The caravan rumbled on the next morning, and once again Arai, Damon, and Sir Estil rode out ahead of it, scouting out the path forward. They skirted the ruins of Urumkesh and passed through the valley, which put them closer to the Riven Mountains than they had ever been; they were in the foothills now, which were full of steep rises and weird, craggy rock formations.

After getting the lay of the land, they returned to the caravan that evening. Lady Melei, apparently following Sir Farrow's advice, had decided to make camp right outside the gargantuan ruins of Urumkesh. It was even bigger up close; Arai would not have been particularly surprised to learn that the massive pyramidal complex had been assembled by the gods themselves.

There was some kind of commotion going on within the camp when they arrived, however. Afraid that the radiator had broken down, leaving the group vulnerable to a monster attack, Arai urged his camel forward, riding past Sir Estil and the others, but he didn't see any monsters -- just a lot of yelling and excited conversation. He slid off the camel and met up with Shell and Lillandra, who explained the situation to him.

"A couple of the knights went into the ruins," Shell said. "They haven't returned."

"Which knights?"

"Sir Pallas and Sir Remnick. Apparently someone heard them talking about going into the ruins to hunt for treasure. That was five or six hours ago. Sir Farrow wants to send someone in to search for them, but Lady Melei is against it."

In fact Sir Farrow and Lady Melei were still arguing about it, in the middle of the camp. "They've only been gone a few hours," Lady Melei was saying. "They might yet return."

"They might have gotten lost," Sir Farrow said. "They were fools to venture into the ruins, I'll grant you that, but we can't simply abandon them."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Send in a search party."

"And wait for them to get lost as well? Or killed by monsters? How many people do you want me to sacrifice for these idiots? I ordered everyone to stay away from the ruins. It's not my fault these two were too stupid to listen."

"Not stupid," another knight muttered. "Blinded by greed."

But Sir Farrow was adamant. "Sir Pallas is my nephew, and I've known Sir Remnick since he was a squire. They're young, and foolish, but they don't deserve this."

Lady Melei sighed. "Oh, all right. But who will go?"

Sir Farrow immediately volunteered, as did Sir Estil. Arai stepped forward as well.

"I'll go," he said. "If there's monsters in there, you'll need my sword."

"I'll go, too," Shell said.

They all looked at her incredulously.

"I can take care of myself," she said, glaring back at them. "I'm a sorceress. I have the Witch's Dagger and the Badge of Deflection. And what if these knights are hurt? I have a bunch of potions here that might help." She turned sideways to show them her backpack, which Arai knew was full of the potions and healing draughts that Emi had given her back in Lark.

Lady Melei rubbed her chin and considered it. "What do you think, Arai?"

"I don't like it," he said, sighing, "but she'd probably just follow us into the ruins anyway, if we left her behind."

"If Shell's going," Lillandra said, "then I'm going as well."

Arai frowned. "Are you sure? What about your headaches?"

"I'll be fine."

"If you say so." He threw a glance at the enormous fortress. "But these ruins are gigantic. How are we going to keep from getting lost?"

Lillandra held up the two Rabbit's Feet she had made. "Remember these? One will always point in the direction of the other. If I take one with me, and leave the other one here at the camp, we shouldn't have any trouble finding our way back."

"An excellent idea," Sir Estil said.

They spent a few minutes preparing -- gathering up some food, water, weapons, and some more of Lillandra's zemi -- and started for the ruins. "Be careful," Lady Melei warned. "We'll stay here tonight, and into tomorrow, but if you're not back by tomorrow evening, I'm afraid we're going to have to leave without you."

"That should be plenty of time," Arai said. "They've only been missing a few hours, after all. How far could they have gone?"

But the fortress was truly enormous, and as soon as they stepped into the grand gallery -- a gigantic open space that must have been at least a thousand feet across, with a high ceiling supported by a dozen thick stone columns -- Arai found himself regretting those words. He felt like an ant in this place.

At the far end of the gallery were six open pathways, each one guarded by a hundred-foot high stone statue. One of the statues depicted a bald-headed man with a bushy beard, wearing an apron and holding a hammer. Arai blinked at it.

"That's Illu Matté," he said.

"The sorcerer who created your sword?" Shell asked.

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"Yes. That's him. What's he doing here?"

"He was one of the sorcerers who cast the White Rain," Lillandra said. "He was a legend, even back then." But she wasn't looking at Illu Matté's statue; she was looking at a different statue, a statue of a long-haired woman, dressed in Gallean plate armor. She had a hand on the pommel of her sword.

Arai followed her gaze. "What's this one?"

"Maximine," she murmured.

"Are you sure?"

"I've seen this statue before," she said distantly. "In my dreams."

Arai gave her a worried look. "Are you all right? If you want to turn back--"

"No," she said firmly. "No. I'm supposed to be here. I need to be here."

This cryptic talk was even more worrying, but Arai set it aside; they had more important things to worry about. "Six paths," he muttered. "Which one do you suppose they took?"

They started looking around for footprints in the dust, and eventually determined that Sir Pallas and Sir Remnick had taken the easternmost passage, the one beneath the great statue of Maximine. Shell activated the Candle of Hours -- the further in they went, the darker it became -- and they began creeping forward, calling out for the knights, and trying to trace the path they had followed. This was easier said than done, for the floors were bare stone, which made footprints hard to see, and the path branched out in dozens of different directions; in fact Arai began to feel as though they were in a maze. It was easy to see how the two knights might have gotten lost.

