As he let the sensations wash over him, Teldin had to admit that everything was alien: the strange, sweet-sharp scents of unfamiliar flowers carried by the breeze; the chattering of unseen creatures in the foliage; even the way the grass-tree leaves rustled and clattered as gusts of wind struck them.

Now, why is this all hitting me so hard? Teldin asked himself. He'd been on new worlds before, worlds more different from Krynn than this place. Why was he so hypersensitive to the deviations?

Almost the instant he posed the question, the answer came to him. The Juna, he told himself. This isn't just another new world; this is-maybe-the home of the Juna, who might well be "the creators" he'd been seeking.

His five companions were as edgy as he felt, Teldin could see. They had different reasons, no doubt; but still they seemed more alert, more sensitive to the slightest sensory cues, than he'd ever seen them before. When a bird-or was it a bird?-squealed in the distance, he saw them all jump, saw Dargeth bring up his sword, ready to thrust or parry. He almost told them all to relax, but then decided against it. Maybe I should be more ready for trouble, he mused, not they less.

They reached the edge of the meadow. There was a path of some kind leading into the forest, Teldin thought. The undergrowth-plants following the same paradigm as the grass" and the "trees" but about two feet tall-was sparser here, hinting at a trail. What creatures used it? he wondered. Animals? Or the Star Folk themselves?

Djan signaled for a stop. He turned to Teldin. "Well, where from here?" he asked quietly. "Into the forest?"

The Cloakmaster nodded wordlessly.

From his expression, Teldin knew that the first mate didn't really like, or agree with, the decision. Even before they'd left Teldin's cabin, he'd made it clear that he considered it too much of a risk to go far from the ship until they knew more about the environment and the dangers it might contain. "On board ship we've got the catapult and the ballistae to protect us," he'd pointed out. "They won't do any good against magic-not on the scale we've already seen-but they're enough to give the biggest predator something to think about."

But-now, as then-Teldin was convinced that they should explore. The half-elf had backed down before his captain's orders; and, even though he still disagreed, he didn't seem to take being overruled as a personal affront.

Djan sighed. "Beth-Abz and Dargeth, take the lead," he ordered. "Anson, watch our backs."

Teldin watched as the crewmen followed their orders, the half-orc and the disguised beholder moving forward ahead of them, the human, Anson, taking up a position behind them all. Quietly, they moved into the forest.

Among the trees, the air was cooler-like a mid-fall day in Ansalon, Teldin thought-and slightly more humid than out in the meadow. Light lanced down through the foliage in spears of yellow-gold light, shifting at angles visible as the mini-suns sped by in the unseen sky. The sounds the group made seemed somehow hushed under the green canopy. Paradoxically, Teldin could hear his own breathing and heartbeat with preternatural clarity. A sense of peace, of belonging, enfolded him. He felt a smile spread across his face. He slowed to a stop, breathing the fresh air of the forest deep into his lungs. As he looked around him, he saw similar expressions of peace on the faces of his companions.

All except Beth-Abz. If the eye tyrant was feeling the same sensations, it was resisting them, maintaining its alertness. Suddenly, the big figure stopped dead in its tracks, staring off into the dappled forest ahead. It signaled silently to the others, who stopped as well. "Something is up ahead," it reported in a harsh whisper. "It comes this way."

As quickly as it had come, Teldin felt the sense of serenity, of belonging, evaporate. Tension once more squeezed his chest.

"More than one of them," Beth-Abz hissed. Beside him, the half-orc sank into a sword-fighter's crouch, while Anson readied his sling, seating a lead ball in the leather pocket.

Teldin took a step forward to join Beth-Abz, but Djan's hand on his shoulder restrained him. Gently, he disengaged himself from the half-elf s grip and moved to stand between Dargeth and the beholder. He strained his senses to the utmost.

Yes, he could hear movement ahead, the rustle of underbrush as something-or multiple somethings, he couldn't be sure-approached along the path. The shifting spears of light interfered with his vision, not letting him see as far as he wanted to. But then…

There they were, strange shapes moving toward them at a slow walking pace. Teldin could feel his comrades' tension around him and felt his own heartbeat start to race. The figures ahead weren't humanoid-not even close-but he still couldn't make out their true shapes. The Juna… ?

Then the creatures emerged into a broad beam of sunlight, and he could see them clearly. His breath caught in his throat, and his pulse pounded in his ears like a mighty drum.

There were three of them, slender shapes slightly taller than Teldin's almost-six-foot height. Each creature had a smooth cylindrical body supported by three legs arranged evenly around the bottom of the torso. The legs looked flexible, with more joints and better articulation than a human limb, and ended in broad, soft-looking feet with three long toes. From two-thirds of the way up the body sprouted three more limbs-arms, Teldin labeled them, though they seemed boneless, more like muscular tentacles. Overall, each tentacle was about six feet long. Halfway along its length, each tentacle split into three, and each of those split again into three. The nine tips, each more slender and delicate than a child's finger, were in constant motion, writhing and twisting in complex patterns. Above each tentacle was mounted a single large eye, as big across as the span of Teldin's palm. The eyes were all bright gold, catching and reflecting the light of the hurtling mini-suns, with black, three-lobed pupils in their centers. The creatures wore no clothes of any kind and had no hair. They were covered in smooth skin, a pale yellow-cream color, that showed a satinlike sheen in the bright light. Teldin guessed each creature weighed about as much as an adult human, if not slightly more, but they moved with a grace and delicacy that made him think they were weightless.

The Cloakmaster gaped at them in wonder. He "heard" Estriss's mental voice speaking in his memory, describing the mysterious creatures he'd dedicated his life to following. They had a trilateral symmetry, the mind flayer had told him. Three legs, three arms… Like a xorn or a tirapheg, but unlike both. For an instant, he remembered holding the grip of the Juna knife that Estriss had given him, recalled the feel of the strange channels and ridges against his palm. At the time he'd known the grip had been designed for manipulative organs very different from human hands. Now he looked at the weaving, nine-tipped tentacles of the creatures, felt a strange stirring of… not quite familiarity, but certainly a hint of recognition.

Are these the Juna?

The instant the three creatures emerged into the light, they stopped dead in their tracks. As surprised to see us as we are to see them, Teldin thought.

Maybe they're surprised that we survived their magical onslaught…. The Cloakmaster braced himself for some kind of hostile response.

But no attack came. For a few of his racing heartbeats, he watched as the three-legged creatures remained totally still, even their tentacle tips motionless. Then the tentacles resumed their weaving. They were moving faster, he thought, jerkier, more anxiously-or was that his own mind reading an inappropriate meaning into something totally different? Slowly, almost cautiously, the creatures turned around their central axes-one third of a circle at a time, pointing one eye after another at Teldin and the others. Only when each creature had scrutinized the humans and demihumans with all three of its eyes did one of them start forward in a strange, crablike gait.