Actinaea peered into the depths of the crystal. No amount of poking, 
prodding, prying, magical probing, or praying had yielded any results 
in getting it to re-activate. A faint glow emitted from the center, 
though, as if it was active but dormant. No matter how it had brought 
them here, it was unlikely to bring them home.

It had occurred to her that the crystal could be eavesdropping on them 
in some way, and at the peak of her frustration, Actinaea had stepped 
outside the ramshackle shed and vented several mule-handler's oaths 
directly into the cursed thing. If she was lucky, perhaps she had set 
somebody's hair on fire on the other end.

"You're sure that you don't know how to work it, Mariposa?" she asked, 
for the ninth time.

Mari's head rose a fraction from her corner, where she had piled 
various bits of old tools and hides into a little nest. "No, Actinaea-
san, I DON'T."

"Don't take that tone with me..."

"Sorry." The girl huddled in on herself a bit tighter, and Actinaea's 
flare of anger died out. They were all soaking wet, and a fire big 
enough to dry them out would have also burned down their shelter. 
"Really, I never worked it myself. I just waited it for it to come on."

Luanna poked at the fire experimentally, feeding another half-rotted 
plank into the flames. "It's not your fault, Mari-chan."

Actinaea sneezed, shivering inside a wet robe. "I'm sorry as well. This 
isn't the time to worry about things like that."

"Not your fault that we're stuck hundreds of miles away, freezing, with 
nothing but the clothes on our backs..."

"Luanni!" Actinaea glowered. "That's not going to make anybody feel 
better."

"Just grousing." Luanni met her gaze levelly, and the two stared at 
each other for a moment before breaking off. "Long day."

The rain continued to beat down on (and in a few places, through) the 
roof. Actinaea reclined against the wall and stared out the one window 
of the shed. Lightning played from cloud to cloud, occasionally 
crashing down somewhere in the distance.

It hadn't taken long for them to find the abandoned woodcutter's shed, 
even running through a torrential downpour. The forest trail outside, 
if it wasn't washed away completely, even gave them somewhere to go the 
next morning. Things weren't too bleak.

Even so... "Mari, your mother has lousy aim."

"Yeah."

- = -

Slayers Glorious #24
Separated! And There's Something About Mari?
by Avatar

- = -

"Luanni?"

Getehl stared at the empty spot where his friends had just stood. The 
road dipped, a perfect spherical arc nipped out from the ground, much 
neater than any person could have sculpted the cobblestones.

"Ace?!"

Years of reflexes started kicking in, rerouting his awareness and 
movement around his brain. Magic, of course, but Torr didn't have magic 
that could just... get rid of people, right? He'd have used it before, 
right?

A gloved hand touched his shoulder, and he rounded, hand gripping a 
sword that he hadn't remembered drawing until his knuckles turned 
white. Rounded, and stopped, looking at Naga's face. Something cold 
behind those eyes swallowed his rage, and he lowered his weapon, took 
a step back. Those eyes weren't laughing, or crying, or... they didn't 
feel, which was funny, because the rest of Naga was as stiff-backed as 
a post. 

Not turning her gaze from the shallow depression, Naga gently pushed 
Getehl aside and walked to the edge. It couldn't have been more than 
eight feet across. What the hell could take a bite out of stone, that 
cleanly?

Naga sighed, the coldness going out of her like a pricked balloon, and 
she turned. "Teleporation spell. They're okay, just... somewhere else."

Relief flooded through him, so powerful that he suddenly felt silly. Of 
course it wasn't... that. Of course they were okay. "Where?" he said, 
wiping his brow with one arm.

Spikes rose and dipped as Naga shrugged. "There's no way to tell. 
Probably to the center of a stronghold or a dungeon." Not all the 
tension was gone, and there was still a bit of that ice behind her 
eyes.

Getehl bit back his first question. If she couldn't do it, she couldn't 
do it. "Did Torr do this?"

"While we were talking to him?" Naga shook her head. "Perhaps his 
sponsor, trying for Mari and... who knows how they think?"
 
"Torr's gone."

"Run from the White Serpent?" Naga didn't even laugh, and her smile was 
more like a grimace than an expression of mirth. "He's twenty years too 
young to get away from me." Hands came up, starting a gesture.

Getehl blurted, "We can't! Damn, they must have planned this ambush. 
Now, he's got three hostages."

