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(12) The soldiers had suffered only minor injuries from the fight, some shallow cuts from the serrated silver blades. Armadyl and Ikov ordered the collection of the bodies of the slain, which they burned upon the beach. The empty stone dwellings were searched for supplies. There the soldiers found dry wood, stores of fresh water, strange skins from which the black robes were made, and frozen cuts of black meat. Armadyl and Ikov ordered the skins and meats to be left alone but had the soldiers take the wood and water. That night Ikov walked through the camp, listening to and encouraging the troops. All were shaken by the strange battle, especially those who had killed women and children, women and children who had attacked them in silence. A few soldiers disobeyed the command to leave alone the black meat; they ate it and immediately became sick. Ikov kept watch over them throughout the night, but by the morning they had died. After their bodies were burned on pyres, Armadyl had the army assemble before the stone altar.

(13) The soldiers cheered. In small groups they descended from the broken altar down the sandy slope into the gorge. To the east the gorge narrowed and the path lay in shadow. To the west, the gorge widened. Immediately the first soldiers to reach the bottom identified tracks leading to the west: first a fresh set of footprints, and then an older collection of many tracks, belonging to the soldiers missing from before - everyone captured by the cult had been cast into the gorge. Once the whole army had reached the bottom, Armadyl, Ikov, and their company marched west.

(14) Some soldiers went ahead, examining the tracks of those who had gone before them, while Armadyl, Ikov, and the rest of the army marched behind. Soon the sun hung low in the western sky, just above the southern wall. Armadyl called for the army to halt. Before the order was given to pitch camp, one of the scouts reported that the tracks became confused: at least two of the soldiers' footprints led nowhere; one led up to and then stopped at a wall of rock. Ikov followed the scout to where the footprints stopped. He studied them, but he could discern nothing from them. He dismissed the scout and stood alone before the end of footprints which led up to a shadowed wall of rock. Ikov placed his feet in the footprints, and mimicked the steps, walking right into the shadow cast across the wall. But he did not hit the rock; he took a few more steps and emerged again into the waning light. He had passed through an unseen crevice in the wall and emerged in a small cove opening back onto the main path. From there he could see Armadyl on the main path, standing in the midst of the army. Another rock formation lay at the opening of the cove, which he would have to crawl under or climb over in order to reach the camp.

(15) Ikov approached the rock formation. The climb over would be short, but the edge over which he would climb was sharp. He bent down and looked under it: the way was clear and the sandy floor smooth. He crawled under and emerged again into the light from the setting sun. He found himself between the walls of the gorge as he expected, but neither Armadyl nor the army was there. He feared he had stumbled into an illusion. He listened for the voices of his troops, but he heard nothing within the gorge. He noticed only the growing shadows as the sun began to sink behind the southern wall. He crawled back under the rock formation, but it made no difference. He was alone in the gorge. He returned to the main path and walked toward the west, keeping away from the wall in shadow.

(16) In minutes the shadow had shrouded the whole floor of the gorge. He looked at the darkened ground. It was not simply dark. It glowed with a dull, red light, as did every place in shadow. He studied it and could see through it: every surface in shadow had become red and transparent; he looked through the ground and saw beneath him strange creatures, demons of every shape, watching him, waiting to feast upon him. Terror struck him. He looked up to see the last arc of the sun set behind wall of rock. As shadow enveloped him, he saw the demons leap upon toward him from below, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the glare of the sun's last light reflected upon a face of rock on the northern wall. He threw himself at the reflected light, and just as he had stepped through shadow minutes before, he fell through the lighted rock and into another cove, slamming into a warm body crouched against the wall.

(17) "My lord Ikov!" he heard. It was the man thrown into the gorge the day before. He grabbed Ikov, clinging to his leather armor. "Help me," he whispered. Ikov heard singing, loud singing, fast and nervous. It was his army. The gorge was dark. The company was close, just beyond the opening of the cove. He stood up, lifting the man with him. "No! I don't want to move!"

(18) "We have to move," said Ikov, gently, "Walk with me." Placing his arm around the man's shoulder, they walked slowly toward the entrance of the cove, and the sound of singing. They turned the corner, and no army was there; the sound of singing had ceased. Immediately Ikov saw the gleam of moonlight upon a surface to his left; he pulled the man with him and threw them both into the rock. They fell through it and onto the main path, right next to their army. Right away two soldiers lifted them up and dragged them into the midst of the troops.

