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find there is more courage there than you know, my friend.”  Simon reached across the space and tapped the healer’s chest over his heart.  “Sometimes, all it takes is heart.  Courage has nothing to do with it.”
    Selwig’s eyes were wide, but not with fear.  He seemed to be thinking of something that made him shiver with excitement.
    “Master!”  He grabbed the Healer’s hand.  “I would do anything to help Master Ramsay!  If what you say is true, then I will offer up my life, if need be to restore things to what was.  Perhaps it is some part of the Grand Design that Vanni always speaks about that has brought me here to this exile.  Surely the Creator would not banish me for no purpose from my people other than to make me appreciate life more.  I believe there is something I can do, but I would have to be close to the Evil to make it so.  Is there anyone who can take me there?  To New Babylon?  Are there any here who will dare to go?”
    Simon smiled at him.  “I can’t say at this point, but I will bring it up to my father.  There are many who would quickly volunteer to go, but it would be up to the Grand Master to make the decision.  He will want to consider things carefully before he allows any of us to place ourselves in such danger.  I would go myself, but I know he will not allow it.  He depends too heavily on me and wants to keep me near.  Lucio would go as would Christopher Stewart, or any one of my sons.  Even the Ritter would go, I am sure, but we will need someone of great power and, yet, we will need someone that the Master is willing to release to the possibility of destruction.   I’m afraid that he is very selfish concerning his son and grandsons and granddaughters.”
    “Vanni would go.  He has said as much.”  Selwig told him excitedly.  “Vanni loves Sophia very much, as do I.  And Master Luke Andrew would go.  It is his father and he, too, is very fond of Sophia.”
    Simon frowned as he considered this.  Vanni was not strictly a member of the Order, but he seemed a bit naïve.  Luke Andrew was an apprentice, but he carried the Key of Death just as his father.  If Luke Andrew went, they would be without the mysteries of the Chevalier du Morte, since both father and son would be in New Babylon and in danger of destruction at the hands of the Ancient Evil.  He felt sure that his father would not allow Luke Andrew to leave because of that.  Vanni would need help.  They could not possibly send him without help.  And the Tuathan healer was much too recognizable.  He looked like a child or a young girl at first glance.  Simon took hold of the golden red hair in his hand and looked at it closely.  With a little bit of makeup and a different mode of dress, the healer could have passed for a beautiful young girl.  The only other persons capable of carrying out such a dangerous mission would be Lucio Dambretti or perhaps Lavon de Bleu.  Lucio was too well known at the palace in New Babylon and Vanni looked almost exactly like his father.  The Grand Master would not want to lose Lavon’s powers and it was Lavon who kept them going with his alchemical wizardry.  Lucio, Lavon, Philip, Izzy, Zeb… these were all out of the question.  There was very little to choose from.  Konrad, Christopher?  Barry was the Seneschal and Rachel was expecting another child very soon.  He cringed to think of sending his daughter’s husband to New Babylon. 
    “Let me think on it, Selwig.”  Simon sat back on his heels.  “We will see what we will see.”
     
     
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    Bari was completely beside himself.  He had hidden the skull in his room, but he could feel its presence, calling to him.  It seemed that now, since he had burned away the insulating swath of leathery skin and imbued it with the living essence of the fire the thing had grown in power.  The strange sensations he had felt prior to the burning, had become more than just a