Urelle was inside the Crucible, and all her friends can do is wait... and hope. -----   Chapter 11. "How long do we wait?" Ingram heard himself demanding again. "As long as we must," Victoria responded from the dimness of the pre-dawn. Even without more light, Ingram could see how exhausted Victoria was, dark circles beneath her eyes, the eyelids heavy, the mouth bracketed with lines of worry and weariness. I look no better, probably. It's been more than two days. Quester was sleeping, at least; he could feel the vagueness [ Continue reading... ]

Quester had come up with an idea... -----   Chapter 8. Ingram had to laugh. It was typical of Quester to find the straightforward path that no one else saw. Druyar began to chuckle, too, and soon he and Frederic were laughing together. "That… that funny! Not stupid, maybe good idea. But funny." "That it was. Quite clever, Quester," Frederic said, a smile still evident. "A most interesting idea, in fact. Let us consider it." "Not much consider," Druyar said. "Salandaras if born, or if married to Salandaras. Yes?" "Well, [ Continue reading... ]

Today, our heroes reach the Freehold -- and confront the problem of how to get past the Salandaras who are there to prevent anyone from passing! -----   Chapter 7. "We must be getting close," Urelle said. Victoria nodded, seeing the same signs as her niece. The path into Wisdom's Fortress was broad, not terribly difficult, but wound somewhat through the foothills. However, the way the slope of the path was changing, and the depth to which they had now penetrated the mountain range, argued that they must now be approaching the [ Continue reading... ]