"I don't see what the big fuss is about," said Ala- chia. "We've defeated them before. We'll defeat them again."
"Haven't you heard a word I've said?" I asked. "It's too early for them to be coming through. We're not ready. The world isn't ready. You've spent so much time playing at politics and nations that you've neglected the important things. It's as though we've left nuclear weapons for cavemen to play with. These people don't understand what's at stake. And they certainly don't comprehend the nature of the powers they're dealing with."
"Now we get down to it," crowed Alachia. "All this time going on about how much more pure and noble you are than us. You just don't want anyone using the power. What's the matter, Aina, scared someone will tread on your magical toes?"
I glanced over at Caimbeui, but he was busy try- ing to annoy Ehran. "No," I said. "But these magical spikes seem to be attracting the Enemy. As long as people capriciously use blood magic, the risk will grow."
"You would know about blood magic," said Aithne.
"Yes, and you should be smart enough to lay aside your hatred of me to see the larger issue at hand. We must stop this one and prevent the rest from coming through."
"I think you're overestimating the danger," inter- jected Alachia. "Perhaps your experience is tinting / your perspective."
"Besides, we have plans," said Laverty. "Now is not a good time to reveal such secrets."
"Have I been shut up with a bunch of lunatics?" I shouted. "You don't pick when the Enemy comes. They will come when the circumstances are right. The best we can do is slow that event down. Which means we must act now."
I stopped then, realizing they weren't listening to me. They were staring gape-mouthed at something behind me. Slowly, I turned.
A vortex of smoke was whirling up out of the floor in front of the fireplace. A shape uncoiled from inside the smoke and stepped forward. Ysrthgrathe. Hanging limply in his arms was Glasgian Oakforest.
"I do so love to make an entrance," he said as he dropped Glasgian on the floor. "But I know bet- ter than to overstay my welcome. Aina, it is so good to see you again. See, I've brought you a little present. I shall see you soon, my dear. 'Til we meet again."
Then he disappeared.
Lances of arcane fire cut through the space where he'd been a moment before. Aithne rushed to Glasgian's side. Surehand called for his Paladins. Sean and Jenna hovered behind Aithne asking if they could help. Ehran and Caimbeui had that odd, distracted look in their eyes, the faintest traces of energy crackling around them.
I turned away from the sight of Aithne holding Glasgian's limp body. It was then that I saw Alachia's face. She had a small, knowing smirk on her face. And a notion so terrible filled my mind that I immediately pushed it away. I couldn't think such a thing. Not even of her.
I spun away from the sight of her. Now Glasgian seemed to be coming around. When he saw that he, was in his father's arms, his face crumpled and he I began to cry. Aithne cooed and cradled Glasgian in his arms until his sobs diminished into irregular hic- cups. At last, Glasgian seemed to fall into another kind of stupor.
Surehand suggested that Aithne have Glasgian carried up to a room, but Aithne refused and hugged Glasgian tightly to him.
"This is all your doing," he hissed at me. "This sort of thing follows wherever you go. I knew we shouldn't ever have anything to do with you
again."
"For heaven's sake, Aithne," said Lofwyr. "She didn't bring it here."
"Yes, she did," he said. "That creature has fol- lowed her through space and time. It will destroy anyone around her. This isn't the Enemy. It's her en- emy. It has come for her and I say we let it have her. She seeks to divert the issue. But we must see it for what it is. This is Aina's battle. Not ours. Let her deal with it."
"I must agree with Aithne," said Alachia. "Obvi- ously, Aina wants us to become involved with this personal matter. We don't know that she didn't con- jure it up herself. After all, that was a specialty of hers, as I recall. This isn't about the world-it's abom her.
She has turned her back on us. I say we let her shift for herself."
I had my back to her, but I knew she had plastered a noble, righteously dignified expression on her face.
Now they all would agree with her.
"This is a terrible mistake," I said. "If I cannot stop him, he will bring.them all across. He has the power to do so."
"Get her out of here," snarled Aithne. "If she says one more word I think I'll…"
Caimbeui came and wrapped his jacket around me. I hadn't realized I'd been shivering.
"Let's go," he said. "But…"
"You've done all you could," he said. I let him lead me from the room. Our footsteps. echoed down the long hallway as we left.
25
"What am I going to do?" I asked.
I was huddled in the back of the limo. Caimbeui gave the driver instructions to take us straight to the airport.
"We'd best get out of here as quickly as possi- ble," he said.
"What about our things at the hotel?" I asked.
"Leave them," he replied. "It's just clothes."
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know. The next possible flight out. I don't want Aithne or Alachia thinking they might want to have us arrested."
"Arrested? What could they possibly arrest us for?"
"You name it. All they have to do is convince Lugh to send out the order. They could lock us up and'keep us locked up for a long time. Have you for- gotten when Alachia kept you imprisoned before? They would be able to justify it."
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket. I'd failed, I thought. They'd rejected me and my warnings. Now I would have to face Ysrthgrathe by myself. I didn't know if I had the strength to fight him again.
The limo's headlights illuminated row after row of dormant rose bushes.
Thorns.
So many thorns.
The first flight we could book passage on was a small tour plane. They were doing a hop from Port- land to Eugene, then on to a small airstrip near Crater Lake. After refueling there, the next leg was to Eureka.
I hated small planes even more than large ones. So many things to go wrong, none of which I had any control over. How loathsome.
Luckily, the leg from Portland to Eugene was quiet. While Caimbeui and I stretched our legs, they took on more passengers. Lots of back-to-nature types. A couple of humans who said they were going to Crater Lake to perform research. The rest were elves. Judging from their totems and tattoos, they all appeared to be involved with some kind of shamanistic magic.
This annoyed me. These shamans^
"Do you see?" I asked Caimbeui in a low whisper. "They just don't see the large way of things. With | them it's all power conferred through something else. They don't see that the power is in them."
"You can't make them other than what they are," Caimbeui said. "They were shaped by a world where magic didn't exist. Their understanding of it will always be limited. Maybe the next genera- tion…"
I frowned. "If we don't stop Ysrthgrathe, there might not be another generation."
The plane circled over Crater Lake before landing on the small airstrip about five miles away. The sha- mans and the humans all filed off with their back- packs. I knew that Crater Lake had been sealed off for some time by the military. It amazed me that anyone would try to get close to it without some sort of clearance.