The guards rushed forward surrounding Karux and his students with a circle of bright shiny death. "Drop your spear!" the leader demanded, jabbing at Garanth, then called over his shoulder. "Go get the armsmaster!" A young man turned and raced back into the city.

Garanth hesitated. These weren't untrained farmers with boar spears. These were, apparently, trained warriors with double-headed spears like his own. They seemed to have some idea of how to use them and what they were capable of. Still, he doubted their training was as rigorous as his or that their instructors had seen the type of combat his own instructors had—facing angorym and drwg in the far north.

Garanth took careful note of their numbers, their positions and the distance to each. He had trained to fight multiple opponents and, as he watched them nervously shift their feet and the grip on their weapons, he considered his chances of taking them all on. He thought he could probably succeed. Surprisingly, the idea of trying did not frighten him.

"Better drop it," Karux said. "You might have a chance here, but I don't think the rest of us would. Besides, I came to find out about this Collective."

Garanth tossed his spear to the ground in disgust and one of the guards darted in and picked it up. The other guards relaxed a little, some of them giving audible sighs. Garanth smiled when he realized they hadn't asked for his sword. The smile seemed to make them nervous.

"I can't believe you'd be so foolish as to return here, Oracle," the apparent leader said.

"Why is that?"

"We haven't forgotten your unprovoked attack on us."

"Funny, that's not how I remember it."

"Then maybe we can jog your memory." The leader gave Karux a little jab with his spear. "Many men from our soreavs lost fathers in your attack."

The armsmaster, an older man wearing leather armor but carrying no spear, approached from inside the gate. "What's going on here?"

"We've caught the oracle of the north!" the guard's leader said.

"Don't be absurd." The armsmaster turned on Karux. "Who are you?"

Karux smiled, and Garanth wondered what would happen if he simply gave them a different name.

"I'm Karux of Har-Tor."

"See! He admits it," the spear leader said defensively.

"And what, by the sacred stone, would the Oracle of the north be doing here?" the armsmaster demanded.

"I am looking for a way to break the curse. Since it started here, well, here I am."

The armsmaster glared at Karux a moment and then turned to the spear leader. "He's probably a harmless lunatic, but we'll have to let the council decide what to do with him. In the meantime, take them all to Taelis' barn and bar them inside."

<====|==|====>

Apaidia rose, grabbed a shawl and threw it over her head. Andral had wandered off again, something he was doing with increasing frequency. The regulars were starting to line up outside the door, waiting to consult the elemental spirits and he was nowhere to be found. "I'll get him. You go round up more customers."

Pronos stood with a drinking bowl in one hand, peering through the slats in the shuttered windows. "Do you know where he is?"

"He always goes to the same place when he's upset, Sarco's slaughter yard."

"He's been doing that a lot lately."

"Something is bothering him, but he won't tell me what it is." Andral was at the age where young boys stop listening to their madras and start imitating their adras. Unfortunately, Andral didn't have an adra and Pronos refused to treat him as anything other than kerma he could trade to some merchant for a better life.

Pronos sipped from his bowl. "Well, tell him to straighten up. He needs to do a better job. The number of people showing up has dropped to nearly half what it was a year ago."

"You think I don't know that?" Apaidia snapped. "Perhaps you should spend less time drinking in the taverns and work harder to bring them in?"

Don't start with me!" Pronos raised his fist as if to strike her.

Apaidia lifted her chin defiantly, daring him to hit her.

Pronos hesitated, shook his fist and turned away. In that moment, she realized he needed her more than she needed him. He needed her to ensure Andral's cooperation. That recognition sent a thrill of joy through her.

Pronos turned back to the window. "The problem is that he's just not saying anything anyone wants to hear. He needs to cough up something more interesting, the meaning of life or warnings of future disasters..."

"The elementals speak for themselves. He has nothing to do with it."

"Then he needs to have a talk with them. This help us, help us, help us nonsense isn't working. They need to understand that we won't be able to help them if they don't first help us."

"You just go collect more customers." Apaidia flung one end of her shawl over a shoulder and headed for the door. "I'll go get Andral." She stepped carefully past the disappointing number of clients waiting on her doorstep. She suspected a few were simply bums, using her steps as a bed.

Sarco's butcher shop was only a couple of streets away on a corner next to a tanner and a feed lot. No customers were currently waiting before his counter, so Sarco was chopping up meat at a side table. He regularly mixed the meat that hadn't sold with the parts no one would buy, to make sausage.

"Morning, Sarco."

"Good morning, Mahd Apaidia. How are you this day?"

"Well enough. Have you seen Andral?"

"I believe he's in the back helping to clean up. You can go back there if you like."

"Thank you." Apaidia circled around to the slaughter yard in the back. The stench of blood and rot and animal feces and urine was strong enough to rise above the general stink of the city and be noticed. Playing happily amidst it all, ten-year-old Andral looked as if he were at home.

"I think Dra Sarco likes to grind those up into meal," Apaidia said, catching Andral decorating the wooden rail surrounding the yard with the spinal columns of goats.

