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Ace thought about this for a time and then told Bat, ‘But in all the time I've been with you, the aura has been white light. It hasn't changed at all. Except perhaps in its brightness.'

‘That is because I have been happy to be with you. When I gallop, my aura is brighter because I enjoy the freedom to run. When I lie down, I am happy because my muscles are tired from too much galloping. When I talk with you, I am happy because you are my bond-mate.'

'You make life sound so simple.'

Bat gave a sort of psychic shrug. 'Perhaps I should not. Life is not simple. When we reach Dinorben we will discover how complicated life is. For more than three centuries we have been at peace with humans. Now, because of what they call Arawn 's Wheel, we are no longer at peace. There s~ an explanation for this - - I believe it is called human logicality. They say that if we escape to Earth, they will be prevented from escaping to Earth as well. I do not follow their reasoning.'

'They think that the humans on Earth won't notice a few tens of thousands of extra people, but if unicorns and centaurs start to appear then they'll have to take notice. And the Earth people might stop the Tír na n-Óg people from escaping from the danger here.’

'Has anyone tested this theory?'

'Well, I once saw someone on the television saying that nobody likes a refugee. The people whom the refugees are trying to get away from don't like them and the people whom the refugees go to for shelter don't want them: So the best way for a refugee to get into a country is by not letting the country know that they're coming in. That's what's happening here. Does this make sense?'

'Yes and no. I can follow your words, but I cannot understand the meanings underlying the words.

The concepts are very humanish. '

'Don't worry, I've always thought it was so much clap-trap. Perhaps if we could get you lot on to Earth then we could show the Tuatha that there's nothing to worry about.'

'But how could we get through their defences? And what if there was something to worry about?'

'Well, I've been thinking about it. The main problem here is that there are these demons gradually killing everyone, right, and that's what the humans are trying to get away from.’

Bat didn't say anything so Ace carried on.

'Well, the way I see it is that if you lot turn up on Earth the government will have to take notice. And if the Tuatha get together with the government, because they've had to admit that something is going on because of you lot, then the government will be able to supply them with superior firepower to wipe out the demons.' She gave a nod of her head - the logic seemed impeccable to her.

'I will convey your suggestion to the rest of the herd. But there is still the problem of how to get into Dinorben. '

Ace tightened the straps of her rucksack and felt the weight of the deodorant cans nestling safely within. 'Well, I've got a couple of ideas for that,' she said.

Bat called the herd to form a quorum. They sent one of the younger fillies to locate a touchstone, and she galloped ahead of them. She returned rapidly, her form blurring as it moved.

'What's happening to her?' Ace asked.

'That is not Fleet,' Bat told her, 'but merely a projection of her spirit. Look.'

Ace watched the image of the Ceffyl as it pranced before the herd. It rose up on its hind legs and then lunged forward, following this with three tosses of its head and a side-swipe its tail. When the dance was finished, the image began to streak and fragment until it was no longer visible. Once it was completely gone, the herd began to move again.

‘By the way she moved, she gave us directions to her true self’, ' Bat explained.

‘But how did she do it? How did she project an image of herself?'

‘She merely showed us one of her possible futures. In that future, she returned from the touchstone and performed the leading ritual, but in her actual future she remained by the touchstone.’

‘To save energy!' said Ace.

‘That's