Chapter 32

Sacrifices

Eliza was wrapped in Petrov's white cape, holding fast to Ezra's champion as the Knights rode quickly across the Richemulot countryside. They weren't taking the usual route to Levkarest through Sturben, instead they were taking the safer route along the Musarde and Luna rivers. It was also just a few miles shorter and they were in a hurry. For hours Petrov said nothing, riding like a statue and deep in thought, but by the time they stopped and made camp at a cluster of new sawmills and barracks, the Knight had something to say.

"I approve of your decision.", the stone-faced man said to Eliza. "Leaving your companions and surrendering to the judgment of the Praesidius."

Eliza looked up at Petrov. "There is only one whom we both ultimately answer to, Petrov.", she said, trying to keep the upper hand. "Her judgment is the only one that matters. I came to show everyone that truth. Even the Praesidius."

"Truth, but not heresy.", Petrov said sternly.

"When the laws of the earthly church have parted with the will of its goddess, heresy and truth can be one and the same.", Eliza replied smartly.

"You had a revelation.", Petrov said, softening just a little.

Eliza nodded and whispered softly, "I did."

"What did she say to you?", Petrov asked.

"It isn't what was said. It's what was shown.", Eliza replied, remembering her journey through the nether world.

"Then what did she show you?", Petrov asked.

"The dead. The living. The Mists. The Legions.", Eliza began. "There were no clear lines separating good from evil as we know it. All was cast in shadow with only a handful of beacons left, lone candles in the vast night."

"That was not a true vision then.", Petrov said, the emotion fleeing from his face. "Ezra showed me my role in the world. I am to lead the crusade against the Legions. I was shown the path of the hero, and at the end I found this armor, this shield, and this sword."

Eliza looked at his armaments. "And what makes you certain that yours is true and mine not?", she asked indignantly.

"How could they both be true?", Petrov replied. "And I am sure of mine."

"And I of mine. But perhaps they can both be true.", Eliza explained. "I did not say that the Legions did not exist nor that there were no points of light."

"I fear that you have been tainted by that woman.", Petrov said with a scowl as he avoided saying Lynn's name. "You must undergo the purification ritual and pledge yourself to Ezra."

A matching scowl crossed Eliza's delicate features. With a knife's edge of anger in her voice she said, "My dedication to Ezra has never wavered. And Lynn...loves me." Then her tone softened and she decided to cut Petrov deeper. "Just as you once loved me, Petrov."

Petrov felt the sting inside but he remained stoic. "They will burn you for what you have done, Eliza.", he said. "And I cannot bear to see that happen."

"We all do what we can to fulfill our roles in the Lady's plan as it is revealed to us.", Eliza replied. "If I must die for what I know in my heart is right, then so be it. My only regret is that it will bring pain to those I care for."

"It doesn't have to be that way. That is not the Lady's plan.", Petrov said firmly. "Eliza, I have loved you before and I will love you again. Purify yourself. Pledge your loyalty to Ezra. Then take my hand in marriage. We shall serve her together."

Eliza was startled. She knew how he felt about her, but never imagined that he would say those words.

"Petrov...I cannot marry you. My calling lies elsewhere.", Eliza replied slowly. "Though you don't believe it now, though you don't understand it, I pray that someday you will."

"Please, I beg you to reconsider.", Petrov said, beginning to crack a little. "I heard what you said in the courtroom and much of it made sense. But I can not let you sacrifice yourself over that. We need to be together."

"Petrov, I...", Eliza began to refuse him once more but hesitated. She didn't have a plan and she didn't know what to expect in Levkarest. But she knew that Petrov's protection could be useful in covering her escape with Lynn, and so she decided that she would grant him a sliver of hope, even if it were false hope, that they could be together one day. She continued, slipping on a mask of confusion "...I, I will consider it. I need time to think, time to pray."

"The church is being pulled apart.", Petrov said quietly. "I fear that the Lady Boritsi has been using us for her own purposes. Sometimes I find myself following orders that I don't approve of. Maybe the Vistani woman is right, that I serve two mistresses."

