark, but washed with a pale green tint; little blades of grass were pushing up everywhere. On the ridge itself, where Tapu had first sown her seeds, low broadleaved plants were growing in clusters, yellow buttercups and the pale greenish-white blooms called Asheron's tears. Isin Dule said, "Oh." His crowned mask moved from side to side, scanning the coastline. "I know where we are," he said. "That building there was the old Customs House. And down there --- down there, somewhere, is Daralet."

"There's not much left of it," Tapuaua said, "but come and see. I said you might see something that will please you." And she whistled --- which is difficult to achieve with a Tonk's fanged mouth --- and led the way down the slope.

"What are these burrows in the stone face?" Dule asked. "Too small for any Olthoi I ever heard of, too big for rabbits." But as he spoke his question was answered: out of one of the burrows popped a small biped with a large head and a wide mouth full of massive teeth. It saw them, and waved, and whistled. Tapu whistled back, and the little creature popped back into its hole.

"What ---?"

"That's a Kallikan. You remember their sad story? The portal they took landed them on Knorr, which had no stone fit for their jaws, and it impaired the blood-flow to their brains, and they lost their intelligence. But Dericost is covered with sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and ---" The Kallikan had reappeared, followed by another much larger, almost as tall as the Tonk. "Hey Mouth-of-Stories!"

"Hey Tapu!" The Kallikan's speech sounded like a mouthful of marbles, but they could understand it. "Meet me your friends!"

"My Lords, this is Mouth-of-Stories, senior among the Kallikan, the only one who retained his wits. Now he's teaching his people again. Mouth-of-Stories, these are Asheron Realaidain, of the Yalaini, and Isin Dule, of the Dericost."

"Happy to meet you," the Kallikan said. "I know some of your stories, Tapu has told me. Do you have any more?"

"I am honored to meet you, Mouth-of-Stories," Dule said. "Would you like to hear how Haldiir stole three prize Ataurs from the King and sold them back to him at a profit?" The tall Shadow and the Kallikan strolled away, talking Dericost folklore. Asheron and Tapuaua, a few paces behind, exchanged glances and smiled.

"I'm surprised you're not taking notes," Asheron said.

"I needn't. Mouth-of-Stories will remember it all; I can get it from him later."

By the time Haldiir had pocketed his ill-gotten loot and escaped the King's wrath, they had almost reached the northern shore, and the sun was touching the horizon. "I gotta go," Mouth-of-Stories said. "Dinner time in the tunnels; I have to make sure the children don't squabble. I'll see you again, sometime?"

"Not in this world," Isin Dule said gently. "In the next, I hope. I shall look forward."

"Oh. Okay," the Kallikan said. "Goodbye." He turned away and began to climb the slope.

"Farewell, Mouth-of-Stories." Dule turned back to Tapuaua. "You were right."

"The Dericost are gone," she said. "But Dericost will be a living land again, and I don't think you'll be disappointed in your inheritors."

"No." He walked forward, to the narrow margin of sand at the water's edge. "What's that up ahead? Is it a house?"

"One house," Tapuaua said. "The rest have fallen to rubble, I'm afraid, but this was maintained until fairly recently. We can go and see it if you like."

"Dishes on the table, a pot over the fire," Dule said, peering in the window. "But no fire. Was someone living here?"

"Not to say living," Tapuaua said. "Black Ferah inhabited this place until, as I say, fairly recently. She died with Ilservian's name on her lips. I hope they are together now."

"So do I." Dule bent to look in the window again: the barren stone, the empty hearth, the dry dishes. "She was as unhappy as I was."

"Can you forgive her, now that she can do you no more harm?"

"I suppose so." He stood up and turned toward her. "It's time."

Tapuaua bowed low, and took the rattle from her pouch.

"Don't weep," Dule said. "You're doing me a great kindness."

"Will if I like," she said. "Go into the Light," and flicked the rattle toward him.

Slowly he reached up to draw the crowned mask away from his face. There was a face there, a long narrow Empyrean face, with deep blue eyes like Nagual's, beardless, with a thick growth of white hair surrounding a thin spot on top, so that he seemed still to be wearing a crown. He put out a hand to the wall, and leaned against it, reached out the other and clasped Tapuaua's. "Let me see the water," he said, and they walked down to the shore: it was only a few paces, and he knelt and ran his free hand through the water, splashed some of it into the air, and tasted the few drops that clung to his fingers. He took a deep breath, as if tasting the air, and turned to climb the slope again, but fell to his knees. Tapuaua caught him as he fell.

"Farewell," he said, and gasped for breath, and clutched at his chest as if it hurt. He gasped again, and let out his breath, and the light of his eyes faded, and he went to dust and the dust blew away in the evening wind.

Tapuaua let the rattle fall, stood up and reached into her pouch for another piece of linen. When she had wiped her eyes, she could see that something strange was happening. Beside Asheron's glowing shade, another was taking shape upon the air, putting on light as trees put out leaves. Two shining shapes, one hooded, one bareheaded; one bearded, one clean-shaven, standing together against the gathering darkness.

And now there was a sound overhead, above the rippling of the sea against the shore, the rustling of many wings. Orulaan swooped down out of the darkening sky, followed by his brothers and sisters, a mighty flight of Gromnatross descending upon Daralet. They began to circle overhead. Asheron's shape took the hand of Isin Dule, and little by little their feet left the ground. "Farewell, friend," they said, "farewell." And then "Oh!" Asheron said. "I nearly forgot. Tapu, get your rattle --- keep it safe with the Key and the Sword."

She knelt and fumbled for the rattle, found it and stuffed it back into her pouch, and wiped her eyes again. And a voice spoke, not quite in her ear: "We will be back, don't worry; we are a guard of honor, to take the Great Ones beyond the path of Alb'arel."

Tapuaua wiped her eyes once more, and now she could see a tall old Empyrean standing beside her, quite real and solid, but dusted with little things like snowflakes, but shining like stars, which he was brushing from his sleeves. "Good evening," he said. "Dear me. Do I have the right planet? Is this Auberean? I knew I was running late, but I didn't expect this many changes. What's happened to Rez'arel? Who, and what, are you?"

"Rez'arel was shattered by the Hopeslayer, about five hundred years ago," she said. "But yes, this is Auberean. We're on the continent of Dericost, on the north shore, not far from the ruins of the village of Daralet. I'm Tapuaua of the Shi tribe of the Tonk."

The old Empyrean bowed gracefully. "Mistral Tersicor, taleteller to the Emperor Caerlin."

"I thought you might be. Welcome back. Now, look up there, quickly: those lights you see ascending are the spirits of Isin Dule, last of the Dericost, and Asheron, last of the Realaidain, after long travail rising at last to the Light. Those lesser lights that circle them are the Gromnatross, rising with them to do them honor."

"The last ..." the Empyrean said, and raising his hand in salute cried, "Farewell! Farewell!"

When the lights had vanished beyond rising Alb'arel, Tapuaua beat her drum and summoned a portal. "Come with me," she said. "You have stories to tell, and so do I, and if I know anything, there's still a party going on in Cragstone."