Ellerie accompanied Marco to Varsin Senshall’s spacious mansion in central Tyrsall. She’d never been there before—the previous meetings had been at the company’s plain and utilitarian main building.

Varsin himself welcomed them inside. “Your Exalted Highness,” he said with a practiced bow, “welcome back. We were pleased to hear of your success.”

“That title isn’t necessary,” she said. Leena had warned her that the investors had learned of her identity. “I left Terevas to pursue my own interests. Exalted or Lady Ellerie if you must, but I’d prefer if you’d just call me by my name.”

“I couldn’t do that, Lady Ellerie,” Varsin said. “The Senshall Trading Company has dealings with your family.”

“I’ll be sure to tell my mother and sister of the great help you’ve provided in my endeavors. Perhaps there might be additional opportunities for you in Terevas in the future.” Putting in a good word wouldn’t take any effort on Ellerie’s part, and she doubted her mother cared which human trading houses carried di’Valla goods.

“I would be personally grateful,” Varsin said. “Corec Tarwen isn’t joining us today?”

“He’s making arrangements for the next stage of our journey.” In truth, Ellerie wanted to handle the final negotiations herself. Given Corec’s history with the company and his status as the son of a baron, the Senshall brothers tended to treat him as an equal partner in the expedition. Ellerie envied Corec’s ability to fraternize with near-strangers, but the expedition was her responsibility for one more day and she wanted to complete the last task on her own.

Varsin nodded. “Well, let’s get started then.” He led Ellerie and Marco to a formal dining room. “Lady Ellerie, I trust you remember my brother Burton and my concubine, Renny.”

Burton bowed and Renny curtseyed. “Lady Ellerie,” they both said, taking their cue from Varsin on how to address her. Ellerie returned the greetings, and then everyone sat down to look through the contract Marco had worked up. He’d managed to get scribes to make several copies overnight.

Burton was the first to speak. “Lady Ellerie, Marco spoke to us yesterday about the deal you’ve suggested. Before we accept, I’d like to ask how much effort this shaping magic takes. You’ve provided costs for the materials, but what else is involved?”

Ellerie stood and drew her new rapier from its scabbard, holding it out across her palms so everyone could see. The blade was made of fortisteel, and the basket hilt was constructed of silversteel. It wasn’t ornate, but it was perfectly balanced and much stronger than her previous weapon. “After I’d learned the spells and figured out the formulae, it took me another two months to master metal-shaping enough to make this. The trick is to use a mould. The shaping depends on constant concentration—if you let the mould handle the bulk of the work, then you can focus your attention on the finer details, like making sure it comes out sharp. This took me five hours to make, three for the hilt and two for the blade.”

The investors glanced at each other and gave small nods.

“Thank you,” Varsin said. “I believe we’d like to move forward with the arrangement. However, in the region you requested for yourself, we would prefer not to give up Terrillia. The wood elves are some of our largest customers for iron and steel, for both ingots and finished goods.”

Ellerie considered that. She’d only included Terrillia in her request because the Terril Forest extended as far as the free lands. She wasn’t opposed to altering the agreement. The dorvasta might want to purchase shaped metal goods, but metal-shaping by itself wouldn’t bring in much profit. The materials cost too much. Stone-shaping was more likely to be profitable, but the dorvasta wouldn’t be interested in that. They built very few stone structures, mostly just crafting wooden homes and work spaces along the trunks of the tershaya trees.

“I’d be willing to take Stone Home in place of Terrillia,” she said. She couldn’t just give them something for nothing.

Varsin glanced at his brother, who shrugged.

“Northern Aravor is your territory,” Burton said. “What do you think?”

“Stone Home has a larger population, but the dwarves have always refused to buy metals from us,” Varsin replied. “And Terrillia is much closer to our mining and smelting operations.”

“Then we’re agreed?” Ellerie asked. She’d only left Stone Home out of her initial request because she didn’t want to seem greedy.

“Terrillia for Stone Home, yes,” Varsin said. “You also requested the free lands. Which part, specifically?”