"Then it would seem we both have important choices to make.", Eliza replied. "And Ezra will deal with Lady Boritsi in due course."

But Petrov barely heard her. "My influence is growing in the church. The time will come when I can set things right.", Petrov said, sounding almost conspiratorial. Eliza had never seen him like that before and wondered if he was completely sane. The Knight continued, "But now is too soon. You need to choose, between me and the wi...between me and death."

"This is all so much. I need to think.", Eliza replied, trying to think of how she could use him to achieve her purposes.

"We will be in Levkarest tomorrow.", Petrov said. He gave her one last earnest look before his face turned back to stone.

Eliza turned her face away from the Knight and touched her ring, reaching for the distant warmth of Lynn's heart. She thought to her soul-mate, "We'll be together soon, my love. We're so close now. I won't let anything stand in the way."

But there wasn't much love in the imposter's heart, and instead she only drained her soulmate, desperately trying to fill the void inside.


After a quiet lunch, the group met outside the stables and left for Levkarest. Marius was driving the cart and Lynn lay curled up in the back as despondent as ever. Tshaya rode next to Marius, deep in thought. After her conversation with her father she had begun to wonder about the Vistani way of life and how much of it was worth holding on to. Cursing people seemed fine when they were just faceless gaje. But now that one of those cursed gaje had been her father she was feeling the sting for the first time. She didn't like it.

Not far out of town Weamar noticed the White Knights' tracks leaving the main road and leading along the Musarde. With a shrug he followed them, leading the others as he so often did. Marinae's mind was going over all of the things that had happened to her the last few days. Then she remembered her gem. On an impulse Marinae checked her saddlebag to see if it was still there. Sure enough she found it right where she had put it last.

"Well, well, well...", Marinae said to herself. "Didn't Aselid say that they already had my stone?"

"If I were tortured and all that, even though I left my stone in a safe place with all my other things...", she began to say, but then she looked at the gem closer and noticed that it didn't quite look like the gem that Aselid had given her. It was a fake, but a very good fake.

"This isn't real.", Marinae gasped.

She cast a spell on it and looked again. The gem glowed faintly with magic, but the emanations were different than what Aselid had shown her a year before. Instead of seeing a fine pentagonal lattice, Marinae saw the magic in the gem pulsing, like a beacon.

"Ah ha.", Marinae replied. It was clear to her now. The Kargat had used to gem to track her. She knew that she had to get rid of it. "Bide a moment. I have something to attend to.", she said to the others.

Marinae nudged Maelstrom into a pasture, hopping fences, dodging obstacles, and looking for the perfect symbolic gesture. In a tree on the far side of the pasture she found a bee hive swarming with honey bees. Marinae got as close as she dared and tossed the gem underhand, guiding it with levitation into the hive. The bees burst forth from the hive angrily, but Marinae was far away before they could give chase. She grinned as she came back to the group, happy that she'd won her first victory against the Kargat. She hoped that it would not be the last.

Weamar tracked the Knights up to where the Luna river branched off from the Musarde. There the Knights had changed course, heading along the Luna for Levkarest. Weamar took some time looking at the tracks before and after the course change just to make sure, but he found no signs of anything trickery. A few miles into Borca it became too dark to travel, so Weamar found a good place to make camp and made rabbit stew again.

Nothing happened that night until Weamar's watch.

Weamar returned from a nature break to find everything as he had left it. He sat down and looked around at the trees, thinking about Verbrek. Then he realized that he had to take another nature break. That didn't make sense, he thought to himself. Hadn't he just taken one? He thought back and realized that he had no memory of it at all. In fact, the last half-hour was a complete blank.

Alarmed, Weamar woke Marinae and summarized the situation. Marinae quickly gathered her wits and stared into the darkness around them, wondering who was out there and what was going on. Weamar thought hard, trying to remember, panicking as he did so, and remembering Marinae's stories about her memories and experiences. Images began to come to him. He could see the forest, the trees, a small clearing, and one more thing...Solance. What had she been doing there? Then he remembered asking her that question and hearing her reply that she was worried about him. He remembered her telling him that she'd heard that he was in danger and that she hoped that she could help him out of it in some way.

