"I can," Trouble said.
Morwen gave him a look. "We'll discuss it later."
As she turned away, a soft globe of light blossomed from the side of one of the trees Killer had pointed out. "What on earth is that?"
Cimorene said.
Another light appeared, and another, and suddenly the swamp was full of ghostly radiance. "Invisible dusk-blooming chokevines, all right," Morwen said. "The sun must be setting."
"It's beautiful," Cimorene said. "How long will it last?"
"An hour, maybe two." As she spoke, Morwen moved to Killer's side to check on Telemain's condition once more. His color was no better, and the skin of his wrist was cold and clammy where she touched it to take his pulse. Of course, everything was cold and damp after hours of laboring through the mud. At least his pulse was strong.
"Will he be all right?" Cimorene asked, joining her.
"Probably," Morwen said with more confidence than she felt. The worst case of backshock she had ever seen prior to this trip had regained consciousness in a little over an hour. Telemain had already been out more than twice that long and showed no sign of awakening. Bouncing about on Killer's back should not have delayed his recovery that long.
"Look at the bright side," Scorn said. "As long as he's unconscious, he can't go on about things no one else understands."
Realizing that Cimorene and Kazul were watching her anxiously, Morwen shook herself. "What he really needs is warmth, rest, and a bowl of hot broth…"
"... and we aren't going to find them standing here," Cimorene finished for her. "Come on, Killer. We'd better keep moving while we can still see."
In one way, the next half hour of walking was easier than the last couple had been. The invisible dusk-blooming chokevines lit the swamp with a silvery glow, like the light of a hundred miniature moons. As the group went farther along, the vines grew more and more thickly, and their blossoms shone more and more brightly, until even the mud seemed to glisten like liquid silver. Not only was it pretty to look at, but it also made it much easier to see where they were stepping.
After a while, they paused to rest. Morwen checked on Telemain again, with no better results. Frowning, she turned away. If they didn't find somewhere dry and warm soon…
"Cimorene, Morwen," said Kazul, "look at these lights."
"I have been, all the time we were walking," Cimorene said. "They're useful as well as pretty."
"No, I mean look at them." Kazul stretched out her neck and swiveled her head from one side to the other. "They aren't just growing at random.
They're in rows."
Morwen studied the lights. "Not quite. The trees aren't in rows, so the vines can't be, either. But they're close."
"It's as if someone arranged them to light a path," Cimorene said after a moment. "I don't know if I like this."
"I do," Morwen said. "Paths lead somewhere. And if someone has gone to the trouble of lighting this one up, there's a good chance it leads somewhere useful."
"In that case, why didn't they pave it?"
"Maybe they like mud. Come on, we've only got another hour or so before the lights go out."
With renewed energy, they went on. Less than a quarter of an hour later, they reached a dead end. The invisible dusk-blooming chokevines covered the trees on either side and hung in swirls of glowing silver across the trunks ahead. The only way out was the way they had come.
"Useful, huh?" said Scorn.
"This doesn't make any sense," said Cimorene. "Why would anyone make a path that leads nowhere?" She drew her sword, eyeing the vines doubtfully. "Can we cut our way through, do you think?"
"I don't know," said Kazul, "and I don't care." Her tail thumped into the mud for emphasis, spattering thick, sticky gobs in all directions.
"Uh-oh," said Trouble. "Hang on, Scorn."
The dragon sat back and arched her neck. "I am not going to spend another two hours fighting the same mud we just came through. If I must wade through mud, it is at least going to be new mud. Get out of my way, the rest of you."
"If you're thinking of diving through the vines, don't," Morwen said, moving sideways. "Invisible dusk-blooming chokevines are very strong, and there are enough of them here to kill even someone as large as you are."
"Not if they've been toasted first." Stretching her head forward until it was only a few yards from the chokevines, Kazul opened her mouth and blew. Long streamers of bright orange fire shot between the trees.
Kazul's head moved back and forth, sweeping the flames across the end of the path.
Steam hissed from the mud, and glowing silver blossoms winked out in puffs of ash. As Kazul's flame moved across the tree trunks, it left smaller flickers of fire behind hanging in midair. On the second pass, the flickers spread, outlining leaves and stems in tongues of flame.
Blackened spirals slowly materialized around the trees as the fires burned upward and the charred vines lost their invisibility.
"I think that's enough, Kazul," Cimorene said at last.
The fire died. "Good," said the dragon, sounding a little out of breath.
"Shall we go on?"
"I think we'd better wait until the mud cools off," Morwen said. "You got a trifle overenthusiastic, I'm afraid."
"No kidding," said Scorn. "Next time, warn us before you do that."
"Killer!" Cimorene shouted. "Come back here!"
"Why?" said the donkey. He stood in the middle of the path Kazul's flame had cleared through the chokevines, flecks of ash drifting through the air around him. Beyond, the fog and darkness closed in once more. "You said it was the vines that were dangerous, and they're gone."
"Even so, we shouldn't split up," Morwen said. "There may be other dangerous things around."
"We haven't seen any so far."
"And that's supposed to mean it's safe?" Scorn shook her head.
"Rabbit logic."
"Isn't that a contradiction in terms?" Trouble said.
Morwen sighed. "We may not have seen anything but the chokevines, but that doesn't mean there aren't other dangers."
"All right," Killer said. "But I thought you wanted to get this wizard of yours somewhere dry."
"He's a magician, not a wizard," Morwen said automatically. "And just because Kazul dried out some of the mud-" "No, no, I'm talking about that tall building in the open space." Killer pointed both ears into the gloom ahead of him and a little to the right. "It looks dry. Why don't we take him there?"
13
In Which They Make a New Acquaintance
Gingerly, Morwen moved forward to take a look at whatever Killer had found. The acrid scent of burned chokevines made her stomach feel queasy again, but the mud turned out to be cool enough to wade through without discomfort. Where Killer stood, it was almost dry enough to be solid ground, and the warmth that remained to filter through her shoes was very welcome.
"Now, where-ah, I see." Dimly visible in the foggy dark, a white tower stood among the trees ahead of them.
"Yes, that looks promising. Let's go." Morwen started forward, and the others followed.
Less than five minutes later, they stood at the foot of the tower. It was at least four stories high, and made of something smooth and pale that did not feel like stone. Ten feet from the base of the tower, the mud changed to hard, bare ground. This gave Morwen and Cimorene a comfortably wide area on which to stand, though Kazul was a little cramped.
"There's no door," Cimorene announced after circling the tower. "No stairs on the outside, either, but there are four windows at the top.
One of them is showing a light, so somebody's home."
"But how could anybody get in?" Killer asked.
"Through the windows," Morwen said. "What a pity I didn't bring my broomstick."
"Maybe whoever lives here has some other way of getting inside," Cimorene said.
"There's one way to find out," said Kazul. With Morwen, Cimorene, and Killer in line after her, the dragon edged around the tower until she stood below the single lighted window. Then she sat back and stretched her neck upward, until her head was halfway up the side of the tower.