Three

The Hunter flew west along the Raksha Valley, following the course of the river Lethe. Westward over Sattin, where they had once booked passage across the Canopy: he and the priest, Senzei Reese, and the lady Ciani. It seemed a century ago. His goals had been so finite then, his self-definition so simple, so clear ... when had it all gotten so muddied?

He could feel the weight of his compact on his back as the strong feathered wings drew him closer and closer to home. In Mercia, in one thoughtless act, he had saved a civilization from ruin. The powers which sustained his unnatural life would surely condemn him for that, and take action to teach their wayward servant a lesson. The only question in his mind was when, and what form the "lesson" would take. They hadn't done anything yet. And though after a year of being unmolested he had begun to hope that they would continue to honor the compact which kept him alive, he had no illusion that he would go unpunished forever. The Unnamed was not known for compassion.

Soon the Raksha Valley broadened out into the Plain of Sheva, on the very doorstep of the Forest. He came to the ground there and reclaimed his human form, the better to study the currents in that place and see if there were any sign of Calesta's interference. But malignant power was sucked into the Forest here with such force that no trace remained outside its borders. In his months outside the Forest, he had forgotten just how strong it was. He could feel its pull on his own soul as he stood there, as if that whirlpool of malevolence would devour him whole. It had tried, once. He

had tamed it. And it took little effort now to resist its call, and to rise up on broad white wings once more, to review his domain.

Dare he hope that Calesta had focused his vengeance elsewhere and left the Forest alone? If so, it was a temporary respite, and the Hunter knew it. This place is my source, my nourishment. If he means to hurt me, then he will strike here. Even the fact that he could see no mark of Calesta's interference here didn't guarantee that the demon had been absent. A Iezu demon could easily conjure an illusion to cover his tracks, so that even an adept's Sight would be hard-pressed to make them out. Was there a limit to that skill? How many perfect illusions could a Iezu sustain at once? On that question, Gerald Tarrant suspected, their very lives might depend. If only he had more knowledge of the Iezu. Damn the code of behavior which bound them from interfering in each others' battles, which kept others of that kind from helping him!

There were trees beneath him now, and a tangled canopy of vines and branches so thick that even his special Sight couldn't see through to the ground beneath. The earth-fae which coursed below it sparkled through the canopy like stars, hinting at a power so vast that surely no single demon, Iezu or otherwise, could stand against it. He could feel the force of the Forest's fae coursing through his veins like blood, even from this height, invigorating him body and soul. Let Calesta test him now, with all his power at hand, and that Iezu would see how quickly and how ruthlessly the Hunter dealt with his enemies.

It was nearly dawn when he came to the observatory tower of his keep, jutting up from the tangled canopy like a sleek black spear. The sigils engraved upon its narrow roof reflected the moonlight like fire. He took care to avoid the circle they inscribed, a spot he had painstakingly scrubbed clean of all fae for the sake of Earth-like experimentation. That, too, seemed a lifetime ago. Had it really been less than three years ago that he had lived this isolated life, surrounded by nothing but his trees and his servants and his precious

experiments? Would that he could simply reclaim that life, and let the darkness of the Forest heal him of all the wounds the living world had inflicted! But that dream, though seductive, was not feasible at the moment. As long as Calesta lived and hated and plotted his Iezu vengeance, not even the Forest would be safe from his demonic predations.

Afterward, he promised himself. When all this is over, when Calesta is neutralized and my compact defended and Vryce has gone off to make a separate fate from mine ... then I will have the time and the leisure to find myself again. To define myself anew, on such terms that living men may never again compromise my spirit.