"Does he?" Naga asked. "You're right; we have to do something about 
that, first. I won't let them hurt Mari-chan..." Seeing Getehl's sudden 
look, she hastily added, "Or the others, of course."

"Great. Just great." Getehl's sword slammed into its scabbard. "So, if 
we can't fight Torr and we can't find them, what can we do?"

Naga laughed, loudly and with full confidence restored. "Do you give up 
so easily? The indomitable Naga-sama has already devised a cunning 
plan. Hurry, fetch our luggage; we'll have to move quickly."

Getehl was halfway back to the inn before he realized that Naga had 
remained behind, apparently studying the crater. A moment's irritation 
at being sent out like some sort of lackey was quickly replaced by 
worry. He couldn't decide if he was more concerned for Mari, Ace, or 
Luanni, but the three together quickened his steps as he collected 
their small amount of traveling equipment.

- = -

The night passed uneventfully, even if they were all miserable with 
cold and damp, and the morning was both calm and clear.

"Breakfast would be nice," Luanni offered.

"We don't have any breakfast," Actinaea called over her shoulder, 
picking her way up the rocky trail.

"I know. Just saying that it would be nice, that's all."

Mari grumbled, evidently feeling the effects of hunger herself. 
"Actinaea-san?"

"Don't worry, there's a village up ahead. It should only be a little 
way longer."

Luanni eyed the sorceress doubtfully. "How would you know?"

"I grew up around here. And the landscape looks familiar, so, if I'm 
right, then any minute now..."

The three reached the top of a crest, and took in the view. "There. See 
those two hills?" Actinaea pointed at a pair of rounded lumps in the 
distance. "The village is right behind those."

They looked at the hills for a moment. "Gee, those look familiar," Mari 
offered.

Now that Luanni thought of it, they did. The two hills were very close 
to each other, amazingly round... and the size! They were very close to 
mountains, really, excepting only the snowy caps...

A stray thought hit Luanni, and she looked at Mariposa, who had already 
gone crimson to her ears. Actinaea was only a second later, and sniffed 
loudly. Folding her arms over her chest, she said, "Just don't ask what 
the locals call them."

"You know, this explains a lot about you two," Luanni chuckled, as they 
continued down the trail.

"I'm sure that I don't know what you mean," Actinaea said, and Mari 
giggled, until the older woman silenced her with a look. "The woman is 
five hundred miles away and still she has everybody thinking about only 
one thing. I could swear that I was traveling with men!" she retorted.

"So... where are we going?" Mari asked. "After the village, I mean."

"We'll keep going after the Bell," Actinaea said, seizing on the 
opportunity to change the subject. "That's the best thing to do at this 
point."

- = -

"Keep going after the Bell? Are you crazy?!"

Naga frowned, and hissed, "Of course not!" under her breath. In a more 
conversational tone of voice, she continued. "But we can't just run 
after Torr. So, we'll..."

"Rescue them? But you said that you couldn't find them."

"Do you think so little of my abilities? It's true, I can't track them, 
but I can find them. We just need to make a stop in the next town."

"Good," Getehl said, clenching his jaw. "I can't wait to get my hands 
on that..." His voice lowered to a murmur, which sounded as if he was 
methodically describing a complicated recipe, complete with helpful 
hand gestures normally reserved for the preparation of birds.

Not that she didn't agree wholeheartedly! Naga had no intention of 
leaving Mari in the hands of her tormentors. If that meant saving the 
pompous Praetor and Getehl's friend, well, why not? The cowards would 
learn the taste of righteous vengeance at the hands of... perhaps not. 
Naga almost stumbled; it had been long indeed since she had concerned 
herself with such things.

She left her other suspicion unvoiced. The last time Mari had used that 
crystal, it was as an agent of their enemy, however unwilling. Naga 
would have sworn that Mari-chan had abandoned that, completely. But 
yet... it awoke a feeling in her gut that she hadn't felt since SHE 
betrayed her so cruelly, an unpleasant bitter taste in the back of her 
mouth, and try as she might, she couldn't make it go away.

"Here it is," Getehl said, lifting the discarded Bell from the paving 
stones. Experimentally, he tapped it with the hilt of his sword, 
producing a deep ring. "Doesn't sound like a Silent Bell to me."

"Let me see that." Naga took the bell, inverted it, and looked with a 
practiced eye at the inner rim. The name "Copi" was right where she had 
expected it to be. Damn Lugandi's apprentice to the seventeen Hells! 
Casually, she tossed the worthless device behind her, to clang against 
the ground uselessly.