“The central region. I’m not including the northern plains or ogre territory.” The central free lands included Four Roads and South Corner, some of the largest towns in the area. Ogre territory and the northern plains were sometimes considered to be part of the free lands since they had no centralized governments, but settlements in those areas were too far away and scattered to bother with.

“And the terms?” Burton asked. “No stone-shaping outside our respective regions, and no sales of metal-shaped items outside our borders?”

“Yes,” Ellerie said. “If you want to set up shop in Dalewood, I can’t stop you.” Dalewood fell on Tyrsall’s border, right at the eastern edge of the free lands.

Varsin chuckled. “I doubt Dalewood would provide sufficient business, but I take your point. We’ll sell within our regions, but we won’t worry about who’s doing the buying.”

“I agree,” Ellerie said. “Have you decided to purchase the rights yourselves, or sell them to the company?”

“The three of us will buy the rights,” Renny, the concubine, said. “In truth, we don’t need the money. Bringing in a new business is more important, especially one that has such potential for growth.” The brothers had waited for her to answer, which suggested she’d either guided them toward the decision or had been the tie-breaking vote.

Ellerie nodded. “I’ve copied the book for you, both the spells and the formulae, and I’ve translated all of the procedures into trade tongue. I can bring that here tomorrow.”

“There was a second spell book, wasn’t there?” Varsin asked, glancing down at his notes. “It says here it’s been sold for twenty gold. I take it that means it wasn’t as valuable as the shaping magic?”

“It’s a book of minor enchantment spells,” Ellerie said. “Unfortunately, casting permanent enchantments is a skill that’s been mostly lost. I bought the book myself for its historical significance, but Lady Hildra negotiated to borrow it as part of her payment for the shaping magic. Leena will retrieve it for me the next time she visits the city.”

Hildra wasn’t a wizard and didn’t have to study spells from spell books, but when she’d copied the shaping spells, she’d explained that she could read the wizard language and had occasionally managed to teach herself spells that way. Ellerie didn’t mention that, though, not wanting to make the brothers curious about Hildra’s interest in enchantment magic.

“Ahh, yes, Leena,” Burton said. “That’s a very handy skill she has. Please let her know that if she’s willing to come work for the Senshall Trading Company, we’d like to double the previous offer Marco made. That would be … what was it, Marco? Eight? So we would like to offer sixteen silver per day.”

That was an incredible sum for anyone other than a wealthy merchant or a powerful wizard, so Ellerie tried to let him down easy. “I’ll tell her, but I don’t think she’s planning to take on any other work right now.”

Burton nodded but frowned. “There’s got to be more of these Travelers down in Sanvar, right? Why haven’t we heard about them before now? Do you think she could find someone else for us?”

“I’m sure they’d listen to an offer, but I don’t know if the empress will allow them to work in the north. It was only through luck that Leena signed on to the expedition. She needed to go to Cordaea, and she wasn’t practiced enough at Traveling yet to do it that way.”

Burton sighed. “I suppose all we can do is ask.” He turned to his brother. “What’s next?”

“The unsold inventory,” Varsin said. “According to the manifest, we have two enchanted rings—one allows the wearer to breathe underwater, and the other allows the wearer to ignore hot and cold weather. There’s a lamp that provides heat rather than light, and a pair of spectacles that … this says it sees through illusion magic. Illusions are false images, yes? So this lets you see what’s really there?”

“Yes,” Ellerie said. “Hildra was more comfortable trading in weapons and armor, so we brought a few things back with us.” It had actually been Marco’s idea, but she wasn’t sure if he’d admitted that to the brothers. In addition to trading for the tower shield, Hildra had ended up buying the stiletto, the mace, the longsword, and the small case of arrows, saying she’d be able to sell them all eventually. She’d found a buyer for the matched set of mage lights before the group had even left Aencyr.

