Chapter One: The Ruined City

When they reached the crumbling gate the riders drew rein, and looked for the first time into deserted Aligoth. Beyond the gate was a wide square, or plaza, where the market had once been - just like the market place in Thelos, or any other large city still in use. From there narrow streets ran. The buildings on them made strange outlines against the sun; their fronts were buried in shadow.

The pillars of the gate were of black stone, carved in the shape of hideous creatures with hungry jaws wide open. The one on the left stared back at the riders with its eyes round as though astonished to see them; the eyes of its companion were shut. The youngest rider shuddered.

"People must have had bad dreams in those days," she said in a low voice, "to come up with things like that! Ugh!"

"In those days," replied the man beside her, "things like that were real. Come, let us go into the city."

With that the two of them, and a third who had not yet spoken, urged their mounts forward and were soon deep among the ruins.

The man, who led the way, was in the middle part of his life. He was small in stature, though inclined to stoutness, with a short reddish beard and an anxious expression on his nut-brown face. On the shoulder of his cloak a garland of flowers was embroidered in grey thread, and this showed him to be a sorcerer. His name was Voltan.

Behind him rode a slender girl of eleven or twelve, Wist, who was not Voltan's daughter but his apprentice - a sorcerer in training. Young though she was, Wist sat her mount with the careless ease of one long used to saddle and stirrup. Her face, framed with close-cropped brown hair, was sombre now, and her alert blue eyes were wide as she gazed around her at the dead streets and broken buildings. Yet there was a puzzling hint of discontent in her grave expression, an uneasiness not connected with the desolate surroundings, but not forgotten even as she peered half-fearfully into Aligoth's mysterious shadows.

And after Wist rode Blister, who knew nothing of sorcery and did not wish to. Blister was tall, and thin, and very strong. She could run silently and swiftly in spite of her size; she could catch a fly between finger and thumb with her eyes closed, from the sound of its buzzing; she smiled rarely, and laughed never. Blister's job was to do whatever Voltan told her to do, and she did it well.

The litter of Aligoth's ruin lay all about them - hardly a building was whole. The collapsed walls of some were piles of rubble and dust; many had fallen-in roofs and broken balconies; a few were destroyed entirely, from the ground up, so that their basements were laid open to passers-by.

Looking down from horseback into these wrecked buildings, Wist was thoughtful. So much destruction! And more than buildings had been destroyed. Aligoth had boasted some of the mightiest sorcerers in the world, according to Voltan, their names now mostly forgotten. Yet for all their wisdom and magic, the people of Aligoth were proud and quarrelsome, and could not agree as to which of them should sit at the head of their High Council. At length they fell to fighting among themselves, and the fighting did not stop until every child, woman and man of Aligoth either was killed or had fled, and until the city itself was no longer fit to live in.

Another city might have been rebuilt in time, and used again. Not Aligoth. Folk called it the "witch city", and would not enter it. The old road was untravelled; a new one was built that bypassed the city. Boats on the River Eldaran no longer put in at the Aligoth docks, but continued downstream to Thelos. Rumours said that strange and deadly powers still lurked in the witch city, and nobody could say the rumours were wrong. A few went to see for themselves, mostly thieves and sorcerers down on their luck. Many of these came back, some with treasure or items of magical power. Others were never heard from again.

In spite of this, in spite of the hideous statues at the gate, Wist did not feel very nervous. Aligoth was weirdly silent and empty, which made it a bit spooky, but that was all. The smashed buildings were sad, but not unfriendly. Wist was not sorry to have come. At least it was a change from the safe and boring places they usually went.

Voltan was less contented.

"This place gives me the creeps!" he grumbled as they rode along. "I keep hearing this skittering sort of sound like something hurrying to get out of the way before we get to it, and I see things moving out of the corners of my eyes. Don't you?"

"No," answered Wist uncertainly, a bit alarmed.

"No," answered Blister flatly. "There isn't anything."

"All right, then," said Voltan. "Just my imagination. The place still gives me the creeps."

Wist gave a sigh of relief. Blister was never wrong about things like that. When it came to uncovering hiding-places, to exposing secrets, to sniffing out spies, to catching you in the act, Blister was as good as anybody.

"Where are we going to stay tonight?" Voltan wondered aloud. "Outdoors, if you ask me! I don't want to spend the night in a building that might collapse on me while I sleep! Why do I keep that infernal map, anyway? One of these days I'm going to light a fire with it, I promise you!"