"Naga?" Getehl's eyes plainly did not understand.

She laughed, although softly. "Foolish boy! Anyone who knows about 
Shazard Lugandi knows about his apprentice, Kinko Copi. As near as any 
have found, his only purpose was to produce flawed and worthless copies 
of everything of value that Lugandi made."

Getehl chuckled. "Maybe he was just really, really bad."

"This is another theory." Naga shrugged. "He is the reason that 
Lugandi's artifacts are so difficult to find, because scrying spells 
can rarely tell the difference between the real thing and one of these 
copies."

"So, how does this do us any good?"

"It doesn't. We had to check, though." Naga smiled. "After all, the 
White Serpent would never live it down if she walked away from the 
Bell, lying in the street."

"Huh." Getehl tapped his foot, impatiently. "So, was this your 
brilliant plan?"

"Testy, aren't we? Don't worry. I have an idea..."

- = -

"We're NOT going after the Bell? Are you crazy?"

"No, Lilan, I'm not." Torr let the reins dangle from one hand and 
turned to look at his ally. "I'm just being careful."

"You heard Lady Erika. She said that the Bell is in Levar. That's 
north. Why are we headed east?"

"Because I don't want to spend the next two months risking my life on a 
wild goose chase. Again."

"You sound like you doubt her."

"Bingo." Torr rolled his eyes. "Come on, think about it for a moment. 
How many times has she been wrong, so far?"

Lilen's shoulders moved under her heavy cloak. She kept herself bundled 
as often as possible, now. Apparently, the open desert hadn't been kind 
to her complexion. "Lots, I guess. But you weren't ever suspicious 
before!"

Well, of course he had been suspicious before! But he couldn't just 
come out and say that. "What if I told you," he said in cautious tones, 
"that I thought that we were being used? Not to find the Bell, at all, 
but just to decoy or lure the Serpent and the Praetor?"

"You shouldn't give up so easily," Lilen countered.

"Hey, if I was sure, would I be here?" The question answered itself, 
but Torr thought about it grimly, after saying the words. He 
sympathized with Erika's goals, of course... his too, of course, but
it was silly to work up moral indignation until what you did was worse
than anything that was ever done to you. He didn't have any 
doubt in his mind that she'd leave him for the dogs if it would give 
her what she wanted, though. His back itched, as if anticipating the 
knife blade already.

"There's that." Lilen's expression hardened. "She's my employer, 
though, not you. I won't toss her over just because you got cold feet."

"Fair enough. A truce, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've got talent and skill. I'd hate to have you for an enemy."

Lilen smiled. "Oh, what, is Torr-kun worried about a little girl?" The 
words had a bit of bite in them, but not as much as he had expected. 

This might even work, he thought to himself. "Frankly? Yes."

"Good answer."

"What can I say? Maybe I can call it professional respect. I'm not 
asking you to turn sides or anything, just not to oppose me directly."

"You going to do the same for me?"

Torr's eyebrows quirked up. "You feel it too, huh?"

"Nah. But I haven't been paid yet, either." Lilen chuckled. "And, 
seeing as we didn't have that conversation, you still haven't told me 
why we're headed north instead of east."

"There's a seer up here. He goes by the name of Zaad the Omniscient, 
and damned if he isn't, from what I've heard. It'll cost me, but at 
least I can get a straight answer."

"Seers are usually pretty unreliable."

"So's Erika." Torr grinned.

- = -

Mari sat in the corner and tried not to be noticed.

"What do you mean, go after the Bell? We should meet up with the others 
first!" Luanni pounded her fist on the table.

Actinaea quickly swallowed a bite of sandwich and pointed a finger at 
the other woman. "That could take weeks!"

"It's not like there's a race going on!"

"Well, actually, it IS!"

"Exactly. Which is why we should go back and get the others before we 
get ourselves killed!"

"I don't know about YOU," and Actinaea could say 'you' in a way that 
was very, very nasty, it turned out, "but Mariposa and I are more than 
capable of defending ourselves."

"But..."

"Look. The fact is, we just took a magical shortcut that apparently was 
intended to bring us to the Bell. If we blow this opportunity, we'll 
probably never find it!"