Varsin nodded. “Magical enchantments aren’t our typical stock in trade, but we do deal in rare objects on occasion. There’s a wizard that helps us with that—a man by the name of Deshin. If he agrees with these prices, the Senshall Trading Company is willing to purchase the items. That way, we can close out our ledger with you and the other charter members now, rather than making you wait.”

Doing so would allow Senshall to make more of a profit by holding onto the items until they found buyers who would be willing to pay higher prices, but the arrangement would be convenient for Ellerie’s friends. They wouldn’t have to wait for some unknown length of time before receiving the final portion of their shares.

“Does that mean you’ll do the same for the miscellaneous artifacts?” she asked. Marco had gathered a trove of small items—mostly pottery, metal buttons and buckles, jewelry, and children’s toys. Marco’s treasure, as Ellerie privately thought of it, would take a long time to sell, but he had a list of contacts who were interested in historical artifacts, and Bobo had given him some names to consider in Matagor.

“Yes, with the exception of the two ceramic figurines—the fox and the owl,” Varsin said. “I’ll buy those myself, to commemorate the success of our venture.” He flipped through the final few pages of the contract. “It looks like that covers everything that wasn’t already accounted for. Lady Ellerie, does the rest of the list look accurate?”

Ellerie glanced over Marco’s thorough accounting, noticing a few omissions which could only have been deliberate. “Yes, this seems right,” she said.

Varsin smiled. “Then as soon as Deshin has verified the last few prices, we can disburse the remaining funds. I trust you’ll let us know of any further investigation you make into the ruins, and inform us when we can announce the location?”

“Of course,” Ellerie said. “I don’t plan to delay any longer than necessary. I’ll send you a copy of the book once it’s complete.”

“I would appreciate that.”

They made their farewells, and Ellerie gave Marco a quick tilt of her head before leaving. He followed her out.

“You didn’t tell them about the maul or the staff,” she said once they’d reached the courtyard, away from anyone who could overhear. “Or the Mage Knights’ weapons and armor.”

The factor shrugged. “Why borrow trouble? Right now, everyone’s happy. You paid off the investors’ loan, and they earned a great deal of money besides. They have a new business venture to keep them occupied, and they’re already talking about expanding my role in the company. I don’t see any reason to introduce complications. Besides, they wouldn’t want to risk offending you now that they know who you are.”

“You’re not acting any differently now that you know.” She’d finally told him the truth before he’d met with the brothers, so he wouldn’t be taken by surprise.

“If you’d wanted me to treat you differently, you would have said something before now. Besides, you’re not as rude as Duke Voss or the king were when I negotiated deals with them.”

Ellerie couldn’t help laughing. “Thank you, Marco. I know you like your job here, but if you ever find yourself heading west, look for us. I’ll be returning to Tir Yadar someday, and could use someone who knows the language and is already familiar with the work.”

Marco quirked his lips into a small smile, one of the few she’d ever seen on him. “I don’t imagine I’ll be leaving Tyrsall again for a good long while, but I appreciate the offer.”

They parted ways then, and Ellerie headed back to the inn with a sense of satisfaction. The expedition had been a success, and her four-year quest to find Tir Yadar was over. Now she could focus on writing her books, and let Corec deal with the headache of being in charge for a while.

#

“Duke Voss seems happy you found that Tir you were looking for,” Yelena said, pulling her cloak tight around herself against the cold breeze on the promenade. “He owns a small share in the Senshall Trading Company.”

Corec hadn’t realized the subject of the expedition had been discussed in the halls of the ducal palace.

“I don’t think they’re going to announce it right away,” he said. “Ellerie wants to explore the city more before anyone else sees it.”

“No matter,” she said. “Voss takes the long view. Long enough that it’s time for me to move on, before he gets me involved in any more of his schemes. I’ve decided on Sanvara City, but it’ll take a year or so to shut down my operations here and transfer them south.”

She stopped to watch the ships in the harbor. It had been her idea to meet on the promenade, away from the palace.

“Does that mean you’ll be taking on a new name?” Corec asked.

