Nosfentre waited while I struggled to my feet, still trying to catch my breath. "Traitor!" I finally managed to hiss at him. I took a step forward.

Nosfentre drew his blade. "Stand back, Johne," he warned. "Thou art ill, and I have no wish to harm a sick man."

He, too, backed away. The door shut. The latch clicked. And my fury was released in an anguished wail.

* * *

They have locked me in my own cabin. Nosfentre stands guard outside so that I cannot leave. I imagine Astarol and Faulina are elsewhere, plotting against me, though at times I can hear them speaking with the warrior. They sound concerned about me.

But thou hast to do better to outwit me, my friends . . .

Oh, yes . . .

Thou hast to do better . . . do better . . . do better . . . do . . .

* * *

"Johne?"

I lifted my head away from the desk. I must have fallen asleep while writing in my log. I could not remember much of the previous day, only that the others had imprisoned me in my cabin.

"Johne, 'tis time I fulfill my promise. I can set thee free."

Outlined by the crimson glow of the stove was the familiar mage I had met in my nightmare. So eagerly did I stand that I knocked the journal and inkwell to the floor. Ink pooled in a dark circle at my feet. "How?" I asked. "How can I escape?"

"Look in thy chest, the one in which thou dost keep Faulina's ring. Hurry, for there is not much time."

I knelt before the chest near the foot of the bed, and unlocked it with a key I kept hidden beneath one of the floorboards. The lid of the chest lifted with a solemn creak. There, glowing dimly and resting next to the pouch that held Faulina's ring, were the three shards of the shattered gem.

"Take them, Johne."

I obeyed, thrusting each shard under my belt. As I stood, the mage rubbed his hand against the wall opposite that of the door. The wall shimmered and disappeared, offering escape to the Underworld.

"A skiff awaits for thee at the other end of the isle. My apprentice will show thee the way. Once thou dost board the skiff, our prodigy will guide thee from the Underworld." I nodded eagerly, and headed for the darkness that waited. The mage's hand lashed out and gripped my shoulder. "I have kept my promise, Johne," he whispered, then released me. "I trust thou wilt remember thine."

I stepped outside the ship. I turned to assure the mage I would keep my oath, but the wall had solidified behind me. Near the shore of the lake waited the woman from the dream. She rose her arm and pointed to the north, to where I might find this skiff.