The white and black froglok lay in the grass, twitching. The wolf paced around her, fading in and out of transparency, guarding its mistress vigilantly. When she drew a long breath and grew still, it moved up beside her and sat down to watch her.

She opened her eyes and stared up at the clear blue of the sky. Slowly, she sat up and looked around. Her staff lay beyond her, just out of reach. She must have flung it aside when she fell as the vision took her. She stared at it a moment, then lowered her head to her hands.

"Shut up and let me think," she muttered. "This isn't good." She closed her eyes and rubbed her face, brushing off dried grass that clung to her cheek. "There has to be a way. I need to find her first."

A nudge against her shoulder made her look up. She blinked at the huge wolf steadily gazing at her. It reached out again with its nose, then thought better of it, and merely tilted its head.

"No, we'll have to get moving," she replied to its silent question wearily. "The time-feel on this one is close. It can't be more than a few days away."

The froglok climbed to her feet, and picked up her staff. She took a moment to reseat her shoulder bag, before looking around again. "Again with the caves. What is it with her and caves, anyway?" she asked the wolf in plaintive tones. It ducked its head, and she sighed.

"Well. I got a 'that way' feel out of it, anyway," Preeki told it. "Let's go. I'll see if we can't get better directions as we move. I've got to figure out how to fix this."

She put actions behind the words, and began to trot off to the south-east. A muttered incantation settled magick around her like a cloak, and her speed increased.

"Right!" the shaman proclaimed loudly as she moved, to the invisible spirits that always surrounded her. "Before any of you get a favour done, I need some information. I need to know where to find a cave full of gnolls, and a small fighting force. And my crechemate."

* * * * *

It wasn't much of a stream, but it seemed to be deep enough at the bend for full immersion. Reedip looked at it appraisingly. The dry season had left the plains dusty, and she had plenty of time before she was due back at the camp. Technically, she was still on leave. In fact, they wouldn't be expecting her for another couple of days, at least. Add in that once she got to the camp, her off time would be far too busy for there to be time for a swim.

The froglok nodded to herself. Her commander wasn't about to start anything until he had the whole troop together. A good leader, Donnal Baird was. There weren't many of them, but the small company had done very well under his command.

She considered for another moment. If she hurried back, she'd be able to spend some time with Viri. He had been unhappy that he couldn't come with her on her short leave, but when she spotted the wagons of her travelling-trader crechemates, she couldn't resist a short leave of absence to see them. A leave that Donnal had granted instantly. She rarely asked for such things.

She sighed, wishing she could have brought Viri with her. Unfortunately, they'd never understand. Arrek did. Preeki probably would; the shaman always had interesting perspectives on things. But Gdak would have...done something unfortunate. And Turrup would have just hidden somewhere. But still, she couldn't introduce her friend to her family. So this had been a short visit, and a bit of lonely travelling.

At least she knew where she would be meeting the rest of them. Donnal had given good directions.

She looked at the stream again, and decided. She'd spend the day here, camp the night. Have a last leisurely afternoon of swimming and relaxation, and join them in the morning. Who knew? They were skilled enough, the job might be done quickly, and they'd be able to head back to their base in the Commonlands.

She did feel a little guilty about avoiding the lion's share of the preparations, but it was time that her underling had a chance to do the job anyway. She didn't intend to be a mercenary forever. Her pay - the part she didn't tithe home to fill Gukta's coffers - was being squirrelled away for a purpose. When she had enough...she would retire.

She stripped out of her armour and gear, and piled them neatly beside the stream. She waded in slowly, enjoying the feel of the cool water on her skin, and sank beneath the surface.

Some change froze her in place as she emerged from the stream. She flicked her eyes back and forth. Her armour was gone!

She cursed under her breath, and studied the stream bank. Nothing. She took another step, then smelled the smoke. Slowly, she edged up to the embankment, and peered over it. There was her armour and her pack. Beside them, a fire burned in a small brazier. A familiar figure sat cross-legged near by, finely chopping some herb.

"Preeki!" The paladin climbed the rise, and joined her crechemate at the fire. "What are you doing here?"

"I recognised your armour," the shaman replied, standing up, and setting aside her work. "And I thought perhaps some company would do us both good. How was your swim?" She embraced her crechemate, then held her at arms length to look at her. She poked a finger at the paladin's torso. "More scars, I see." Her smile slipped slightly.

