The statue of Vaimos loomed before Kairu, just as cold and majestic as it had been when he first saw it nearly a day ago. No snow lay upon it, as though something within was warming it from the inside. The stone god smiled, as if inviting him to ask his question once more, but Kairu hesitated.

  "What the hell are you planning to do?" Norton asked. "Or are you not interested in finding out what happened to us while we were prisoners of the goblins?"

  "Of course I am," Kairu muttered, circling the pedestal and suddenly realizing there was a serious snag in his plan. "Ioran, have you ever heard of fire-weed?"

  "I have," the centaur nodded, watching him with interest. "I only know that it grows in craters and on the slopes of volcanoes. Its leaves have a bluish sheen, and its petals are bright orange. But I’ve never seen such a plant around here…"

  "Damn. I didn’t think of it when I left the cave. I’m sure Dob knows where we could find it… Wait a second! Aren’t we on a volcano slope right now?"

  "You could say that…" Ioran scratched his head. "The crater of Fire-Breathing Mountain is a bit to the west—there, see? This mountain is kind of joined to it." He pointed to a smoke-shrouded peak a few miles away.

  "What the hell do you need it for?" Gedelin rumbled. "Sure, I know that plant too, but I haven’t seen it in years… You’d have to go to the druids for that…"

  "It’s a long story," Kairu replied. "I’ll put it simply: there’s an incredibly important item hidden in this statue, and the only way to retrieve it is with a stalk of that very fire-weed."

  "Kairu, maybe you should explain what’s going on first?!" Norton snapped.

  "Be quiet!" Kairu cut him off; at that moment, he was so wound up he could have exploded with anger at any second. But his brother’s gaze softened him slightly.

  "Norton, you have to understand… Ashley, Konrad, and I didn’t come to Regerlim on a whim. We have business here, and it concerns that item… and I need it desperately right now! How else can I explain it to you?!"

  Norton sighed. "I saw a flower like that lower down the slope. Blue leaves, orange petals."

  "Then why the hell didn’t you say so earlier?!" Kairu shouted.

  "Because we haven’t seen each other in over two months, and you’re strutting around acting so important, refusing to tell me anything! And meanwhile, I’ve followed you across half of Aktida, I’ve already gotten involved in this mess, and I’ve lost two friends because of it! Don’t you think I have the right to know what you’ve been up to?!"

  "Sorry," Kairu said, stunned by the outburst and staring at his brother. Yes, he had changed. The last few years had made him much older.

  "You’re completely obsessed with your treasure hunt," Norton said angrily. "You’re forgetting about more important things… Come on. You can see for yourself what we’ve gotten ourselves into climbing this mountain."

  Pushing aside the bushes, he hurried downward, passing ancient spruces with yellowed needles, fallen firs, and snow-covered shrubs with ice-crusted branches. Kairu trudged after him, feeling once again the crunch of crusted snow breaking under his boots, and the snow from carelessly brushed rowan branches falling into his tall boots. They passed several hills, walked among perfectly rounded snowdrifts glistening in the pale rays of the rising sun. The path led straight down the slope, lower and lower, and it was only now, climbing among windfall and bare thorny bushes, that Kairu began to grasp just how high they had climbed. The grove of ship-pines with their uniform resinous column-trunks was now far above them; around them was a spruce thicket offering meager cover. And then voices in an unfamiliar language and the clank of weapons drifted up from below.

  Norton crouched, sliding with the settling snow toward the foot of the slope. An old, twisted spruce leaned over them, stretching out its shaggy boughs, beneath which was an open descent to a snow-covered field at the volcano’s base. Just off to the right, among gray boulders capped with snow, Kairu spotted what he had been searching for—a flower with bright orange petals sprouting right from the snow. Its buds drooped; it had long since died, but he remembered that even a dead stalk of fire-grass would do. The scent was the important part.

  "Look here," Norton said quietly as Kairu carefully picked the flower. His brother pushed aside the spruce boughs that screened the open slope; from here, they couldn’t be seen, but they could observe the expanse at the mountain’s base as if laid out on a palm. Rodrigo and Demetra crept up behind them; the centaurs remained above.

  "Quite the gathering to wipe out eighty druids, don’t you think?" Norton said. "Now do you see why we can’t leave the mountains anytime soon?"