But they continued calling out to the men, their voices echoing through the gloomy tunnels, and they continued searching, using a pair of torches and the brilliant light coming from Shell's Candle of Hours to see where they were going.

Lillandra was quiet, and lagging behind the rest of them. Arai dropped back to speak with her, asking her again if she was feeling all right.

"I've got a headache," she admitted. "This place is practically drowning in magia. It's like a soup. But...there's something else." She rubbed her temples.

He frowned. "What you said before, about needing to be here..."

"These ruins are very familiar. I almost feel like I've been here before. Maybe in my dreams..." She shook her head. "I don't know. It's strange."

Now Arai was even more worried. "I think we should head back."

"No. I'll be fine."

"The more you say that, the less I believe it."

"You don't have to worry about me," she said, dismissing him again. He didn't like this -- he didn't like that she was pushing him away -- but he had promised to respect her wishes, to give her time to decide how she felt about him, and he didn't want to pressure her.

And this wasn't the time to fret about their relationship, in any case; they needed to hurry up and find these foolish young knights. They had just descended a set of stairs, which led down into a long and shadowy corridor, when they suddenly heard some strange wailing coming from up ahead.

"Is that one of the knights?" Shell asked.

"That didn't sound like anything human," Sir Estil warned.

"Monsters, then," Sir Farrow said gravely. "It's amazing we haven't run into any yet."

"Be ready," Sir Estil said, drawing his sword. Arai drew his sword as well, searching the shadows.

The wailing grew louder and louder...and then suddenly stopped. This sudden, total silence was almost as unnerving as the wailing had been, and Arai grew very tense; he was sure they were about to be attacked.

They were just turning a corner when a dark shape suddenly burst out of the shadows, hollering and swinging a sword. Sir Estil, who was closest, immediately turned to meet this threat -- parrying one blow, seizing the figure by the collar, and throwing him to the floor. Shell was so spooked by this sudden attack that her Candle of Hours sputtered out, and it took a few seconds for her to bring its light back to life. When it returned, the group found themselves looking down at a disheveled Sir Remnick.

The knight breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw them. "I thought you were monsters," he said, as Sir Farrow helped him to his feet. "Are you all right, Sir Estil?"

"No harm done," he said. "But where is your companion? Where is Sir Pallas?"

"Over here," a weak voice called out, from the shadows.

They followed the voice and found Sir Pallas sitting on the floor. He did not appear to be injured, but his face was red and he was sweating profusely. "We got lost," Sir Remnick explained. "We were attacked by some kind of ghostly...thing. When it touched Sir Pallas, he collapsed and became feverish." He paused, listening. "It's still out there somewhere."

"A wisp," Sir Estil muttered. "This is bad."

"What's a wisp?" Arai asked.

"A ghostly, ethereal creature, attracted to magia. I encountered a few in the desert, years ago, when I went searching for the Bandit King of Bloodlorn."

"A kind of monster, then?"

"Not exactly. They have no physical form. But any kind of communication with their ghostly essence can drain a man's strength and make him violently ill." He frowned. "And they're very hostile."

"Demons," Sir Farrow muttered. "The spirits of those who perished during the Harrowing."

"Well, whatever it is, it's been following us," Sir Remnick said. "I only barely managed to evade it myself. I couldn't leave Pallas behind, but..."

"I'm sorry," Sir Pallas muttered. His breathing was labored. "This was all my fault. If I hadn't suggested going into the ruins--"

"We can discuss it later," Sir Farrow said. "The important thing is getting out of here before the wisp finds us. Can you stand, Pallas?"

"I don't think so," he said weakly.

Shell removed a healing potion out of her backpack and had him drink it. "How about now?" she asked.

"That's a little better," he said. "But I still don't think I have the strength to walk."

"I can carry him on my back," Sir Estil said. He sheathed his sword and hoisted the knight off his feet. The man probably weighed at least as much as Sir Estil himself, but Sir Estil, as always, had strength and stamina to spare.

The wailing returned, but even louder this time. "We'd better get out of here," Sir Farrow said.

They started to turn back. They hadn't gone more than a few feet, however, before Shell suddenly noticed something: "Wait a minute. Where's Lillandra?"

They all turned and looked, but Lillandra was nowhere to be seen; it was as though she had dissolved into the shadows. "She was here a minute ago," Sir Estil said. "Did she wander off?"

They called her name -- keeping their voices low, however, so as not to attract the attention of the wisp -- but she did not respond. Arai ran back to the spot where they had found Sir Pallas, looking around desperately, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Where the hell had she gone? What had happened to her? Had she simply wandered off, as Sir Estil had suggested, or had she been attacked? He remembered her cryptic statements from earlier: I'm supposed to be here. I need to be here. I almost feel like I've been here before.

Damn.

Meanwhile the wisp's eerie wailing was getting closer and closer. Arai turned to the others. "The rest of you go on ahead. I'll look for Lillandra."

Shell grabbed him by the sleeve. "No! You can't go alone!"

He ignored her, addressing Sir Estil instead. "Can you find your own way out?"

"I think so."

"Good." He took a torch from Sir Farrow before the man could protest and started off into the shadows.

"But what if this thing attacks you?" Shell asked, growing frantic.

"I have Silus," he reminded her. "I'll find Lillandra and bring her back, I promise. Now go."

"But--"

"I promise," he said again, firmly, looking into her eyes and speaking to her directly.

She nodded slowly. "You promised," she muttered. And without another word, she ignited the Candle of Hours and joined the knights.

Arai gave the group one last look, then grit his teeth and began making his way into the caliginous gloom of Urumkesh.