"Well," muttered Belloc, "I would prefer to know more, but it seems we must be satisfied with more unanswered questions. Lead the way, master Jerra."

They descended the knoll cautiously towards the horses which had been led away to safety and returned after the battle. The bodies of the goblins and gnomes were left as they were. It grieved them to leave the bodies of their fallen comrades because the enemy was known to defile the dead and their graves. It was scant comfort to take weapons and shields along, or to break the swords and spears of the enemy, but they dared not cut a single tree of the Black Wood to raise a pier.

The dark of the forest had given way to the perpetual twilight of day. Lily felt ill and tired and shaken as she sat once again astride Thunder, leaning against Anest's chest, trying to console her battered heart. She was too empty even for tears now, and felt as though her spirit was becoming a barren wilderland.

That evening the trees abruptly ended as they came to the crest of a hill. The hill's crown was of some sort of black, bare rock that appeared volcanic in nature. Rivulets of water trickled everywhere. They paused to don their raingear, then quickly resumed their journey. As the road wound its way up over the crest and then down again, they found themselves high above a deep mountain valley. Their senses were met with a fresh, mountainous smell, and a sudden transition of




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