  The field, which had been blindingly white with snow yesterday, now blazed with dozens of campfires, around which, in groups of five or ten, sat the warriors of the Bor’s Clan. They were strikingly different from the druids of Aok—dressed in elegant, gleaming armor, with weapons that were new and shone in the pale sunlight. Alongside swords and spears, they also carried the latest model muskets. As an insignia, they wore lynx heads on their belts. These druids ate, drank, laughed, and chatted, yet all the while kept a watchful eye on the silent grove higher up the slope. Altogether, there were probably several hundred, if not thousands, encircling Fire-Breathing Mountain in a tight ring so that not even a mouse could slip into Regerlim or the icy wasteland beyond. Kairu had seen something similar before, during the siege of Mainor, when he, too, had been trapped in a city like a rat in a cage…

  "That’s Clan of Bor," Norton said quietly.

  "Where the hell did they get muskets?!" Kairu muttered in shock. "I thought only Saelin’s army had the weapons he invented."

  "You underestimate smugglers," Rodrigo sighed beside him. "Southbound goes a stream of runes and forbidden alchemical ingredients; northbound, every new invention from outside Regerlim. And new, effective weapons are always in demand here. I’d bet they paid a hefty price for some reckless captain to supply them with muskets and new armor. And the goblins, who’ve allied with them, played no small part in this."

  "So there’s no way to break through the ring? Go around the field from the north, cross the passes to the west…"

  Norton shook his head.

  "They’ve thought of everything. We’ve tried. All we can do is sit here and wait until Bor destroys Aok, and then everyone will peacefully return to Regerlim. Your friends, Kairu, are doomed. Not even the strong walls of the Ardrai ruins will save them. The place will be taken by storm tonight or tomorrow night, and then the way will be open."

  "And what about Aok?" Kairu went cold.

  "We can’t help them, Kairu."

  "But I have to see him! I must!"

  "Someone has to sacrifice themselves so others can live." Norton shook his head, his face suddenly paling; anger flashed in his eyes. "It’s always that way… Kairu, you won’t succeed."

  "Damn it," Kairu muttered. "Fine. I won’t let this go, I swear. As soon as Konrad and the others come down… I’ll make them think twice about this. We can’t abandon Aok, do you understand? We can’t! I need him—he’s the link that leads to Petros… Let’s get back up. It’s nearly midday, and we still haven’t done what we came for. This whole smuggler-druid mess will mean nothing if we don’t find Octarus."

  "Is it that close?"

  "Very close. Norton… Listen, while we’re all here—" He glanced around, meeting Rodrigo’s and Demetra’s eyes. "Tell me what happened. How did it come about that you ended up here at the same time as us, trapped in the cordon as well? And where are Atgard and Anzerrat?"

  Norton opened his mouth, but choked, unable to utter a single word.

  "Atgard is dead, Kairu," Demetra said quietly.

  "Dead?!" For a moment, every other thought flew from Kairu’s mind. "But… how?"

  "He saved Norton. Saved all of us, to be precise, because during our escape, both the goblins and the harpies turned their attention to him. He gave Anzerrat and me the chance to get away, then single-handedly drew all those creatures to himself and let them tear him apart…" Demetra’s voice trembled. "Pray to Aktos you never meet those vile creatures yourself, Kairu."

  "And… Anzerrat?" Kairu felt the lump in his throat, making it hard to speak.

  "He joined the refugees from Asternia. By now, he should be safe in Vairad."

  "Good." Kairu wiped his brow wearily. "It can’t be… Atgard…"

  He no longer had the strength even for grief. Inside, it suddenly went hollow with that strange realization that everything he had hoped for was now in the past. The third of his companions had given his life on this strange journey, even though Kairu had sworn to himself that they would all reach the end together… But believing in the death of Atgard, so brave, experienced, and dependable, was the hardest thing of all.

  "And… where are yours?" Demetra asked hesitantly. "Rita? Viggo? Remiz? Joanna, Ashley… Yuffilis?"

  "Upstairs." Kairu waved a tired hand. "I’ll tell you the details when we get out of here. Joanna’s dead too."

  Norton lowered his head.