"Solance.", Weamar said, staring off into space.

"The slave girl? Werebear? That we killed?", Marinae asked skeptically.

Weamar nodded confusedly, slowly remembering what had just happened. He related the details to Marinae as he remembered them.

"I had a hundred questions to ask her, but instead I let her do the talking.", Weamar began staring off into space as he spoke. "Solance had heard about the trial and the book and the gems and she feared that evil people would be after me to get my gem."

"How did she know about your gem?", Marinae asked.

"I don't know." Weamar said, shaking his head. "I never told her about it."

"So I told her that she didn't need worry.", Weamar continued. "That I had hidden my gem in a safe place that no one could find. But that didn't calm her nerves. She was worried that the evil ones would capture me and torture it out of me."

Marinae got a cold feeling inside.

"She said that if I told her where the gem was that she could find it and hide it somewhere else. That way we would be safe if I broke under torture because the evil ones would never find the gem.", Weamar said. Then his eyes went wide. "I agreed. Why did I agree? I.."

"You were enchanted.", Marinae said. "By Kiri probably. The bitch.", the sorceress whispered to herself.

Weamar stared in disbelief as he remembered more. "I told her. The tree. The road. The roots.", he said slowly in almost a whisper. "I told her exactly where it is."

Marinae watched Weamar's face grow more horrified and confused. Then, a look of determination came over him. He had to find out the truth about what had happened. Weamar got a torch, lit it, and turned to go into the forest again. But before he could take two steps, he and Marinae saw many figures standing around the camp, just barely visible in the dim light. The figures were walking slowly towards them.

"Merde.", Marinae hissed.

Weamar slowly turned to see how completely surrounded they were. There were at least three dozen men slowly approaching the camp. Some of them were dressed like soldiers, and others like farmers, and as they got closer Weamar and Marinae they noticed that none of the men were alive.

"This could be better.", Marinae said, mentally going over the spells that she knew.

"Undead?", Weamar asked.

"They look that way.", Marinae replied.

The dead men came to within twenty feet and stopped, forming a circle a few rows deep. Weamar gave Marius a slightly-less-than gentle kick in the ribs, waking him up. Marius looked around him and then quickly grabbed for his amulet. Rising to his feet he uttered the beginning of an incantation and then abruptly stopped. Marinae looked back at the Sentire and saw that he was frozen in place.

"I'm afraid that there will be none of that.", a man's voice called out from somewhere above. "Now, be so kind as to wake your friend Lynn.", he added.

Neither Marinae or Weamar moved.

"Better you than one of my servants.", the voice said politely.

Marinae said Lynn's name a few times. Lynn awoke to a nightmare. She sensed men all around her and she drew her katanas. Dizzy and disoriented she instinctually got into her battle stance.

"What's happening?", Lynn asked softly.

"We're surrounded by undead, and someone's trying to impress us.", Weamar replied.

"Good summary.", Marinae added, unable to think of anything more to say to that.

"I am a member of the Kargat and that's all you need know.", the voice said politely. "And if that does not inspire you to begin confessing then I will take it personally and endeavor to extend the Kargat's reputation of brutal efficiency."

Marinae's cold feeling inside grew colder.

"Now, do I have your attention?", the voice asked, again politely.

No one said anything, but it was clear that he did.

"Good. I advise the one named Lynn to tell me everything that she knows about the location of her gem.", the voice asked, seeming to come from everywhere above them. "The gem to which I am referring is the one of the five which can be used to open a gate. If she declines this offer then I will have no choice but to begin making examples of her friends."

"They will not be killed, though they may wish for that release.", the voice added.

"I gave it to Kendra.", Lynn said softly, quickly giving in to the questioning. She no longer cared about the gems. All that matter to her was ahead of her, on the road to Levkarest, and awaiting a dreadful fate.

Marinae turned and glared at Lynn.

"I'm sorry but I did not hear your answer.", the voice said apologetically. "Could you repeat it."

Lynn said the words once more, struggling to find the strength to utter them.

