Anest silenced his staff and considered the direction. Northeast. The exact centre of the Marshes of Morag. He considered the direction for several long moments, feeling distinctly the deadness of the air from that very direction.

Both stood motionless as statues, staring fixedly towards the northeast, their eyes all that glittered. All else was flat; subdued. Lily had gone very still and pale, but at last she breathed, "How close the air feels! Nothing moves in this place but for the motion we bring to it. The Murderer lies in wait for me . . . I can feel it. He knew that I would return . . . that we would return together." She swallowed her anger, tasted bitter bile. "Well, there are no islands or beaches here! And the

Murderer does not show himself, therefore he knows that he is not safe."

Anest turned to watch her as she considered the northeast, found himself unable to read her mood.

"What will you do?"

After several long moments, she said quietly, "I am not sure. It is a very ancient evil I sense, something the Demon King Himself must have goaded from some unexplored, subterranean place. I do not think it wittingly does His bidding."

She frowned. "Why does the world not end upon the death of the Earth Mother? Here is a thing I do not understand! How can the world continue to live on without Her? Or is it that enough of Her essence yet lives in Her children and in the terrene world that Her efficacy remains somewhat? And with it, hope?"




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