  "Who will be next?" he asked dully.

  Kairu looked at him grimly, but said nothing, though inside everything was ready to erupt in an icy, raging fury. But he held it in. It was time to admit he had been throwing words into the wind, and not a single one of his promises had come true.

  "Let’s go," he said only.

  Shutting himself off from every thought, he trudged forward, recalling everything connected with the old Kald, from the day they met to their last parting at the foot of Rokastr. Who could have known where this hopeless road would lead?..

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  …Vaimos was before him again, and he hadn’t even noticed the statue until he bumped into it. The sequence of actions had been drilled into his mind like a clear program, and Kairu followed it automatically, barely aware of what he was doing. He placed the flower on the pedestal, pulled off his backpack with frozen fingers, and began searching for flint and tinder. At last, he found them, striking the stone until sparks flew. The others silently surrounded him. The snow-dampened flower refused to catch at first, but on the fifth or sixth try, Kairu lit it. Slowly smoldering, the fire-weed smoked, then was gradually consumed by orange tongues of flame until it turned to gray ash, which Kairu at once scooped up with one hand and scattered to the wind, burning his fingers.

  Scarlet dust swirled upward, dancing in the air. Norton and Demetra gasped softly in unison, the centaurs silently stepped back, watching wide-eyed, while not a single muscle moved on Rodrigo’s face. Kairu, to whom all this was familiar, stood with his arms crossed, frowning, gazing at the fiery falcon perched on Vaimos’s shoulder…

  It appeared as suddenly as last time, shook itself off with care, and fixed its crimson gaze on the travelers at the base of the monument.

  Kairu bowed.

  "I have returned, Scarlet. I have fulfilled your request—now fulfill mine. I need the Star."

  The falcon gave a loud, birdlike cry.

  "I see," it replied. "You are bold and daring, seeker of adventure, and you have fulfilled your part of the bargain… You are worthy of Vaimos’s gift! Take it, and know that in your hands lies one of the greatest treasures of the world! Few have been granted such grace!"

  The falcon sprang into the air from the statue’s shoulder, beat its wings, and burst into golden dust. For a moment, it spread around them in a dazzling, radiant cloud, then re-formed into a crimson disc, which dulled to gray and crumbled away, leaving a small object floating in the air.

  ***

  It resembled both a star and the octopus-like creatures from ancient Nocturns’ engravings and frescoes. About ten inches in diameter, with twelve rays extending from the central disc like tentacles, there was a round opening at its center. The Octarus was made of wood from a species unknown to Kairu, but its "tentacles" bore the finest golden inlays; around the central hole, a silver script formed hieroglyphs of the ancient Nocturn tongue. And when Kairu grasped the golden handles, he suddenly felt something stir within him, and the power of the Seer flowed from the Octarus into him, and back again.

  But the time machine consisted of two components, and Kairu hurriedly pulled the Lake of Aktida from his pack. It was as if someone were guiding his thoughts, and he already knew exactly what to do. The round diamond fit perfectly into the hole and locked into place; a flash flared, and crimson script began to flow, filling the hieroglyphs with light and tracing intricate patterns across the Darius, now reunited with the Octarus.

  Kairu held in his trembling hands the very thing that had eluded the scholars of Laugdeil for thirty years, that had led to the deaths of Nubel and Petros and millions of people slain in the war; the thing for which Woody, Joanna, and Atgard had given their lives.

  It was the time machine.

  "This is it?" Norton asked in shock. "The thing we’ve been searching for?"

  Kairu nodded. Power surged through him; he felt like the master of time and of his own clairvoyant abilities, a caliph for an hour with the right to savor these moments. Perhaps this was where he had been headed his whole life, ever since the day he first saw his mother’s death in a dream.

  Then he focused his body and mind into the fingertips clutching the Octarus, closed his eyes… and literally felt his soul pouring out of him, filling the now-warmed device, until he suddenly saw from the outside the thinnest of threads connecting the memory of a past already lived with the knowledge of a possible future. And he felt he could glide along that thread, forward and back, seeing all that had been, and all that would be. Not an hour, not a day, not even a year ahead—he could see across millennia.