"It's an old one. And the water's fine. You should go hop in yourself. This place is all dust and grit." Reedip's own white and black markings glistened as the water dripped off her.

"Wait until the rainy season," Preeki warned, as she sat back down. "Then it's all mud. They named the prairie after Karana for a reason. No, not yet. There are other things to do, first."

The non sequitur didn't faze the paladin, who merely glanced around the camp. "How many are there hanging around right now?" she asked after a moment.

The shaman had gone back to preparing food, and didn't look up. "About a dozen," she replied. "One's been following me for over a week."

Reedip shook her head. "Must want something pretty badly." She looked at her armour, and shrugged, tossing on a tunic from her pack instead. Comfort was the plan for the afternoon, after all. It clung to the moisture on her skin, but she tugged it down anyway. She'd dry soon enough.

"Most of them just want to talk, and be heard," Preeki told her. "They are lonely, after a fashion. Having someone hear them is important to them." The shaman set a pan over the fire, and dropped a bit of rendered fat into it. "Fish for lunch. The stream had more than just you in it." She smiled at her crechemate.

"Sounds good to me." Reedip grinned. "Anything I don't have to cook is wonderful. Oh. Here. You might want a bit of this...." Reedip dug in her bag for a wrapped parcel. "Were you heading toward Gukta, or...?" she asked as she pulled it out. "If you were, you could drop this off for Arrek. G'dak had some fancy tea he picked up for him." She hefted the parcel. "Lots of tea, feels like."

"It would be better if you dropped it off," Preeki said, after a moment of silence. "I'm not sure when I'll be by there next." She looked back down at her pan, and laid out the fish in the melted fat to fry.

"Not a problem. Here. We can try it out tonight, see what Arrek is so nuts about." Reedip opened the package, and poked a finger inside. "Huh. It smells like flowers, kind of."

"You want to get the water for it?" Preeki looked up at her crechemate, and pointed at the stream. "Your part of lunch."

"Sure." The paladin took the small pot that Preeki offered her. "I saw Grott a month or two ago. He asked about you." She disappeared over the edge of the embankment, and returned a moment later, holding the container carefully. "He figured out it was me right off, this time. My sword is evidently a good giveaway."

The shaman laughed, then looked thoughtful. "Someone called me by your name when I last passed through the Commonlands," she said. She looked up at her crechemate, and took the pot from her, and hung it over the brazier, removing the pan. "Where's your plate? These are done."

Reedip fetched it for her, and accepted it back with a fish. "Smells great, Preeki. Thanks." She sat to eat, picking it apart carefully with her fingers oblivious to Preeki's careful scrutiny. "Did you only catch the two?"

"No. I've got a couple more. Let me eat mine, and when the water boils for the tea, I'll cook you another one." The shaman ate absently for a time, lost in thought. She added the tea to the water when it boiled, and set it down between them.

"Where were you headed, anyway?" Preeki asked nonchalantly, as she began to prepare a third fish.

"We've got a job to clear some gnolls out from some cave they're hiding in, south of here a bit. They're annoying the farmers across the river to the east. It's pretty close. Funky rock formation looks like a claw. Apparently not hard to spot. We're set up..." Reedip raised her head from the remnants of her fish. "But you knew that, didn't you?" She squinted at her crechemate. "You don't just 'bump' into people. Did you come looking for me?"

Preeki shrugged. "I worry about you," she admitted. "And there aren't that many people I can really talk to. Not like I can talk with you. I wasn't that far away." She paused, and seasoned the fish with great care. "Being with you means a lot to me." She looked back down, and laid the fish in the pan with another dab of fat, her eyes troubled. She looked at the fish, and hesitated, lifting the pan from the fire. Telling Ree might help. But sad experience had taught the seer that merely knowing that death was coming did not mean it was avoidable.

The shaman jerked as Reedip's hand fell on her shoulder, and she looked up again, guiltily.

"You mean a lot to me, too." Reedip's golden eyes held Preeki's for a long moment.

The seer set the pan aside to catch the paladin in a fierce hug. "I love you, Ree," she whispered. "Don't forget that." She shut her mouth before she could say more, and released her crechemate. The paladin was staring at her with a slight frown. "Shall we try that tea?" Preeki asked, trying to change the subject.

