The horses of the Deena Shee galloped tirelessly as the sun rose behind them, kindling the spikes and horns of the mountains of Hy Brassail so that they shone like polished brass.

For the first time since Tania had embarked on this quest, she felt elated and full of confidence, riding through the foothills with Edric at her side and Connor and Rathina close behind. Some benevolent power was watching over them—of that she was now certain. It had sent Michael and Rose to her when all had seemed lost; it had guided her footsteps when she was faltering.

“Who is it doing this?” Tania wondered.

“Our benefactor is indeed mysterious,” Rathina observed. “Our father has great gifts and potencies at his command, as does our sister Eden—but surely they are too consumed by the burden of the Gildensleep to offer us such aid.”

“And if it is Oberon, why the secrecy?” added Connor. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Could the Dream Weaver be behind it?” Tania asked.

“From what you’ve told me, the Dream Weaver’s power faded while you were crossing the sea,” said Edric. “No, some other mystic force is at work here, although I cannot say what it is.”

“How about someone using the Dark Arts?” Connor asked.

Edric shook his head. “I don’t think so. It feels like some power over and above all the Mystic Arts. But I have no idea what.”

“Then it must remain a conundrum,” said Rathina. “Let us seek not to pierce its veil but be glad of its succor!”

Tania assumed there had to be some reason for the secrecy; their guardian angel must have some purpose in not revealing him or herself. They had no choice but to trust that all would be revealed in good time.

“Whatever it is, let’s hope it keeps helping,” she said. “Because if it stops now, we’re in big trouble.”

Events had moved quickly since Tania and Edric had freed the nine lords of Erin from the Green Lady’s enchantments.

They had been given four of the magical horses: two red, one green, and one yellow. The strange animals seemed to need no guidance: no pull of reins or bridle, no urging on with knees and heels. The moment Tania and Edric were astride their high backs, the two red horses had galloped out through the cleft of Ashling dar Dair and were away like the wind, the green and the yellow horses following.

They had found Rathina and Connor sitting together on the blasted hillside—newly awoken, dazed and bewildered in a land now lost to magic, a land over which the morning sun was rising like molten gold. A land cupped in a horizon of purple mountains that no longer shifted and changed.

“Saddle up!” Tania had shouted gleefully as Rathina and Connor had stood up, staring at the horses of the Deena Shee. “The enchantress is gone.” Her horse had reared, neighing loudly and striking at the air with its red hooves. “Quickly! Nothing can stop us now.”

Connor had been stunned by the appearance of the extraordinary steeds.

“Did they come in those colors?” he had asked in amazement.

“They’re not ordinary horses, Connor,” Tania had called down.

“You don’t say?”

Rathina and Connor had climbed into the saddle, and the four horses had turned to the west and run as though to outdo the shafts of golden sunlight that came shooting out of the east.

* * *

As the morning grew, so the pathway to the west became steadily steeper and narrower. There was no clear border between Erin and the western mountains, but Tania guessed they were well into Hy Brassail by now. Crags and buttresses of stone towered all around them, and the sound of the horses’ hooves echoed between the peaks like an endless growl of thunder. But the horses of the Deena Shee were not daunted by the dangerous passes. They threaded their way confidently between the pinnacles of the mountains. And Tania trusted them, despite the narrow ravines and the dark gulfs. After all, what other hope had they in this bleak land but these supernatural steeds?

Tania looked back from one lofty aerie—a brown wall of rock to her left and a fathomless drop to her right. Behind them the land of Erin lay green and serene in the midday sunshine. The Gormenwood and the land of Alba were lost in a powdery blue haze.

They had come so far!

And yet . . . Now that her euphoria had faded she couldn’t help but remember what Rose had told her.

To seek for Tirnanog you must travel through Erin and over the pathless mountains of Hy Brassail to the shore of the Limitless Ocean. Tirnanog lies beyond that ocean, but there is no ship that can take you across that vast water, and even if a ship could be found, Tirnanog lies beyond the edge of the world. . . .

She hadn’t told the others about this. They had come all this way, overcoming so many obstacles and dangers together—they didn’t need to know that she had been told Tirnanog was beyond their reach. Besides, Rose had also told her that nothing was impossible. . . .

Not with your true love by your side, with honest hand in true love given . . .

Edric was at her side now, and they would never be parted again. The Dark Arts still seethed behind his eyes, but together they would find a way to rid him of them. The Dark Arts would not split them up again. Nothing would ever do that.

They were in a deep canyon, and the sun was in the high afternoon sky, hazy above the towering peaks. So far in all this craggy land they had seen no living thing except for a few straggly bushes and trees and the occasional clump of tough, spiky grass.

Waterfalls pounded down from the high escarpments, looking like streaks of silver ribbon hung from the tall cliffs. A white haze rolled out over the floor of the ravine, engulfing the four riders, misting their clothes and bedewing their faces.

“Do you see that?” called Connor. Tania turned in the saddle. He was pointing up high. “Some kind of bird, I think,” he said. “A big one. Except . . .”

She followed the line of his finger. Yes, there was something up there gliding among the peaks on wide, still wings. A bird, obviously, but an oddly shaped bird: a diamond-shaped bird with a huge head, crested and heavy-beaked, so that its head and neck reminded Tania of a pickax.

“A strange bird,” said Rathina. “It has no feathers or my eyes play tricks.”

There was silence as the four of them watched the creature circle between the mountaintops. Then they noticed that with each lazy loop the bird was dropping a little deeper into the chasm.

