"Eat it. It may be all you get for a while. Untie the rope."

I untied the rope and it was pulled up.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Never mind. You will live, for a while at least. Goodbye."

The square of light vanished with a metallic clash. Moonflame groaned.

I found the bucket again and took it to where Moonflame lay. I helped him up to a sitting position. He took one smell of the hash in the bucket and immediately began to eat, though slowly. I followed his example. It was heavily spiced with herbs I could not place and all the flavors seemed to cancel each other. It was, practically speaking, flavorless.

"Where are we?" Moonflame asked me.

"I don't know. I woke up here after falling asleep in the great cave. You were unconscious when I fell under the spell and surrounded by a black glow. Just now, this bucket was dropped from a hole in the ceiling. Apparently, we have allies. What was that thing in the Cave?"

"Remnant."

"Ah, but Remnants are just legend."

"Don't be an ass. I overestimated my learnings and put too little weight on the fact that all legends are based on some truth."

"And this? I assume that since we are eating it, it is safe."

"As far as I can tell it's safe, but there are too many herbs in it to be sure. It is similar to an ancient healing food we used on Elderon, an older recipe, perhaps, but similar. My thinking goes like this: we are intended to eat it; if it is poisoned and we don't eat it, they will kill us another way; if it's not poisoned and we don't eat it, then we die of starvation; if it's not poisoned and we eat it, we live yet another day."

"In the Rebuilt Cities, we call that rationalization."

"On Elderon, we called it rationalization. Is there an echo in here? But that philosophy, or a variation of it, kept us alive during the Plague and the following persecution."

We laughed, albeit weakly, but we laughed.

Time we measured by meals. We received six over a period I can only guess at as being that many days, if not more. Moonflame tried many times to open a bridge, but even with Majestrix's powers added to his, nothing appeared to work. I was going to try to bolt-blast a way out when Moonflame reminded me that we were being held in a metal prison; a bolt would simply kill us as the metal absorbed it.

"Well we can't just sit here!"

"Why not? Nothing is being done to us. We are being fed at regular, if elongated, intervals. Someone wants us alive for some purpose of their own. We have already found no way out of here by physical or supernatural means. Don't waste strength and energy trying to do something that can't be done."

"You once said that nothing can't be done."

"And nothing can't be done. Anything you do is something. Even to do nothing is doing something. Waiting is also something."

"And how long do you intend to wait?"

"As long as it takes."

Moonflame waved his hand rather nonchalantly in my direction. I didn't think anything of it at the time. Then I fell asleep.

I dreamed of Myranda and all the rest. They were travelling through a deep mist or fog over bleak and deserted land. I thought I recognized it, but I could never quite make it out. I saw cliffs and scrubby growth. In the sky, dark clouds rolled incessantly by. Then the clouds became droves of shadow-beings, and the clear outline of demondarcs were visible. The demondarcs descended on the party like blood-hawks. Myranda screamed my name, and I awoke.

"I am Prymas."

The man in front of me was smiling a bit as he spoke. He wore a short grey beard and his clothing was all of black, except for his belt and boots, both of the same grey as his beard. His face was gentle and kind, though there was something about it that seemed strange, almost alien.

"Where am I?"

"You are safe here. Your friend is here, too. You have been removed from the Place of Dreams. Your friend does not dream, apparently, but your dreams revealed what we needed to know. Here, drink. This is a wine distilled from a fruit called tange'ne. It will strengthen you and replenish your vitality."

I took the cup offered me. The liquid within was warm and sweet. It did relax me, if nothing else. I looked to my right and saw Moonflame sitting in a chair of ebony wood, sipping on a similar cup. He smiled, and raised his cup to me. I returned the salute.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"He still doesn't understand," Moonflame said. "These are the Remnants. Prymas is their chosen leader. They want, apparently, to help us fight the Dark One."

"Why?"

Prymas smiled again.

"We are all that remains of the true human race. We are direct descendants of the men who caused the Re-creation. The Dark One, as you call him, would destroy the Carousel, including Neverwhere and the Caves and us. However, our motives are not quite so unselfish as they may seem. The lower island would become a home for us. Without the Dark Lord there to maintain the darkness around it, it would become like any of the other islands on the Carousel. We would like to take that place as our own once the Dark Lord is destroyed."