Reedip nodded after a time, allowing her the escape. "Yeah. Let's." She dipped two cups, and watched as the shaman drank from hers, then sipped it herself. "Gah! This is nasty!"

"Well. It's not that bad," Preeki temporised. "The flowers seem to make it a bit sweeter. But... no. I think I'll pass on any more." She finished her cup, and watched with amusement as the paladin dumped hers out.

"Yup. I'll make sure Arrek gets this stuff. And I'll remember to say 'No thanks' if he offers to make some for me." Reedip screwed up her face. "That fish'll be perfect to get the taste out of my mouth."

Preeki managed a laugh. "It won't be long. So tell me about Grott. How is he doing?" She picked up the pan again, and went back to cooking the fish.

"He's doing fine. Told me I still owed him a beer." Reedip grinned. "I told him he was full of crap, and it went from there. We got soused together." She sat back down. "You know, you still haven't told me how you met him. I want that story."

Preeki nodded. "It was a long time ago," she began. "It wasn't very long after we left the swamp..." She continued the story for a few minutes, then poked the fish. "This is done. Pass me your plate again." She slid the fish onto it, and watched as Reedip tucked into it hungrily. "Anyway, he managed to get the blindfold off when I wasn't looking..."

They talked, and laughed, and told each other stories, until the herbs with which Preeki had seasoned the second fish took effect, and Reedip fell into a deep sleep.

The shaman sat down beside her, and gathered her into her arms. "I'm sorry, Ree," she whispered, as she pressed her cheek to her crechemate's. "This is for your own good."

* * * * *

It took her most of the trip before she got accustomed enough to the armour to think she might pull it off. She practiced drawing the sword and sheathing it, and affected the paladin's determined strides.

"I feel like I'm yelling," she complained to the wolf, trying to imitate her crechemate's speech. It wagged its tail, and she snorted. "It's not funny. And I'll need your help." She stopped on a slight rise, looking at the rocks below her. The camp was nearby. She could smell the smoke of the fires. "Because I haven't got a clue who anyone is. Your job will be to get me what I need."

The wolf cocked its head, and gave a deliberate nod, then vanished. "That goes for the rest of you, as well," she told the air around her. "Names. Jobs. Information about them. Anything that someone who lives with them should know." She cocked her head, listening. "Good. That's an important one. And I've got an idea." She gave her belt a hitch, a gesture she'd seen her crechemate make in the past. "Now, if it will work..."

Those in the company who saw her coming gave her wide berth. The froglok's fists were clenched, and she stalked through the camp muttering dire oaths under her breath. It was plain to see that Captain Reedip was angry at something. It was always a good idea to keep out of her way at such times. Just in case.

She went straight to the command tent, and disappeared inside.

"Donnal. We've got a problem," she stated firmly. "The damned gnolls know we're coming."

"What?" The man at the table turned. He was tall and his dark brown hair and beard were plaited into many small braids. His voice held the strong accent of the far north. "How in the names of all th' gods did ye find that out?" He stared at his second in command. "Is that why ye're back early, then?"

She made a slashing gesture. "How isn't important. I believe my source. There's no reason for them to lie to me. We'll have to rethink this one. If we all go in unprepared, it would be a slaughter. Of us."

"Aye. But if they be expecting us....that can be a useful thing. A useful thing indeed..." The northman tugged his beard and nodded. "Here's what we'll do..."

Preeki groaned to herself. She was tired, and the depth of the discussions made her head ache. She wasn't much of a soldier. While she managed to nod in all the right places, and ask a pertinent question or two to help the planning along, strategy of that sort wasn't her strong suit. She had known she wasn't going to be able to keep them from going in after the gnolls. She doubted anyone could have. They had a job to do, after all, that they were being paid for. But at least her message had gotten across. With any luck this engagement would not, now, spell the total annihilation of the company. But whether she had averted it all, or if the doom hanging over Reedip - or her - would still take place, she didn't know.

That she would find out tomorrow.

"Which is her tent?" She murmured the question to the emptiness around her, and turned to follow the directions wearily. The fish she had eaten for lunch seemed a million years ago, but she wasn't interested in heading for the dining tent, which had already been pointed out to her. The thought of trying to eat with the rest of the company - to talk, and answer questions, and be Reedip to people who knew her well - was something she wanted to avoid. She could stand being hungry.