“We should get out of here,” Connor said, his voice strained. “I don’t like the look of that thing’s big beak.”

“It’s huge,” Edric said. “And Rathina is right: It doesn’t have feathers. The wings are just stretched skin, like a bat’s.”

“It’s getting closer,” said Connor, sounding panicky now. “And there’s no way that thing is a bat!”

The horses sensed their alarm. Tania was almost torn from the saddle as hers broke into a sudden gallop.

Along the narrow path they stormed, clinging to their horses as they sped through the waterfall mist, half blinded by the spray, drenched and gasping.

Tania heard a ghastly leathery flapping. A shadow filled the gorge and the air was torn by a high-pitched shrieking. She glanced up. The thing was immense—gliding now only a few yards above them, its membranous wings blotting out the sun, its claws reaching down.

“Get you gone!” Rathina shouted. Tania saw a flash of gray light through the mist: Rathina’s iron sword cleaving the air.

The monster screeched again, its beak opening wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

Tania had no weapon, no way of fighting the creature.

The iron sword flashed again in Rathina’s grip, and this time its keen edge found a mark, severing a claw from a groping foot. The creature screamed in pain, jerking up, pulling away, flapping its vast wings.

The last Tania saw of the monster was a pale shape above them, fading away to nothing among the peaks.

“What was that?” said Connor, gasping, his face white.

“Some abomination from ancient times, mayhap,” said Rathina. “But where one such fiend dwells, others must surely have found a home!”

“Then let’s get out of this valley before they come for us,” said Tania.

Their encounter with the flying creature had been frightening but mercifully brief. How would they fare if they were attacked by a whole flock of them? Tania did not want to find out.

The deeper they traveled into the barren mountains of Hy Brassail, the more the shadows gathered.

But it was not the shadows that disturbed Tania most. More alarming to her was a growing weariness that she fought to keep hidden from her companions. It came over her in wracking pulses, making her limbs feel leaden and aching through every sinew of her body. She gritted her teeth when the exhaustion was at its worst, noticing how Rathina’s shoulders slumped— knowing that her sister must also be suffering.

They saw no more of the flying creatures, but they heard bellowing and roaring from afar—or so they hoped—and they were startled by the occasional uncertain glimpse of a skulking shape among the rocks or the clatter of claws on stone as something scuttled out of sight.

As she was the only one still bearing a weapon, Rathina took the lead, her iron sword in her hand, her head turning as she scanned the rugged landscape for any sight of the beasts.

But none showed themselves.

As the evening came down and the night began to gather in black pools all around them, Tania saw eyes staring from out of the darkness. Eyes that reflected the fading light. Green eyes and yellow. Slitted eyes that watched and waited.

It was almost full night when they rode up onto a plateau and found themselves on the brink of a wide, dark lake, hemmed in on two sides by steep walls but offering a slender path around and a flat, open space at the far shore.

“This is as good a place as any to spend the night,” Tania said. “At least here nothing will be able to creep up on us without being seen.”

“How far to the coast, I wonder,” mused Rathina as the horses picked their way past the inky lake. “I was hoping we would set our feet in Tirnanog before this day died.”

Tania was also uneasy about having to spend the night here—but the growing tiredness was becoming too oppressive and she was desperate to rest.

As they made their way along the lakeside, the exhaustion welled suddenly through her body, invading her mind, draining her of energy and resolve. She toppled from the saddle, only just managing to clutch at the reins and get her legs under her as she slid from the animal’s back. The horse stopped, turning its head as though in concern.

Edric leaped from the saddle and was at her side in a moment, catching her.

She heard Rathina groan and saw her fall from the saddle and drop to her knees, her hand dragging on her horse’s reins. Connor was off his horse and by her side in an instant.

He looked apprehensively at Tania, his hands under Rathina’s arms, holding her upright as her head lolled on his shoulder. “How are they able to do this to you from so far away?”

“The bonds of family are not severed by the count of miles, Connor.” Rathina gasped, raising her head and gripping his shoulders. “The dire need of the House of Aurealis knows no limits.”

“But they’re going to bleed you white!” Connor said savagely. “Don’t you get that? If this goes on, they’re going to kill you.”

Tania looked dizzily at him. “They won’t do that,” she said. “It’s temporary. We’ll be better soon. Just give us a moment.”

“Tania?” Edric’s voice was full of concern.

She looked up into his worried face. She faked a smile and touched her fingers to his lips. “Shh! Don’t say anything. I’ve been feeling bad for a while now. But I’m sure it’ll go soon.”

Edric looked anxiously at her. “You never said.”

“There’s nothing you could have done about it,” Tania replied. “Just help me up. I’ll be fine.”

Edric’s lips were a thin, pale line as he brought Tania to her feet. Her legs felt weak and her head was swimming, but she was just about able to walk.

Her face contorted with the effort, Rathina also clambered to her feet, leaning heavily on Connor.

Supported by the two men, they came to the far end of the lake. The horses followed faithfully behind them and gathered together in the lee of the cliff, as though content to wait until they were needed again.

Tania bent over, kneading the aching muscles of her legs, feeling the weight of exhaustion lifting a little. She straightened up, breathing hard.

“There,” she said, resting her hand against Edric’s chest. “The worst is over.”

“For the moment,” he said.

Rathina also seemed to be recovering. Connor was standing close beside her.

Tania looked at them, wondering whether it was time to tell them that she had no idea how to get to Tirnanog, wondering how much farther they could go before the truth had to be revealed.