It sounded too simple, too easy.

"Why were we attacked in the great cave?"

"We had to learn your intentions. We know of the Dark Lord's powers. He, too, wants the treasures from the Caves. I sent Y'Klips to stun you and bring you here. You were kept in the Place of Dreaming. There, we can look into your dreams and learn most of your intentions from them. We learned today that you were here to find a means of destroying the Dark One. In Great Council, we decided to aid you and thus aid ourselves."

"If your technology can destroy the Dark One, then why haven't you done so already?"

"We lacked the motivation. I am a good leader, but the Remnants are not easily lead. They will follow no one but me, and they rarely do that. Yet, with you and Moonflame present, they will follow me to D'rk Ysle and together we will destroy the Dark One in order to gain D'rk Ysle as our own."

"Do your machines work? Can they defeat the Dark Lord?"

"Master Moonflame, your young friend asks many questions."

"Well, Master Prymas, he is, after all, only almost human."

"Well said, Moonflame. Yes, Hawklok, our machines work, though some more so than others. As for defeating the Dark Lord, we will soon find out, no? Now, I think there are two others who should join us."

Prymas turned and motioned for the door to be opened. Ahmail and Ahmahl entered and greeted both Moonflame and myself with puzzled smiles. Moonflame promised to tell them everything later.

"We are going to need to know how to use some of your equipment, Prymas. Can you teach us?"

"Moonflame, we have said we would help. We will teach your people what we can. But have you ever considered that they might not wish to learn?"

Moonflame looked confused. The concept of not wanting to learn was one he had never conceived of. He looked toward the brothers and then at me. I reached for Majestrix for no real reason, yet it seemed like the thing to do. I guess what I was saying was that I would trust my sword before mindless machinery. Ahmail and Ahmahl seemed likewise inclined, though they were still uncertain as to what was going on.

"You have a point, Prymas," Moonflame eventually said. "How many of your people can we count on?"

"We are a small number now, less than fifty, and less than that who will accept armaments other than their natural abilities, Y'Klips, for instance. However, in most cases, that is an advantage. I will meet you on D'rk Ysle five days hence with thirty of my people, most of them armored. Until then, farewell. Nova'an will show you the way out when you are ready to leave."

Prymas left the room, and a lithe woman with flame for eyes and hair entered and sat. This was obviously Nova'an. She said nothing. We drank just a little more of the revivifying wine, then left. Nova'an led the way to the edge of the Caves without a word, then was gone. The four of us began the journey back to camp and we arrived just before nightfall.

No one greeted us. There was no fire, and the camp looked deserted. We searched the immediate area, but found no one. Moonflame suggested that the others might have gone with the people of Neverwhere when we had not returned on schedule.

"Then why didn't they take down the tents? This is very peculiar."

"Very astute of you, brother. What do you do for an encore, tell us that it is growing dark?"

"Quiet, you two. I must think."

I watched this madness and bickering for several minutes before setting up my tent near the edge of the camp. I realized then that something was beginning to effect us, a tension, or maybe some magical force that was undetectable by either Moonflame or me. I wished that Myranda had been there to greet us, me in particular. I prayed that what Moonflame guessed was right. If not, we only had five days to find the others and get to D'rk Ysle to meet the Remnant army. I fell asleep. I did not dream.

I was awakened by the scent of snow flowers. I opened my eyes to see Myranda staring back at me. I smiled and reached for her. She came easily into my arms.

"I'm glad you're back," she said. "We worried about you all. The villagers took us in. We saw the smoke from the fire last night and came back then, but you were all asleep, even Moonflame. Miss me?"

I kissed her hard and long, her warm body pressed against mine.

"Gods, how I missed you. I dreamed about you. My god, my dreams!"

I leaped out of my tent and raced to Moonflame's. He was eating breakfast when I entered.

"Moonflame, I just remembered some dreams I had while in the Caves...."

"Hawklok, come, eat. Dreams can wait."

"But you told me not to dream. There must have been a reason, and these were such strange dreams. They were almost real."