"I'm afraid that I cannot accept that answer.", the voice replied, disappointedly. "We happen to know for a fact that the Drow Kendra has no such item."


Eliza sat in a corner in darkness. The only thing that she could see was a pair of glowing red eyes before her. She wasn't scared. She'd been closer to death before. But now she felt more alone than she ever had in her entire life. Ilsa wasn't much for talking, and other than the occasional blink and silent breaths she gave off no signs of being alive. But the lack of company wasn't what made Eliza so lonely, it was that for the first time in years she was unable to feel her lover's presence. Lynn could be dead now and Eliza wouldn't know it. Eliza wondered what she would do without Lynn and then quickly thought about something else.

The two sat in darkness until night fell. Then Ilsa rose and told Eliza to come with her. Kiri's spell had worn off long ago, but Eliza felt that she had no choice, so she didn't resist. The tall, thin Drow was surprisingly strong and with her hands bound Eliza knew that she was no match for her. Once outside Eliza watched Ilsa pull forth a magical trinket and summon a jet black horse whose legs faded into shadow. The two mounted the horse and quickly they departed, making no sound as they headed northeast.

The shadow horse moved quickly through the cool, humid night air. With no legs to trip over bushes and stones and no heart to tire from the face pace the shadow mount glided over Richemulot's wide plains and through its many forests. Eliza nodded off a few times during the trip, once even dreaming that Ilsa was Lynn carrying her away to their cottage in Dementlieu. She kept the dream going when she awoke, then admonished herself for it. She knew that she needed to be strong. She knew that she had to get some answers out of the dark woman.

By the time the sky began to lighten Ilsa had reached another forest where the branches of the many trees were thick enough to blot out most of the sun's rays. Ilsa finally stopped traveling and they dismounted, the shadow horse fading away into a dark mist. There Ilsa let Eliza stretch her legs.

"Where are you taking me?", Eliza demanded.

"We are in Falkovnia.", Ilsa said, cutting the rope around Eliza's hands. Ilsa didn't need to say anything more, Eliza got the message. She had nowhere to run.

"Why?", Eliza asked, not letting up.

"You will be safe here.", Ilsa said. "Sit."

Eliza rubbed at the marks left by the rope but remained standing. "What does she want from me?.", Eliza asked.

Ilsa stared at Eliza and waited for her to obey before answering. Eliza stared back for a while, but  eventually sighed and sat down. Ilsa sat down before her and pulled something edible out of her robes, handing part of it to Eliza.

"She doesn't want you to go to Levkarest.", Ilsa replied.

Feeling a bit hungry, Eliza accepted the food. "Why?", she asked, taking a bite. The food tasted very strange, but it was appetizing in its own way.

"You would be killed.", Ilsa replied.

"You don't know that.", Eliza fired back. "Once I show them what I've been given, they'll have to believe me."

"No. The church has put many prophets to death.", Ilsa answered, her eyes boring into Eliza's.

Eliza looked down. She knew that the church had put heretics to death, but now she realized that some of them might have been prophets, just like her. "Why did you take my ring?", Eliza asked, softening her tone.

"It was necessary for the charade.", the dark woman replied. "She must go in your place."

Eliza frowned as she thought about her double, afraid to ask the next question. She did anyway. "Who is she?", Eliza said with a shiver.

"She is what my lady pulled out of you.", Ilsa answered. "She put it into another body. That body transformed itself into the one you saw."

A look of horror appeared on Eliza's face. "Pulled out of me? Oh Goddess..." Eliza stared again into the dark elf's eyes. "But…Lynn will know."

"I do not know what happened. But she is as you were.", Ilsa explained. "Her memories, her feelings, her desires. But darker."

"So you sent her, me, a part of me to die.", Eliza said, trying to make sense out of everything.

Ilsa nodded. "She will do what you only desire to do, but hold yourself back.", the dark woman said, sending shivers up Eliza's spine.

Eliza thought back to what her doppelganger had said as she took the ring. In numb realization Eliza said to Ilsa, "She doesn't know. She thinks she'll come out of it alive, that you'll save her when things go wrong. What did you promise her?"