Andral ignored her, tying a spinal column down with a bit of cord and lining it up so that the attached skull laid nose-to-tail with the bones of the next goat. His twisted lower lip however, indicted he had heard her by sticking out a little further.

"Come with me, Andral. We must go back."

Andral's forehead furrowed in warning, dropping like an angry landslide over his mismatched eyes.

"People are waiting for us. They need our help."

"No."

"Only you can talk to the spirits."

"No!"

Something about his manner surprised Apaidia. It wasn't just stubbornness or childish defiance. She thought she detected the scent of fear. She bent over and looked him in his offset eyes. "Is there a reason you don't want to talk to the spirits?"

Andral looked up at her, his eyes watered and his lip began to tremble. "They want to eat me."

"They want to do what?"

"Eat me. Swallow me whole. Make me into them."

<====|==|====>

The guards of Nur were trying to manage the awkward feat of getting Karux, Garanth, Netac, Harkin and Corha in through the narrow space between their barriers while keeping them surrounded by spears, when a man in a yellow robe arrived. He stopped to watch the disturbance and Garanth noted a tattoo on his forehead of a circle within an oval within a triangle.

"What is going on here?"

"Dra, we've captured the Oracle of the north," the spear leader said.

The man in the yellow robe leaned forward. "The Oracle? Can it be?"

"Yes, Dra."

"Why would the Oracle be here?"

"He says he's here to find the source of the curse and break it."

"Is he now? And what are you doing with him?"

The spear leader looked nervous. "The armsmaster is consulting with the council of elders. In the meantime we're shutting him and his students up in Taelis' barn."

"That doesn't sound right," the yellow robe said. He turned to Karux. "Are you the one who's been putting the poles in the fields up north? The ones holding back the blight?"

"I am."

"And who are these people with you?"

"My students."

"You're teaching them your secrets?"

"Trying to."

The man in the yellow robe turned to the spear leader. "I think we can find better accommodations for our friends than a barn."

"Friends? This is the Oracle of the north! His soreav killed my father!"

"A lot of people died on both sides," the yellow-robed man snapped. "The important thing is he's here to break the curse."

The spear leader choked back his reply. "Yes, dra."

"Put them in Atopos' house. I'll arrange for a meeting with the council." The yellow robed man smiled at Karux, suddenly friendly again. "We'll also arrange refreshments for you and your students while you wait."

Karux nodded, though he wore dubious expression. Garanth looked at the spear points surrounding them. It wasn't like they had a choice.

"Put those away," the yellow-robed man said, following Garanth's gaze.

The guards raised their spears and look uncomfortable.

"Follow me," the spear leader grumbled.

The guards escorted them through the city. Garanth didn't see a single child in the streets and only caught a few glimpses of plain-clothed women, heads down, scurrying from one building to another. The group passed through a large square on the way to a hill where the nicer houses clustered, the sort of square where merchants would normally gather to cry out their wares, competing against each other for customers in a near carnival atmosphere. The merchant square was empty. Wooden stalls that had once held trade goods were instead used to store tools and other equipment.

Karux nudged Garanth and pointed to a large hill. Its steep slopes were covered in grass and a lone ironwood tree spread its dark limbs protectively over its summit. Karux had already told him about the building of stairs, the building he had seen in his dream, and how they had buried his mother inside before pulling it down on her.

Garanth's step faltered. He stared over his shoulder at the spreading tree as they turned onto the uphill road. He only had the one memory of her: her lying in the bed bleeding.

A charred ruin of a mansion moldered at the top of the rise. They stopped at a large neighboring house. "Wait here," the spear leader said and went inside. Moments passed. Muffled shouting began and more voices joined in. The shouting reached a crescendo before being abruptly silenced. More minutes passed in silence before Garanth heard a rustle and a thumping on the other side of the front door.

A well-dressed and furiously red-faced man, carrying an armload of clothes, stomped out refusing to look up. A woman, presumably his wife, followed carrying more clothes, glaring at each of them as she passed. A string of children ranging from the early teens down to five or six, each carrying bundles of their own, followed in line. The spear leader appeared at the door and beckoned them inside. "The high official Atopos has graciously allowed you to stay in his home for as long as you decide to remain in the city."

"We will try not to inconvenience him any longer than we have to," Karux said following the spear leader's gesture inside.

"Think nothing of it," the spear leader said with a slight smirk.

Three young women, each wearing identical plain dresses, stood waiting in a row. "These are the nec'ha; they will prepare your meals and see to it that you are cared for."

Karux turned to the nec'ha "What are your names?"

"We...don't...talk to the nec'ha," the spear leader interrupted, "except to give them their instructions. It's not...customary. They are trained to be as unobtrusive yet responsive as possible."

The spear leader showed them into the main room. 'You may rest and eat in here." He gestured to doors at either side. "And there are beds in here for you and your students."

"Beds?" Karux asked.

"The council of elders is very busy. I don't know when the faithful sons will be able to get you an appointment, though hopefully soon."

"The faithful sons?"

