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.Hisgoals were much loftier. We want to restore order back toour world.Natural order. By bringing chaos and destruction?Seems a bit barbaric to me. Without that first initial chaos, ourworld wouldn t even exist.We wouldn texist.Without chaos we can never haveorder and balance. What about progress? Darinasked, getting tired of Acari spompousness. A people must move forward to be enlightened.Surely youunderstand that. Acari s eyebrow lifted. Yes, butwhat does progress have to do withmachines and electricity and thedestruction of the natural world aroundus? True enlightenment comes fromwithin not without.But I wouldn t expecta power-hungry sorcerer to understandthat. Darin knew arguing with a zealotwas futile.If he learned anything fromhis father it was that politics had nothingto do with personal feelings andopinions.It was about what path to taketo ultimately get what a man wanted. Acari and his followers might beignorant misguided fools, but they hadwhat he needed.A way to destroy hisrivals.He d just have to find a way towork it to his advantage. I would think many of your peopledo not share your ideals.Your uncleAmathon, for example. Acari s eyes hardened.He dobviously hit a nerve mentioning thecouncilman. My uncle is misguided.Brainwashed by the humans andsorcerers he socializes with. That may be but he has an armyready and willing to fight. And we will have the morrigan. Acari ran his fingers through thewoman s tangle of red curls, likestroking a pet. True, but what if I could guaranteeyou that his army will be no threat? Avaira brightened at that.It wasobvious the woman, despite her words,didn t want to see her father harmed orkilled. Why spill elven blood when youdon t need to? he continued.Acari studied him for a long moment. How can you achieve this? Darin heard the disbelief and derision in his voice but he ignored itand said, Amathon owes my family hisposition on the council and his wealth.As you said, he will do anything to keepthese things. Acari smiled although there was nowarmth in it whatsoever. I suspect youwill have that opportunity to kill theDavenports as you wish. He stroked ahand over the woman s fiery head. Won t he, my dear? She glared at Darin. Sebastian willcome for me, and when he does, youwill all pay. There was something in her voicethat sent shivers down Darin s back.It sounded like an omen, or things to come.And he wasn t completely certain hewas ready to face that. Chapter EighteenWhere was Duncan? Drea knewshe d get in trouble if she didn t keepwatch on her little brother.Her mothertold her that he was her responsibilitywhile they were visiting Uncle Richardin the mountains.She definitely didn twant a scolding. Duncan! she shouted. Duncan,where are you? Does she have to be so loud? Drea glanced at the tall man with thefancy jacket.She didn t like him one bit.He was always complaining, whininglike a little boy.She didn t know why he had to come with them to find Duncan.She certainly hadn t invited him.She tapped the shoulder of thepointy-eared man she was riding with. Why is he coming with us? I don t likehim very much. Never mind him and concentrate onfinding your brother. He pointed to arocky path that wound its way up aroundone of the big mountains. Did he go thisway? She glanced around at the plainthey d been riding across.UncleRichard s cabin was just past the copseof evergreens to the left.Sheremembered the strong smell of those trees.She looked back at the trailleading into the rock crags, whereDuncan s cap had fallen off when he drun from her. Yes, he went that way.We shouldstop to get his hat.Father will not behappy one bit if he loses it. We ll stop for it on the way back,after we find Duncan. She smiled.That made better sense.The pointy-eared man was very smart.He also had nice hair.She played herhand through it.It was so soft. Can I plait your hair? It s pretty. The fancy man laughed, then said, She sounds like an imbecile.What didyou do to her? She scowled at him. What s wrongwith you, stupid? She s in a drugged state whereshe s the young girl who saw themorrigan.She s taking us to that place. Drea had no idea what the pointy-eared man had said but she was justhappy that it made the fancy man shut up.She turned and glared at him again. Myfriend Sebastian is going to punch you inthe face. Is that right? And just where is thisSebastian? I don t see him. He gesturedaround. You re all alone, girl. Oh don t worry, he s coming andwhen he does you ll be sorry. Shesqueezed her hand around the medallionshe wore around her neck.Drea didn t know how long theyrode, but it was definitely long enoughthat her rear-end was sore.She alsodidn t feel very well.Her stomachchurned and her body was sweaty.Herdress stuck to her skin. Stop, she said. Where? Here.Here.There s a cave. The pointy-eared man stopped thehorse.The others stopped as well.They were still on the rocky path betweenmountain faces. There is no cave. He gesturedaround. I don t feel well. She leaned overon the right side and retched.It felt asthough her insides were coming out.When she sat back up, everythingstarted to spin.She was falling.Shereached for the pointy-eared man s shirttoo late.She landed on the ground withan audible thunk.The impact expelledthe air from her lungs.She could barelybreathe.The pointy-eared man dismountedand crouched next to her. Where is this cave? Tears sprang to her eyes.Painrippled up and down her body.Her bellycramped again and she had to pull herknees up to stop from retching.Shepointed to the rock. Touch it.It sthere. He stood and studied the rock wall.He placed his hands against it andsmoothed them around.Eventually asmile lifted his lips, then there was aclicking noise.The rock wall moved up,like the drawbridge of a very tall castle.Beyond the wall was the cave.The cave where she saw the monstercrush her little brother with its large metal foot.The tears came even harder.She could barely breathe as a soberupted from her throat. Duncan! she cried.The pain was so intense in her chest,she struggled to get air.The pointy-eared man looked downat her. Thank you, Drea.You did well. She wanted to scream at him, tellhim he could go to hell, but everythingwas beginning to fade from her mind.The man, the horses, the mountain.Evenher.She tried to cling to something tostop from falling into oblivion.She reached out for someone, for anything toaid her.Her hand landed on a boot.Sheblinked up at the fancy man.He sneereddown at her and shook off her hand. Night, sweetheart. Then she tumbled backward into thedarkness and was lost.* * *When she came to again, she wasinside the cave.It was cold and dryinside the mountain.She was lying onher side on the hard ground, discarded inthe corner like waste.There was ahorrendous taste in her mouth from theherbs and mushrooms she d ingested.She was surprised the elves hadn t poisoned her for good.According totheir methods so far, she didn t think herlife meant much to them
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