He went to the Demons! The same thought exploded through all their minds.

"Gods!" DragonStar whispered, and rubbed his forehead. "Why? Why?"

"Our son," Axis said, and looked at Faraday, "our son has betrayed us."

DragonStar had to struggle to repress bitter laughter. You always have to have a son to betray you, don't you, Axis? But he managed to banish the thought almost as soon as it surfaced.

Damn it! He had to think! Why would Isfrael have gone to the Demons?

"And how did he think he was going to survive?" he muttered.

Again, silence, and again it was Faraday who eventually broke it. "He would have gone to bargain with them," she said, "but with what, and for what, I do not know."

DragonStar lifted his eyes to hers. "We are going to have to find out," he said.

This was difficult, and extremely dangerous, but DragonStar had no choice. He had to know what Isfrael was about to do.

Or what he had already done. Stars alone knew if they were going to be able to stop Isfrael, or if the situation had gone too far to remedy the damage.

They were in a small room: DragonStar, Faraday, Gwendylyr and Goldman, and Axis and Azhure.

Axis and Azhure could not help with power, but DragonStar somehow wanted them there, not only for the knowledge and experience they shared, but also because their presence comforted him.

And DragonStar was gladdened beyond measure by that sense of comfort.

They all sat in a small circle of chairs, close-touching, save for Faraday who knelt within the circle before DragonStar, her hands on his lap.

"Faraday," DragonStar said, "of all of us present, you are the one with the closest bond to Isfrael."

"And that not very close at all," she said, sadly.

DragonStar smiled for her, letting love and tenderness wash over his face. "You held him within your body for many months, and you bear a mother's love for him. You have a bond, and you also have power."

She nodded. DragonStar had explained what they must do. Follow Isfrael through the door with their minds and their power. Follow the memory of where he went, and what he did.

See.

The entire procedure was horrendously risky. They were all exposing themselves to attack by the Demons, for their mind power would provide a direct link back to their bodies which remained in this room.

Faraday looked at DragonStar, and, in turn, DragonStar looked at Axis.

Axis gave a slight nod, his face stiff with tension and fear. If the Demons follow our minds back into Sanctuary, DragonStar had told him, and seize control of our bodies, then kill us. It will be your

— and Sanctuary's — only hope.

Axis had spent many long years longing for the chance to kill DragonStar. Now? No, he did not think he could do it. Not even with a Demon leering at him with DragonStar's eyes.

And Faraday! How could he kill Faraday?

Axis looked at Azhure, and her eyes were steady. Axis took a deep breath. "We are ready," he said.

DragonStar checked Gwendylyr and Goldman. They sat to either side of him, their hands on his shoulders.

They nodded, their faces as tense as Axis'.

DragonStar closed his eyes, and Faraday, Gwendylyr and Goldman followed suit. Axis and Azhure were the only ones who stayed alert, and their eyes they kept watchful.

Seek., DragonStar said to Faraday with his mind voice, and she sought.

She remembered the feel of Isfrael within her body, the thud of his infant heart against the walls of her womb, the feel of him, of his body, his spirit, his soul. She concentrated so hard that eventually she could feel the sensations again, feel the weight of him within her, feel the love that they'd shared during that time.

And she sent her senses scrying through space and time, searching out the recent memories of her son.

In Leagh's chamber. Faraday knew he'd been in Leagh's chamber, so she started there.

Where was IsfraePs memory? Where? Where?

There! A shadow slipped across her mind, and Faraday concentrated as hard as she could. She was distantly aware of DragonStar's, Gwendylyr's and Goldman's minds accompanying hers, but they were familiar and loved and safe, and she paid them no heed.

All she thought of was Isfrael.

There he was, his hands on Leagh, his hate rippling across his face. The door, in bis hands,stretching so he could step through it ... Leagh, desperately fighting her way upright and acrossthe bed so she could close the door before Isfrael could take it with him —

Quick! DragonStar's mind spoke. Quick, we must through the door before Leagh closes it!

And there was a surge of power from the other three, and Faraday felt herself being propelled through the doorway even as Leagh closed it down about ... them. Yes, Faraday allowed herself a moment of relief. The other three had come through with her. They were with her. They would protect her.

Back in the room Axis and Azhure stared at the four forms before them. They were still there, but slumped and almost lifeless.

"They've gone through the door," Azhure said very softly. "Stars help them now."

Axis' hand slipped down to the sword at his side, then lifted back to his lap again.

They were fleeing with Isfrael through Spiredore — Gods! DragonStar's mind said, this memory is so cold! First to the dead end of the blue-misted tunnel when Isfrael had thought to enter the Sacred Groves direct...

The Sacred Groves! thought Faraday. He wants to go to the Sacred Groves!

... and then into the circle of apple trees.

They saw with his eyes the circle of stumps, and then they saw with his eyes theNiah-woman, and felt his joy that she was there.

And then they saw the Demons.

"Hello," said Qeteb. "So glad you dropped in."

And all four felt fingers of iron close about their minds.

Axis and Azhure jumped, and Axis swore briefly, softly.