Battlefield chaos reigned in what had once been Molin Torchholder's privateretreat from disorder. Niko lay on the worktable while Jihan brought her healingenergies to bear on one tortured joint after another. Now and again themercenary's eyes would bulge open and the sounds of hell would explode from hismouth. The others would cease their arguings until the Froth Daughter had himquiet; then the frantic bickering would begin again.

Crit's simple statement, "We fouled up," applied to everyone in the room-none ofwhom were accustomed to failure on such a grand scale. Niko's physical pain wasthe least of their worries. The demon erupting in his moat- molded rest-placehad the power to reshape all creation-if Roxane didn't do something preemptivewith the Globe of Power or the mortal anarchy of the PFLS-inspired riots didn'toverwhelm them all first.

None of then noticed a new shadow at the threshold.

"Divine Mother! This is intolerable!"

Shupansea, exiled Beysib Empress and, by virtue of foreign gold and the strongarms of clan Burek, de facto ruler of Sanctuary, stopped short in the opendoorway. She stared- knowing that it discomfitted these drylanders, but therewas no other way. Her mind, moving behind glazed, amber eyes, scanned from oneshadowed comer of the room to the other, from the floor to the ceiling,absorbing every detail without the distraction of movement.

They had been arguing, singly and severally, but the sight of her united them insilence. She knew them all, except for the dark-clad, disheveled woman sittingon a low stool with a half-full goblet leaning out of her hands. Their combinedpresence in such a small, private room could only mean disaster.

Shupansea was caught in an undertow of emotion as the images of violencepatterned themselves against her memories of the Beysa's court those last fewdays before her supporters in clan Burek had effected her rescue, and exile. Noteven the silken touch of her familiar serpent moving between her breasts couldbreak her horror-struck fascination with Niko's broken, blood-streaked body. Thetears and shrieks of terror she had resolutely concealed from her own peoplecould not be withheld from this insignificant drylander.

Divine Mother, she repeated, this time a prayer as the silent undertow swept herback toward incapacitating fear. Help me!

The downward surge was broken by the soft strength of Mother Bey cradling hermortal daughter. Shupansea felt her pulse quicken as the goddess' vitalityflowed within her own envenomed blood. She ascended through the Aspects: Girl,Maiden, Mother and Crone, to Sisterhood, then broke through to Self-ness. Sheblinked and stared across the room again.

"He yet lives," the Presence said to her, and through her to the still-silentassembly. "The mortal soul survives."

Shupansea took long, gliding steps toward Niko. Tempus moved away from his selfassigned post at Niko's side in a slow, graceful fury, determined to stop her.She paused and stared-seeing him clearly for the first time: this nearlysupernatural man now spiritually naked and silently invoking the names of puny,man-shaped gods. She lifted a finger of Power but was spared its use whenAnother reached out to restrain him.

"That's the snake-bitch goddess within her," Jinan hissed, getting a handful ofTempus's biceps and squeezing it hard.

The Beysa reached out to catch a drop of Niko's blood in the curve of her longfingernail, then brought it to her lips. Blood was sacred to Mother Bey. Shesavored the taste of it and absorbed all it told about Niko, his rest-place, andthe uneasy truce which held there. Visions of the handiwork of moat, theBandaran imitation of divine paradise, came as an unwelcome-indeed,unimaginable-surprise.

You should be ashamed of yourselves, she, who tolerated no other deities in thatportion of paradise she called her own, roared at the pantheons and protogodswho shared a suddenly imperfect omniscience with her. THAT. An ephemeral fingerpointed toward the blazing column that was Janni and the ominous bulge beneathit. That is what comes of giving mortals their own dreams. That is what theyhave built with free will: a gateway for demons-for the destruction of us all!

Mother Bey reserved special ire for her erstwhile lover, Stormbringer, but hermortal avatar was spared that confrontation. The goddess withdrew, leavingShupansea somewhat flushed and tingling with righteous indignation.

"How could you allow this to happen?" she demanded of Molin.

Molin straightened his robe and his dignity. "You knew all that we knew. Roxanetook control of Niko's body; another magician has stolen the Globe of Power. Therest, the consequences, we are only just beginning to understand."

"I have seen with my mother's eye, and the force within that young man," shegestured toward Niko with a bloodstained finger, "has nothing to do withwitches! Can't you fools tell the difference between a demon and a witch?"

Tempus freed himself from Jihan's restraint. He towered over Shupansea. "We knowexactly what we're dealing with, bitch," he said in a softly menacing voice.

"Well, what are we dealing with?" Shupansea replied, her head tilted back andglowering with a stare he could not hope to break. Her serpent made its way upthe stiff wires of her headdress. Its tongue flickered; Tempus blinked and Molinspoke instead.

"Roxane promised the Stormchildren to the demon. She poisoned the children butshe couldn't deliver their souls and got herself wounded in the bargain. We knewshe was hiding; some of us thought she had a hold on Niko but we didn'tguess she'd gotten behind him until it was too late and the demon'd come tocollect its payment from her. That was ASkelon's message for Tempus: thatshe'd gotten behind him somehow."

Ischade shook her head. "It was never so simple. Roxane promised the demon agateway in exchange for Niko. The only gateway she knew about was theStormchildren. She thought she was safe from everything where she was-and thatNiko was safe as well. Now that it's trying to take Niko, as it would have takenthe Stormchildren, she's frantic herself. She understands less than we do-but,with a globe again, she has vastly more power."

"We understand the demon must be destroyed and the rest-place with it,"Shupansea agreed.

Randal staggered forward, his face swollen and glistening from the fire, bits ofcharred canvas and flesh trailing from his clawed fingers. "Not destroyed." Hehad breathed the flames; his voice rasped and gurgled in his throat. "It will gosomeplace less defended. We need the globe. We can make it right with theglobe." Passion exhausted him; he slumped forward into Jihan's outstretchedarms.

"Is this true?" the Beysa demanded.

"It is likely," Jihan admitted, trying to divide her ministrations between the'stricken mage and Niko, who moaned when her hands weren't resting against hisflesh. "We can defend the rest-place, or the Stormchildren, but if Roxane hasthe globe she'll always be one step ahead."

"Roxane, Niko, or your son, Riddler," Ischade interrupted, focusing her own, andeveryone else's, attention on Tempus. "You must make your choice. No matter whatI do, I will need time. I cannot wait any longer!"

But Tempus only shook his head. He took Niko's hand and the unconscious Stepsonseemed to breathe easier. "Go where you want," he said slowly.

Ischade set the goblet down and made ready to leave the room.

"Guards!" Shupansea shouted, and a pair of the shaven-pated Burek warriorsappeared in the doorway. "Provide her with shoes and clothing. Escort herwherever she wishes to go-"