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No one. No one was coming after her. She was back where she'd been before
Torak. Friendless.
At last she reached a little bay that glowed dark blue in the summer night.
Driftwood lay in piles, bleached silver by wind and rain. At the head of the bay,
three posts stood guard. They had misshapen clay heads, and their white eyes stared
over the Lake. Renn caught the faint, high whine of their power and clutched her
clancreature feathers. She edged behind them, so as not to be seen.
At the eastern end of the bay, screened from the posts by pines, she found a small
deerhide boat
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tethered in the shallows. Maybe it belonged to the Viper Mage. She didn't care.
Quickly she unlashed the mooring and jumped in. The boat lurched, but she dug in
the paddle and headed off. She had no idea where she was going; she just needed to
be on the move.
Something made her glance back.
The Viper Mage stood at the water's edge, watching her.
Terror washed over her. As if caught in an invisible net, she brought the boat about,
and they faced each other across the shimmering water. "What do you want?" Renn
said, hating the way her voice shook.
"Nothing you can give," said the Viper Mage, her face livid in the moonlight.
"Then why are you here?" said Renn. "Haven't you done enough?" The black lips
parted. "You disappoint me, daughter. I'd hoped for less passion. More control." "I
hurt him. I hurt my best friend."
Seshru tossed her head in scorn. "What a pity; you have your father's heart!
Although"--her lip curled as she indicated the stolen boat--"you have your mother's
courage."
"I have nothingof yours!" spat Renn.
"Ah, but we both know that isn't true. You have my
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talent for Magecraft. You did well to help the spirit walker resist me. Perhaps I
should be proud of you."
Renn's chest felt tight with hatred.
"He belongs to me, daughter," warned the Viper Mage. "He is my reward for the
long winters of waiting."
"He belongs to no one but himself."
"Don't fight me. It would be fatal to pit your power against mine."
"Maybe. But you're not invincible. Saeunn's power was less than yours, and yet she
triumphed over you once." That struck its target. Renn saw the white fists clench.
"Not in Magecraft," Seshru said thinly. "She was nothing but a thief. She stole you
from me."
"She saved me!" Renn flung back. "I was a baby, and you were going to sacrifice
me!"
"Is that what she told you?" Seshru drew herself up, like a snake recoiling to strike.
"Why would I carry you for nine long moons, if only to kill you? No, you were
destined for greater things." Her black mouth twisted. "You were to have been my
finest creation--you were to have been my tokoroth!"
Renn no longer heard the frogs or the lapping of the Lake.
"I could have done it," said the Viper Mage. "The fire-opal would have drawn the
mightiest demon--a
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very elemental--and I would have trapped it in my newborn
child!Mything,mycreature! With such power, what could we not have achieved!"
For a moment she stared past Renn at visions of impossible glory. Then she
dragged herself back and regarded her daughter with contempt. "Instead, the old
crone 'saved' you. And there you sit: weak, powerless, wondering if you have the
courage to kill me."
"I could," said Renn between her teeth. "I could shoot you right now."
Seshru laughed. "Never make a threat you can't carry out, daughter. Against me
you have no power. You cannot vanquish me and you cannot kill me! Remember
that." Stretching her arm toward the boat, she twisted her wrist so that her palm
faced down. Renn jerked back as if she'd been struck, and nearly lost her balance.
When she looked again, the Viper Mage was gone.
The stink of Viper-Tongue bit Wolf's nose as he raced along the edge of the Big
Wet. But the bad tailless was out of reach on the rocks, so he ran on, following the
scent of the pack-sister.
He passed the bay where the Hidden Ones gathered to drag things from the Wet.
He loped through a stand of watchful pines and out the other side. As he ran, he
caught the distant smell of the Great White Cold. He
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sensed its restlessness. He heard the Thunderer stirring in the Up.
After many lopes he found the pack-sister. She was crouching by the Wet, near a
floating hide which stank of Viper-Tongue--but to Wolf's astonishment, she didn't
seem to care. She had her head in her forepaws and she was shaking and yowling as
taillesses do when they ate very, very sad.
Cautiously, Wolf padded toward her. Then he sat down and licked her knee.
She raised her head and blinked. Then she said something miserable in tailless talk
and flung her forepaws round his neck, and buried her face in his scruff. Wolf
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