Chap snarled and lunged in.

Magiere faltered, staring at Leesil in sudden silence. Her hand began to drop, fingers shaking, as fear spread across her pale features.

Chap halted, watching her closely. More than once, Leesil's presence had cut through her fury and brought her back to reason.

Magiere's eyelids fluttered again.

Her black pupils rolled up, leaving nothing but white. She swung as Leesil's amber eyes widened.

Leesil sidestepped, catching her forearm in both hands, but his legs buckled under her force, driving him to his knees.

Chap rushed in and clamped his teeth around her boot top. He ground his jaws closed on her shin. Magiere cried out as he dug in with his paws and yanked, pulling the leg from under her.

Magiere twisted on one foot and toppled, and Chap released his grip. He wheeled away, but she fell straight into Leesil. They both slammed down in freshly fallen snow. Leesil threw his arms around Magiere lying faceup against his chest.

Chap scrambled to get at Magiere before she turned on Leesil. The instant his paw ground upon her chest, he snarled into her face.

Magiere's black eyes opened wide. Instead of answering him in kind, she shrank from his bared teeth.

She began shaking with true cold. She rolled her head, looking about as if not knowing where she was.

Chap backed up, pulling his paw from Magiere's chest. The dhampir had receded, leaving only Magiere. Leesil pinned her tightly against himself, not allowing her to move.

"Shhhhhhh," he murmured in her ear. "It's me."

Magiere's eyes finally cleared, and Chap watched her black pupils shrink and fade to dark brown. She looked directly at him.

"Where…?" she whispered but never finished, and then heaved a panicked breath.

She curled to one side, covering her face with bloodied fingers.

Chap sagged in exhausted relief. They had found her, and she was herself again-for the moment. He barked twice to gain Leesil's attention, then rushed toward the gully's opening to stand and wait. They must get back to camp, and fast.

Leesil struggled to his feet, pulling Magiere up. He managed to get her into her coat and then stumbled out of the gully, half-dragging her. Chap paused, gazing up the sheer wall at the back of the gully.

There was no way Magiere could have climbed it. But in half-consciousness, driven by instinct, she had chosen a precise direction to reach that castle in her mind.

"Can you find our way back?" Leesil called.

Chap turned out of the gully and struggled into the lead. Their tracks in the snow were all but gone. He quickly traced any remnants, but soon there were none left.

Leesil followed him, half-dragging and half-carrying Magiere. Chap plowed through the unblemished drifts, searching for a way to their camp.

Leesil was merely cold at first, but even in his coat, he began having trouble breathing. His leg muscles burned as his skin chilled, but he kept hauling Magiere through the snow and wind, trying to shield her with his body.

"Not far," he whispered to her over and over. "Almost there."

In truth, he didn't know where he was and only put one foot before the other, blindly following Chap-then the dog halted and barked. Leesil lifted his head.

In the dark, a narrow slope ran along a sheer rock face. He almost groaned but didn't want Magiere to hear. They had wandered in a circle, returning to the narrow alley into the boxed gully.

Chap lunged straight for the rock wall and turned down the slope.

Leesil thought the dog had lost his wits. He managed a last burst of strength to follow, but when he neared the slope's bottom, he didn't see the gully's far wall. The corner of a cold-hardened canvas tapped against the stone in the wind. He stepped around the rock face's gradual turn.

The canvas was staked across the opening of the depression. Leesil's last few steps into the shelter were the hardest of all.

He crouched to drag Magiere inside and settle her against the side wall. For a moment, all he could do was catch his breath as Chap wriggled by to the shelter's rear. The dog came to him, dragging the bag of droppings in his teeth.

"Yes," Leesil breathed.

He took the bag and turned back to the fire's smoldering remains. He wished he could get word to Sgaile, but he could barely walk, and he wouldn't ask Chap to go. They were both spent.

Magiere slid along the wall and slumped on the floor, watching him as he blew on the embers, trying to coax a flame.

"What happened?" she whispered, barely loud enough to hear.

"I don't know," he answered.

Chap pricked his ears. He ducked around behind Leesil and out through the canvas.

Leesil heard the dog bark loudly, and Chap returned before he could peek out.

Sgaile followed an instant later. Panting, he held aside the canvas for Osha, who immediately crawled to the depression's back and collapsed. All of Leesil's exhaustion was mirrored in Sgaile's relief as the elf dropped to his knees at the sight of Magiere. Leesil glanced at the closed canvas and then looked at Osha.

"Where's Wynn?"

Sgaile stiffened and lifted his head. "With you… she insisted on going with you."

"When I didn't find her here, I thought she'd gone with you." Leesil shook his head in disbelief. "I told her to stay… You were standing right above her, Sgaile!"

Chap snarled at both of them and bolted out of the shelter.

Leesil started to follow, but his legs were so cold he couldn't get to his feet.

"You not see her come for you?" Osha demanded. "She run behind you!"

"No!" Leesil growled back.

Magiere weakly pushed up on one elbow. "What's going on?"

Frozen canvas crackled sharply as Chap burst in. He raised one silver paw and hit the floor over and over. He barked twice, paused, and barked twice again.

Leesil didn't like what he heard. Chap had found no tracks but still intended to search. The dog was the only one still on his feet.

"You can't… not alone," Leesil whispered.

Chap wheeled about, and before Leesil could grab him, the dog rushed out.

Leesil jerked the canvas aside, peering into the empty night. Then he felt Magiere's hand close on his arm.

"Where's Wynn?"

Her pale face was windburned, and worse, she wasn't demanding or angry, as in any other crisis. She just sounded lost.

Leesil didn't know how to answer her. He stared out into the blizzard. Snowfall was already burying Chap's tracks.

Hkuan'duv took second watch, but A'harhk'nis did not retire.

"I will check upon the other camp," he said, "and make certain they remained at the cave. It is doubtful they pressed on in this blizzard, but I would have difficulty tracking them if they did."

"Yes," Hkuan'duv agreed. "Be quick, and then return to rest."

A'harhk'nis vanished, and Hkuan'duv settled against the tent, trying to stay out of the wind's worst force. After a while, he looked in on the others.

Danvarfij seemed fast asleep, and Kurhkage breathed easily, wrapped in his cloak and blanket. Hkuan'duv returned to scanning the mountainside.

Snowfall thickened as the wind picked up. Fortunately they had found rock formations to shield their tent, but he hoped they neared the end of their purpose. The prospect of facing Sgailsheilleache, when the time came to seize the artifact and eliminate Magiere, was still discomforting.

Hkuan'duv would do it, regardless of the costs-he would protect his people, as always. But he had never before been placed in conflict of purpose with a member of his own caste. Until the recent gathering of the clan elders, he had never even heard of such an occurrence.

Hkuan'duv was startled from his pondering as A'harhk'nis hopped over the rocks and landed before him-with a wild glitter in his eyes.

"Wake the others!" A'harhk'nis urged. "Something is happening in Sgailsheilleache's camp."