That's surely too small to be some dragon's den.

He couldn't decide if he was reassured or not to see the old woman scramble down what was evidently a steeply sloping entrance.

'Are we going in there?' Risala sounded torn. 'Why do you suppose she's helping us?'

'I don't know,' Kheda admitted, 'but it doesn't sound as if there's anything in there eating her.' Kheda looked around the inhospitable wood. 'That's a better hiding place than any we've found, and as long as we know where she is, she can't be betraying us.'

'I helped her. She's returning the favour. Come on.' Naldeth pushed past them both to clamber down awkwardly into the cavern.

Velindre shrugged and did the same.

'Go ahead.' Kheda nodded to Risala, making a last survey of the encroaching darkness before following her.

The entrance was even steeper than he had anticipated, a slick expanse of rock with some uncomfortably sharp ridges. Inside the darkness was absolute.

'Is this just a cave?' Kheda instantly regretted asking as both wizards kindled flames.

A blue-white feather danced on Velindre's upturned palm. 'It's remarkable,' she murmured.

'What does it mean?' Naldeth's magelight made a candle of his forefinger as he gazed around.

Risala was watching the old woman closely. 'She doesn't seem overly bothered by magic'

'Just as long as it doesn't bring some wild wizard

down on us,' Kheda said tersely. 'Is it safe for you to do that?'

'Don't worry.' Velindre chewed absently on her ragged thumbnail as she walked deeper into the darkness.

'It's only a tiny flame.' Naldeth followed her, the radiance nevertheless filling the cavern.

There wasn't much space between the walls of faceted grey rock and windblown leaves were scattered all along the floor. Kheda didn't have a chance to consider what vermin might be lurking among them: he was too astonished by the riot of colours splashed all around him.

'It's those birds.' Risala traced a wondering finger over a startlingly effective representation of the murderous fowl. It was drawn with just a few deft strokes of charcoal around natural bulges in the rock that shaped the body of the bird. Fingers dipped in some green pigment had been pressed against the stone to make surprisingly realistic feathers.

'And those armoured lizards.' Kheda picked out an ochre shape lurking in pale grass made by rapid scratches scored into the rock and through the picture.

'And a dragon.' Velindre slowly raised her hand and her magelight burned brighter to show a spur of stone thrusting down from the rocky roof. It had been skilfully shaped and painted to bring out the full likeness of the dragon's profile that some unknown artist had seen in the rock. It loomed over them, perhaps a quarter as long as the real thing, every scale painstakingly picked out with red pigment rubbed into the shallow grooves carved into the stone. The jaw was closed, the muzzle a bulbous protrusion, the spiny crest a fan of crevices.

The eye glinted and Kheda saw that a shard of crystal had been wedged into the rock there. Velindre stepped aside and as her magelight moved with her, the answering

spark in the crystal eye shifted as if the beast were watching her. The shadows stirred and all the creatures on the walls shared an instant of illusory life with the dragon. Naldeth shivered and Kheda couldn't blame him. The effect was uncanny.

'Why did she bring us here?' the young mage wondered.

Kheda turned and saw that the old woman had gone. 'To trap us after all,' he spat.

He saw instantly that there was no other exit from the cave and leaped up the slope, sword ready as he scanned the darkness. He cursed again as he found himself all but night blind thanks to the magelight in the cave. A step whispered on the dry earth and he turned, blinking as his eyes struggled to adapt to the moonlight.

It was the old woman, clutching an armful of dry sticks to her bony chest. She looked at Kheda with wretched terror. Belatedly he recalled he had had to step over the old woman's pitiful bundle to reach the steep slope of the cave's entrance. He lowered his sword. She stepped closer, still tearfully apprehensive. Dumping the sticks on the ground, she took a hasty pace backwards, wrinkled chin quivering.

'What's she doing?' Risala was close behind him.

'Bringing firewood.' Kheda hesitated for a moment, then sheathed his sword and bent to gather up the scattered sticks. He stepped aside and nodded towards the open cave mouth. 'Offer her your hand. Let's get her inside.'

'You're sure about this?' Risala still had her doubts.

'We came all this way to find out more about these people,' Kheda reminded her.

The old woman watched them warily as they spoke. When they fell silent, she stooped awkwardly to pick up a stick that Kheda had missed and offered it to him, her hand shaking.

'Come on.' Kheda added the stick to his armful and smiled pointedly at Risala.

She pursed her mouth but held out her hand to the old woman, who walked hesitantly towards her. Kheda took a last look around at the shadowy night before following them back into the cave. Once inside, the old woman took the firewood off him and squatted down to build a neat lattice on a ledge at the foot of the slope.

'Can we risk a fire?' He noted black stains that suggested the stone had been used as a hearth before. Close to, he also noticed that the old woman had a distinct odour, mostly thanks to the hide wrap she wore, and to whatever was matted into her hair.

At least she doesn 't smell of any fever or incontinence that would threaten us with some illness.

'How is she going to light that?' Risala was watching the old woman askance.

'Are you sure she has no magic?' As Kheda turned to ask Naldeth, the old woman stood up stiffly and walked towards the young mage. He and Velindre both stiffened. Velindre had set her magelight clinging to the rock wall just in front of the painted dragon and the pale flame flared azure.

The old woman gently took Naldeth's hand, tugging at him. He followed her obediently to the hearth, mystified yet willing to cooperate. The old woman pulled his hand forward and thrust his fingers into the sticks.

Kheda saw unmistakable exasperation in her eyes. 'She wants you to light it.'

Naldeth smiled at her and looked at the others. 'I can keep the elemental aspects confined within the cave without anyone being the wiser.'

'What about the light?' Kheda asked. 'A savage need not be a mage to have eyes in his head.'

'It won't leave the cave,' Naldeth assured him.

Kheda wavered for a moment, then nodded. 'Very well, then.'

Naldeth smiled briefly as he gently removed the old woman's insistent hand from his wrist. Snapping his fingers, he dropped a scarlet flame into the dry twigs. They crackled and the fire rapidly shifted from the scarlet of sorcery to a reassuringly natural gold.

'Do you think we dare sleep now?' Velindre yawned and Naldeth couldn't help but do the same.

'You two can try. We'll keep watch, or I will, if you're exhausted.' Kheda glanced belatedly at Risala.

She managed a thin smile. 'We can sleep when we're on the Zaise?

'Are we taking her back to the ship with us?' Naldeth studied the old woman, who was sitting quietly by the fire, one hand on her bundle, studying the painted walls of the cave. Her expression veered from awe to fear and back again.

'We'll discuss that in the morning.' Now there was firelight to see by, Kheda realised the outer layer of the woman's bundle was a furred and spotted hide faded to a dun between grey and brown.

Not from any beast we've seen so far. Which isn't all that surprising, given that we've not exactly been on a hunting trip. I wonder if the furry beast is predator or prey?

His stomach rumbled with protest at the thought of food. Risala came to sit beside him and tugged her leather sack open. 'Has anyone got any food left?'