"What she needed to hear.", Ilsa replied. "You would know what that is."

Eliza thought about her double sitting at Kendra's table being promised everything that she had ever wanted. Eliza fought back tears of anger and sorrow. She felt a common bond with her double, and the thought of her double being used, manipulated, and sent to her death made her stomach turn.

"Monsters. How could...", Eliza gasped as her jaw clenched, biting off the words before they caused her to break down any further.


Weamar listened intently for sounds other than the voice. He noticed a pattern in the voice that was speaking to them. It seemed to be circling above them, going clockwise, and staying on a course above the zombies. Weamar slowly turned to look clockwise from where he last heard the voice. He moved his torch away from his line of sight but could see nothing.

"Now, again.", the voice continued. "Where is your gem?"

"I told you.", Lynn moaned quietly.

"You have forced my hand.", the voice said. "The priest will be first. Grab him.", the voice commanded.

Tshaya, who had only been pretending to sleep for the last few minutes, jumped to her feet and got out of the way of the zombies as they moved towards Marius. Weamar unsheathed his magic sword but looked around him almost hopelessly. There were too many of them to fight.

"I told you the truth.", Lynn pleaded.

"Stop!", the voice commanded. The zombies stopped.

"Where are the other gems?", the voice asked.

Weamar hoped that Lynn wouldn't answer. He wondered what he would do if she tried.

"Who are you? Show yourself!", Tshaya shouted.

"How rude. Be quiet or you will be the first.", the voice said.

"I know of one other.", Lynn said softly.

Weamar moved slightly towards Lynn. He knew that he couldn't risk her telling the voice what he wanted to know.

"I do hope you will tell me where it is so that your friends do not get hurt.", the voice said.

Lynn lowered her head, wondering if she could fight them all. She didn't feel like she could. She was too weak. Then she wondered if the flying man would let them go if she told him what he wanted to know. But deep in her heart she knew that he wouldn't.


Suddenly, Eliza watched as Ilsa's body doubled over and then seemed to catch fire and burn with a black flame. Then she saw a shimmering silver image emerge from the woman's body and fly off to one side.

Eliza lurched away in fright, instinctively reaching for the amulet at her throat. Ilsa gasped and jumped to her feet, looking all around her. Then her eyes fixed on a barely visible silver figure standing on one side of the clearing.

"Make the shield!", Ilsa commanded as she reached into one of the many pockets in her dark clothing and pulled forth an evil looking knife.

"What?", Eliza gasped.

"The shield!", Ilsa shouted as the figure locked its eyes on Eliza.

Eliza tried fretfully to find her center and pray for divine protection. She tried to make the shield, but all alone and without Lynn she could only manage a weak barrier between herself and the Legions of the Night. Sensing weakness the spirit form dove towards Eliza, burrowing itself through her shield and into her chest. Eliza's pain was blinding as her soul was being forced out of her body. She fought to maintain control but the spirit was too strong. But just before it was too late, Eliza felt her soul being wrenched back inside her body and the pain began to fade. She looked up to see Ilsa standing over her, her body burning with black flames, with a firm grip on the spirit's heart. The ghost was hissing and screaming, thrashing wildly around Ilsa's arm but the Drow did not let go.

"Listen carefully.", Ilsa said forcefully to the ghost. "If you tell me what I want to know your fate will be quick and painless, but if you do not...", and with that Ilsa glanced at Eliza. "...the priestess will perform an exorcism."

The ghost writhed about in agony, but managed to gasp out a few submissive words. Eliza's eyes went wide as she watched the unholy scene.

"Who sent you?", Ilsa demanded.

The look of pain on the ghost's face was horrible as he replied, "Torvul, Torvul Lucik. Chief of the Kargat."

Eliza looked closely at the spirit. It was not the same one that she saw in the cottage.

"Why?", Ilsa fired back, giving the ghost not a second to rest.

"Th-th-the gems. The book. Deliver them to Torvuuullllll...", the spirit moaned, unable to contain its suffering.