"The faithful sons of the mountain, the man dressed in yellow was one. The faithful sons directly assist the council and see to the day-to-day affairs of the city."

"Very well. I'm sure we'll manage."

"Then I must take my leave. I have important matters to attend to. If you have any needs, the nec'ha will see to it."

The spear leader left and the students exchanged startled glances.

"What is going on here?" Garanth demanded.

"I think we are being very gently held prisoners here," Karux said.

"Why?" Corha asked.

Karux sat in a chair and sighed in relief. "If I had to guess, they are without an Oracle and are hoping to refill that role."

"With you?" Harkin asked incredulously.

Karux nodded. "Or one of you."

"Perhaps they are simply hoping you can help them lift the curse," Netac suggested, "since they live right in the middle of it."

"That is also a possibility," Karux said. "Not one I put much faith in..."

Garanth had started to pace and found himself loosening his sword in its scabbard. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait, obviously," Netac said.

"Or eat," Harkin suggested.

Everyone followed his gaze to the three nec'ha bringing in trenchers loaded with food. Karux and his students sat and ate. As one platter was emptied another was brought in, loaded with even more food than the last. It was hard to imagine where such a feast had come from while in the middle of the blight. Garanth had paused in growing discomfort when the yellow-robed man returned.

"Good news!" He spread his arms as if making a big announcement. "As soon as I told the council who had come to visit our city, they dropped everything on their schedule and agreed to meet with you." He smiled broadly. "Right now."

Karux took up his staff and rose from his chair. Garanth rose as well and looked for his sword.

"No." The yellow-robed man smiled. "Just the oracle."

Garanth gave Karux a questioning look and Karux shook his head. "It would be best if you stayed here and helped keep an eye on the others."

He cast an eye on Harkin who held up a drinking bowl while one of the nec'ha poured beer into it.

"Make sure they don't drink too much."

Garanth nodded and watched Karux leave with the yellow-robed man. He felt strangely helpless despite the sword lying against the table.

"What do you think they're going to do with him?" Harking asked.

"Nothing he doesn't want," Garanth said. "You saw what he did to those wolves."

"Maybe they're going to try and help him lift the curse," Netac suggested with a slightly indignant tone.

"I don't know," Corha said. "He did kill a lot of their people."

"And yet all their land remains cursed," Netac said. "Which do you think is their greater concern?"

"I wonder if they blame him for that too." Garanth said.

The nec'ha returned with a course of sweets, and a couple of young men in baker's aprons helped them carry in the trays.

Harkin looked back and forth between the other students. "Maybe now is the time to do it?"

"Do what?" Corha asked.

"Go claim the you-know-what."

"No, Harkin." Corha said.

"If I could get away, I could be halfway to the source by morning."

The young men in the baker's aprons began setting out new drinking bowls.

"If you could," Garanth rolled his eyes towards the servers. "There are a lot of spears between here and there."

Harkin glanced at the nec'ha. "They can't watch everywhere. If nothing else, there are always boats."

"I'd like to see you try to row a boat," Netac scoffed.

"The point is that in two days we might be able to lift this curse. If we can convince them that any one of us could do that, why—not only would they let us go—they'd carry us to the source on their shoulders!"

Netac shrugged as if he couldn't argue with that. He picked up one of the new bowls placed before him, tried to drink, but found it empty.

"If you'll pardon me." One of the servers stood nearby, smiling and holding a clay jar. "We've managed to acquire some rare faeyn wine from a Dinu trader. I think you'll like it."

"Oh!" Corha said. "I've heard of this."

"You have?" Garanth asked. He had been all over the land between the two rivers with Karux and, while he had heard of the mysterious faeyn, he hadn't heard of their wine.

"Yes. It's supposed to be very good and very hard to get."

"I assure you it is both." The server poured some into her bowl and she sipped it, making pleased sounds. "Try it," the server suggested to the others, filling their bowls.

They each tried it. The wine tasted both sweet and a little sour. It had a jumble of flavors mixed together with some sort of fruit being among them. Both Netac and Harkin looked thoughtful and uncertain.

"Have some more," the server urged. He topped off their bowls. "It usually takes several sips before your tongue learns to fully taste its flavor."

Garanth tried another sip, then another. He had to admit to himself that the faint bitterness began to fade and the fruity sweetness came through more strongly. He also began to detect an almost flowery flavor that he smelled as much as tasted.

Minutes passed in thoughtful sipping. "I think I begin to see why people like this stuff," Netac said, his words slurring a little. A server moved to top off his bowl the moment he sat it down, though it was still mostly full.

"No more for me," Corha said slowly. "I'm feeling very sleepy." She laid her head down on the table.

"Me too," Harkin said.

"I thought you were...I thought you..." Garanth tried to ask him if he still planned on sneaking out, but his thoughts kept slipping away. The color seemed to have gone out of the room and he was filled with a warm fuzzy feeling. He discovered his eyes were closed and dragged them open. I must be tired, he thought, after the third time. I think I'll take a short nap while we wait.

He was asleep before his head hit the table.