Amoril was waiting for him atop the tower. The taste of the albino's subservience, carried to him on the chill Forest breeze, was reassuringly familiar. Despite his hunger to resume his accustomed role in the Forest hierarchy, he remained circling for long minutes overhead, searching for some sign in the terrain below to warn him that Calesta had been active here. He was painfully aware of the futility of the act, given the nature of his enemy, yet he dared not sacrifice any possible advantage in this deadly war that the Iezu had declared. But he saw nothing to excite his suspicions, save a fleeting shadow that tasted of the Unnamed's special malevolence. That his patron-demon had been here was hardly a surprise. It had probably set out a Watcher to alert it to its servant's arrival, and was even now preparing its own special welcome for him. He shivered as the cold winds bore him in yet another circle, and tried not to think about what that welcome might be.

/ served you faithfully'for nine hundred years, he thought to it. As if it could hear him. As if it cared what he thought. And but for one moment of carelessness, I have never failed you. But he knew even that wasn't true, that in his travels with Vryce he had more than once pushed the envelope of the Unnamed's tolerance. God willing, when this all was over he would

have a chance to establish himself anew and cleanse the taint of Vryce's human spirit from his soul.

Finally he dropped to the tower and regained his human form, coldfire licking at his flesh as he transformed. The Prince of Jahanna, come home to claim his own.

As soon as he had human eyes with which to see, Amoril bowed deeply to him. "My lord." He evinced no surprise at Tarrant's return, which was as it should be. The man who had been assigned to watch over the Forest had damned well better Divine well enough and often enough to foresee that his Master was coming home.

"Is all well?" he asked shortly.

The albino nodded. "There was some trouble out by Mordreth last month-some of the prospectors decided that if they cleared a bit of the Forest their work would be easier-but we settled all that."

"You made a warning of them, I hope."

"I left them impaled on tree limbs, in such a posture that implied the trees might have more volition than Mordreth gives them credit for." His eyes sparkled redly. "They'll think twice before fetching their axes again."

"Excellent," he approved. And it was. A taste of normalcy, after so many months of tension.

The albino bowed again. "I had an excellent teacher."

Together they descended into the lightless depths of the keep itself, where even the moonlight was not allowed to intrude. Though the Forest outside was thriving, the building's interior had not done quite so well. There was dust in the numarble halls, he noticed, irritated. He thought in addition that there was a faint ammoniac smell, like that of stale urine, wafting toward them from a distant corridor. Had the albino's wolf charges been given free run of the keep? Perhaps Amoril himself had seen fit to mark the building in the manner of his pets; Tarrant wouldn't put it past him. He felt rage rise up inside him like a tidal wave, but then drew in a deep breath and forced himself to let it

go, unvoiced. For all he knew the smell wasn't even real, but a sensory illusion meant to foster discord between him and his servants. He wouldn't let it distract him now. Once Calesta was safely out of the picture there'd be time enough to teach Amoril the fine points of a Cleansing, and to see that he received sufficient practice in its use.

"What about the Forest?" he asked, forcing his thoughts onto other paths. "My latest Workings?"

"There was a problem with that disease you introduced into the scuttler population just before you left." It seemed to him that the albino was slightly on edge; was he anticipating retribution for his housekeeping failures, or was something more significant at the root of it? "It mutated spontaneously and was beginning to threaten other species. I isolated and destroyed the infected animals, which will hold the disease at bay for a while, but in the long run a more permanent solution will have to be found."

The Hunter nodded, his eyes never leaving his apprentice. "I'll design a counterphage for the new mutation. You have samples of the infected flesh?"

There was a door at the end of the corridor they were traversing; the albino pulled it open for him. "Of course, my lord."

"Such concern over minute biological detail is commendable, Amoril. I'm pleased by your development."

"One learns a lot when one is left alone, my lord."

Black halls, dark curtains, a lightless and soothing domain: he drew confidence from it step by step, and from the chill power flowing about his feet. This place was his strength, he thought. His soul. As long as he had the Forest, no man could stand against him.

And no demon either, he thought darkly. Not even a Iezu.

Down through the keep they went, Amoril following his lead in silence, until they reached his library. There, on shelves stacked ten feet high, were accumulated all his notes from the last five hundred years. Would that I had begun this work earlier! He withdrew a volume of demonological data and handed it to

Amoril. Would that I had understood, in the arrogance of my youth, just how much memory can be lost after nine hundred years.

