Fand looked up at Resen. His eyes met hers. They were different. The possessiveness and anger in them was gone. He held out his hand to her without a word. Fand took his hand. Effortlessly he swung her up onto the saddle behind him. In the house the goat bleated, but there was no way to take her. Resen goaded Donner and the horse shot out away from the cabin. His sure hooves carried them quickly across the unblemished surface of the snow. With arms wrapped tightly around Resen, Fand had her back arched to make room for Zel. She hoped the baby could breathe beneath the cloak.

A sudden wind blasted them in the face. Resen muttered something she could not hear. Then, all at once, she felt something she had not felt since her blood had been tainted. The call of Angs. But Angs was dead! Something inside her began to claw at her mind. She wanted to be united. United? Where was this coming from? Instantly she knew. It was Folgen. He was near. He was calling her.

A second sensation shot through her. Intense cold, like the cold of Jerim’s Relic. Keeper what was happening? The past was trying to snatch her back wards. She would not go back wards! The pull was strong, stronger than anything she had experienced before. It entered her body. The next thing she knew she was weightless and rising. Her arms lost their grip on Resen. In the sling, Zel gave out a startled cry. Resen turned to her. His face was now below her. His eyes were wide and fear filled. He reined in Donner.

A jolt of energy rushed through Fand. It hurled her around and sent her flying straight to the distant dark cloud. The sensation was not like flying with wings, it was not like falling through Transferrance. The speed was terrifying. The snow blurred beneath her. The sky above was a streak of blue. The sun was a line of blinding light. All at once she entered the cloud. The stench of it made her gag. A strange ringing sound filled the air. The Sonpur were beneath her reined in their horses. Abruptly Fand’s body stopped and floated gently to the ground.

Folgen’s voice cut through the air. He shouted, “See, she can still fly. Her wings are just invisible. She has come to save us, haven’t you Fand?” Phrased as a question, this was no question but a command. Seated on an enormous black horse, he glared down at her. He was so tiny, even wrapped in his cloaks.

Fand looked from Folgen to the huge riders on their huge horses behind him. Their eyes were tired and frightened. Folgen had been driving them too hard. Poor beasts. She saw Trug. His jaw was set. His eyes, held a peculiar light. She was not sure what it meant, but somehow she suspected he alone knew Folgen was lying.

Beneath her cloak Zel moved. Fand sent up a desperate prayer that the baby would not cry. Now was not the time to cry. Gently, she placed her hand on the bulge that was Zel. The feel of the baby steadied her. What ever she did next was for both of them, she must not loose her control. In a hard even voice, she said, “You know I can’t fly. You know I don’t have wings, but you don’t know why I don’t have them. You called me here. What do you want?”

“You, my girl. I want you. The power I seek is in you!”

A numbing cold more fierce than ice itself trickled from Fand’s brain to her feet. Folgen's horse took a step closer to her. The stench grew more intense. The darkness above them thickened. The sound of the Sonpur breathing seemed to fill the air. Fand looked away from Folgen and back to Trug. Oddly, she found encouragement in his eyes. Encouragement for what? Her former kidnapper was an intelligent creature. For an instant he let go of his reins with his left hand and held it up. The motion seemed familiar. Then, Fand remembered.

All at once the past was crashing in her mind. Angs was before her. Once again she felt the coldness slip from the nape of her neck and travel to her left hand. She raised her hand up, just as she had that night.

Folgen’s mocking eyes turned black. Fear rushed into them. In a low voice he said, “No.”

Fand screamed, “KAVOS!”

A single beam of cold blue light shot from her hand and thrust itself through Folgen’s chest. His horse reared up knocking him to the ground. When he reached the snow he shrieked. It was the most horrific sound Fand had ever heard. Then, all at once, his body turned pale gray. The cloud above them dissipated. The wind whisked around Folgen’s fallen body and disintegrated it into dust. The wind scattered him across the snow. All that evil was now just an ashy smudge on the snow.

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A horn sounded. Trug rode up beside Fand and offered her his hand. It was not a claw like she had remembered, but a great hairy hand. Instinct told her to take it and she did. He pulled her up behind him in much the same way Resen had. He growled and waved the troop to follow him. The horse lurched forward. It did not have Donner’s easy gate. Fand felt as if she were being slammed in a boat on tempestuous waters. She clung to Trug’s vest. There was no way to get her arms around his great body.

