"All right. So clearly you don't have anything else useful to say about Orannis. But what about Katrel? How did he get so much power? For that matter, could it happen again? Maybe even to somebody who already has a grudge against us?"

"Yes," replied Mogget. "It very well could. In fact, it would probably happen to somebody who doesn't like us very much. It happened to Hedge, for one. As for how, I've told you before. The power transfer occurs when part of a Shiner or their bell metal is absorbed by a human body. Orannis' splinter was where the three we know of got their extra power. And if someone was to bathe in the right spot on the Ratterlin, they might get some of mine."

"So, if Sam and I had touched the metal down in the well, we might have gained something from whatever bell we touched?

"No! If anything, it would kill you. If you touched Astarael, that is. The rest would just prick your fingers. If you'd been paying attention before, you would have known that an Abhorsen's bells are but a pathetic replica of our own.

"But then how would anybody get the power of any Shiner but you or Orannis? Nobody knows where the true bells are hidden, and the other Shiner's certainly aren't coming back. What if all the other bells were destroyed, and we needed another set?" As an Abhorsen, Lirael was naturally concerned for her descendants.

"You could get another set," Mogget said this in the tone that usually meant you were going to get an unexpected and decidedly nasty surprise. "But you wouldn't like the how."

"Tell us anyway," she recklessly said. "You aren't going to be here forever."

"You would need to find, or create, somebody whose blood has the power of the first seven Shiners."

"And just how would we go about creating such a person?"

"How do you think?" The cat sat back on his haunches and smirked.

Lirael's face took on the color of a freshly picked strawberry. "But ... but we're related! Distantly, but still..."

"All the more reason not to lose the ones you do have."

"Anyways," she said, clearing her throat. "Should we need to go, there, where and how is the rest of their power stored?"

"Admittedly, we weren't very creative on that count. Their metal is in the shape of bells, though a hundred times larger than your own. As for where, they are beyond the stars."

†††

'Orannis,' he called, and soon was answered by his presence. 'Why do we need Yrael's bell anyway? Its cold here, and it'll take forever to get down all these stairs.'

"Would you rather bring me Yrael himself?'

'Sure, he can't turn into anything useful.'

'The correct answer was no.'

Katrel suddenly felt like he'd run into a glass wall, and knew Orannis had severed their link.

†††

"Right," Lirael said after clearing her throat yet again. So has anyone actually tried to absorb power directly from a Shiner?"

"Twice." The cat swished his tail in obvious agitation. "Both failed."

'Twice,' she thought, tapping a pen against her lips. 'One's almost certainly when someone got that shard from Orannis, but the other...'

She sat up straight in her seat. "Did Kerrigor try to absorb you?"

"Yes. Not that it would have worked even if the former Abhorsen had been there."

'Prideful old cat. He just won't admit that he was in trouble. From Sabriel's story, he was next to gone before she used the ring. Her pen froze in mid-tap.

'But if Kerrigor was trying to gain his power, why did he have to destruct the Charter first? With the power of a Shiner, that would have been simple. And yet he went for destruction first. That would have doubled the difficulty.' Try as she might, Lirael couldn't accept that Kerrigor was just not that dumb. If he was, it would have been far easier to catch him. 'Unless...

There had been no Abhorsen when Kerrigor broke the Great Stones. Another would have been split if there was. That, and the Abhorsen could have preserved the lines of the rest of the family. But if there wasn't an Abhorsen, who bound Touchstone? And just as importantly, why?' It seemed a good time to use the dark mirror.

"Goodbye, Mogget," she chimed. Once the door was shut behind her, Lirael allowed a small laugh to escape. The cat would be going half mad wondering why she was being so cordial.

Not half an hour later, she was on the other side of the river, though rather sodden from her use of the stepping stones. At least she could enter into Death here.

But what to see first? If something, or someone pursued her, she'd likely have to leave the rest for another day. She could banish one or two with her bells, but that would only beckon more, and she could not entirely rid Death of its inhabitants. She settled on seeing them in chronological order. The Third Precinct would be far enough for the first viewing, but there was the threat of waves. Fourth Precinct it was, then.

Even as she breached the border, she could feel something coming towards her. It lunged from the water while her eyes were adjusting to the dim light. The spirit was vaguely snake-shaped, she realized, but that took no more thought that did the flick of her sword that dismembered it sinuous form. The less she used magic, the better.

Luckily, the rest of her journey was uneventful, and the Fourth Precinct was nearly empty of Dead. Lirael slid the Dark Mirror from its pouch at her waist and pressed the catch. A quick touch to the edge of her blade, and a drop of blood spread across the mirror's dark surface. "The Charter was once ... crippled," she said. "I would see how this was done." Once again the suns of years past danced by her eyes. They were a familiar sight now, but what came next shocked her. There was Touchstone, and a man that could have been his twin but for the unnatural light in his eyes. They were with a woman who was surely their mother, the Queen. And they were headed toward the reservoir. Dread welled up in her stomach. She knew what had happened next, but that didn't make it any easier to keep watching. Already she could make out Rogir's dark-cowled sorcerers. On the far side of the reservoir, the Queen and a few guards were harried onto the barge.

Lirael could almost hear Rogir's thoughts. 'Two for the blood, two for the breaking.' A sickening giggle was halted before it could reach his lips. He stepped forward, offering a hand to his mother. The gesture turned into a vise-grip on both her hands. His other hand came up, wielding the saw-toothed knife. In an instant the Queen's throat was sliced, blood spilling into the cup Rogir held.

From nowhere, a sword whizzed past the Queen to impale him. Touchstone stepped into sight, face contorted with shock and rage. Rogir laughed. "You can destroy this body, brother. But you can never kill me."

Bells rang from the stairwell. Rogir screamed in pure agony. Already slipping into Death, he cast a spell to take Touchstone's spirit with him.

He stopped himself just short of the First Gate. 'He's too strong now.' The thought rang clear with truth in Lirael's head. 'I'll have to return later, when I'm not weakened.' Rogir cast another spell to trap his brother's spirit beneath the surface of the river. 'Now, to secure the body...' He pushed back into Life, but found his body skewered by the Abhorsen's sword. He retreated hastily, then returned. This time it was Touchstone's body he occupied. Rogir crept up the stairs, eyes tearing appropriately just in case anyone should notice him.

A good thing he did, for the Abhorsen laid a hand on his shoulder on the way up. Without thinking, Rogir freed Touchstone's blade and slew him. He took the rest of the steps at a run. There would be questions if the blood was seen on his sword.

The scene faded, and Lirael clicked the mirror shut. Perhaps she would have to go farther into Death after all. The Fifth Precinct called, and she would answer it.