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not exist without the body and she was well aware of the
consequences of being away from it for too long. Fortunately, she
was rescued from having to give further explanation by a yelp of
surprise from Ilgrin as he tripped over a rock.
    ‘ Clumsy.’ El-i-miir giggled as
Ilgrin leapt about clutching his toe.
    ‘ I’ve never done that before.’ He
was visibly shaken.
    ‘ You’ve never tripped over?'
El-i-miir said incredulously. ‘Everybody trips over.’
    ‘ Humans trip over.’ Ilgrin shook
his head. ‘I never have.’
    ‘ It’s okay, Ilgrin, you needn’t be
embarrassed,’ Seteal reassured him with a wink and a condescending
smile.
    ‘ I’m not embarrassed. It’s just .
. . oh, never mind,’ he shook his head irritably. ‘Who cares
anyway?’
    ‘ Are the men coming for us?’ Seeol
asked worriedly.
    ‘ No.’ Seteal shook her head.
‘We’re safe now.’
    ‘ Yay!’ The owl flittered through
the air victoriously.
    With the sun almost set, it was decided that they
should head south to the road where they would camp for the night.
They would then move east to Garrishnell, as Gez-reil had
directed.

 
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER Three
    The Curse
     
     
    While he did not enjoy having his values diminished to the point
of common thievery, Ilgrin had never been one to suffer hunger very
patiently. He closed his eyes and took another bite out of the
raspberry and apple pie that El-i-miir had stolen from a shop in
the town they’d passed earlier. Using her powers for evil seemed to
come a little too easily, but Ilgrin wasn’t about to let that stop
him from enjoying the spoils of her labour.
    The odd group of travellers had been on
foot for a number of days and if Ilgrin had to guess, they were
somewhere in the wilderness to the west of Setbrana. The road had
become little more than an overgrown dirt track with scrub
encroaching on either side. The temperature was cold, but not at
all comparable with that of the Frozen Lands.
    ‘ I need to rest,’
Seteal announced as they entered a clearing in which she plopped
down atop a fallen tree, a hand resting on her belly. Perhaps she
had a stitch. El-i-miir headed to the opposite side of the
clearing. It was becoming increasingly evident that she was losing
patience with Seteal’s abrasiveness.
    Ilgrin glanced at Seteal to find her
staring fixatedly at the ground. He dared not speak to her, instead
deciding to follow after El-i-miir.
    ‘ Are you all right?’
he called once he was within earshot.
    ‘ I’m fine,’ El-i-miir
grumbled.
    ‘ You seem a little
upset,’ Ilgrin pushed.
    ‘ Oh, you know.’ She
shrugged. ‘It’s everything, I suppose: knowing I can never go home,
this thing between you and I, and spending so many hours with
that.’ She nodded across the field at a rather sullen looking
Seteal.
    ‘ I don’t see why you
insist on keeping her around.’ Ilgrin frowned. ‘She’s horrible at
the best of times.’
    ‘ You mustn’t blame
her for the way she treated you before,’ El-i-miir reminded him
sternly. ‘I already explained that she was under Far-a-mael’s
influence.’
    ‘ Well, if you ask me,
she doesn’t seem that much different now she’s free.’ Ilgrin
frowned.
    ‘ At least she doesn’t
want to kill you anymore.’ El-i-miir brushed the hair out of her
face. ‘Besides, you have to give her some time to adjust. Seteal
doesn’t share my abilities and has to take it on good faith that
you’re any different to what she was taught. Frankly, I’m surprised
at the progress she’s made.’
    ‘ I saved her life,’
Ilgrin snapped. ‘Twice.’
    ‘ It doesn’t matter,’
El-i-miir said in astonishment. ‘You don’t know what it’s
like.’
    ‘ Yes, I do!’ Ilgrin
said defensively. ‘I was raised by humans, just like you. Believe
it or not, they preached the same nonsense to me as they did to
you: silts are all evil, silts are descendants of Sa’Tan, silts eat
small children. I’ve heard it all. I’m supposedly only