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"I hope you're right."

"I am." Sungar said. "The old chief has shown me so."

"This place can have strange effects," Hurd cautioned. "We cannot always trust our senses."

"Simply believe, Hurd," said Sungar. "Even false belief will give you the strength you need when the time comes."

"I want to kill him," said Hurd. "I mean Kiev, though I would surely gut Geildarr if given the chance. But Kiev, who's brought such pain down on us. I'd love to see him pay. I wouldn't even care about seeing him suffer. That'd be playing his game. The quick death he denied us… that would be fulfillment enough."

"Let your anger brew," Sungar advised. "All the rage you've kept in check for all these years… now is the time for it."

* * * * *

The Thunderbeasts made camp in a field of brown grass, south of Loudwater. On Rask's advice, they chose to avoid the towns and major roads as much as they could, for the area crawled with Zhentarim, and they did not want Llorkh to have any forewarning of their approach. Kellin tossed and turned in her bedroll then rose, the full moon dappling her dark skin in tones of silver. Vell was keeping watch, silently staring into the distance.

"How do you feel, Vell?" she asked softly, so as not to disturb the sleeping warriors around them.

"Fine," he said. He turned to her. "As angry as I am at the Shepherds, there is something reassuring in knowing exactly where I stand. I thought Uthgar cursed me with this-he did not."

"But you transformed again," Kellin said. "How do you feel about that? I realize Uthgardt are unaccustomed to speaking of feelings, but-"

"I kept more of my own mind this time," said Vell. "That is good."

Kellin nodded.

"What troubled me is how comfortable I felt in that form." Vell forced a smile. "In a body so foreign, so unlike my own, so huge and scaly-I felt like myself."

Kellin embraced him. This took him by surprise. The gesture meant more to him than any words of reassurance. In the moonlight, he closed his arms around her as well, and for a long time they stood in a shared embrace, their heads resting on each other's shoulders. He felt warm and welcome in her arms, and his heart beat fast. For the first time in a long while, he was moved by something other than anger. He was of age to select a wife from among the Thunderbeast women, but the warriors of greater repute and importance took precedence. Before Runemeet, he had always hovered on the margins of his tribe, and not only because of his eye color-though that served as a reminder of his differences.

She whispered into his ear, "I would not wish your predicament on anyone. The Shepherds were wrong to do this to you, and you are brave to have borne it this far. You are the bravest man I've known." He began to speak, but she shushed him. "When this is over, if you do not want to return to your tribe, there will be a place for you with me."

"Will we be lovers?" Vell asked. He surprised himself with the question, and he began to recant. "I mean…"

"No," said Kellin. "It's an important question. I don't know yet. We'll see how this turns out. Unless you think Lanaal…"

"No," Vell said. "Not Lanaal."

"You and she have so much in common," Kellin said.

"And so little in common." Vell moved a tentative hand to stroke the black curls that hung down over her shoulders.

"You don't have to accept my offer," Kellin said, resting her head on his shoulder. "This is your choice. Maybe you'll decide that your place is with your people."

"Up until now," Vell answered, "I had no way to even contemplate leaving. But you had never met me, Kellin. Before Runemeet, before Morgur's Mound, Vell the Brown was an ordinary man, unremarkable in most ways. Take the behemoth from me, and I fear that's what I'll be again."

"Don't think that way," said Kellin. "Look where it's led you. You've traveled far outside the world you knew, met creatures you never could have expected-elves, korreds, treants, and a half-orc, not to mention a sorceress.