“I haven’t decided yet. No one in Sanvar knows who Yelena is, and I’ll be far enough away from Tyrsall that even the people I continue to correspond with won’t realize I’m not aging. As long as I don’t run into the Tyrsallian ambassador, I’ll be fine.”

Corec nodded. “I wanted to let you know that we managed to find Three in Cordaea. Or she found us.”

“Who is she?” Yelena asked, her demeanor changing in an instant, from casually bored to intent and alert. It made Corec wonder just how much of her behavior was an act—a performance to put him at ease, perhaps, like the act she kept up to convince Duke Voss she was something other than what she truly was.

“That’s not my secret to tell,” Corec said. “Not unless you’ll let me share your identity with her. She’s willing if you are.”

Yelena was quiet for a moment. “I’ll have to think about that,” she said. “Right now, you, Shayliel, and the First are the only wardens who know who I am.”

“Is the secrecy really necessary?” Corec asked. “I don’t see why the wardens need to avoid each other. It makes more sense to work together.” The wardens had been allies in Ariadne’s day, but Corec couldn’t bring that up. Ariadne was a complicated topic. The Chosar woman didn’t want to draw attention to herself, and she’d decided not to speak to Yelena after learning the woman was much younger than Hildra.

“Work together to what purpose?” Yelena asked. “Shayliel was friendly enough, but she never told me what she’s up to, sailing all over the world the way she does. And I certainly don’t trust the First—I’m not sure his mind is all there. You’re the only one of us who goes around babbling to everyone you meet about what your plans are. Do you really see yourself working with Prince Rusol after he tried to have you killed?”

She complained about Corec being too forthcoming, but he was already keeping secrets from her. Was he starting to become like Yelena himself? Perhaps she had good reasons for her spying and her secrets and her lies.

“I’m not saying we all have to agree on everything, but we should be willing to talk,” he said. “If we at least acknowledged each other’s existence, maybe the problem with Rusol wouldn’t have happened at all.”

Yelena shrugged. “Perhaps, but is it worth the risk? I don’t know anything useful about the others. Take Rusol, for instance. My people in Matagor mentioned the mercenaries he’s been recruiting, but you already knew about that. He’s not well liked, but nobody can point to any particular reason why. I think it’s simply because he’s not his brother—Prince Rikard was very popular. Rusol has been quiet since becoming the heir to the throne, and he was practically unknown prior to that. I haven’t been able to learn anything about why he might want to kill another warden. He seems harmless, yet he obviously isn’t.”

“Razai thinks he killed his brother.”

Yelena gave him an odd look. “The demonborn woman you bonded in High Cove? I thought she disappeared.”

“The Senshall investors hired her to accompany the expedition,” Corec said. “Oh, and the First was right—Three was able to teach me how to end the warden bond. I did that for Razai.”

“Not for the others?”

“They changed their minds.”

Yelena shook her head. “That silver elf didn’t seem very happy about the binding spell.”

“We get along,” Corec said simply. Yelena didn’t need to know the details of his friendship with Ellerie. The elven woman had never actually said she’d changed her mind, but she’d also never asked him to end the bond. “Haven’t you ever had something in your head telling you you’re picking the right person?” He still felt the strangely familiar sensation from both Bobo and Ariadne, but he hadn’t figured out what to do about it, or if it even meant anything.

“No. Well, I suppose with Venni, I had a pretty good idea from the beginning, but I still made sure to get to know her first. Perhaps you’re a better judge of character than I. But remember, you’ve only had a year or so with them. See how you feel a century from now.”

Corec nodded. “I guess we can always go our separate ways if we need to.” Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

“I take it there haven’t been any more incidents?”

He had to think back. Razai was the last person he’d bonded unwillingly. “No,” he said. “I’ve got it under control. But I hired Razai to check things out for me in Larso, so we reactivated the bond.”

“Doesn’t she hate you?”