Mariposa sulked a little. After all, it was only her mom and her 
crystal (well, sort of) and her job to break the Bell. She wasn't 
stupid enough to step in between the others, though, and honestly it 
was nice not having somebody remind her that everything was all her 
fault, if not directly, every five minutes.

"And if it's got some kind of horrible guardian? I mean, Mari-chan's 
okay and you're pretty good, but I just dance!"

"We'll be fine."

Luanni's face assumed a calculating expression. "You know, I'd feel 
better if I knew that Getehl wasn't with that Naga." Actinaea 
swallowed. "I mean, walking around on display like that..."

Mari felt a pang. Sure, she had all but given up on Getehl - after all, 
she'd have to have been blind not to see him looking at Actinaea like
that - but even so, she still cared about him. But... with Naga?

The implication was having its desired affect on Actinaea. "Ah... er... 
that is to say, I..."

"You see? That's why we have to get back there right now!"

Actinaea smiled, suddenly, and looked Luanni squarely in the eyes. "I," 
she said, making the syllable last for two whole seconds, "trust Getehl 
more than that."

"I... you didn't just say that!" Luanni stormed up the stairs of the 
inn. Mari couldn't remember the name of the inn, mostly because she 
had been goggling at the sign, which was evidently based on the local 
geography. Then Actinaea had covered her eyes and ushered her inside, 
but... that wasn't important.

"You must really trust Getehl-san, Actinaea-san," Mari said, trying not 
to draw attention.

"I trust Getehl's good taste. Imagine, him and Naga!" Actinaea's grin 
fell off her face. "I shouldn't have done that, though."

"She brought it up."

"Still, I'm going to go apologize. Here, eat the rest of this."

- = -

The tent was low, small, and eminently inexpensive. Zaad liked nice 
things, and didn't mind using his talent to earn him gold, but some 
days it just doesn't pay to trot out the good china.

Zaad was something that most of his fellow professionals were not, and 
that something was the real thing. He could honestly see the future, 
after a fashion, and was extremely good with the past. Ordinarily, this 
would have brought wealth and trouble in equal shares, but Zaad had 
developed the habit of peeking ahead each morning, to see how the day 
might go, and had evaded and outsmarted danger on every occasion.

Today was going to be an active day, he knew, and a more cautious man 
would have slept in and kept the tent folded. Zaad wasn't cautious, 
though. Why should he be? He knew perfectly well that the ensuing 
events wouldn't hurt him and would leave him considerably richer. 
Besides, one should never underestimate the entertainment value of a 
clouded day to a clairvoyant.

He had three minutes until the first man arrived, so he spent a bit of 
time getting things tidy, making sure his oiled moustaches were 
properly pointed, centering the red glass jewel on the wind of cloth 
wrapped around his head. He brushed a little bit of lint from the lapel 
of his worst coat. While he knew that he would see the next morning, he 
didn't have any such assurances for his possessions.

With a grand sweep, he opened the flap of the tent. "Bid welcome, o 
visitor from afar." A bit corny, to be sure, but he was comfortable 
with the exotic, and the timing had been perfect. His customer withdrew 
the hand that had already reached for the flap, and followed Zaad's 
gesture inside.

The man was large, with fiery red hair and a sword at his hip; he 
strode in without a twitch, schooling his features admirably. The girl 
with him had skin whiter than the finest alabaster, mournfully covered 
by a thick cloak, and an expression that altered between surprise and 
amusement. She was looking at him. Expecting him to react? Unlikely. He 
had known her appearance before she had come within a thousand feet of 
his tent.

The three settled themselves on a threadbare carpet, one that Zaad had 
considered throwing out only a week before, and the large one opened 
his mouth to speak. "You seek answers, Torr," Zaad said abruptly.

Torr worked his mouth for a moment and then closed it. "You don't need 
to be a seer to have guessed that."

"Indeed not."

"Should I perform introductions, or would that be redundant?" The man's 
lips quirked into a smile.

"Quite redundant, but socially preferable." Zaad bowed from his sitting 
position. "I am Zaad Farseer, sometimes called the Omniscient. And you, 
young lady, are simply Lilen. I am pleased to meet you both."

Lilen returned a sort of half-bow of her own. "So, is it true? Do you 
know everything?"

"Of course not." Zaad shuddered delicately. All that is good preserve 
him from such a fate! Life would then be incurably boring. "I know the 
answers that you seek, though, which is enough for your purposes and 
mine."

