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Something was bothering him—after a moment he realized what it was. Tashana’s dark shroud was shifting, twisting into a new shape. What did it mean? What was she doing?

“Then learn the price of your folly.” The mist faded completely, and Daine froze in horror.

The figure beneath the darkness was not Tashana—it was Lei. Blood was streaming from her maimed hand and a dozen small wounds. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell to the ground. Without thinking, he dropped his sword and ran toward her.

There was a terrible cry of pain, and in that instant Lei was gone. The dark figure was there again, right in front of him, but now two white-feathered arrows were protruding from her chest. A moment later the cry faded away—and so did Tashana.

Turning around, Daine saw Pierce, his great bow in his hands. Behind him, Lei—uninjured—moaned and rubbed her head.

“What happened?” she said, gingerly kneeling to pick up her fallen weapons.

“I don’t know,” Daine replied. He looked over at Lakashtai, who lay crumpled against a wooden pylon. “But I think we’d better find out.”

Pierce, check the ship,” Daine said. There were no signs of movement on the deck of the Kraken’s Wake, no sounds beside the rhythmic motion of the water. “It’d be just our luck if she killed the crew.”

Pierce nodded and moved cautiously up the gangplank.

“Lei, with me,” Daine knelt beside Lakashtai and studied the fallen kalashtar. Her shoulder wound was deep, but there wasn’t much blood—and she was still breathing. “Do what you can.”

Lei produced a small rod of green wood and slowly passed it over Lakashtai’s shoulder. The wand began to glow with a pale light, and the injured flesh began to knit together.

“Well, I’m certainly feeling better about this trip. Do you suppose she’s got more friends like that?”

“I’ve seen that woman before, Lei. Tashana.”

Lei’s eyes narrowed. “You’re full of surprises today. Any other women I should know about?”

“It’s not like that. I saw her in my … dream, I guess it was, when Lakashtai was in my mind. I think she’s the one responsible for what’s been happening to me.”

“Lakashtai,” Lei said distastefully. “I get tongue-tied just saying it. Can’t we call her ‘La’?”

Lakashtai opened her eyes, looking straight at Lei. Startled, Lei cried out and dropped the wand.

“It is the name of my soul,” Lakashtai said calmly, as if she was talking over a cup of Tal and not lying on a blood-stained pier. “La is only a part of who I am. It is my bond to Kashtai that makes me complete.”

Lei snatched up her wand and glared at Daine. “Sure. It was only a suggestion.”

Lakashtai was on her feet before Daine could even hold out a hand to help her. “Where is Tashana?”

“She’s gone.” Daine showed her the bloody tip of his sword. “I landed a few blows, then Pierce hit her dead center with two arrows, and she just faded away.”

“If she was the one causing Daine’s problems, does that mean this is all over?” Lei asked.

Lakashtai studied the pier. “The arrows that struck her … they disappeared as well.”

“Yes.”

“Then you did not destroy her. She can move through space in the blink of an eye—she must have teleported away. You did well to defeat her, but we must be gone from here. Others may soon arrive.”

Lei grabbed Lakashtai’s arm. “Wait. Others? When you invited us to come on your little trip, you said you could help Daine—you didn’t say anything about being hunted by shadowy killers.”

“Lei—” Daine began.

“Tashana came for Daine,” Lakashtai said. Her eyes burned with emerald fire, and Lei released her arm and took a step back. “She sought to kill me so I could not protect him.”

“Really?” Lei said, rubbing her hand. “Why’s she so interested in Daine, anyway?”

“This is not the time for this conversation. We must embark on our journey.”

As if on cue, Pierce appeared at the railing of the ship. “The crew appears to be alive but unconscious,” he called down to them. “There is no indication of any hostile presence on board.”

Lakashtai strode up the gangplank. Lei and Daine exchanged glances, and Daine shrugged. Lei picked up her