"Which gems?", Ilsa demanded, squeezing the ghost's heart tighter.

"The ones for summoning the dark lord, Rassssstinon.", the spirit hissed.

"Who's with you?", Ilsa asked, lifting her knife close to the spirit.

"Two others, they are going after Lynn and Weamar.", the spirit gasped. "That's all I know."

For Ilsa it was more than enough. Quickly she slid the knife into the spirit's heart and Eliza watched in horror as its body and final scream faded into oblivion. The black flames around Ilsa faded as well and she leaned against a tree to gather her strength.

"Lynn!" Eliza gasped. "We have to do something! We have to help them!"

Ilsa breathed deeply for a few moments, then stood on her own. "We must all make sacrifices.", she said coldly.

Eliza shook her head slowly. "No. No.", she moaned as she started backing away from the Drow.

"Why is your shield so weak, and incomplete?", Ilsa asked. "You were almost possessed."

Eliza continued to back away, shaking her head. "Without Lynn, my life means nothing.", she could barely think clearly. She had to help Lynn.


"He's above us, circling around.", Lynn whispered to the others softly so that the flying man could not hear her. "He's sitting on something, like a rug."

"My magic can't work on him if I cannot see him.", Tshaya whispered.

"Mine isn't much better.", Marinae conceded.

Weamar figured his only hope was to shoot the bugger down.  He quickly loaded his musket and got it ready to fire.

"Please do not keep me waiting.", the voice said.

Marinae cast a spell and looked through the air around her. She spied the magical aura around the flying man and his carpet, but he was also invisible, so she couldn't tell exactly where he was. Marinae wondered how quickly the undead would attack if their master were killed. There were so many of them. Then she remembered the castle and got a sick feeling inside.

"I know of Eliza's gem.", Lynn said, trying to stall for time while the others hatched a plan.

Weamar looked skyward down the sight of his rifle. He looked in one place, waiting for flier to pass before him while talking.

"We could burn the carpet, or take it away from him.", Tshaya whispered.

"Give me the torch.", Lynn whispered. Then she spoke to the voice, "She told me one night. She shouldn't have."

"Yes, go on, please.", the voice said politely.

Weamar tried to get a bead on the flying man, but lost him. He knew that he was going to need a lucky shot. Tshaya picked up Weamar's torch and handed it to Lynn. Lynn could see the flying man in her mind. She waited until he was in front of her and then tossed the torch into the air. Weamar followed the torch with his rifle.

The voice let out a shout as the torch landed in his lap. The flames grew and gave off an outline of a man riding a carpet. Quickly Marinae cast her favorite incantation and three bolts of magical energy streaked towards the flaming man. Cries of pain rang out as the bolts found their mark. Weamar fired into the flames as well, but his shot went just wide as the flying man stopped in mid-air. The man managed to throw the torch away, but flames were still burning his robe and carpet.

"Jump! Jump away from the fire.", Tshaya suggested.

Weamar dropped his rifle and took a bead with his pistol. Marinae looked at the zombies around them, but having been given no command to attack they just stood there, motionless. Marinae was thankful for that. Weamar rushed his shot and missed high with the pistol. But Tshaya's spell had taken hold. The flying man quickly descended and jumped off of his carpet to the safety of the ground.

"Well done, you win.", the man said as he patted down the flames on his robe. "But now you must let me go."

"Why?", Marinae shouted angrily, pointing her finger at the now visible man.

"As I said before, I am a member of the Kargat, and if you kill me there will be retribution.", the man said.

"If we don't kill you there will be retribution.", Marinae replied.

Now that the flames on his body were out, the man shook out his carpet. "Think of your dear mother, and grandmother, Marinae.", the man said.

"Bastard.", Marinae hissed as she lowered her finger.

Weamar was  disgusted. "So this is 'brutal efficiency'.", he thought to himself. He tucked his pistol back in belt and drew his sword.

"If you kill them, you will have no further hold on me in Darkon.", Marinae pointed out.

"We will only kill one.", the man replied, putting the last of the flames out.