As they rode Fand could feel the Sonpurs' desperation. Their leaders were dead. All they had was her, a ruler Folgen had proclaimed. And she could not lead them. She pressed her cheek against Trug’s broad back. It was some shelter from the merciless wind. Through his vest, she could hear the pounding of his huge heart. It thumped hard and steady. This creature was Gruin’s mate and Fels’ father, if anything happened to him they would grieve. Something would happen to him. Without the protection of Folgen’s power these creatures were doomed. Did she have magic to save them or at least help them? She didn’t know. What ever had killed Folgen was beyond her comprehension but within her too. What was within her? it was a frightening thought.

The horses made their way across the virgin snow. Thoughts and memories began to click together in Fand’s mind, everything, from the night she was first captured by the Sonpur to the moment she had held up Jerim’s Relic in the Inner Sanctum. She recalled the sensation she felt, the power that had passed through this day had been exactly like what she had experienced when Jerim’s Relic had been in her possession. Was it in her possession now, or was it possible that she was its possession? The latter seemed the most likely to her. How, she had no idea, but the magic that now resided in her was not by birth or object, it emanated from her. Had her body some how absorbed the stone of Jerim’s relic? Bits of it had surly been blown into her when it exploded. How many bits, how much power laid beneath her skin?

As they crested a low rise archers emerged from beneath the snow holding long yew blows. In the bows metal tipped arrows caught the light of the sun and glittered. Trug pulled in the reins of his horse and barked an order. The entire troop came to a crashing halt. Low grunts were exchanged. The horses were circled outwards facing the enemy. They were completely SURROUNDED! Fand still clinging to Trug’s back felt his muscles ripple beneath his vest and she heard the thump of his heart begin to race. He shouted something out to the men who now surrounded them.

A voice called back to him. “Let the girl go.”

Trug turned to Fand and grunted. She looked up into the beast’s face. His dark eyes held hers for a moment. He was not afraid, he was thinking, trying to figure out a way to escape. He nodded to her and pointed. He wanted her to go. She protested, “If I go, they will kill you.”

Again, he nodded, then shrugged. He pointed to the bulge beneath her cloak that was Zel. He was reminding her of the burden she carried. He jerked his head, indicating that she should leave for the child’s sake.

Fand asked, “But what about your child?”

His eyes clouded. He laid one hand over his heart. He was telling her she must go for Fels sake as well. If he was killed this day, at least his son and mate were safe in the mountain. Gently, he took hold of her and set her down in the snow. He pointed to her eyes and then to the archers. His gesture told her to keep her eyes focused straight ahead. He grunted to her and nudged her forward.

On cramped and wobbly legs, Fand struggled through the snow. Behind her she heard the snort of the horses and the heavy breathing of the Sonpur. Under Fand’s cloak Zel became restless. Soon she would begin to howl. Slowly, carefully Fand walked forwards. The archers were dressed all in white fur. They were large men with thick rough beards. Their eyes held a hard and triumphant light. She walked passed them and kept walking. Beyond the ring of archers was another ring of riders. The horses’s breath was white in the cold air, and they were winded from chasing the Sonpur.

With her back to the Sonpur and the men, Fand did not see the first arrow that flew, but she heard it zinging though the air. A horse screamed, or was it a beast? She did not know. She started to turn to look, to go back, but something greater than herself prevented her from doing so. If she could not turn around, could she escape? Clutching the bulge that was Zel, she took off running. The terrible sound of battled rose behind her was worse than any nightmare sound she had ever heard. Cries, grunts and shrieks filled the air. All at once there was silence. It had been a massacre and death had quickly won. Fand’s thoughts immediately turned to Gruin and Fels.

Some man called out to her, but she did not turn or stop running. She had to get away from this. The swirling wind carried the smell of blood to her nostrils. The next thing she knew she was pulled into strong arms. She started to fight against the man who had her and then she realized it was Resen. Resen. She burst into tears. Silently Resen held her. “Come,” he said. “I will take you back to camp. Promise to keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.”