Reedip's tent had a light hanging from the outside. It was the same size as all the others; the only concession she could see to her crechemate's rank was that it was closer to the middle of things, so she wouldn't have to walk far. She pushed her way past the flaps, and was dismayed to see that there were two narrow cots. She had a tentmate, fortunately absent. This was going to be awkward. Maybe if she hurried, she could get to sleep before they showed up. She was very glad that she didn't need a light. Maybe they wouldn't know she was there.

She dumped Reedip's pack down at the foot of the unoccupied cot, and began to fumble with her shoulder armour. The unfamiliar buckles were a pain. It had been hard enough to get into the armour...

"I figured you wouldn't want company, after that session with the Commander." The tent flaps parted, and someone passed between them. She turned, surprised, and managed to keep herself from gasping.

The dark elf held a plate, with a bowl upturned over top of it. "I brought you some dinner. It's a little dry, but edible."

She heard the name whispered from beside her. "Thanks, Aviriel," she said, gruffly. "I'm pretty wiped. I was just going to rest tonight."

The dark elf frowned, but handed her the plate, which she took, and sat down on her cot to eat. Hunger helped her wolf her food the way her crechemate usually did. She set the dishes down on the ground, tucked just under the cot, when she was done, and reached for the buckles again.

"Tomorrow will be busy," she offered, as the dark elf stared at her. She turned her back on him, and managed to get the epaulets off. The sleeves were easier. She could see those. She slid them off carefully, and stacked them with the shoulders. The breastplate, however...

She froze as the edge of a dagger touched her throat.

"Who are you?" the dark elf hissed in her ear. "You are not Reedip. Where is she? What have you done with her?"

Preeki's heart sank. "What are you talking about?" she asked, scowling. "Get this knife away from..."

She was spun, hard, and shoved, landing on her cot. Cold grey eyes regarded her, anger smouldering in them. "If you have hurt her, I will kill you. Then I will bring your soul back, and kill you again. Then I will make you my toy, to dance for me."

Preeki swallowed. "She's safe," she said at last, in her own voice. "And she'll stay safe, so long as she doesn't fight tomorrow."

Aviriel's eyes narrowed. "Explain," he ordered. "Now."

The shaman nodded, and looked at the open tent flap. "Will you close that?" she asked. "And please... keep your voice down. This will only work if they think I'm her." She pulled herself to a sitting position under the necromancer's scrutiny, but did nothing else. After a moment, the dark elf did as she requested, and returned to stand over her. "My name," she began, "is Preeki."

She was exhausted when she was done. The questioning had been more than thorough. She wished she knew how she had erred with the necromancer. He had seen right through her. If he believed her, though, he could be a big help. If he were willing to help. There were too many ifs.

"Stand up," he said at last, and she complied. His hands reached for a set of the buckles on her breastplate. "You have to undo these, first," he told her, doing just that as she stared at him. "I'll help you get them on in the morning, too."

"You will?" she blinked at him. He nodded.

"She told me about you. All about you. What you have to say fits in with that. Lucky for you." He nodded curtly. "You need to call me 'Viri.' She almost never uses my name. People will notice." He undid more buckles. "You aren't used to plate armour."

"No." She worked on the other side of the breastplate, working the buckles in the same order as he did. "I don't fight with a sword, either. I was hoping in the battle that no one would notice. Although by then, it won't matter. Either this will work, or it won't." She fell silent, then nodded. "I'll have to find your tent early tomorrow. You can help with people I should know, so I don't do with them what I did with you."

Aviriel laughed suddenly. "You mean, screw up like that? You do need my help," he said. "This is my tent. Ree and I share it." He smiled at her expression. "She's my best friend."

"Toron. Gambles a lot. Eyes like a hawk." The voice behind her murmured quietly. "Merle. Solid, dependable. You like to get the pair to scout together." Preeki nodded acknowledgement, and filed the names away. "Vorok. He avoids you like the plague, other than on the job, and you avoid him. No other outward animosity." Preeki nodded again, ostensibly at some comment made by one of the men she passed, and her eyes flicked to the troll and away again. "Donnal has him in your squad, and you deal with it. We think it's some sort of lesson. Although we're not sure which of the two of you it's for."

