"I'm not tired," said Amira, and she was surprised to find it true.

After the past several tendays, she ought to have been exhausted, but a growing apprehension filled her and would not let her mind relax.

"So," said Gyaidun. "What now?" "What?" "You have your son. What now?"

Amira looked down at Jalan, breathing steadily inside his blankets.

"Jalan has been through something that no boy his age should ever have to experience. He's alive, and I have him back. The rest…" Her lips curved in a sad smile. "There will be time for the rest later."

Gyaidun said nothing. Listening to the fire smoldering, Amira found the lapse in the conversation unsettling. "I… I owe you both a great debt. Without you and the belkagen-and the Vil Adanrath, I suppose-I never would have been able to get my son back. If there is ever anything-" "So you're leaving, then?" said Gyaidun, anger in his voice. "That's it?" "What did you expect?" said Amira. "Jalan deserves a good home, a safe home, a family that cares for him-" "And he has this in Cormyr?" Stung, Amira turned her gaze fixed to the snowfield.

"What are you asking?" "Are you-you and Jalan-returning to Cormyr?"

"If we don't, they'll come looking for us. My family might well leave us for dead, but the war wizards… they'll come." "And you will go with them?" She looked back to him. "I won't fight my own people, Gyaidun." He returned her gaze, and in the moonlight she could see a small smile crack his stern features. "You won't have to, Amira." He motioned with his head to Lendri and Mingan and patted the long knife in the sheath at his belt. Amira's eyebrows rose, and she looked at Lendri. The elf said nothing but gave her a feral grin that did nothing to hide the wolf in his nature. Again he looked on her with those predator's eyes, the moon and starlight catching therein and shining out, but for the first time Amira did not feel caught in the wolf gaze. She felt part of the pack. She took a deep breath and looked back out on the endless miles of rolling steppe, now covered in snow. For the first time since she'd come to this land, she took in its beauty. It was a hard land, Lendri had said, and it bred hard children. But right now Amira was almost awestruck by its splendor. "I used to hate the Wastes, you know," she said. Gyaidun chuckled. "I can't imagine why."

A Guide to the Words and Phrases of the Vil Adanrath akai'ye: "ancient," "primal," or "primeval." Akhrasut Neth: "the Mother's Bed," a hill sacred to the Vil Adanrath. alet: a command, meaning "come here." amrulugek: "council" or "meeting." aniq: A command, meaning "ready" or "be ready." athkaraye: "friend of the elves." belkagen: "good seer," the name given to the holy men of the Vil Adanrath. besthunit nenle: a proverb, meaning "hurry up slowly;" in other words: be quick, but not so quick that you do it badly. chu set: "hold calm;" a more general translation would be "control yourself," "be still," or "calm down." crithta: "sunbeam" crith kesh het: "sun-shield to me." dilit: a command, meaning "be quiet." gaudutu: "burning legs;" the Vil Adanrath name for an extremely venomous centipede common to some parts of the Endless Wastes.

Hinakaweh: A clan of the Vil Adanrath. hrayek: "cut off," but most often used to mean "exile" or "outcast." Hro'nyewachu: "Heart of the Piercing," the name of one of the most sacred sites of the Vil Adanrath. Iket Sotha: "fort of winter," the Vil Adanrath name for Winterkeep. ikwe: a command, meaning "get back" or "get away." Inisach tin Nekutha Hro'nyewachwe: "Seeker and survivor of the Heart of the Piercing." kaharenharik ket: Literally "fires of heaven fall." kanishta: A type of root, the juices of which help the body and stay warm and provide energy. Karakhnir: "sharpens the bite." kaweh rut, kyed: "speak out, now." kehrareth: "intense grief" or "despair;"

"fey." kweshta: "a special one," but in the sense of one who does not quite fit in, but in a good way; a looser translation might be "dear" or "unique." na kwast wahir athu kyene wekht unarihe: a proverb, meaning "better a cold truth than a warm lie." newetik: "without heart"; an insult that means "without honor." omah: "leader" or "chief." omah nin: "highest chief." rathla: "blood-bound," but most often used to mean "blood brothers." Siksin Neneweth: "Ice Skins," the Vil Adanrath name for the Frost Folk. sumezh: "stray dog;" it is commonly used as an insult. te?: "well?" or "huh?" uskeche: "fire" or "flame," but more commonly used as the Vil Adanrath word for "spirit" or "ghost." u werekh kye wu: "great winds be born." uwethla:

"skin-bound," the Vil Adanrath name for the holy symbols etched onto the skin of omahet and belkagenet. vil: wolf. viliniketu: "wolves of the ice fields." the Vil Adanrath name for winter wolves. wutheh: a command, meaning "find" or "seek." Yastehanye: "Honored Exile." about the author Mark Sehestedt (no relation to Laurence Tureaud) was born in Portales, New Mexico. He grew up on a steady diet of Marvel? comic books, Star Trek? reruns, Star Wars?, science fiction, horror, and Mel Brooks movies. His first attempt at a book was How Not to Get Captured by Monsters on Halloween Night, which he wrote at age four while watching Scooby-Doo?. It still hasn't found a publisher. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, six children, a dog, a bird, a gecko, and various unnamed spiders. Frostfell is his first novel. Film rights are still available.