(19) Ikov was set down before Armadyl. The army was arranged in a number of concentric circles; soldiers locked arms with their neighbors, all facing inward; they were singing and dancing in step, moving in circles. Armadyl stood in the center with Ikov. Armadyl explained: "The gorge is a trap; spirits lead astray anyone whose mind is idle for more than a few moments. Once drawn into an unstable space, one becomes a victim for demons beyond the world. We've already lost about twenty soldiers. I have them singing and dancing like this in order to keep them distracted and together. We can wait for any who might escape like you did, and then we can run west - slow enough to make it out, fast enough to keep anyone from wandering; we should make it out of the gorge before sunset tomorrow."

(20) Ikov pulled himself up on one knee, still dazed. "Unstable spaces?" he asked.

(21) "There are many strange places beyond realms of light," said Armadyl, "When we leave the light, we enter lonely places, hidden in shadow by the spirits and magics of the world. Beyond these spaces lies abyssal darkness, where the demons hunt."

(22) The god continued, "This gorge is filled with portals that lead to unstable pockets of space - these spaces are unstable because they exist for only as long as the demons sustain them. They are like nets in which the demons capture their prey. It seems to me that the unfortunate people we met on the beaches had developed rituals to protect their minds against the invitations of the demons to enter the gorge - they had built altars to block every path down into it - they busied themselves with meaningless activities, and sacrificed their captives in an attempt to appease the demons. Those people were driven mad."

(23) Armadyl finished: "The boundaries of the world are weak here. The demon of the mountain entered the world through this gorge, and through it he fled. Some spirit sustains this wound in the world - that is the spirit we must overcome."

(24) Soon Armadyl ordered the troops to run. They remained arm in arm or holding hands, and they sang as much as they could manage. Those who were too exhausted or who had escaped from the demons were carried on the backs of others. They ran through the night and through the following day. Just before sunset they emerged once again into the cold wind and kept running until they reached the shelter of the hills. Armadyl chose a defensible location, and there they pitched camp. They ate from their rations, and but for the watchmen they slept deeply.

(25) After one more day of rest, Armadyl announced to the troops, "We have rations to last us another month. Ikov and I must return to the coast to deal with the spirit haunting that miserable land. You will stay here. There is wood and water in the hills, and no enemies who will threaten us yet. Remain here and rest while we are away. Do not lose hope." Then Armadyl and Ikov left them and walked east, back along the beach. They stopped to sleep for only very short intervals and ate little. They endured again the wind and the cold. After about ten days they arrived at the eastern end of the ridge, and the totem of black, volcanic glass they had seen after leaving their camp within the mountain.

(26) Ikov looked at the demonic figure and followed its somber gaze across the sandy plain to the ridge and the alternative paths which it had presented to the army weeks before: the beach on its north side and the gorge on its south side. Ikov turned back to the figure and sat down to study it. Armadyl stood several paces away and watched. Ikov sat before the toppled pillar for some hours, feeling for the spirit present there. It was a quiet spirit; it communicated no more than the gaze of the glassy eyes, looking upon the beach and gorge.

(27) At last, Ikov spoke. "No," he said to the spirit, "I won't accept the choice you give me." He stood up; he walked up to the statue and placed his hand upon it - but his hand passed through it. It was no statue but an illusion, a play of light and shadow. Sensing no danger, he threw himself into the pillar and tumbled a few feet onto a sandy floor in the cave beyond. He knew he had not passed through a portal but only through the illusion.

(28) He looked around. The cavern was small, not as tall as he was, so that he could not stand up. It was as wide as the statue was long and about half as deep. Around him were pools of still, metallic liquid, reflective on their surface like quicksilver. The back wall of the cavern was covered in a mosaic of tiny tiles of black, volcanic glass; the mosaic created the illusion of the demonic figure seen from the outside. Ikov turned to the front of the cavern. Above him he saw the wide entrance, as wide as the illusion outside. Beneath, nestled within a small aclove, he saw a source of light. Set upon a carved rock was a crystal, about the size of his fist; it was hollow and glowing white. He grasped it. It felt fragile in his hand. The spirit of the crystal did not speak to him. He smashed the crystal against the rock. It shattered, and the light was gone.

(29) Ikov climbed out of the cavern. Armadyl simply nodded his approval. He said, "Now we can fly across this land." Armadyl lifted up the exhausted Ikov and took flight. Within a day they had rejoined their army and were sooned prepared to explore the hill country. They had overcome the spirit of the coast after only one month.

- a reserve in case of errors in the preceding sections -

- a reserve in case of errors in the preceding sections -

- a reserve in case of errors in the preceding sections -