Wist grinned. Burn the map? She doubted it, though Voltan had often enough made the threat. It was a Destiny Map, a rare and precious thing. It showed the whole land of Valinay in green ink on white, except for one place that was marked in red. It was to that place - never the same for long at a time - that Voltan's wandering destiny meant him next to go. Of course, he could ignore the map and go somewhere else if he chose to, and he had done so more than a few times in years past. But he had learned to his cost that it was better to follow his destiny. So when one day he had consulted the map and found Aligoth, the witch city, marked in red, Voltan had grumbled, but he had come. And he would not burn the map.

They now came upon a square enclosed by many once-fine buildings. Bodies of stone, stone heads and limbs, were scattered all about the cracked and empty pedestals on which noble statues had stood. Jagged chunks of smashed marble columns lay untidily here and there like a giant-child's broken toys. Sticking out from under one were the crushed leg-bones of a human skeleton.

Voltan did not notice this last detail.

"I don't see any point in going further," he said, wearily dismounting. "I think we'll just put up the tents right here."

"This place is too open," Blister objected. "We don't know that there aren't other people about."

"I don't think there's anything to worry about," replied Voltan. "I've even stopped hearing those skittering noises. We'll stop here."

Blister merely nodded, and at once began opening the sorcerer's travelling bag. This contained most of their possessions, though it was light enough to carry in one hand, and small enough to sling comfortably over one's shoulder. From it Blister unpacked two good-sized tents and their poles, three sleeping rolls, an armful of firewood, pots and pans, a fresh cloak for Voltan, and numerous other odds and ends. In a few minutes the three of them had set up a comfortable little campsite, strange-looking though it was among the stone buildings of the ruined city.

"I want to go exploring," Wist announced when that was done.

"You want to go off and play, you mean," grumbled Voltan, "instead of studying your spells. How do you expect to become a sorcerer if you spend all your time playing? Hmm? Anyway, it'll be getting dark in an hour. I think you'd better stay here."

"So do I," put in Blister. "This city has an evil reputation, especially at night."

"I'll be back before sunset, I promise," cried Wist. "Please let me go, Voltan. I'll stay close by. I just want to go inside some of the buildings and see what they're like. And I'll study in the morning, really I will! Please may I go?"

"Well, I'm too tired to argue," Voltan answered. "Go if you must, Wist. But only until sunset, or next time I shall say no."

"I'd better go with you, then," Blister said. "For safety."

"Oh, but that's not - " Wist began to say, but Voltan interrupted her.

"Good idea," he agreed. "I'll feel better that way too. Off you go, then, both of you. Don't expect to make any great discoveries, though - Aligoth must be pretty well cleaned out by now. Still, it's a historical sort of place. Keep your eyes open and you might learn something."

It was too bad that Blister had insisted on coming along, Wist thought, but she had more than half expected it. Blister seemed to hate letting Wist out of her sight, probably for fear that Wist might run away, and Blister would no longer have anyone to torment.

In a way, Blister's concern was justified. The idea of running away, of breaking off her apprenticeship to Voltan, had of late been often present in Wist's mind, and it came back to her now as she and Blister made ready to set off. The sorcerer was a kind enough man, and meant well, but his head was in the clouds half the time, and he never seemed to notice how badly Blister treated his apprentice. Or maybe he wouldn't let himself notice, because Blister was useful to him, and he didn't want to get rid of her.

Nor was that all. Despite his absent air, Voltan had long before come to realize that Wist's talent for sorcery, though not yet very far developed, was greater - perhaps much greater - than his own; now Wist herself was dimly becoming aware of this also. And with this sense of her talent, of her power, she was already beginning to wonder if the vagabond life of a grey garland sorcerer suited her as well as her master seemed to think. Was there not some nobler part she could play, like the mighty sorcerers of long ago, even (when she dared think it) like the mighty Pala herself? Wist did not know, but she yearned to find out.

But running away was risky. As long as she stayed with Voltan, Wist would always have enough to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to sleep. Where would she get those things if she were on her own? She was also bound to the sorcerer by the ancient laws of apprenticeship: if caught as a runaway she would be returned to Voltan's keeping willing or not. The problems were many, too many for Wist to handle on her own. She set her thoughts aside for now, and announced to Blister that she was ready.

They left the camp on foot, and crossed the square to a broad road that wound away down a gentle slope in the direction of the river. Some of the buildings here were better preserved than most they had seen. Wist selected one almost at random, and led the way up a wide but crumbling stairway to the entrance.