"To business, then." Torr pulled out a heavy purse, rattling it to show 
that it was full of coins. "Do you know the location of the Silent 
Bell, the magical artifact made by Shazard Lugandi?"

Lilen's face fell. "Why don't you just ask him where it is?" she asked, 
looking at Torr as if he were mad.

"Because he is wise," Zaad mused.

"I'll explain." Torr sat back and looked through the far wall of the 
tent, as if he was trying to divine his answer on his own. "You don't 
ever ask a seer a question that he can't answer. Not only is it rude, 
but then most of them will tell you some sort of riddle that is both 
completely true and impossible to figure out until it's too late."

"Very wise." It always paid to butter the customer up a little, after 
all, and Zaad really did prefer to work with people that appreciated 
his skill.

"And, in an ordinary case, you ask questions step by step, so that you 
can instantly tell later on if you were lied to by a charlatan." Torr 
smiled, but there wasn't any mirth in his features. "Fortunately, we 
don't need to be worried about that. My answer?"

Zaad smiled benignly. "Five gold."

Torr counted out the gold pieces and handed them to Zaad. The seer 
tucked them into a pouch and placed it behind him, not even looking at 
the metal. "I do know the location of the Bell that you seek."

"Tell me that location."

"Regrettably, I cannot."

Torr's face darkened. "Why not?"

"That will be ten gold."

Lilen exploded. "What in the blazes? Come on, he already paid you! Go 
ahead and tell him!"

"I would expect more respect from one who works only for money!" Zaad 
said, biting off the end of his sentence with a bitter twist. "I set my 
prices according to what my wares are worth."

"You think that this information is important, then. And you are, of 
course, always right." Torr's smile never changed.

"Rather, say that I am never wrong, but yes, yes." Zaad accepted the 
further coins, again not bothering to look at them. Who would dare to 
pass false money to a true seer? Well, some had, and they had gotten 
what they had deserved. "I will now tell you why I cannot answer that 
question.

"The Silent Bell," Zaad said, lowering his voice, "is widely famed 
among those who research the esoteric artifacts. Not because of its 
abilities, or its hidden location, but because it alone of Lugandi's 
great works has never been located. That is, by anyone who lived to 
tell about it," he added, smiling at the girl.

"You don't intimidate me, old man."

Old! Why, he wasn't a day over fifty! Zaad grumbled to himself... he 
hadn't looked closely enough at this meeting to foresee that barb. "The 
Bell's most legendary ability, one that has been forgotten to time and 
lore, is that it conceals its true nature. The spell that forged it is 
complex and twisted, and affects all of reality as we know it. Since 
the day that it first rang, none who have true knowledge of the Silent 
Bell's location may speak or write of it thereafter."

"Damn." Torr's fist curled. "That explains a great deal. I don't 
suppose that you could tell me where it isn't?"

"The curse isn't some dim-witted troll, to be outsmarted by the first 
clever jack that comes along. It will persist for as long as the Bell 
itself."

"So, Erika's directions WERE wrong?" Lilen placed a finger to her lips, 
thinking. "No, that's not necessarily true. If she doesn't have true 
knowledge, then the curse will let her write anything. She could be 
right by accident."

"Or she could know the Bell's location, but lie to us about it." Torr's 
lip curled at the corner in contempt, for a moment, but then he 
smoothed his face once again. "Thank you for these answers. Cheap at 
the price."

"We aim to please."

"I don't suppose that you could tell us whether Erika does know where 
the Bell is?"

Zaad's gesture was dismissive and short. "I read the future, not minds. 
Much easier that way."

"Then, read this," Lilen said. "Is there some way that we can 
circumvent the curse?"

Zaad's smile grew to take in both his ears. "A perceptive young lady! 
Indeed, there is."

"Hey, you just answered a question for free!"

Torr nodded. "That's because he's saving up to hit us for this one." 
Sighing heavily, Torr tossed his purse on the carpet between them. "One 
hundred gold pieces?"

"Actually, ninety-five gold pieces, two silver, and a half-empty bag of 
candied sweets." Zaad shrugged. "I'll take the purse and call it even."

"Done."

"Far in the north, there exists a group of holy men that have dedicated 
themselves to vows of silence. They are studious, but they travel far 
in their wanderings, and among them is one that knows the secret of the 
Silent Bell. Moreover, if you can endure a visit to their cloister, 
they may be able to circumvent the Bell's curse. They are called the 
Howling Monks of Silence."

