and wrinkled, and his hair was now completely white. But his eyes were still alert, and Pug realized that Martin, over the months he had stayed in Elvandar, continued to have his wits about him. There was no hint of the doddering in this old man. While not quite rejuvenating him, the magic of Elvandar kept him vigorous.
Nodding at Miranda, Martin smiled. ‘I’ve known the edhel,’ he said, using the elves’ own term for their people, ‘since I was a baby, and their humor is often lost on humans.’
Miranda said, ‘As is their sense of haste.’ She looked at Pug. ‘For months now, close to a year or more, you’ve been saying that we must be about this or that – mostly, “We must find Macros the Black” – yet I find us spending a great deal of time sitting around doing little.’
Pug’s eyes narrowed briefly. He knew Miranda was far older than she looked, perhaps even older than his own seventy-odd years, but often she displayed what he could only call an impatience that surprised him. He seemed about to say one thing, then another. At last he said, ‘Macros’s legacy to me included many things – his library, his commentaries, and, to some extent, his powers – but nothing could replace his experience. If anyone can help us unlock the mystery of what is behind all we face, it is he.’ Pug stood before Miranda and looked into her eyes. ‘I can not help but feel that far behind all we have seen lurks another mystery, one far more profound and dangerous than what we yet know.’ Then his tone lightened slightly as in a mock-chiding voice, he added, ‘And I would expect you, as much as anyone, to realize that often when one is motionless, the most thought is being applied to the problems at hand.’
Miranda said, ‘I know, but I feel like a horse too long held under rein; I feel the need to be doing something!’
Pug turned to Tomas. ‘There we have the problem, don’t we?’
Tomas nodded, glancing at the oldest, wisest minds in the Council of Elvandar. ‘What is to be done?’ he asked.
Pug said, ‘Once you found Macros by leading me into the Halls of the Dead. Would it be useful to return there?’
Tomas shook his head. ‘I don’t think so; do you?’
Pug shrugged. ‘Not really. I’m not even sure what I would say should we again face Lims-Kragma. I know more now than I did then, but of the nature of the gods and those other agents who serve them I still feel ignorant. In any event, I’m grasping at straws.’ He was silent a moment, frustration clearly evident on his features. Then he said, ‘No, the realm of the dead would be a waste of time.’
Acaila said, ‘Those beings are not meant for easy apprehension by those who live mortal spans. But indulge me one question, Pug: why would it be a waste of time to seek this person in the Halls of the Dead?’
Pug said, ‘I really don’t know. A feeling, nothing more. I’m certain Macros is alive.’ He then described how when they had last sought the Black Sorcerer, Gathis – then Macros’s and now Pug’s majordomo at Sorcerer’s Island – had indicated that there was a bond between them, and should Macros be dead Gathis would somehow know it. Pug finished by saying, ‘Several times over the last few years I’ve had this sense that Macros was not only still alive but …’
Miranda now looked thoroughly irritated. ‘What?’
Pug shrugged. ‘That he was somehow close by.’
Under her breath she let out a sound of aggravation. ‘That wouldn’t surprise me.’
Martin smiled with wry amusement and asked, ‘Why?’
Miranda glanced out over the lights of Elvandar and said, ‘Because my experience is that most of these “legendary” individuals turn out to be no more than a well-constructed sham, designed to convince us all of their importance, rather than any real indication of their true significance.’
Aglaranna sipped her wine and sat next to Tomas on a long bench by the railing. ‘You sound more than irritated in a general way, Miranda.’
Miranda dropped her gaze a moment; when she raised it to look at the Elf Queen, she was composed. ‘Forgive my petulance, lady. We of Kesh often struggle with issues of appearance, rank, and court standing that have nothing to do with worth or value in any real sense. Many rise high by dint of birth while others far more worthy never achieve any significance, their lives spent in trivial work. Yet those “great” nobles have no sense they achieved high rank by a simple accident of birth.’ She made a sour expression. ‘They think the fact their mothers were who they were ample proof of the gods’ favor. Given my … history, I have had to deal with more than my share of such men. I have … little patience, I fear, for such as they.’
‘Well,’ said Tomas, ‘Macros did construct his own legend to protect his privacy, I’ll grant, but as one who stood beside him more than once I can attest his legend is nothing but a shadow of his real power. He faced a dozen Tsurani Great Ones in this very forest, and while the magic of our Spellweavers aided our struggle, against the alien magicians he alone strove, and he destroyed their works and sent them fleeing to their own world. He is alone among men I would dread opposing. His power is nothing short of astonishing.’
Pug nodded. ‘Which is why we need to find him.’
‘Where do we start?’ asked Miranda calmly. ‘The Hall?’
Pug said, ‘I don’t think so. There are too many people willing to sell information who live in the Hall of Worlds.’ Dryly he added, ‘And not all of it is accurate.’ He sat across from the Elf Queen, and said, ‘I thought we might journey to the City Forever and question the Dreadmaster we imprisoned there.’
Tomas shrugged. ‘I doubt he would know much more than we already discovered. He was but a tool.’
Acaila said, ‘Have you considered this sorcerer might be here on Midkemia?’
Martin said, ‘Why?’
The eldar said, ‘Pug’s “feeling.” It is something I would not dismiss or set aside lightly. Often such feelings are our own minds informing us of something we haven’t apprehended consciously.’
‘True,’ said Redtree, taking a bite from a large red apple. ‘In the wilds one’s instincts must serve, else a hunter doesn’t return with food for his family, or a warrior is left behind on the field of battle.’ Looking at Pug, he said, ‘Where did you feel this Macros’s presence the most?’
‘Oddly enough,’ said Pug, ‘at Stardock.’
‘You didn’t say anything,’ offered Miranda, her voice almost accusing.
Pug smiled. ‘I was often distracted.’
Miranda had the grace to blush. ‘You could have said something at one time or another.’
Pug shrugged. ‘I dismissed it as stemming from the fact that most of his powerful tomes and scrolls are housed in my tower. I often feel as if he’s looking over my shoulder when I read them.’
Tathar said, ‘There is also this matter of that artifact retrieved from the southern continent.’
Aglaranna spoke. ‘The Spellweavers feel there is something alien about it.’
‘Absolutely,’ said Tomas, ‘and it is more than the Pantathian presence. There is something about this that is alien even to
