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Firvulag alike.
    The other two flyers brought the Lowlife expedition back to the Vosges Mountains. They were concealed in the Vale of Hyenas, not far from Nionel, where it was planned to adapt them for defensive purposes.
    In the small Tanu city of Var-Mesk on the shore of the New Sea, Celadeyr of Afaliah finally met with Nodonn. He brought with him Mercy-who, of course, was not dead at all. There was a tender reunion between Nodonn and his former wife.
    Since there was no time to heal Nodonn's missing hand, Mercy furnished him with one made of silver to take the place of a wooden prosthesis old Isak had carved, back on Kersic. Regretfully, Nodonn told Mercy that she would have to return to Aiken while he himself accompanied Celadeyr to Afaliah and set about gathering an opposition force of conservatives. It was necessary that Mercy keep them informed of Aiken's movements. Aiken was too metapowerful for any of the Tanu to keep track of by means of ordinary farsensing. After a brief happy interlude, the lovers parted.
    Mercy came back to Aiken with a story of having had amnesia.
    The King seemed to believe her; but he was much changed from the fun-loving trickster who had come to the Many-Coloured Land the previous August. There was a sombre air about him, and he still had not fully recovered from the terrible effects of the fight against Felice. Together, Aiken and Mercy supervised preparations for the Grand Tourney, which would be held at the end of October in place of the abolished Combat.
    Meanwhile, in Afaliah, Nodonn and Celadeyr passed the word to all traditionalist Tanu that the designated heir of the late King Thagdal was alive and ready to challenge the human usurper.
    Nodonn's brother Kuhal Earthshaker regained his strength almost completely after an innovative Skin treatment shared with Cloud Remillard. Cloud, attracted to Kuhal and now alone in the Many-Coloured Land (her brother and the others were slowly making their way north on land from their landing site in western Africa), became converted to the traditionalist cause.
    Nodonn had promised his cooperation in a temporary reopening of the time-gate if the rebel children subsequently destroyed it completely.
    Marc's fate was still a mystery. He had not responded to Cloud's attempts at farsensing nor had any of the other old Rebels back in Ocala. Cloud concluded that her father must have been attacked by Felice in an unusual metapsychic manoeuvre, the dimensional-jump, or translocation. This was essentially a mind-powered hyperspace trip-the kind of operation performed by Brede's Ship when it had transported the exotics from the Duat galaxy to this one. D-jumping was a rare but recognized metafaculty in the Galactic Milieu. Felice could have tracked Marc along his farsense beam and done considerable harm. Cloud and Hagen suspected that Marc had survived, since he was encased in the armour of the cerebroenergetic equipment that provided artificial augmentation of his mind.
    But once he left the armour's protection, his injuries would surely require treatment in Ocala's regeneration tank. This would explain why Marc had been incommunicado for nearly three months ...
    Up north in the Howler city of Nionel, Tony Wayland the metallurgist and his friend Dougal once more made plans to join Aiken Drum. Abandoning their devoted goblin brides, the pair set off through the jungle, only to stumble by accident into the Vale of Hyenas, where they were captured by the Lowlives working on the two exotic aircraft. As known deserters from the Iron Villages and possible traitors, Tony and Dougal were to be sent to Hidden Springs under guard, for trial by Chief Burke. En route, the party was fallen upon by Firvulag regulars.
    Dougal escaped, the escorting Lowlives were killed, and craven Tony saved his life by babbling to the Firvulag about the aircraft.
    Hustled off to High Vrazel, Tony repeated his tale to King Sharn and Queen Ayfa. He was then turned over to an ogress, the