Coen had never moved so far so quickly in his entire life. They had kept up their rapid pace all night, only pausing to rest at noon the next day. There were no signs that Niira had passed through this area. She hadn't even left a trail in the forest they now made their way through.

"Damn it," Coen panted. "How'd she get so good at this?"

Lavitz didn't offer an opinion. He just kept moving through the forest, leading Coen through the trees. The younger knight stopped momentarily to catch his breath. He glared at Lavitz. One would never expect a man of Lavitz's build to be able to move like this. Or maybe Coen was just young and inexperienced and not used to such travels. He laughed a bit to himself before hurrying to catch up with the First Knight. That's what everyone said about him, that he was too young and lacking the experience to be leading a knighthood. Lavitz was about my age when he became the First Knight though. But I suppose those were different circumstances.

He grimaced. I suppose people have a right to hate me though. I knew exactly what my father was doing and I did nothing to stop him. Since he's as good as dead now, all those deaths are on my hands.

And now, I've failed to get the Moon Scintillation, and Niira's run off like an insane person. Gods above, if I'm responsible for hers and Albert's death too, I'll be hunted down by the people and killed whether or not it's legal.

No. I won't let that happen. We'll get Niira, and we'll find the Moon Scintillation too. Whatever it takes.

I am not a murderer.

He found the strength to keep pace with Lavitz. He would set things right, even if he had to die for it.

-----

Thank goodness Kitty stayed near Bale. Niira had been able to ride him most of the way to the rendezvous point, which saved a lot of time on her trip. As they drew near to where Niira estimated the place to be, she turned the gryff back towards Bale. Kitty was confused at being told to leave without her, but being the well-trained animal that he was, he obeyed. Niira spent the rest of the day pacing the edge of the forest, trying to work up the courage to walk into the enemy's hand.

Early the next morning, she walked from the forest and didn't look back. Up ahead, nestled in the foot of the mountains at one of the passes, was an old fort, abandoned since the Serdian Civil War. The walls were half collapsed, and even from where she stood she could see the charred stains on the rocks from a fire that must have been the fort's destruction.

She was very surprised when she saw a signal flare shoot up from behind the walls. They're in the fort...but why use it when it's so dilapidated? Swallowing nervously, she forced herself to continue forward. Her only knowledge was that Phoenix, while being a perverted dictator, was not one to break bargains. She would give herself to him, and the Moon Scintillation would be sent to Bale. And that would be the end of this.

She stopped when she noticed a small detachment of musteliforms crawl out from some hidden nooks in the fallen walls of the fort. They were trailed by the flitting figure of an avian. She hesitated. They have avians fighting for them now? Her mind was busy thinking of the ramifications of this as the rat-people approached. Before, one of the few advantages the followers of Serpent Mother had possessed was the avians and their ability to attack from well beyond the reach of arrows and thrown stones. But now that was gone...

The welcome group reached her.

Being rat-people, none of them stood above her shoulder, but that didn't make them any less fearsome. The avian, who was much taller and sported ashy feathers, landed next to the mustelid in front. It was the same messenger who had come to Bale a few days before.

The creature grinned, not a pleasant gesture. "So eager you decided to come early?"

Niira didn't answer that. "What about your end of the exchange?"

The rat-person shook his head. "First. Your dragoon spirit. Hand it over."

The half-blood stared at him.

"You are our prisoner now. We're not about to risk allowing such power in the hands of a captive. Hand it over." He held out his paw to her.

She didn't like this arrangement one bit, but someone else's life was on the line. Shakily she fished the stone out from its hidden pocket, freeing the chain from her belt. The orb's smooth surface felt warm in her hand, comforting like a familiar presence. As she set the object in the rat-person's hand, she felt her dragon questioning her in the back of her mind. Then the feeling faded as the messenger handed it to the avian.

"Set it with the moon stone. And tell the magicians to prepare to destroy them both."

"What!" Niira blinked, confused.

He looked back at her coolly as the avian flew back to the fort.

"You...what about the exchange?" Niira growled in rage.

"The bargain is over!" he snapped.

"What are you talking about?"

The scouts inform me that you're being followed by some Serdian knights. They'll be here by sundown tomorrow at the latest."

"What!" Niira clenched her fists. "I knew nothing of this. I kept the bargain."

"But they did not. That was part of the deal, wasn't it, that you would come alone?" Th rat-person snorted. "It was your side that broke the pact. We now have the choice to break our part of it, and we shall." He nodded to the rest of his group. "Take her down to the prison. Phoenix will let us know what we should do with her."

-----

She had to have come this way. There was no other way that Kitty would be so far away from Bale. Coen didn't know the beast, but Lavitz assured him that the gryff would not have come this far south unless he had been with someone he knew. Since Reezy was, they assumed, still back in Bale, that meant Kitty had followed Niira.

They sat in the the forest, looking across a rock-strewn field to a decrepit fort in the mountains. They had seen some of the avian Northlanders flying to it, so they felt safe in assuming that's where Niira now was.

That place hasn't been used since the beginning of the Serdian War, Coen thought. Why use it now? Or maybe that's why she's been taken there, nobody would think to look there.

Getting into the place left a bit of a problem. The only way to get to the fort was by walking across the plains, where they would be easily spotted before they could even get halfway to the fort. Coen sighed and half-drew his sword, looking at the blade. Things did not look good.

Kitty touched his beak to Coen's hand. The young knight sheathed his weapon and ran his hand over the smooth curve of Kitty's beak. "We'll figure this out," he said softly.

Lavitz had been silently observing the fort ever since it had come into view. Coen could tell he was livid at the fact that a foreign army had infiltrated his country so well and had escaped detection this long. But at the same time, he could tell the First Knight was figuring out a way in. There was no visible activity besides the avians' flight. No guards they could see.

Either they're very, very good at hiding, or it's just a front. There's something going on that's hidden further back in the mountains. There has to be.

"They have to be using the rear portions of the fort," Lavitz said, confirming Coen's suspicions. "They probably came down through Tiberoa--hence the trouble in Rogue--then used the pass here to get through to Serdio."

"That doesn't help us with our problem of getting into the place."

"Anything we do will be suicide. There's nowhere to hide once we leave the forest."

"I told you, this whole thing is like some twisted idea of honorable suicide," Coen mumbled. "So, what's your plan?"

Lavitz glanced at Kitty, who was sitting calmly nearby. "Might as well go out in style."