The albino opened the book he had been handed and scanned its contents. "Iezu?" His tone was scornful.

"Calesta. You recall him?"

"Calesta." As he sought the proper memory, Tarrant worked a subtle Knowing and cast it about him. Had the Iezu tried to corrupt Amoril while he was in the east? There was no point in trying to Know that directly; the demon's illusions could mask any trace of contact. But a question like this, so casually voiced, so casually answered ... one might unravel that with care and uncover a hint of artifice, a fleeting breath of warning. "He was the one who tricked you, yes? Before you went east."

"Yes." Nothing. There was nothing. Despite himself he relaxed a bit. "Go through that volume," he commanded. "Look for his name, or anything like it. Or any mention of his aspect, which is sadism. As for his intentions ..." He looked at Amoril and relaxed a bit. What had he expected? That the one man who needed him most would betray him?

Take nothing for granted, Hunter-not your lands, not your people, not even your own power. When your very senses can be warped by another, everything must be suspect.

"We're at war," he warned the albino. "So be careful. Unless I can find some means of killing a Iezu ... things may get very unpleasant."

The albino shrugged. "They're all just demons in the end, right? How hard can it be?"

Oh, my apprentice. How little you understand!

He set three more volumes down, which were likely to contain notes on the Iezu. Considering how many Iezu there were and how long they had been active, it seemed a painfully insufficient collection. He would have given anything for Ciani of Faraday's notebooks right now; she had specialized in that demonic family, and must have uncovered countless bits of lore in her many years of study. But she was in the rakhlands now,

and all her notebooks were ash. Not for the first time, he cursed Senzei Reese for his damnable shortsightedness. Better to shed human blood for sacrifice-even one's own-than destroy such treasures as that. "My lord?"

He looked up, saw that Amoril had not even opened his book. "What is it?"

"I have a gift for you." He grinned, displaying sharpened teeth. "A homecoming present, which I prepared when I Divined you coming. If I may be excused to fetch it?"

Distracted by the task at hand, he nodded. Perhaps he should contact the lady Ciani. Not with a Working, of course; the fae-wall which the rakh had erected about their domain would prevent him from using the currents to reach her. But perhaps he and Vryce should consider a trek to that land, or at least to its border. It was a good bet that she had useful knowledge, and she should be willing to help him. After all, she had once been his apprentice....

She's also a loremaster, and that kind values its neutrality. How strong are her vows, I wonder? Would she help us win our war if she knew that the fate of humanity might hang in the balance? Or would that be all the more reason not to get involved?

The scent of blood reached him just before the scent of fear; startled, he looked up.

It was Amoril, with a woman in tow. The albino grinned. "I thought you might be hungry after your long flight." He had bound her hands behind her, and held the end of the binding thong like a leash. She strained against it like a wild animal, consumed by the kind of terror no human heart could sustain for long. She knew who he was, then. Good. It would save him the trouble of inspiring fresh fear. Not that he didn't hunger for such sport-God knows, after eleven months on that damned ship he could use a hunt-but for once he didn't want to spare the time.

How good it was to be home again, where women were raised to fear him! How good it was to have five centuries of the Hunter's reputation to draw upon, to

lend flavor to an otherwise quick snack. Her fear was sweet and hot and he drank it in with relish. When he was done, he let the body fall and motioned for Amoril to take it away. Let the albino feed it to his pets if he liked; the warm blood would please them.

But even the pleasure of a kill could not distract him for long. He began to go through his notes, page by page, searching for something useful. Anything. He didn't expect to find notes on Calesta himself, or any instructions on how to dispatch Iezu. But somewhere, buried in the recorded discoveries of five centuries, there must be a single useful mote of knowledge. Somewhere.

Believe that, he thought darkly, as he turned the ancient pages, binding fae as he did so to support their brittle substance. Have faith in it. Because without that one hope, we are surely doomed.