"I'm sure he has a good reason," she replied tartly, in the voice she'd been practicing. "He's not an idiot."

"Good." The necromancer nodded. "You sound just like her."

"Let's get this show on the road, people!" she announced, clapping her hands. "We're the bait. Let's make them choke on us!" She drew the sword smoothly, and led them towards the cave.

Preeki cursed as vehemently as Reedip would have. That part hadn't changed. She'd even managed to get a guard to stick with the priest, but it hadn't helped in the end. Levis still died. It seemed that it took longer, though, than in her vision. Was it further into the battle? The counterattack that had smashed the gnolls' ambush was going well. There weren't even that many injured. Whatever else happened, this would not be a total disaster. She'd succeeded that far, at least.

She kept an eye on the slight elven healer - probably a druidess - hard at work behind the lines. For a time, she managed alone, and Preeki fought on with a staff she had collected from a fallen gnoll, shouting her orders to her men to direct them.

When it seemed the elf was being overwhelmed, she stepped back to join her. There, she began to chant, shaping her magicks. Healing was what was needed now, not fighting. There were enough who could manage that. Someone had to take the priest's place. She had to keep them going. It was what she needed to do. It was what Reedip had done in a vision a lifetime ago.

But this time, it might work. There wasn't much resistance left. Things seemed to be going well.

It was then, of course, that she saw the reinforcements. There weren't many of them, but their timing was terrible. And they were coming from a side tunnel that they had thought clear.

She cried out a warning, and turned to face the newcomers, her wolf shimmering into form beside her at her mental call. She sent him into the fray, and stood her ground.

* * * * *

Reedip groaned. Her head was pounding. She managed to keep from spewing by sheer force of will. She opened her eyes, then shut them immediately again. The world tilted and spun, and she tried to fling her arms out for balance.

Tried.

"What...?" She struggled a moment, figuring out what was happening. She was bound, and hanging suspended from a large branch in a tree. "Preeki!!" Fear for her crechemate wiped the nausea from her, and she looked around frantically. She could see little from her position. The sun, however, was...

Was in the wrong place? It was late afternoon! The last thing she remembered was dozing off beside the fire, laughing with her crechemate, early in the evening. Was it the evening before? How long had she been here?

She looked up at the tree limb she was tied to, and frowned. Whoever had done this had done a shoddy job. They hadn't tied her feet. Slowly, so she didn't make herself dizzy again, she swung her feet up and around the branch. Her powerful legs tightened, and she lifted herself up so that she hung from the branch by her own power.

The slackness in the rope gave her room to work. She thanked Marr profoundly that the fool who put her here didn't search her very well.

Getting the knife from its place of concealment in her leggings was an act of contortion, but she, like all her people, was flexible. And having a long, sticky tongue helped a lot.

Once she had the blade, it wasn't long before she had herself free. She dropped to the ground, stifling a gasp as the returning circulation in her arms cramped her muscles. She massaged them and waited a long moment, listening.

Nothing. She moved slowly into the camp. There was no sign of the shaman, and the paladin frantically searched the nearby area, finding nothing save the pawprints of some animal that had investigated the camp. She drew up, puzzled. There was no blood. No signs of a struggle. What had happened to Preeki? Had she hid herself somewhere? If so...why hadn't she come out? Whoever had put her in the tree was evidently long gone. Reedip stood in the camp, and looked around. The shaman's gear was all here: her staff, her bedroll, her bag, her brazier...

Her armour. It was stacked neatly where Reedip's had been. Reedip's was gone. Her own armour, her sword, her shield, her pack and her bedroll. It was as if...

That was when the realisation hit her, and she cursed.

"Preeki! I'm going to kill you!"

* * * * *

"Where is she?!" The furious froglok stomped into the midst of the tents. Those sitting by the fire stared at her in astonishment, some making to rise. "Don't just sit there like lumps on a log! Where is she??"

"Captain Reedip?" one asked, in a half-whisper. "It can't be..."

"It bloody well can be me! Where the Hate is she?" the paladin, in full temper, stalked to the dining tent, and pulled back the flap. "Where are you hiding her?"

"Reedip." The deep voice of the commander drew the attention of the froglok, who glared at him. "Come along with me."

"Not until I find that good-for-nothing crechemate of mine, and my armour!" Reedip nearly spat. "You have to know that she isn't me!"