She went in, and found that she was in a small lobby, with round-ceilinged passages like tunnels leading off in three directions. In the thick dust that carpeted the stone floor were bits of broken tile that had fallen from the domed ceiling. There was no furniture, nor any hint of what the building might have been used for. For a minute Wist stood quite still.

One part of her mind was busy trying to decide which way to go. The three passages all looked the same, though, so it didn't seem to matter which she chose. Another part of her mind was not thinking at all, but feeling, and wondering. Thousands of years ago this place had been fashioned by people not so different, surely, from herself. Many of them must have stood in this very chamber. Wist shivered. How many ghosts were with her even now? It was easy to believe that no outsider in Aligoth went unwatched, and that the watchers could not themselves be seen.

Blister must have sensed her companion's mood, for she had come up very silently behind, and now cried, "Boo!" and clapped her cold fingers over Wist's eyes.

Wist screamed, and wriggled free in an instant. At the same time a cluster of large tiles broke free of the domed ceiling, and fell. Some struck the floor, and clattered resoundingly. Others struck Blister on the head, and she crumpled senseless to the floor.

Wist saw Blister's slack mouth, closed eyes, and splayed limbs, saw that her head was tilted at a strange angle to her body, and feared at once that the tall woman was dead. But then Blister's chest rose as she drew a breath, and a small sigh escaped her lips as she let it out again, so that Wist knew she was still alive. Kneeling, she discovered that the tiles had scraped Blister's head and bruised it, but there did not seem to be any serious damage.

Quickly but carefully Wist chanted a Spell of Healing, one of the Six Simple Spells all sorcerers learn in the first years of their training. The blood that had been oozing from several of the scraped places at once dried up. Wist nodded with satisfaction as the spell began to take effect. It was good not to be helpless in situations like this.

Suddenly Blister's eyes flickered open. Any ordinary person would have been groggy and confused coming around like that, but not Blister. With an angry growl she leapt to her feet and seized Wist by the collar.

"You little beast!" she hissed. "Screaming like a baby at every tiny shock! Everyone knows how stupid it is to make loud noises in a ruined place like this - you could have brought the whole building down around my ears! Not that you would have cared! Well, you'll pay - don't worry about that!"

And with that Blister raised her closed fist to strike a blow on Wist's face, but with a desperate effort Wist broke free and ran blindly away, down the second of the three passages.

"Come back, you!" Blister shouted. More tiles fell at the sudden noise, but without hitting her. After a moment she set off in pursuit, devouring with long strides the distance between her and her quarry.

Wist cast a desperate glance back. It was no good. Blister was almost upon her. Ahead the passage curved, but there was no sign of a door, or any other means of escape.

"Got you!" Blister cried.

At the same moment there was a great crash of metal on stone at Wist's back, and she swung around in astonishment to find a wall of thick steel bars between herself and her pursuer. The wall reached from the floor to the slot in the curved ceiling from which it must have just now fallen. Presumably it had been a trap of some kind, or a protection for the occupants of this building in long ago times. Blister came up short with a scream of dismay, and only narrowly avoided running headlong into the wall of steel. Now she stood and howled with fury, and shook the bars violently, but could not move them.

Wist did not think that even in her rage Blister had the strength to break through that wall. Before long she would give up, and return to Voltan with some terrible made-up story of the things Wist had done. But that was a problem for later on. Just now Wist wanted only to be as far away from Blister as possible. Without further thought she dashed off down the passage and around the corner, and a moment later found herself in another, much larger, chamber.

This was the first in a series of impressive halls with high ceilings. Smashed and overturned remnants of fine furniture were still to be seen in corners here and there, along with bits of broken statues and other rubble. The marble walls were painted with murals, now greatly faded, or cunningly inlaid with curious twisting designs.

By one of these strange patterns Wist paused to collect her thoughts. What would Voltan say when he learned what had happened? He was apt to be severe when quarrels broke out between his two companions. It would be well for Wist to have the tale rehearsed in her own mind before the time came to share it with him. She considered the matter, trying to picture the sorcerer's round, expressive face in her mind's eye, while her right hand idly traced the curlicued design on the wall beside her.

When the wall moved, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

In a moment her alarm changed to wonder. She saw that a single block within the line her finger had traced had somehow slid away into a recess within the wall, leaving a shallow niche in its place. And within the niche was a slender chain of yellow metal, with a jewelled clasp for fastening it about one's neck.