'We need to get an ocean boat inshore.' Camarl frowned.

Casuel took a shaky breath and the image began to slide along the coast. An inlet appeared, a long bank of stones protecting a lagoon. A second island came into view, a headland and a narrow strait with a chain of little eyots.

'That's not rock, that's fortification,' Darni pointed. 'Look, that must be a patrol.'

They watched as a file of tiny figures crossed a causeway over the shallows and disappeared into the irregular precincts of the little watchtower.

'What are they so keen to defend, I wonder?' Camarl mused. 'Esquire Devoir, could you follow that strait?'

Casuel nodded silently, now taking short, abrupt breaths. The sea shimmered beneath the moons but the grey land was increasingly indistinct as the twilight deepened to night.

'Look, shipyards!' Camarl exclaimed suddenly.

They peered down at the enclave fenced in on the shore; timber stacked around long low huts, a square mast-pond at one end, tiny dots of light bobbing along, suggesting patrolling guards. A clutch of tall ships lay moored at the end of a long jetty.

The two men looked at each other. 'Where are they getting the wood for ships that size?' they asked at the same moment.

'Gidesta or Dalasor?' Darni's lips narrowed.

'Are they taking it or buying it?' Camarl wondered grimly. 'Just what sort of foothold have they got over here?'

The image wavered suddenly as Casuel carried it high up the side of a cliff. An ice-field shone beneath them, and a reddish glow began to lift the gloom.

'Fire-mountains!' breathed Darni.

'Like the Archipelago.' Casuel wiped his forehead with a shaking hand.

The land sped beneath them until it fell away into a boiling sea. Great gouts of steam rose from the margin of land and water as a river of fire belched molten rock into the seething foam. A little further out to sea, an islet rose up, the graceful symmetry of its cone in stark contrast to the chaos of the waters around its base.

'Misaen's still busy here,' Camarl commented.

'I can feel the power of the earth coming back to me through the spell.' Casuel blinked sweat out of his eyes. 'This place is alive with raw elements, the fire, the seas, all of it.'

Darni stared. 'Is there no way you can translocate me there, Cas?'

'You know full well a mage can only translocate to places he's physically visited,' Casuel snapped, the light of the spell beginning to dim inexorably.

'Otrick's combined it with scrying,' Darni objected, hands hovering in impotent exasperation.

Casuel shook his head and the water was suddenly empty. 'How Otrick hasn't killed himself yet is one of the great unsolved mysteries of modern magic.' He cupped trembling hands around his tisane and drained it.

'At least they look safe enough at the moment.' Darni's face was twisted with frustration.

'You're just annoyed that they got there ahead of you,' Casuel said spitefully.

'That's not the point and you know it,' Darni replied furiously.

'Surely—' Esquire Camarl raised his voice to speak over them both. 'Surely the important thing is that we find a means of making sure assistance is at hand, when they need it.'

Darni and Casuel looked at him. 'How?' they said almost in unison.

Camarl looked thoughtful. 'Just at present, I'm afraid I have no idea.'

The Islands of the Elietimm,

1st of For-Winter

Dusk drew in and the guards on the gate changed. A new contingent marched out from a barracks on the near side of the compound, which I made a note to avoid. As the officers exchanged what I guessed might be the keys, one hapless soldier was stripped, marched over to a wooden frame and tied to it. I winced as the crack of the lash echoed around the hollow in the hills. Even without Ryshad's spy-glass, we could see the blood streaming from the lad's back. When they finally left him, he was hanging with a stillness that spoke more of death than simple unconsciousness.

'And you still reckon this isn't like Aldabreshi?' Aiten muttered grimly.

Ryshad shook his head. 'Flogging troops is discipline, however brutal. Flogging the locals would be more like the repression the Warlords go in for and there's no sign of that. If you're thinking we might get help from the peasants here, I reckon you can forget it.'

This reminder of our isolation and the danger we could find ourselves in silenced us all and we sat and watched glumly as the night deepened around us. It grew colder and colder and I began to worry about how I would go about picking locks with such stiff, icy fingers.

'Here.' Shiv passed me a small rock and I was surprised to feel it warm my hands.

He grinned at me. 'I'm not much good at earth magic but I can do a few tricks.'

I peered up at the stars and moons; Halcarion's crown was in a different part of the sky but I watched it carefully. When I judged we were well after midnight, I got slowly to my feet, grimacing as I stretched the stiffness out of my limbs, and changed my boots for soft leather shoes.

'I don't want you scrying after me in case it alerts someone,' I whispered to Shiv, 'but can you enhance your hearing at all?'

He nodded and I gave a sigh of relief. 'If I get caught, I'll scream the place down. If you hear me, get me out of there fast.'

I crept carefully down the slope. Loose stones lay everywhere and I didn't want to betray myself with the slightest sound. A straggle of one-roomed houses around the road and the gate provided useful cover and I made full use of the shadows as I slipped round to the side of the compound furthest from the barracks. The walls were all dry-stone-built which gave useful hand- and footholds and I was able to scale it with no real difficulty. I clung there like a squirrel for a while, peering over the top of the wall while I checked it was safe. When I was sure all was as still as a miser's strongroom, I rolled over the top and dropped silently inside. No one shouted or pointed. All the guards seemed to be gathered in the gate-house and I didn't begrudge them the warm brazier glowing through the doorway, not if it kept them inside with no night vision to speak of.

The main house had long narrow windows with what proved to be horn panes set in wooden lattice. I shook my head in wonder; this was doubtless the local standard of luxury. At home even yeomen are getting glass in their windows these days. I moved round to the side where Shiv reckoned the study was located, and tested the lowest casement. It shifted but I'd bet there were shutters on the inside, if only for the warmth in this inhospitable climate. I frowned, not keen to risk it when I had no idea what might be on the other side. Even the dimmest servant is going to make a fuss if someone comes through the window and treads on them in the middle of the night. I moved on to a side door and found a crude lock which I could probably have opened with a stiff piece of straw. Since I had my lockpicks, I was inside in a few breaths and closed it quietly behind me.

The hallway was silent and black and I moved cautiously, not wanting to bump into anything. As my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, I could make out a few alcoves in the walls and doorways on either hand. I listened at each as I headed for the stairs but heard nothing, not even the minor noises of people sleeping. The alcoves held what the locals must have reckoned treasures, metal mostly, goblets, a ewer, some mean-looking ceramics; nothing I would have reckoned worth lifting for the price of an evening's ale back home. The only things I liked were the wall hangings, the same pattern as the gate, neatly woven in soft wool.

One door was ajar so I gave the room a cautious glance. It was stacked with chests and I found myself inside before I really stopped to think; locked boxes have that effect on me. Should I open one? I tried the lid and it proved to be unlocked so I peered inside. It was full of scrap metal, broken bits and pieces of old iron and bronze. I recalled the village, where everything was made of stone or bone, and looked at junk that would be discarded by a smith at home. Here it was stored in the leader's house like silver or gold. If this was what these people saw as wealth, they were more dangerous than I had realised, now they had some way of beating the ocean and reaching the mainland.