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You are, came the answer. He didn't know where the reply came from.

The behemoths arrayed themselves in lines, ready to attack the intruders. He did the same. He wondered if he could control the behemoth whose perspective he shared, but he didn't want to try. The animals grunted and paced.

Why did the Shepherds not protect them?

Vell knew: because they expect me to.

"I've failed them," Vell said. This time, he addressed the humans around him. "They gave me the power so I would protect them."

He heard voices ask many questions, but he pulled away from them, deeper and deeper into his vision. Four outsiders stood at the very rim of the Sanctuary.

* * * * *

"They died to get us here," said Royce as they stood near the northernmost phandar. "Vonelh, Nithinial, Bessick, the werebat… this expedition even claimed Mythkar Leng." To Ardeth, he added, "This had better be worthwhile."

"I'll try not to disappoint," said Ardeth, her tone somewhere between haughty and flirtatious. She cast a spell to reveal emanations of magic, then narrowed her eyes in concentration. "There," she said, pointing in the direction of the phandar trees. Gan, Royce, and Gunton stared without seeing anything different.

Ardeth drew a number of crossbow bolts from her leathers and slowly loaded one into her crossbow. "Geildarr's gifts," she explained, and held the crossbow at the ready.

"Illusion magic," guessed Royce. "We came all this way to pilfer illusion magic?"

"Don't underestimate the power of illusion, or its value," said Ardeth. "I've recently been reminded of what it's capable of. Anything that can create an illusion this size could conceal a marching army. And that's assuming that it's the only…"

A voice not his own suddenly rolled out of Gan's throat. "Please reconsider this," it said. This time the language was Illuskan, if an oddly accented and archaic version of it. "Turn away, travelers," it continued. "We warn you again. Our secrets are ours. We keep them with our might."

"And we shall take them with ours," Ardeth promised. "Gan…"

The hobgoblin needed no instructions. He was seething with anger at the idea of something controlling his body again, and he charged the area sectioned off by the phandar trees, the axe held high over his head. The instant it touched the invisible field, a reddish energy flowed out of the axe; it trembled in his hands, nodding toward the center of the triangle. Shocked, Gan slowed and took a few steps backward just as the axe's energy punched a hole through the illusion. A red pulse burst away and traveled halfway across the field before colliding with another source of magic. The rest of the illusion crumbled around him.

* * * * *

"Vell," said Thluna. "What's happening?"

"They have arrived," Vell answered, though his eyes were still staring into another place. Then he added, "We have failed."

CHAPTER 16

More than a dozen giant lizards ran through the thinly forested marsh of the revealed Sanctuary, toward the four intruders. Their long, snakelike necks leaned forward, and the ground trembled as they charged. Each was larger than several cottages, weighing more than twin dragons. Each step threw up huge sprays of water from the marsh and covered the charging behemoths in a shower of mist. Royce, Gunton, and Gan could only stare, just as they had at Elaacrimalicros. Scaly mountains bore down on them, and they could do nothing but watch.

Ardeth's crossbow sang. Each bolt zipped across the marsh and met its mark. No behemoth would be deterred by so minor a blow, but these bolts were fashioned with powerful magic at no little expense. When they struck behemoth scales, the beast disappeared, as if it had never been.

Ardeth giggled as she watched the magic work. The charging behemoths quickly noticed their disappearing companions and slowed their onrush, turning sideways and exposing more of their flanks to Ardeth's deadly aim.

As the behemoths began to thin out, Ardeth could see a strange standing stone at the Sanctuary's center, the top of which glowed with a beacon of unearthly red.

"Royce,"