"All dreams are almost real. Some even intrude into our real lives, but they are only dreams." He returned to eating, and I left in not the best of moods.

Myranda was coming toward Moonflame's tent when I passed her. She turned and followed me back. I sat on my bed, thinking that we had all gone insane. When Myranda placed her arm around my shoulder, the reassurance that she would always be near cleared some of that madness away, but not all of it. Some small doubt remained.

She held me for a long while, silent. After a time, she asked what was wrong. I tried to explain what I was feeling. It was very difficult to do. It still is. I felt a dangerous juncture ahead for all of us, but it was only a feeling. I had no facts to present, other than Moonflame's strange behavior in the Caves, but I didn't say anything of that, putting it off as nervousness on both our parts at the time. I just said that we would be leaving soon for D'rk Ysle and that I was feeling edgy. She said she understood and held me tighter. I accepted her answer and relaxed in her gentle hold.

Later, we walked once again to that spot above camp where we had first made love and looked over the land. The sky was grey, like the beard of Prymas, and the greyness seemed to seep into the ground and plants of Neverwhere. The land seemed to lack the vitality it had had, but that was only due to the clouds. We held hands, still, and, though the wind had been cool, a warmth spread from my wrist to surround us in a blue iridescence. I looked down for just a moment to see the omega bands glowing softly.

"Did Karnelian know we would meet?"

"I don't know, Hawk. He never mentioned anyone to me except those people I already had heard of, and the gods, of course. He used to tell me a peculiar tale of a bastard son of Mastrasshaa. I had never heard the legend before, so I asked him to tell it to me often. He would always change the story, though, and I asked him why. 'Because the future is always in motion, Myranda, always. It continues to twist and turn, just out of sight, until it becomes the present. Then it disappears into the past and cannot be changed.' That was always his answer. I think he just forgot how the story went, or he made it up as he went along to humor me. He was a kind old man, but strong and fearsome at times. I think he loved me, but the one time I tried to get an answer from him on that question, he looked at me with all of his years. He actually let his magic face drop so I could see his age. At the time, it worked. I never brought the subject up again, no matter how much I wanted to."

"How old was he? He never looked more than middle age around me. His magic face, as you call it, was never removed in front of me, even after he died."

"When he died, he was middle age. He created a spell of rejuvenation and tried it on himself. It worked, in a matter of speaking. He began to grow younger, but the spell was killing him. The younger he got, the less time he had left alive. He came to me just before the Dark Lord entered the Carousel and gave me those bands. Then, before he left, he told me he loved me. He then just disappeared. He didn't even let me respond or thank him. He just left. That was probably for the best."

We were silent for a long time.

The suns fell swiftly and the grey covered the sky. It grew dark. The stars, clearly visible against the black, did not dance, the constellations did not waver, the celestial piper did not play, and Sharmayn was not....

I checked again. I was not mistaken; the Hand of Sharmayn was not present in the sky. I felt an odd chill run the length of my spine and took Myranda's slender shoulders in my arms. I did not cry out. I did not panic. I did not tell Myranda. If she did not feel the difference in the stars through her magical influences, then the disturbance was not for me to point out. But I was scared, though I must admit that I was not overly surprised.

"Let's go back, Hawk. We've been apart too long."

We walked slowly to the tent, but I stopped before entering.

"I need to speak with Moonflame for just a moment. I promise I won't be long. Fix me some wine. I won't keep you waiting."

I left. Before reaching Moonflame's tent, I heard the sound of argument. One voice was Moonflame's, the other I did not recognize.

"I am dying, Elderonian."

"And I am doing all that I can. You know as well as I that all our moves have been blocked by the Dark One. We cannot get to you as long as he intervenes. Something incredible has to happen before we can free you."

I walked in, unannounced. A shadow vanished into the darkness, a mist in the breeze. Moonflame turned quickly.

"What?"

"Something incredible has happened, Moonflame. No need to destroy me for not pausing. The Hand of Sharmayn is missing."

"What?"

"Yeah," I said, a little perturbed and rather cockily, "I thought that might get your attention."

I turned, walked out, and ran to my tent, where Myranda waited with wine and bread. Moonflame never appeared, though I expected him at any moment.

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