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. Let me have a look at that, he replied suspiciously, squinting hard at the paper. You can see for yourself, she declared, pointing at the writing. He s released to my custody until allthis gets straightened out.I told you it wouldn t be that hard. The second guard moved closer to the first, peering over his shoulder.Neither seemed entirely certainwhat to do. Don t you understand? she pressed, crowding them now, jamming her finger at the paper. The armycan t afford to keep its best airship pilot locked up in the stockade with a war going on.Not because ofone Federation officer who thinks it s a good idea.Come On! Give me back my weapons! You velooked at the order long enough! What s the matter, can t you read? She glared at them now.Neither guard said a word. Do you want me to wake up the commander again? He was mad enough the first time. Okay, okay, the first guard said hastily, shoving the piece of paper at her.He handed back her knives, rapier, and sling and shooed them out the gates and back into theencampment.They walked in silence for several dozen paces before Redden Alt Mer said, I don tbelieve it. She shrugged. They can t read.Even if they could, it wouldn t matter.No one could make out what Iwrote.When they re asked about it, they ll claim I had a release order signed by the commander.Who sto say I didn t? This is the army, big brother.Soldiers don t admit to anything that might get them introuble.They ll fuss for a day or two and then decide they re well rid of us. Her brother rubbed his arms to restore the circulation and glanced at the cloudless sky. Three years inthis forsaken place.Money or no, that s a long time. He sighed wearily and slapped his thighs. I hateleaving Black Moclips, though.I hate that. She nodded. I know.I thought about taking her.But stealing her would be hard, Big Red.Too manypeople keeping watch. We ll get another ship, he declared, brushing the matter aside, a bit of the old spring returning to hisstep. Somewhere. They walked through the camp s south fringe to where the passes led downward out of the heightstoward the city of Dechtera and the grasslands west.Once across the Rappahalladran and the plainsbeyond, they were home. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlAhead, Furl Hawken stood waiting in a draw with a dozen more Rovers and the horses and supplies. Hawk! Redden Alt Mer called, and gave him a wave.Then he glanced over his shoulder at the fadingoutline of the camp. Well, it was fun for a time.Not as much fun as we ll have where we re going, ofcourse, wherever that turns out to be, but it had its moments. Rue Meridian smirked. My brother, the eternal optimist. She brushed stray strands of her long hairfrom her face Let s hope this time you re right. Ten minutes later, they had left the Federation army behind and were riding west for the coast of theBlue Divide.SIXAt first light, the Druid known as Walker slipped from the sleeping room he had been given in thesummer house on his arrival the night before.Arborlon was still sleeping, the Elven city at rest, and onlythe night watch and those whose work required an early rising were awake.A tall, spare, shadowy figurein his black robes, hair, and beard, he glided soundlessly from the palace grounds and through the streetsand byways of the city to the broad sweep of the Carolan.He was aware of the Home Guard whotrailed him, an Elven Hunter assigned to him by the King.Allardon Elessedil was not a man who tookchances, so the presence of a watchdog was not unexpected, and Walker let the matter be.On the heights, where the Carolan fronted the sprawl of theWestland forests, visible all the way to the ragged jut of the RockSpur south and the Kensrowe north, he paused.The first glimmer of sunlight had crested the treesbehind him, but night still enfolded the land west, purple and gray shadows clinging to treetops andmountain peaks like veils.In the earthen bowl of the Sarandanon, small lakes and rivers reflected theearly light in silvery flashes amid the patchwork quilt of farms and fields.Farther out, the waters of theInnisbore shimmered in a rough, metallic sheen, their surface coated with broken layers of mist.Somewhere beyond that lay the vast expanse of the Blue Divide, and it was there that he must eventuallygo.He looked all about the land, a slow, careful perusal, a drinking in of colors and shapes.He thoughtabout the history of the city.Of the stand it had made in the time of Eventine Elessedil against the assaultof the demons freed from the Forbidding by the failure of the Ellcrys.Of its journey out of the Westlandin the Ruhk staff and the magicriven Loden to the island of Morrowindi buildings, people, and historydisappeared as if they had never been.Of its journey back again, returned to the Four Lands by WrenElessedil, where it would withstand the onslaught of the Shadowen.Always, the Elves and the Druids hadbeen allies, bound by a common desire to see the lands and their peoples kept free.What, he asked himself in dark contemplation, had become of that bond?Below the heights, swollen with snowmelt off the mountains and spring s rainfall, the Rill Song churnednoisily within its banks.He listened to the soothing, distant sound of the water s heavy flow as it echoedout of the trees.He stood motionless in the enfolding silence, not wanting to disturb it.It felt strange to beback here, but right, as well.He had not come to Arborlon in more than twenty years.He had notthought he would come again while Allardon Elessedil lived.His last visit had opened a rift between themhe did not think anything could close.Yet here he was, and the rift that had seemed so insurmountable Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlnow seemed all but inconsequential.His thoughts drifted as he turned away.He had come to Arborlon and the Elven King out ofdesperation.All of his efforts at brokering an agreement with the races to bring representatives toParanor to study in the Druid way had failed.Since then, he had lived alone at Paranor, reverting to thework of recording the history of the Four Lands.There was little else he could do.His bitterness wasacute.He was trapped in a life he had never wanted.He was a reluctant Druid, recruited by the shade ofAllanon in a time when there were no Druids and the presence of at least one was vital to the survival ofthe races.He had accepted the blood trust bestowed by the dying Allanon hundreds of years earlier onhis ancestor Brin Ohmsford, not because he coveted it in any way, but because fate and circumstanceconspired to place him in a position where only he could fulfill its mandate.He had done so out of a senseof responsibility
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