"What's wrong?" Arvin asked.
Tanglemane's nostrils flared. "Giant," he gasped. "Coming this way."
Arvin's jaw clenched. That was all they needed- another hostile creature to contend with. No wonder humans avoided these woods. Already he could feel the ground trembling and hear the snap of branches.
He caught Karrell's eye. "Shift form," he urged her. "Hide."
Her dark eyes bored into his. "And you?" she asked. She gestured at Tanglemane. "And him?"
Arvin drew his dagger. "Tanglemane doesn't have that option-and I can't just leave him. Fortunately, a little of my psionic energy remains." He grinned. "Perhaps the giant will find me… charming."
"Be careful," Karrell urged. She shifted into snake form and slithered under a bush.
Arvin, meanwhile, laid a hand on Tanglemane's shoulder, steadying him, and turned toward the direction the crashing sounds were coming from.
A moment later he spotted the giant lumbering through the woods. The giant was more than twice the height of a man and had skin as gray and pitted as stone. His head was nearly level with the tops of the trees, which he parted with massive hands as he shouldered his way through the forest. He wore a tunic that had been crudely stitched together from the skins of a dozen different animals, and a wide belt into which was tucked an enormous stone club. His bare feet crushed bushes and snapped deadfall branches with each step.
Arvin watched nervously. That club looked heavy enough to crush him with a single blow.
The giant spotted Arvin and Tanglemane and came to an abrupt halt.
"Hello!" Arvin called, waving up at him. Swiftly, he manifested a charm. "It's good to see you, friend."
The giant cocked his head. "Baron Foesmasher told you I was coming?" he asked.
Arvin's eyebrows rose. "The baron sent you?"
The giant shrugged. "One of his clerics sent word to find you. She said you might be having trouble with the satyrs, and by the smell of it, she was right." He glanced down at Tanglemane then rested massive fists on his hips. "What can I do to help?"
Karrell reassumed human form and rose to her feet, clothing in hand. She gestured at Tan glemane. "Can you carry him?" she asked. "Gently?"
The giant grinned, revealing teeth that glinted like quartz. "I can, snake-lady." He dropped to his knees, and the earth trembled. Slipping broad hands under Tangle- mane, he lifted the centaur as easily-and gently-as a man lifting a kitten. "Where to?"
"Fort Arran," Tanglemane gasped. "There are healers there."
Arvin stared at the centaur and whispered a prayer that Tanglemane would be able to hold on that long.
The fate link wore off just after darkness fell, as they were leaving the woods. Tanglemane gasped as his chest suddenly started to bleed again, and the giant lowered him to the ground. Arvin stripped off what remained of his shirt and tore it into pieces, tying a fresh bandage against the wound to staunch the bleeding and Karrell cast a healing spell that partially closed the wound. Then the giant picked the centaur up once more.
Before following, Arvin summoned the pan pipes into his gloved hand. The satyrs had kept their side of the bargain by not attacking-though the giant's presence probably had a lot to do with that decision-and now Arvin would keep his. He set the pipes down on a rock, where they would be easy to spot.
They walked toward the bridge that spanned the river, Arvin and Karrell leading, followed by the giant. Arvin kept looking nervously around, hoping the centaur herd wouldn't return. He didn't want to face the centaur-seed a second time. Even in proxy, Zelia was formidable.
Karrell took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Stop worrying," she said. "We are nearly there."
They walked on, holding hands. The air had turned colder as night fell; here and there puddles of water had developed a thin skin of ice that crunched underfoot. Moonlight glinted off the broken shards, making them sparkle like a scattering of diamonds. "I had heard about ice before I came north," Karrell said. "But I never knew it could be so beautiful."
Arvin nodded. He snuck a glance at Karrell, remembering the serpent form that lay beneath her human skin, then fixed his eyes on the far shore. In the distance he could see a wagon setting out from Fort Arran. It was moving across the bridge; the two horses drawing it were running at a good clip. The giant cradled
Tanglemane in the crook of one arm and waved at it. Figures in the wagon waved back.
"What will you do, once we reach the fort?" Karrell asked.
Arvin touched his forehead. "Contact the baron, as soon as I'm able. Find out how Glisena is doing. Hopefully, the clerics have been able to… purge… what's inside her."
Karrell gave him a startled look. "They will kill her child?"
"It's no child," Arvin said. There hadn't been time, until now, to tell Karrell everything he'd learned. When he did, her face paled.
"Helm's clerics will deal with the demon," Arvin reassured her. "Lord Foesmasher seemed confident that they could. And once they have, we won't have to worry about Naneth looking over our shoulders anymore. In fact, we can turn her scrying to our advantage. If we let it "slip' that Glisena's womb is empty, Naneth will realize her scheme has failed. Glisena will be safe from her."
And, Arvin added silently, he would be able to collect his reward. The baron would no doubt be pleased with his work; Arvin had done everything he'd promised, and more. Not only had he located Glisena, he'd provided vital information that would help the clerics save her. The baron's emotions ran high when it came to his daughter. No doubt he would be as generous with those who had saved her as he was merciless against those who threatened her.
He realized that Karrell hadn't answered. She walked in silence, one arm wrapped protectively across her stomach. Arvin supposed it only natural; what had been done to Glisena would hit a woman harder.
"I too have been thinking about what we might say the next time Naneth scries on us," Karrell said at last. "I think it would be a mistake to reveal that Glisena is no longer pregnant. If we choose our words carefully-make her think that Glisena is in.a location of our choosing-we can lure Naneth to us."
"Are you sure that's wise?" he asked. Naneth was a powerful sorcerer-he wasn't keen on facing her spells a second time.
"I must find Sibyl and recover the Circled Serpent," Karrell said. "Naneth is the one thread that will lead me through the maze. I must follow it," She leveled a challenging look at Arvin. "If, however, you no longer wish to help me…"
Arvin stared at the approaching wagon, wishing he could just board it, return to Ormpetarr, and collect his reward. Then he thought of what Sibyl's minions had done to Naulg and to Glisena's unborn child. He met Karrell's eye. "You kept your end of the bargain," he told her. "I'll keep mine. Whatever I can do to thwart Sibyl, I will."
Karrell gave him a long look. "If we find that Sibyl is in Hlondeth, will you return there with me?"
"Hlondeth isn't a healthy place for me to be," Arvin said. He clenched his left hand, remembering. By now, the Guild would be wondering where he'd gone… and asking questions-questions that might lead them to a realization that he'd been feeding Tanju information on their activities over the past six months. Arvin had been forced to trade his mentor something, in return for the lessons in psionics. If the Guild found that out, they'd cut out Arvin's tongue. "I have enemies there."
"You have enemies here," Karrell said softly. "Zelia."
"True," Arvin agreed. Then he smiled. "And Zelia, according to the baron, is in Ormpetarr-which makes my decision easier."
He expected Karrell to smile at his faint attempt at humor, or to ask what his decision was, but her face had a distant look, as if she were lost in thought.
"The centaur Windswift," she said abruptly. "You addressed him as Zelia. Was he one of her seeds?"