[Stomoxys]

After a while, the screaming became more muted, as if Hylda and Grogg were moving away. Focusing all my attention on the mirror shard, a tendril seemed to extend from it upwards, or maybe the tendril came from above. In the distance, somebody slammed the shutters of a window. More threads emerged and connected the shard to the night sky. By twining the threads together, I could make thicker threads and even a rope that was strong enough to carry me. Climbing up the rope, more threads and ropes appeared and I could climb higher and higher, jumping from one rope to another. To my surprise, Wolfram followed me. The big bear nimbly jumping from thread to thread and climbing even faster than me. I tried to shout to them, but they did not seem to hear me. Instead they were sniffing around, scenting the air and the threads as if they were searching for something and disappeared somewhere above me.

I kept on climbing until I spotted a fountain ahead of me. Wolfram was sitting naked in it in human form with two People. They were about the same size as me, but they looked very healthy and acted with the dignity and manners of a priest. One of them handed Wolfram a bouquet of flowers and herbs and bid Wolfram welcome, calling them Little Bear. The human looked confused and asked why they called them that, but the People only laughed and said that Big Bear was above us, pointing up at the sign of Tityra. Looking to the east, I noticed that only seven of The Nine were dancing in the sky. Nodding to me, one of the People asked Wolfram if it was me who had danced with their children. Wolfram, looking even more confused and said something about me dancing in the temple of Tsovin and Vagan. This made the People laugh again and exclaim how fond they were of the two hellions. They then turned to me and greeted me as an emissary of the star People and asked me to dance. Refusing them would have felt like refusing a priest so I carefully took a step, but found that it was easier here than on the ground and began to spin faster and faster. The People were delighted and joined me, pulling Wolfram along. Wolfram was now a bear again, but smaller and much more agile than normally and they also knew the steps of the dance. Exclaiming that their children remembered the dance, the People wanted all their siblings to join in and praised the sky and its bonds to the earth. From somewhere, I heard joyful laughter of many People coming towards us, but before they arrived, two enormous green hands materialized and plucked me and Wolfram away.

The next thing I was aware of was a biting cold. Taking my bearings, I found myself on a mountaintop next to a small campfire. Wolfram was back in human form, but dressed this time, and Krull was sitting on the far side of the campfire, asking what in the Underworld we were doing. I had no idea what we were doing, so I asked them where we were and they only pointed behind themselves. There, the mountainside descended in cliffs and crags down to the smooth surface of a dark lake. The stars were perfectly reflected in the surface, as if they were in the lake, and I realized this had to be the Night Mirror. I felt a strange attraction and wanted to stare into its depths, but Krull stepped into my field of vision and said sharply that "They had not arrived yet.". Shaking myself, I noticed my tail tip had become numb from the cold and moved closer to the campfire. I was confused and wondered if they meant The Nine or the demons, but Krull only snorted, making it clear that they meant the demons. As far as we know, Tuza is still in Madan, Darwan is free and Jori or Volkir is under the control of Tivito and we are on our way to the prison of the other one. Krull did not seem pleased when they heard this.

Returning to their initial question, Krull wondered if we had rediscovered some ancient arts and if so, we should tell them. They had tried to contact us for a long time, but only now had they gotten any response. I have no idea what happened and neither did Wofram, but I did tell them about the star dance. Again they looked worried and wondered if this was the dance of Albor. Perhaps, the dance is related to The Nine and Albor is supposed to be mad in the Brown Forest. If it is the dance of Albor, Wolfram should be very careful. The elves in the Green Forest used the dance to bind animal spirits to themselves, but one can loose oneself if one binds too many spirits. Kra was one such animal spirit that had managed to free itself and was now attached to Grogg instead. Krull also repeated the claim of Azura that the raven form was the only form the elves could assume and still maintain some semblance of control. I told them how I had learned the dance when shedding my skin, but Krull only snorted that I should be relatively safe as long as I do not start shape shifting.

Looking over at me, Krull wondered how I was feeling. I was miserable. My tail had lost all sensation and my feet had begun to numb as well, making it difficult to stand upright. Krull pointed across the lake to an enormous mountain whose towering peaks shimmered like silver in the light of Amna. Instinctively I knew that the beautiful summits covered in white were a land of death were People did not belong. In the other direction, Arland stretched out below us and we could see all the way to The Evening Fortress. The Night Mirror should then be to the north while Arland should be to the south, but I could not quite get the directions to fit with the stars. Looking up, I tried to determine our position, but Krull told me to stop. I could disturb the stars and destabilize everything.

Krull went on to tell us how they would gather the orc clans, but it was increasingly hard to stay focused. There was nothing we could do now, but Krull would lead a hopeless defence of the night mirror. I mumbled something about helping them and they responded we could free the demon from Tivito if we insisted. The cold did not feel so bad any more, but I was struggling to keep my eyes open and just wanted to lie down and sleep when Krull asked what had happened to Tuza. I answered that Pakk, Gromann, and Ebsalon had taken them away, but Wolfram interrupted me before I could say where. Krull sounded oddly intense and insisted on knowing where Tuza was taken, but Krull was far, far away and a nice, warm darkness enveloped me.