Aye. But ye'll be comin' with me now. An' that's an order." The huge man stared at her impassively, and after a moment she jerked her head in acknowledgement. Without a further word, he turned and led her away with swift strides, ignoring her muttering.

The muttering slowed as Reedip looked around the camp more closely. "You went in," she said after a moment. "It looks like we did okay, at least. Did we get the gnolls?"

"Aye."

Something in the northman's tones made her pause, before she ran a few steps to catch up to him again.

"Were there many injured?" she asked.

Donnal grunted. "Some." He turned towards a tent with a red slash on the door. He hadn't slowed down.

Reedip felt a nameless fear clutch her, and her insides clenched in response."The infirmary?"

"Aye." He led her inside, and she searched the pallets with her eyes. Two injured badly enough to need to be there. But neither of the two was her crechemate.

"Are ye ready, Eriali? She's here."

The elven druid looked up from her tending of one of the two men. Both heads turned, and the man gasped in surprise.

"Captain?"he asked, his eyes huge.

Reedip bit back the words that threatened to escape. This was one of her men. Hers. He of all people should have known that the person wearing her armour wasn't her. Must have known. And yet...

"Merle," she said, nodding. "Eri'll have you patched up in no time."

"She'll be patchin' him later. Here, Reedip, Eriali. Quick, now." The northman stood by a curtain that divided the tent in two, and he brushed past it. The druid followed him, and paused by the curtain to look back at the paladin.

Reedip swallowed, and joined her. Two figures lay on pallets here, their faces covered. Neither was a froglok, Reedip noted with a relief she did not display.

"I've been using as little of my magick as I could, hoping..." the druid told her, as she knelt down beside the first.

"Where is Levis?" Reedip asked, worriedly. If these had died during the battle... No wonder they wanted her to hurry. "Shouldn't he be here?"

"He is here," the druid replied, a hitch in her voice. "He..."

"He was the first t' die," Donnal said bluntly as the druid drew the cloth back from the priest's face. "Can ye save him?"

Reedip knelt down beside the man, and reached for his hand. He was stiffening. It would be close. "I don't know," she said. "I'll try." She closed her eyes, and concentrated.

The restoration of a soul was harder the longer the person had been dead. For a long moment, she reached outward, following the faint, distant glow of the soul, stretching herself to her limit... and she caught him.

Beneath her hand, the body warmed. A golden glow surrounded them both, and the priest gasped in agony as he began to breathe... and bleed.

"Don't heal him, Reedip," the barbarian warned, and pulled her away before she had a chance to do just that. "Eriali!"

The druid had not waited, but had already begun to heal the priest. She stopped after a moment, and looked up. "He'll survive now," she said, nodding stiffly. "I'll do more later. Next."

The paladin stared at her, then frowned up at her commander and friend. He said nothing, and the froglok knelt down beside the second pallet. She drew back the cloth, and gasped. She reached for the dark elf's hand in shock.

"Viri!" She bent over him, touching his cheek with a tender hand. "You stupid idiot. You're not supposed to get into the middle of things!" She looked up at the other two. "What happened? He stays out of the way!"

"He died defendin' the healers. Ye can be proud o' him." The barbarian's expression changed to one of worry, and he reached for her shoulder. "Can ye....can ye save him, too? Or will Lord Marr be ticked at ye?"

"No. I can heal him. It's alright." She clutched the necromancer's hand between her own, swallowing hard to quell the roiling of her insides.

"Nae. Don't heal him. Stuff his soul back in, aye, but Eriali'll be healin' him. Save yer power."

Reedip stared at him for a moment, then turned back to her friend, and closed her eyes. Once a gain the golden glow surrounded her, creeping out to surround the necromancer in turn. When his chest rose with his first breath, the druid was ready, and the blue light of her healing power surrounded him.

The Sword was silent as she looked down at him. She leaned forward to touch her cheek to his before she got up, to face the man who had led her friends, and her crechemate, into battle.

"Where is Preeki, Donnal?" The anger had faded from her voice, and she sounded tired. "I really want an explanation."

"In me tent. Come." He turned on his heel and led her away. She frowned, and followed him.