“I wouldn’t say that, but I did have to promise to end the bond again as soon as we’re done. I only renewed it to make it easier to find her in case there’s trouble.” He didn’t mention Leena. She was wary of Sarlo—and, by extension, Yelena—after she’d realized Sarlo had been courting her to become one of Yelena’s bondmates. Corec wasn’t sure how Yelena would react if she learned he’d bonded Leena himself. Another secret.

“Well, you don’t need me to give you advice about your friends, or your enemies, but watch your back.”

“I’ll be careful,” Corec said. “Is Venni around? I thought she might come with you.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking to spend time with my wife?”

He laughed. “I wanted to ask if she’d be willing to part with one of those old battle wizard spell books she brought from Matagor. I met someone who needs one.” It had turned out that Ariadne learned new arcane spells the same way wizards did. She claimed she didn’t need to practice the spells she already knew, but she couldn’t learn any others without a spell book.

“Venni will take on students from time to time, but she doesn’t just give those books away. Are you training this person?”

“She’s trained already, but her spell book was lost. She’s willing to pay for a new one.”

“Well, Venni’s out of the city right now. She, Tarsi, and Jakar are hunting imps near High Cove. We’re not sure if it’s a new infestation or if a group of them escaped when you fought the demons last year.”

Corec nodded, having to stop himself from offering to help. He would be busy enough taking care of his own problems. Yelena and her bondmates were certainly capable of dealing with a few imps—or even demons, if it came down to it.

“There was something else I learned in Cordaea,” he started. “What do you know about warden gifts?” He kept his voice even, trying not to sound accusatory. Yelena had claimed she’d told him everything he needed to know.

“Gifts? What gifts?” Her expression was puzzled.

“The First mentioned them, and Three told me more.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Each warden has a gift—something to do with their magic. I think the First’s is the way he can talk to us in our dreams. That’s what he hinted at, anyway. Three’s gift is related to her magic, too.”

Yelena stared at him for a moment before turning back to the bay with a thoughtful look on her face. “Warding spells,” she said. “It’s got to be. I warded the entire city against demons, and I don’t even have to renew the wards. I can just maintain them in my mind. I figured I’d just never met anyone else who was really good with warding spells before, but now it makes more sense. What about you?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t noticed anything unusual.”

“You can cast arcane spells while wearing metal armor,” Yelena mentioned. “That’s unusual.”

That was a simple enough answer. Perhaps it was the right one.

#

Wolf could run faster than any normal beast could move. With his mind whole once more, and his connection to the totemic realm fully restored, he no longer even needed to take time to eat or sleep.

His current quarry, however, was proving frustratingly elusive. The bird flew low to the ground, dodging trees and keeping well out of Wolf’s reach. When it got too far ahead, it landed and checked behind itself to make sure he was still following. Then, just before he could catch up, it took off again.

Raven, stop! he called out in his mind. Can’t you hear me?

The raven ignored him, flying between two trees into a large clearing, then changing directions and disappearing from sight behind the foliage.

Wolf burst into the clearing, his gaze darting back and forth, but the raven was nowhere to be found. Fifty feet away, atop a short mound of earth, was a broken-down shrine in the style the humans had once used when they wished to communicate with the totems. Judging by the shrine’s appearance, they no longer did so.

Wolf stalked forward cautiously, sniffing the air. Just before he reached the stone structure, he felt a tug on his tail, and then a stinging sensation. He whirled around to find the bird flitting away with a tuft of his fur in its beak, as if it was a fledgling raven attempting to convince a wolf pup to play, rather than one of the oldest sentient beings in existence.

Raven flew in a circle around the clearing before alighting at the top of the shrine, where there once would have been a stone carving indicating which totem it was dedicated to. The bird stared down at Wolf, its head cocked to the side as if mocking him.

Raven! Wolf called again. Listen to me!

Raven stayed put this time rather than flying off again.

What happened? Wolf asked. I found Bear, but he couldn’t speak. Where’s Eagle? How long have I been gone?

Raven didn’t respond, but there was a hint of intelligence left in his eyes that Wolf hadn’t seen in Bear’s.

