'I don't think so,' said Yggur, but it became clear the machine was outdistancing its pursuers, and shortly the lyrinx began to turn back. Soon there were none pursuing. The sun was just above the horizon.

After them! Full speed, Inouye,' Yggur ordered.

He whipped the transfer controller from his pocket. It was an oval made of metal with holes in it like a colander, though larger, concealing the crystals and wires at its core. Thrusting his fingers through the holes, he held the device above his head, closed his eyes and strained.

'Iit's still drawing away,' said Flangers. 'Which direction?' 'Continuing west.'

Yggur strained again. Irisis focussed her spyglass through the veils of cloud. The construct dipped sharply before continuing on.

Yggur was panting. He kept trying, but without success He doesn't have the strength, Irisis thought. He was very old despite his appearance. And, she reminded herself, he had not been tested in a long time.

'I can't help thinking that you're past it,' she said.

'The scrutator would have done the same, you know.'

Irisis knew it to be true, knew it to be the right thing to do, too, but it made no difference. Her loyalties were personal, not national.

'They're drawing further away,' called Flangers.

The sinews on Yggur's arms stood out. Still with eyes closed, he strained again. The construct sailed on, unaffected. He grunted with the effort. Sweat burst out on his forehead. The machine stalled, then dropped like a stone.

'I bloody well knew it!' Irisis raged. 'I knew this was all going to be for nothing.' She made a move towards him but thought better of it.

Yggur stood, hands straining above his head, eyelids bulging. They watched the construct plunge down and down. Irisis could imagine how the people inside must be feeling.

Yggur's eyes opened and closed again. He trembled from head to foot. A thread of saliva dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. 'Aaagh!' he cried, swinging the device around his head, then, Aah! I've got it.'

The construct fell unchecked.

'I've got it.'

There was no change in its downward plunge.

'I've got it!' Foam flew from his lips.

Irisis saw, through her spyglass, the fall become less vertical. The construct swerved wildly but recovered. It curved away, away, away, rose slightly, flattened out and headed west.

'I've got it,' he whispered.

From inside the cabin, Flydd let out a groan that trailed off to nothing.

Fifty-eight

Gilhaelith had stopped pounding on the hatch long ago. Tiaan lifted it and looked down. He was sitting on the floor, eyes shut, rocking back and forth. She closed the hatch -putting off the confrontation for as long as possible.

'Hey, there's an air-floater behind us — really high up.'

'Is it the one we saw over Alcifer the other day?' said Malien.

'It looks the same.'

The air-floater disappeared in the clouds. The thapter was slowing now, as they began to pass over swamp forest. The sun went down. They continued in the dark for hours, having no idea where they were going. Finally, in pitch darkness the whistling of the wind died away. The base of the thapter thumped hard against stone and sparks flew up.

A glowing globe blazed, revealing part of a dark wall and a wide doorway. All else was in darkness.

'What now?' said Tiaan.

'We wait,' Malien replied.

'This doesn't look like a lyrinx city.'

The air-floater ghosted down to their left. It was there one second, gone the next, as it went up in a rush. A tall man stood in the centre of the yard, a shadowed object in his left hand.

Malien said, 'Well, well. In a dozen lifetimes I wouldn't have expected this.'

'Who is it?'

She didn't answer.

'What do we do?' Tiaan squeaked.

"Go down. But keep your counsel, Tiaan. Let's find out what they want, first.'

Tiaan unfastened the lower hatch and quickly climbed down the side. Her back was aching but she managed to walk across to the steps without limping. The man extended a hand. I am Yggur. Welcome to Fiz Gorgo.’

Had she been capable of rational thought, Tiaan would have assumed him dead centuries ago. 'Thank you. My name is Tiaan Liise-Mar.' She looked around but Malien wasn't in sight. 'Surely you're not alone?' he said.

No:

Malien had gone down the far side of the machine and now appeared out of the darkness without warning. 'Well met, Yggur. I imagine you no more expected to see me again than I did you.'

'Malien!' he exclaimed. 'It seems like it was only months, ago I last saw you. And for all the change in you …' 'You flatter me. That was two centuries ago. It was in Chanthed, wasn't it, when Llian told his Tale of the Mirror and the masters voted that it become a Great Tale.' And he was banished from being a chronicler for seven years. No, Malien, we met for the last time in Gothryme, when the Charon sent Maigraith back through the gate.' 'Of course we did. My memory must be going. I wonder what-?'

He hastily interrupted her. 'Do you know what happened to Llian?'

He would be dead a hundred and fifty years, even if he lived into grand old age.' And Karan too, no doubt.'

'We all have our time,' Malien said. 'I'll not complain when mine comes. The old must give way to the young.' 'Quite. Come inside,' said Yggur.

They went indoors, to a large chamber off the hall, where a fire blazed. Shortly Gilhaelith appeared in the doorway.

There were lines on his forehead, blood spots along his ribs, and his skin had a greenish cast. He was furious.

'Where did you come from, fellow?' said Yggur. 'I feel as though I ought to know something about you.' He did not offer to shake hands.

'I don't see why,' said Gilhaelith curtly. 'I'm a trader in odd commodities and a dabbler in the arts and sciences. My name is Gilhaelith and these wretches have just kidnapped me from Alcifer.’

'Ah, yes, Gilhaelith. The geomancer who trades with the enemy!' Yggur turned his back. Tiaan, I apologise for taking over your flier in such an .., abrupt manner, but we need it desperately. We have a plan for the war.’

'I'm pleased to hear that someone has,' she said quietly. That terror of falling, of having control snatched away, would never leave her. 'But you're mistaken. The thapter belongs to Malien, not me.' She moved away from him, taking refuge by the fire. Thankfully Yggur did not follow, for she had no idea how to deal with such a legend.

Gilhaelith came up beside Tiaan. 'How dare you interfere in my life!'

She looked up at him, remembering how he might have come to her aid in Snizort, but had cared more about the amplimet. 'Do you mean to say you didn't want to be rescued?'

'I chose to be in Alcifer, and I was close to a breakthrough. Now all my precious instruments lie abandoned. You have destroyed the work of a lifetime.'

'I'm sure your friends the lyrinx will take good care of them!'

'What price did you pay, for them to repair your broken back?'

'Nothing I wasn't forced to. Unlike you, I've never dealt with the enemy for profit.'

'Why did Malien come after me?' he said in a low, quivering voice. ''Why me?'

Tiaan saw no reason not to tell him. 'You're the greatest geomancer and mathemancer in existence now, and no one else can help her.'

That mollified him a little. 'Certainly I am! Go on.'

She's concerned that the nodes are being overdrawn and will soon fail, to the ruin of all.'

'What does it matter if one or two nodes fail?' he said.

'Because they're linked! Malien has discovered that a drained node is replenished from those surrounding nodes at are linked to it. Those, in turn, are replenished from nodes further away. If enough fail, all the nodes could colapse and the whole world—'

'That's it!' he whooped. 'The missing piece of the puzzle.'