"That doesn't make any sense." Torr levered himself up from the carpet, 
dusting his breeches. "But it gives me a place to start. Thank you, 
seer." Torr bowed slightly as Zaad rose, and Lilen quickly followed 
suit.

"A special service, for my valued customer." Zaad reached deep into the 
pocket of his worn coat and pulled out a roll of bandages and a jar of 
ointment. "You will have some need of this," he said, handing it to 
Torr.

He must not have been able to keep the smile from his face, he thought, 
as Torr gave him a malevolent look. "And you are always right, of 
course?"

"Rather, say that I am never wrong." Zaad bowed and prudently took 
three long steps backward.

"You make poor jokes, Seer." Torr tucked the objects into a pocket 
underneath his cloak, and turned to leave. Over his shoulder, he 
called, "Lilen, come, let's oof..."

Zaad's grin again took in each of his ears.

- = -

"A seer?" Getehl looked at Naga, but the sorceress did not so much as 
glance back at him.

"You doubt my resources?"

"Well..." Saying 'yes' would not have been diplomatic, so Getehl cast 
around for another way of saying the same thing. "It's a hell of a 
thing to chance their lives on," he added lamely.

Naga nodded, not breaking stride as they strode through the thin forest 
outside of town. "I know. But Zaad isn't like most other seers. For one 
thing, he's always right."

"What, always?" Most seers, Getehl knew, were able to pick dribs and 
drabs of the future out of thin air, but never always.

"Yes, always."

"I don't have a better plan, but..."

"Then cease your whimpering. I have full confidence that this will lead 
us right to Mari."

You have full confidence in everything, Getehl didn't say, proving that 
not only seers could predict the future in a limited fashion. "Great. 
So long as you're sure."

"I am."

"Okay."

Getehl waited for the "I think" or "probably" or even a "right?", but 
Naga was not more forthcoming than that. In retrospect, he kicked 
himself. Of course she wouldn't say any of those things. So long as she 
was sure, she was sure, and everything really would turn out all right. 
Still, though, she had to be feeling some of the worry that twisted at 
his guts like a rusty knife. She hadn't laughed the laugh once since 
then, a small silver lining to that cloud.

Some of the worry, anyway. Getehl's stomach burned with worry, but 
while Naga was certainly protective of Mari-chan, it probably wasn't a 
patch on his feelings for the others. Old friendship for Luanni, new 
for Ace, and he wasn't sure how it would end up either way, but right 
now he would give both of them a great hug and never let go...

A tent appeared between the scrubby trees. Made of plain burlap, it 
looked more like the tents of the desert raiders than the fantastic 
silk affairs of the other seers that Getehl had seen. "That doesn't 
look like the tent of a seer that is always right, Naga," Getehl 
muttered. Outside the front, the owner's cart was harnessed, two horses 
placidly standing.

"It doesn't," Naga answered, and there was doubt in her voice and on 
her face. She reached for the tent flap, and...

"Come, Lilen. Let's oof!" A man strode out of the tent, with his head 
turned to look over one shoulder, and directly into Naga. Immediately, 
he looked around, surprised. And stopped. Getehl could hardly blame 
him; most people had that reaction to Naga, the first time that they 
saw her.

The opposite was not true, however, as Naga's arm reached out, grabbing 
a handful of hair, red hair, Getehl notice. She savagely yanked, 
pulling the man toward her, and one booted leg flashed out as he 
passed, to sprawl in the dirt at Getehl's feet. His eyes nearly popped 
out of his skull before the man flopped over, mewling in agony and 
clutching himself, and then recognition kicked in.

Immediately, Getehl's hand was on his sword. Torr! Immediately, he 
planted one boot on the man's chest and moved the tip of his blade over 
the man's throat. "Where are they?!" Getehl screamed.

He heard the scrape of boots on dirt, another sound that could only be 
Naga's cloak brushing the ground, and every nerve in his body stood up 
and screamed. With a grunt, he jerked his head to the left, and a 
streaking blade hummed by his ear and buried itself in a scrawny oak. 
The girl's kick took him in the kidney an instant later, and he tumbled 
over Torr's recumbent form, kept tumbling to roll with the fall.