Was it Snake? Wolf said. Did Snake do this to you?

There was no answer.

What was Snake up to? Why kill everyone? With Deception as his aspect, Snake had always been able to hide from any sort of scrying magic, making it harder to see how his interference would affect future probabilities.

Wolf’s last memory before the long darkness had come when he’d been exploring northern Aravadora and had encountered a small gathering of humans conducting a strange ritual around a shrine dedicated to Snake. Wolf hadn’t even been aware that there were shrines to Snake. There had been something odd about the man conducting the ritual—odd, yet familiar. Before Wolf had figured out the puzzle, Snake arrived, the first time Wolf had seen his brother in centuries.

Snake had tried to distract him, but when Wolf pressed him about the shrine and ritual, his brother struck without warning, taking Wolf by surprise and sinking his fangs into his neck.

It was the first time any of the totems had attacked another. By the time Wolf was fully lucid again, the only thing he was certain of was that a great deal of time had passed. The world smelled different now. The same plants still grew, the same creatures still roamed, but somehow it was different.

How had he returned to consciousness? It could only have been the tree-dweller who’d done it. No; tree-dweller was a wolf thought. It had to be the vasta, the elven woman. As her potential futures had suggested, she must have found the Staff of Life, reestablishing its connection to the Collision.

The Staff was Wolf’s great pride … and his great sorrow. It had been his idea, after seeing horrific visions of the elves’ future. The humans in the southern continent had begun to discover their power over the arcane magic native to the mortal realm. They would soon invent wizardry to control it, leaving the elves at a severe disadvantage once the two peoples encountered each other for the first time.

So, with the help of all of his brothers except for Snake, Wolf had created the Staff of Life, using it to grant the elven people their own magic—elder magic, the raw power of nature, the magic of the Collision itself. And, to ensure they used that magic wisely, it had granted them the tree bond, allowing them to live in harmony with each other and their world.

Wolf’s plan worked. The vasta druids, now the masters of elder magic, used the Staff and their own powers to manage and cultivate their lands and forests, forming a nation that would face the humans on even terms. When the human kingdoms built ships and sailed north for the first time, the two peoples became allies rather than enemies, stronger together than either were alone.

Unfortunately, nothing lasted forever. The druid warden Iris, ashamed of what her people did to the Chosar during the Second Demon War, delivered the Staff to the new Chosar leaders for safekeeping. The other wardens discovered the secret the elves had kept from them—that it was possible to combine the different magics together into more powerful spells. Eventually, that led their researchers to question the warden bond, and the way it anchored itself to something that couldn’t be seen. Inventing a new sort of mage sight, they’d followed the bond beyond the mortal realm to its origin in the Collision. What they learned that day had later led them to their ill-fated attempt to destabilize the realms. They hadn’t understood the truth behind the Collision—they’d simply seen the conjunction of magics as a source of power they could take for themselves.

But the Burning and the wardens weren’t a problem for today. After Owl’s death and the abrupt appearance of the new gods, who’d soon learned to cross into the totemic realm at will, Wolf and his brothers had taken a step back from any major interference in the mortal realm. They hadn’t wished to precipitate further disasters.

So what had Snake been doing that day?

If I came back, why didn’t you? Wolf asked Raven. If the connection to the Collision was reestablished, shouldn’t Raven have felt it as well? What else could Wolf do? Where is Eagle? Where is Deer?

“Dead!” Raven squawked. “Dead! Find fawx! Find fawx!”

Fox? Fox was all that was left to stand against Snake? Sure, Fox was Cunning, but he was also flighty and irresponsible, easily tempted by distractions. Fox was low on the list of beings Wolf would trust with anything important. Did he have a choice, though? If Fox was the only one left, wishing otherwise wouldn’t make it so.

Wolf gave Raven a grateful nod, then turned and loped away, not even sure yet where he was going. He scanned through future probabilities, trying to calculate the most optimal path.

Wisdom was dead, but perhaps Cunning and Discovery, working together, could devise an answer.