  He was swept up into the void and the darkness where time began and ended, his mind and body tossed together; he felt searing heat and brutal cold at once, the touch of snowflakes on his face and the agony of a bullet shattering the bone in his forearm; he saw the face of the first pirate he had killed and Rita’s face when they stood embracing in the Green Gardens. As if reborn, he suddenly understood what sadness and joy were, love and hatred, fear and resolve… and everything that made up his soul and inner world fell back into place, and Kairu knew who he was, where he was, and why he was here.

  This was what Konrad had spoken of. The ability to change everything, to correct a mistake already made, and avoid a chain of fatal chances in the future. To reshape one’s own fate without yet knowing what consequences the new path would bring. The absolute weapon of Saelin was the Lake of Aktida, but Kairu had gone further, gaining not only power over time, but power over himself…

  Let foolish sixteen-year-old Kairu Kenai fuss and rush about, trying to save the world! He would be smarter. He would make it so that the world wouldn’t need saving at all. He’d go back to the village and warn his father… No, better—he’d steal the Lake of Aktida from Nubel and hide it so that Saelin wouldn’t get it… Or—he’d come to the shrine and take the diamond before Rita…

  A timid voice of common sense tore him from his daydreams; Kairu came to his senses and realized he had gone too far. No, all this was trifling and could lead to less than pleasant consequences. He was thinking about reshaping the last two years, but nothing happens without a trace. Any change to the past would cause a chain of events in the future, and who knows what he might find in Aktida when he returned to his own time?..

  No, he couldn’t rush, he needed to think everything through. He had to calculate everything to eliminate even the slightest possibility of a mistake. And if he was going to reshape reality, it had to start from a much earlier point.

  The plan, which had first been born in his mind when he and Dob had tried at night to dig out the collapse at the mountain’s summit to help their friends trapped in the tomb, was now slowly taking shape, sprouting details. He still needed to think it over for a long time, calculating every last detail, mapping out each step. But now this plan was turning from a mad idea into the only possible and workable solution.

  He was kneeling on the stones at the base of the same statue, gulping cold air in spasms and clutching the Octarus in his hands. He was still trembling, and his heart was pounding out a mad rhythm. Kairu slowly rose, staggered, and grabbed the pedestal, feeling a tingling in his fingers and realizing that his body still didn’t fully obey him. His memory felt stretched out over hundreds of miles, and his thoughts moved with difficulty and slowness. Then he managed to move his fingers, then gradually his toes and neck regained motion—and suddenly he found himself almost in Norton’s arms.

  "Kairu! Are you all right?" Ioran asked in horror.

  "I’m fine," Kairu muttered. "Everything’s amazing!.."

  He managed to stand firmly, let go of his brother’s hand, and silently shoved the burning-hot Octarus into the pouch on his chest, where the Lake of Aktida used to be. He felt sweat running in rivulets down his temples.

  "It really is a time machine," he said with difficulty, casting a wild look over the others. His lips spread into a grin on their own—he was ready to laugh aloud. "I found it! I’m a Seer! I can create crossroads of time!"

  ***

  "Excellent, my boy!"

  They arrived three hours later, by which time Kairu had managed to tell Norton and Demetra all about his misadventures during the journey from Vairad to the shrine of Vaimos, and Norton in turn had told him about captivity, the arrival of help, the battle, Atgard’s death, and the crossing of the ice desert with the centaurs. The sun had passed its zenith; meat was roasting on the fire, and some kind of stew was cooking, so for the first time in many days, Kairu felt truly full. The only thing he still lacked was sleep. He desperately wanted to collapse and rest for at least a couple of hours, but that was an unaffordable luxury. They needed to hurry, to think about what to do next… and to decide what to do with the Octarus while it was still in Kairu’s hands.

  Konrad appeared first. He was leading them, Yuffilis trudging right behind him, followed by the rest of the travelers. They looked utterly exhausted and worn out, but Konrad threw up his hands in astonishment when, from the hill, he saw Kairu sitting at the fire warming his hands. From his face, it was clear he already knew everything.

  "Greetings, Gedelin," he bowed to the centaur, who nodded back grimly… When had they even had time to meet?! "Kairu, I see you’ve found yourself quite the company! Rodrigo, Demetra—is that you? The last time we met was when you left the Temple of Tornir a year ago, wasn’t it?"