Before he could untuck himself from that position, the ground heaved 
and shuddered, and a wave of force caught him in the back and picked 
him up, carrying him halfway to his feet. Spinning, he saw Naga lying 
near the remains of the tent, Torr still lying in pain, Lilen with a 
knife in each hand and her robe disheveled. She kept shifting to cover 
both of them as he moved to stand next to Naga, offered a hand to lift 
her to her feet. She ignored it, pulled herself up with one hand still 
clamped over her belly.

"What they?" Lilen said, her expression wary.

Naga's eyes hardened, as they had been when the others had first 
disappeared. "If you don't tell me where Mari is, then..." She trailed 
off, but the glowing red that outlined her hand left no doubt as to 
what she had in mind.

Lilen looked puzzled. "I don't know. Aren't they with you?"

Something changed in Naga's expression, and she raised her free hand, 
lips working.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!"

All of them immediately looked at the source of the shout, save Torr, 
who was off exploring vistas of incredible suffering. The collapsed 
tent humped up and belched forth a seedy-looking man, his moustache 
crooked and a swami's hat hanging askew from his head. "Didn't 
count on having the tent dropped on me," he muttered.

Naga's hand came down partway, as did Lilen's knives, but neither 
spared the man more than another glance. "Zaad the Omniscient," Naga 
said, in a flat voice.

"Of course. You want to know about your young friend." The man 
shrugged. "I'll spot you that one. She is in Kalmaart."

"You sent her to Kalmaart?" Naga bellowed, aimed at Lilen.

"No!" Lilen's glance shot to Torr, who had pulled himself to hands and 
knees and started to notice the conversation. "At least, I didn't!"

Getehl swallowed. "Are they alright? Ace and Luanni too?"

"That will be five..." Getehl's sword swung towards the seer, as did 
Naga's arm. Lilen's knives, too, for that matter. "Oh, all right. This 
seems to be my day for free gifts." Clearing his throat, he continued. 
"They are safe and unharmed."

"Damn!" Torr pulled himself to his knees, his face twisted with 
suppressed pain. "Damn, damn, damn!"

"Things not going according to your plan?" Naga looked at Torr like he 
was some sort of loathsome insect.

"No! Not at all! Damn!" Torr looked up at Naga's face and recoiled a 
little at the sheer anger and disgust there. "Not about them! I don't 
know anything about that."

"Is that true?" Getehl asked the seer.

"Well, I'm a seer, not a mind reader," Zaar said. "But, speaking in a 
strictly nonprofessional sense, I think so."

"Damn!" Torr's fist smacked into his open palm. "That bitch! I knew 
that she'd throw me to the wolves at the first opportunity."

"You think it was her, then?" Lilen asked.

"Had to be. I know that Erika can do that with those crystals, and the 
girl had one." Naga nodded, but Getehl was the only one that noticed 
Lilen's sudden start. What crystals? And why did Mari have one? He was 
starting to get confused.

Torr rose to his feet, hands braced on his knees. "I never approved of 
that," Torr said. "Softer than I can afford to be, I guess." He glanced 
at Naga. "Of course, some things might be worth dying for..."

"If Mari-chan gets so much as a bruise, you'll find out," Naga said, 
her voice tight. "So, suddenly you claim that you were used, to get to 
her?"

"Probably not," Torr said, his voice tight. "Either I'm being used to 
get to you, or you're being used to get to me. Hell, perhaps both.
This... wasn't part of the deal."

Naga nodded, considering. "Who is Erika?"

"In a minute. Goodness, woman, you don't fight fair, do you? I mean,
ambush is fine, but that was just vicious." Torr took a couple of
halting steps to the side, stretching out painfully.

"No."

Lilen folded her knives into the sleeves of her robe with a practiced 
motion. "I... I don't think this involves me," she said, addressing the 
air. "I'll go now."

"You do what you have to do," Torr said, as the girl melted into the 
woods. She was good, very good, Getehl thought, and within ten seconds 
he could no longer see her. Turning back to the others, he noticed that 
the seer had also left, if more clumsily.

"We need to talk," Torr said, limping slightly as he walked over to 
the other two.

Naga removed her other hand from her side, and Getehl was relieved to 
find no stab wound. "You okay?" he asked.

"Of course," she answered. "What could have possibly gone wrong?"

- = -

"Only one way out of the valley," Actinaea said, as she led them away 
from the sleepy hamlet of Twin Peaks. "And we can figure out which way 
to go when we get to the crossroads."

"In other words, you have no idea," Luanni added.

