Eastwei sliced his fingers across the air in front of himself and the cloud quickly dissipated. The magic faded and he turned to their hostess. “Do you know how the cracks could have been formed and what the beast has to do with them?”

Wuhel cupped her chin in one gnarled hand and studied him with a faint smile on her pale lips. “That is difficult to say without having been in the presence of the beast but one does wonder if there is a coincidence in the form the magic took.”

“Very doubtful,” Yushir mused as he strolled to and fro behind the chair once occupied by Eastwei. He paused and pointedly looked at his old friend. “After all, he was part of the wolfhound clan, was he not?” Eastwei’s eyes took on a hardened look and he curtly nodded.

Fuhel clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Talk doesn’t lead us to stopping this from happening again.”

Yushir lifted an eyebrow. “Can you do anything without knowing the source of the magic causing the problem?”

“Just give me a week or two for some experiments,” Fuhel requested as she scurried over to one of the crowded tables.

She cleared it off the old-fashioned way, by using her arm and swiping it across the top. Books and papers came crashing down, including one vial filled with a particularly black concoction which sailed toward the floor.

“Grandmother!” Wuhel shouted as she rushed forward with her arm extended toward her parent.

The glass struck the boards and shattered, creating an explosion that rocked the entire house. Black smoke poured out of the impact zone and spread across the room. Yushir covered his mouth with his sleeve as Eastwei drew his two fingers up in front of his face. A faint reddish barrier surrounded him, protecting him from the smog that made the others cough.

“What-cough-was that-cough-concoction?” Yushir asked between fits.

“Merely a bug repellent,” Wuhel assured him as she frantically waved her arms in front of her face.

“There is no-cough-harm to us, then?” he inquired.

“I have no idea,” the old woman commented as she strode through the storm and opened all the windows on the ground floor. “Fuhel, go upstairs and open those windows, as well.” Fuhel was in such a state of coughing that she could only nod and hurry toward the stairs.

“No need.”

Eastwei pushed his hand outward and the fiery barrier around him expanded outward at a quick pace. The fire burned the smoke to nothing but merely tickled the inhabitants as it passed over them. The magic vanished through the walls, pushing the remainder of the smoke out the windows and clearing the air.

Wuhel wrinkled her nose at him. “You and your fancy tricks.”

Yushir let out a clearing cough before he gathered himself. “The matter at hand, Lady Wuhel. You were about to begin a spell, I believe.”

“And as I told you, it will take some days to concoct a spell to strengthen the barrier,” Wuhel reminded him as she dug through a pile of books on a chair. “And I first must remember how the first spell worked. It has been some twenty million years since it was cast, after all. You were not even a glint in your father’s eye, Prince Yushir.”

The prince clasped his hands behind him and lifted his chin. “Yes, well, when you should discover something please inform us immediately.” Wuhel’s reply was to wave her hand over her shoulder. However, her head popped up and her narrowed eyes zeroed in on her granddaughter. “Fuhel, come here a moment before you let them out.”

Fuhel obeyed and the women conferred with one another. Yushir followed suit and sidled up to Eastwei where he lowered his hoarse voice to a whisper. “It seems our trip here was a waste of time.”

Eastwei’s eyes were focused on the women and he didn’t deign to reply. Fuhel soon broke from her grandmother and walked over to them with a smile. The young woman gestured to the door. “If you gentlemen will follow me.”

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Fuhel led the men to the door which she opened. She let out a tiny yelp at the disheveled god who cast his shadow in the doorway. It was Pampir and the man looked a wreck, what with his stained face and the dirty towel haphazardly thrown over one shoulder.

He blinked at the trio. “Have I missed anything?”

Yushir patted the man on the shoulder and turned him around. “Nothing important. Perhaps you should have a bath.”

“Yes. . .” Pampir murmured as he stumbled along at the prince’s side. “Yes, a bath sounds very nice right now.”

“Lord Eastwei.” Eastwei paused and half-turned to Fuhel. Her eyes flickered to his companions who had stopped a few paces ahead. “May I speak with you alone?”

He studied her for a moment before he nodded. Yushir sighed and looped an arm around Pampir’s shoulders. “Come, Lord Pampir. We will have to find the bridge on our own.”

The color drained from Pampir’s face. “Oh mercy.”

Fuhel waited for them to vanish into the mists before she returned her attention to Eastwei. “Grandmother would like to know if you neglected to mention anything else about the trip to the mountain.”

“Why does she not ask me herself?” Eastwei countered as his eyes flickered past her and to the dark interior of the house.

Fuhel blushed and her hands fumbled together against her front. “You know Grandmother far better than I, Lord Eastwei. She is not one who pries into the affairs of others lest they pry into hers. Only-” The young woman bit her lower lip.

“Only?” he repeated.

“The. . .the cat in your vision. She wondered why you would have such a companion,” she finished.

Eastwei turned his back to her. “It was not my choice.”

Her ears perked up. “Then the cat is no longer with you?” Eastwei remained still and silent. Fuhel squirmed under the oppressive stillness. “I. . .I am truly sorry for the questions, Lord Eastwei. I am not sure why my grandmother is so curious about the creature but she seems to place a great importance on it.”

Eastwei turned his head to one side far enough for one bright eye to catch her attention. “Why?”

She shook her head. “I-I do not know, Lord Eastwei. She only told me to inquire about the cat and its health.”

Eastwei studied her for a long moment before he stared ahead again. “Tell her she need not worry.”

He didn’t wait for a reply but strode into the mist, leaving behind a very confused young woman. Fuhel slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

“Well?” her grandmother called from the table. A few beakers had been set up and some books were opened in front of her. Wuhel was hunched over one of them with a finger on the page but her sharp eyes lay on her granddaughter. “What did he say?”

“That you need not worry about the cat,” Fuhel told her as she joined her grandmother at the table. “But why did you wish to know about the cat, Grandmother?” A broad smile stretched across her wizened face as she resumed her work. The young woman leaned to one side to catch her elder’s gaze as both their eyes twinkled with the same light. “Do you know something about the cat, Grandmother? Is that why you did not wish to speak with Lord Eastwei on the subject? You feared he would learn as much as I, or perhaps more?”

Wuhel tamped down her good humor and frowned at her granddaughter. “Never you mind that, Fuhel. I need you to go upstairs and fetch the Guren. It has the spell from that time and you and I will need to improve upon it.”

Fuhel bowed her head but a smile still danced across her lips as she went upstairs. “Yes, Grandmother.”