"How do we know you can be trusted?", Marinae fired back, looking for an excuse to put the man to death. "For all I know, after what you bastards did to me, they're all dead anyway."

"Some hope is better than no hope at all.", the man explained, talking about death as if it meant little.

Marinae memorized the man's face, determined that should something happen to her mother or grandmother, that this man would pay with his life.

"He'll go after Eliza.", Lynn whispered.

"By Ezra's grace and Ezra's fury, I command you to return to your graves!", Marius shouted as the spell holding him wore off.

Two dozen zombies collapsed to the ground as Marius finished his chant, the others slowly backed away. Seeing that the man jumped onto his carpet which soon rose off the ground. Weamar reacted in a heartbeat, breaking through the retreating wall of zombies and closing quickly on the flying man.
 
"Weamar! Let him go.", Marinae shouted. "He's not worth the effort."

But Weamar wasn't going to let the man go. As the man began to fly away the ranger leaped towards him and was just able to catch him before he got too high. Weamar and the flying man went crashing to the ground. But Weamar shrugged of the fall and held the man tightly in a bear hug, his gauntlets making his grip far too strong for the captured man to break.

Marius implored Ezra once more, and another dozen zombies collapsed. The remaining few were walking away faster. Weamar lifted the man off the ground and easily dragged him back to the others. Marinae stared at him and wondered what to do.


"There is nowhere for you to run.", Ilsa said. "Answer my question."

"I can't do it without the ring, without her. Without her I'm not whole. I won't let her die!", Eliza shouted. With that she turned and ran.

Ilsa went after Eliza. Eliza put up a good chase, but Ilsa was fast and fit and ran her down. Grabbing the priestess by the arm she asked, "What do you mean you can't do it without the ring?"

Eliza struggled futilely as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Through it we're connected.", she gasped. "Our souls are linked. Lynn helps me. She gives me her strength."

Ilsa scowled. She knew that this needed to be reported. She stood gripping the young woman's arm for a while, then she commanded her to sit down. Eliza collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball. Ilsa pulled a small mirror out of a pouch and stared into it. Soon she began talking into it.

"My lady, I have new information which needs to come to your attention.", Ilsa said calmly into the mirror. "The Kargat is after the gems. They have two of them already."

Hearing Kendra's voice caught Eliza's attention. She raised her head and looked at Ilsa.

"There is more my lady. Eliza cannot make the shield without Lynn and without the ring.", Ilsa added.

"Let me talk to the girl.", Kendra hissed in an icy tone.

Ilsa handed the mirror to Eliza who sat up and looked into it.

"Your shield is not unique without Lynn.", Kendra asked, but what she said sounded more like a statement.

Eliza looked at the black face and red eyes of the Drow and nodded slightly. And though Kendra's face didn't show it, a wave of anxiety moved through the Drow sorceress. She'd failed to account for something, and that rarely happened. Now all of her planning was unraveling as the unexpected was happening. But how could she have known that the prophet wasn't just one person, but two joined together?

"Then she must be saved.", Kendra replied.

Eliza gaped for a moment and replied, "Please, quickly, before they find her."

"Ilsa will take you to Levkarest. There Ilsa and Kiri will take care of these matters.", Kendra said, quickly forming a new plan in her mind.

Eliza agreed out of desperation. She watched as Kendra closed her eyes and thought things through. Kendra knew that there would be problems with the new plan and trusted her servants to be able to deal with most them. But there was one thing that remained out of her control. Something that made her very uncomfortable. The dark woman opened her eyes and stared at Eliza.

"Just remember, when you get there, if anyone, anyone at all offers you anything...", Kendra said, her eyes glowing brighter as she slowly pounded the next four words home. "The answer is no."

Eliza nodded, not understanding but just wanting to get it over with.

"I must talk with Ilsa now.", Kendra told Eliza.

Eliza passed the mirror back and Ilsa stared into the mirror as Kendra told her the revised plan. Ilsa nodded and put the mirror away.

"We are taking a great risk for you.", the tall Drow said, staring down at Eliza.

"We must all make sacrifices.", Eliza said coldly as she climbed to her feet.