"Exactly."

The day before, those would have been heavy barbs thrown at each other, 
but Actinaea had apologized, and so had Luanni, and they had spent the 
rest of the day drinking tea and exchanging life stories. She had
listened to a whole handful of stories about Getehl's teenage years. 
He'd led an active life, and a fun one, it sounded like.

In exchange, Actinaea had gone through her life story, which was deadly 
boring to tell. Luanni had listened politely, even attentively, as if 
it were interesting in some way that Actinaea hadn't herself fathomed.
Ah, well. She was not especially pleased to be back in Kalmaart, truth 
be told, and she had held that much back to herself.

Still, spirits weren't exactly high as they traveled forth. "Has
anything good happened recently?" she asked herself, rhetorically.

Mari's face brightened a little. "Well, Mom's okay!"

"Well! That is something to be thankful for, right," Actinaea said, and 
Luanni added her own grin.

"And she told me that I'm part dragon. I suppose that's good."

"Part... dragon?"

"Is that bad?" Mari asked, her face worried.

Actinaea smiled. "Not bad, just... unlikely. Come on, Mariposa. Did you 
grow a tail when we weren't looking?"

"No, but..."

"Or wings?"

"No..."

"Well, you don't look like you've got scales. I don't suppose that you 
could show us a breath weapon?"

"She did eat three garlic sandwiches last night," Luanni added, with an 
impish grin. Even Mari laughed at that one, though it died down 
quickly.

"You don't believe me, do you, Actinaea-san?"

"Of course I do, child. Your mother was probably mistaken, that's all."

"Well, geez. She's only my mother. You'd think that she'd know."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Luanni said. "You're still you, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Mari said, a trifle sullenly.

Actinaea raised an arm, and the group stopped. "Travelers," she said 
quietly.

Three monks trudged their way up the road. Each of them had a shaved 
head, a robe of rough, homespun wool, and a peaceful expression on 
their faces. Their hands clasped across their waists, each seeming to 
glide along the ground in perfect contentment.

"Well met!" Luanni said, when they were close enough to answer. The 
monks all looked at her and smiled, nodding their heads, but none 
replied.

"Do you know where this road goes?" Mari asked, but none of them 
answered except with shrugs and hands cupped to mouths.

"Hush, Mariposa." Actinaea thought that she knew... something, anyway, 
but she had forgotten. "They must have taken a vow of silence."

The lead monk gestured with two fingertips, describing a short arc from 
his mouth, and bowed his head gratefully.

"I wonder who they are," Mari said, not listening to Actinaea.

The second monk tapped the lead one on his shoulder and made a few 
rapid-fire, intricate gestures. The first monk stopped, gestured to the 
other two, and they immediately stopped in front of the three women. 
One monk solemnly tapped his forearm with two fingers, once, twice, 
three times.

"Three?" Luanni said, incredulous.

The monk nodded, and then tapped his forearm once more, before holding 
up two spread fingers. He held up one finger, and then tugged on his 
ear. Immediately, the other two burst into a paroxysm of gestures, 
wildly flapping their arms like chickens.

"Chickens?" Mari blurted, and the first monk waved his arms negatively. 
"Not chickens? Birds? Pigeons? Ducks?"

At "ducks", the monk moved his arms encouragingly. "Fowl?" Actinaea 
guessed, and the other two immediately stopped and tugged at their 
ears. "Sounds like fowl? Cowl? Prowl? Howl?"

The first monk held up his arm as the other two cheered silently.

"Howl? Howl what?" Luanni asked, as Ace's heart sank. The bizarre scene 
had jolted the appropriate memory loose.

"I think that we've found some of the Howling Monks of Silence," she 
said. "They're all masters of charades." The three monks bowed deeply.

Luanni considered. "Whatever you do, don't ask them where they're 
headed, then..."

- = -

Author's Note:

This is the part where I apologize for taking longer than I thought. 
Work's busy, I got sick, and spent the entire weekend helping friends 
move from another city, but nobody wants to hear that.

Fortunately, I think this part turned out well, although it's a lot 
lighter on humor than I normally like my Slayers. Still, though, when 
life gives you serious situations, Mom always said to make seriousade. 
This should tell you something about my family. ^_^

Big thanks to Ravi, Ard, and Todd for helping me work through the plot,
and to Ard and Ravi for preread. The mistakes are mine, though. ;p

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