The creature let out a whistle and scuttled toward him He knew that he did not have a chance of escaping it, or of fighting it, there on the ropes, but he took the knife from his teeth and swiped it at the thing

It paused, hesitating just out of his reach Its horrible head tilted, as though assessing this new threat

"Doroga'" Tavi screamed "There it is, there it is'"

From above came a slow and tortured scream, bellowing in Doroga's basso, filled with anger and defiance

Tavi would never have believed that a man could lift a boulder that large But Doroga appeared at the top of the cliff again, bearing a stone the

size of a coffin over his head, arms and shoulders and thighs bulging with effort He flexed the whole of his body, a ponderous motion, and the huge stone hurtled down toward the creature

Its head abruptly whirled on its neck, whipping around to face directly behind it The creature moved, its wings buzzing, but it was not fast enough to wholly escape the plummeting stone It flashed by Tavi, missing him by the breadth of a few fingers The creature leapt away from the wall, but the stone crushed against it, sending it spinning out of the air to land on the ground many yards away The stone itself hit the ground and shattered, chips of rock flying, glowing slime from within the croach hurled into the air as from a fountain

Hot pain flashed along Tavi's leg, and he looked down to see his trousers cut by a flying piece of stone, blood on his leg From above came Doroga's defiant howl of triumph, a bellowing roar that shook the walls of the chasm

The creature let out another whistle, this one higher, filled with fury and, Tavi thought, with sudden fear It staggered but could not rise and instead began dragging itself back into the trees, as the glowing eyes of dozens of Keepers began to appear behind it

Tavi dropped the knife, slid down the rope, and ran to Kitai He seized her and began dragging her back toward the ropes, grunting with effort but moving quickly, jerking her over the ground

"Aleran," she whispered, opening her eyes Her expression was pained, weary "Aleran Too late Venom My father Tell him I was sorry "

Tavi stared down at her "No," he whispered ' Kitai, no We're almost out "

"It was a good plan," she said

Her head lolled to one side, eyes rolling back

"No," Tavi hissed, suddenly furious "No, crows take you! You can't!" He reached into his pouch, fumbling through it as tears started to blur his vision There must be something She couldn't just die She couldn't They were so close

Something stuck sharply into his finger, and pain flashed through him again The crows-eaten mushroom had jabbed him with its spines The Blessing of Night

Fever Poison Injury Pain Even age It has power over them all To our people, there is nothing of greater value

Weeping, Tavi seized the mushroom and started tearing off the spines

with his fingers, heedless of the pain. Shrieks rose all around him, came closer, though the still-blazing branch seemed to have confused some of the Keepers, to have temporarily slowed their advance.

Tavi reached down and slipped an arm beneath Kitai's head, half-hauling her up. He reached down to the wound over her thigh and crushed the mushroom in his hand.

Musty-scented, clear fluid leaked out from between his fingers and dribbled over the wound, mixing with blood and yellowish venom. Kitai's leg twitched as the fluid touched it, and the girl drew in a sudden breath.

Tavi lifted the rest of the mushroom to her lips and pressed it into her mouth. "Eat it," he urged her. "Eat it, you have to eat it."

Kitai's mouth twitched once, and then began to chew, automatically. She swallowed the mushroom and blinked her eyes slowly open, focusing them on Tavi.

Time stopped.

Tavi found himself staring down at the girl, suddenly aware of her, entirely aware of her in a way he never had been aware of anyone before. He could feel the texture of her skin beneath his hand and felt the abrupt compulsion to lay his fingers over her chest, to feel the beat of her heart beneath it, slowly gaining in strength. He could feel the surge of blood in her veins, the fear and regret and confusion that filled her thoughts. Those cleared as her eyes focused on him, widened, and Tavi realized that she had felt his own presence in the same way.

Not moving her eyes from his, Kitai reached out a hand and touched his chest in response, fingers pressed close to feel the beating of his heart.

It took Tavi a frozen, endless moment to separate the beating of his own heart, the rush of blood in his own ears, from hers. They beat together, perfectly in time. Even as he realized it, his own heartbeat began to speed, and so did hers, bringing a flush of heat to his face, one answered in her own expression. He stared at the wonder in her eyes and saw that it could only be a reflection of that in his own.

The scent of her, fresh and wild, curled up around him, through him like something alive. The shape of her eyes, her cheeks, her mouth. In that single moment, he saw in her the promise of the beauty that would come in time, the strength that had still to grow, the courage and reckless resourcefulness that matched his own and flamed wild and true in her.

The intensity of it made his eyes blur, and he blinked them, tried to clear the tears from them, only to realize that Kitai was blinking as well, her eyes filling with tears, going liquid and blurry.

When Tavi had blinked the tears away, his eyes returned to hers-only to find not opalescent swirls of subtle, shifting color, but wide pools of deep, emerald green.

Eyes as green as his own.

"Oh no" Kitai whispered, her voice stunned, weak. "Oh no" She opened her mouth, started to sit up-then shuddered once and slumped in his arms, abruptly overwhelmed with exhaustion.

The frozen moment ended.

Tavi lifted his dazed head to see the first of the Keepers edging past the blazing blanket and branch. Tavi hauled himself to his feet, lifting Kitai, and stumbled toward the ropes. He stepped into the loop at the base of one, then reached over to the other, and wrapped it around his waist, around her legs, tying her to him. Even before he was finished, Doroga had started hauling the rope up the face of the cliff. The other rope came in as well, where Hashat must have been pulling it along to keep it tight.

Tavi held on to the rope, and to Kitai, not really sure which one he held tighter. He closed his eyes, overwhelmed, and did not open them again until he and Kitai sat at the top of the cliff, in the cold, fresh, clean snow. When he opened his eyes again, he sat with his back against a stone and idly noted the fresh earth beside him, where Doroga had uprooted the boulder and hurled it down.

A moment later, he realized that Kitai lay against his side, beneath one of his arms, warm and limp, half-conscious. He tightened his arm on her, gently, confused-but certain that he wanted her to sleep, to rest, and to be right where she was.

Tavi looked up and found Hashat staring down at them, wide-eyed, her expression bewildered and then, by slow degrees, becoming indignant. She turned to Doroga and demanded, "What are you going to do about this?"

The headman, veins still standing out on his arms and thighs, tipped his head back and poured out a rich and rolling laugh. "You know as well as I, Hashat. It's done."

The Horse headman scowled and folded her arms over her chest. "I've never heard of such a thing," she said. "This is unacceptable."

"This is," Doroga rumbled. "Other matters are before us now."

Hashat flipped her mane out of her eyes with a toss of her head. "I don't like it," she said, her tone resigned. "This was a trick. You tricked me."

Doroga's eyes glittered, and a smile lurked at his lips, but he said in a stern tone, "Keep your mind on why we are here, Hashat."