"The gnolls set up an ambush. They were waitin' fer us." Donnal looked down at his second, and nodded as she scowled again. "If ye - or, rather, yer sister - hadn't warned us they were layin' fer us before we went in, I think the lot of us would be linin' up before the Tribunal fer judgement. Every last one of us."

"That doesn't explain this," Reedip growled. "She could have said something instead of stealing my armour. Tell me the truth. Did you know it wasn't me?"

"In the end, aye. She told me. She told me ye'd be comin' to set things aright, and to be ready for ye."

"In the end?" Reedip's eyes widened, the last of her anger draining out of them. She pushed past him, and nearly fell over her feet in running to his tent.

"Aye," he said quietly, as he followed in her wake. "If she'd been better able t'move in yer armour..."

He took a deep breath before he stepped through the door of the command tent behind her. Reedip was already on her knees beside his cot. The froglok that lay there had died an ugly death; had gasped out her life in his arms, as he had tried to stop her bleeding. Eriali hadn't been able to get to them in time.

Donnal watched in silence as the paladin once more began her whispered prayer. He had, of course, thought it was Reedip when he saw her fall; had realised in that instant how much he valued her, not only as a comrade, and loyal officer, but as a friend. It was something he would never be able to tell her. And something he would not forget again.

The glow of light surrounded the two frogloks, and this time the paladin completed the healing herself. As always, the sight of the brilliant blue flames licking around the one on the receiving end of the paladin's Gift took his breath away.

He sent his own wordless thanks to her god. Mithaniel Marr had, after all, fathered his people as well. Even if the northman didn't follow him, it was good to acknowledge it.

Reedip stayed where she was, holding her sister's hand, and stroking her face. Donnal almost left, to give them some time alone, but he, too, wanted to hear the full explanation that Reedip was sure to demand as soon as the other roused. Quietly, he seated himself to wait.

It wasn't long before the froglok on the bed awoke, and blinked up at the face leaning over her.

"Good. You made it." She smiled. "Did you save the priest?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah." Reedip leaned back, and the scowl returned. "What were you thinking, Preeki?" The paladin released the hand she'd been holding to wave her arms in a gesture of frustration. "You know I believe you, when you see things! Why not just tell me? Why get yourself killed?"

Preeki sighed. "I know you believe me. If I told you that you would die if you went in....you wouldn't go." She lifted her hand heavily to reach for her crechemate. "If you had stayed with me, they would have all died. I'd have saved you, and you would have hated me forever for it. It wouldn't have been right to let them die, anyway. Not when I could change it."

"But I could have told him about the ambush as well as you did!"

"Ree, knowing that someone will die doesn't mean you can stop it. If you had gone in, you'd have died too. The priest died first in my vision. I tried to keep him alive, but he died first anyway. When the reinforcements showed up..." Preeki closed her eyes, lowering her hand in exhaustion. "I knew. I knew I wouldn't be able to change it. I could change some of it, but not all of it. I would have lost you."

"Preeki..." Reedip caught the shaman's hand to hold it again. "You..."

"Ree, please. Let me finish. I don't know how much longer I can talk before I pass out. You were safe in my camp. I knew you'd free yourself and come looking for me. I set it up to make you angry, so you'd hurry."

"You did that, all right," the Sword said wryly.

"If I had changed it all, then you'd find me, and be mad, and that would be the end of it. But if it couldn't be changed..." Preeki sighed. "If you got here in time, you could restore the ones who had died. If you had died here... there would be no one who could. You, and they, would be lost forever." When she opened her eyes again, they were veiled.. "I'd rather die myself than lose you."

"Damn you, Preeki. You could have... could have..." Reedip ran out of words. She leaned forward, and wrapped her arms around the shaman. "Could have taken better care of my bloody armour," she managed after a time.

Preeki's lips twisted into a grin.

Donnal Baird decided this was the right time to leave, and did so.

"See t' it that they're not disturbed," he told one of the men outside, who saluted smartly. "And find someone t' get a basin with soap and water for them. She's all covered in blood, and Captain Reedip will be wantin' to clean her up."

"Yes, sir." The man shifted. "Sir? If that was Captain Reedip, who was it that died, then?"

"'Twas her sister." The huge man shook his head, bemused. "There be two o' them, may the Tribunal save us all." He nodded at his soldier, and headed back to the infirmary to see how Eriali was holding up. He needed to talk with the injured. He had a duty to his men.

Fin