  "Konrad!" Demetra jumped up and embraced the old man; Rodrigo Antan only nodded in return. "Kairu’s already told us everything… but I couldn’t believe you’d dare such a journey!"

  "Kairu! Norton! Ioran!" Yuff’s eyes nearly popped when he appeared over the hilltop behind Konrad. "Hey, guys, Ashley—look who we’ve found! Hell take me, but how in blazes did you get here?!"

  "Kairu." While the others were approaching the fire, Konrad sat down beside him and looked into his eyes. "Did you find it?"

  "I have it." Kairu smiled.

  "Then you already know what it is," Konrad took Kairu’s hand. "Kairu, I beg you—be careful with this! That object is filled with black magic, the likes of which none of us has ever dreamed of! Please, use it wisely. Better yet—don’t use it at all. Petros tried to change the past, and nothing good came of it. I beg you—now is the time to go to the First Temple and leave it there."

  Kairu was silent, staring at him. Something inside flared and then went out at once, while the monk spoke those words. And he remembered Nubel’s face, burning with greed, when the travelers had returned from the expedition and brought him the Lake of Aktida.

  He had died that very night… Cold sweat broke over Kairu, and the Octarus suddenly cooled, stopped burning, and stopped filling him with energy. And when he looked at his hands, Kairu suddenly saw bloody scars where he had been clutching the Star.

  "I remember," he muttered. "But… Konrad, I’m going to need this item. Before it’s all over. Do you understand?"

  Konrad was silent for a moment.

  "Just don’t forget what I told you," he said. "I can’t order you, but I beg you… finish as quickly as possible. This is the side effect everyone warned you about—Nubel, Petros, and now me… This is magic, monstrous evil magic—it’s the very essence of Darius and the Octarus. Remember, you’re holding an object meant to destroy Aktida. The Nocturns left us their prophecy for a reason: no matter how we tried to change the past, the result was always the Saelin Empire and hundreds of burned cities…"

  "Yes," Kairu swallowed. "I remember that. But I think now I know how to do it right. I’ll tell you everything—just later, once I’ve worked it out for myself."

  "Where do we go now?" Viggo asked, coming up to them. "Back to Regerlim?"

  "That’s impossible," Kairu sighed. "We’re under siege… The Clan of Aok is surrounded by Bor’s troops in the ruins of Ardrai. Around the mountain is a tight ring of druids—we can’t break through…"

  "We’ve been trapped here for almost a day," Ioran added. "We’ve explored everything around and concluded there’s no way to reach the outpost… except one, Konrad, and you know it."

  Silence fell.

  "Abandon Aok to his fate?" Rita asked quietly. "Just sit and wait until they destroy him and the troops leave? Hide like rats? And what about Dob?"

  "I’ll go to my father even if I have to do it alone," the druid shook his head. "I don’t want to be the last druid of the Clan of Aok, I’d rather die with them in battle!"

  "But going there is suicide," Ashley said quietly. "We won’t finish our task—we’ll just die… We can’t help them!"

  "No point," Yuff muttered. "No point in going there just to die as one big happy company. Let Dob run off on his own if he likes it so much… Kairu, why are you silent? Agree that we just can’t do this! Especially you!"

  "No, Yuffilis," Kairu shook his head.

  "What?!"

  A ringing silence fell. Kairu looked over the travelers.

  "Listen," he said hoarsely. "First of all, we owe Aok something—and in return, we must at least try to help him, and if it doesn’t work, leave last, by the same path we’ll use to enter the outpost. Second… you seem to have forgotten that we have our own scores to settle with the smugglers. We made a deal with Natall Ganstair, and dealing with the Clan of Bor is our chance to secure that captain’s support—our guarantee that the Octarus will eventually reach the island of Darius. We need to remember that, or we might not find a ship at all. Third—Ioran said that goblins are besieging the outpost along with the druids. And they’re hunting us specifically, and if they don’t find our corpses in Ardrai, they’ll still scour every slope of the Fire-Breathing Mountain, and in the end we’ll have to fight them anyway—and who knows what our chances of survival will be. So the prospect of helping Aok doesn’t seem so terrible… And fourth—I want to see Aok. I must. This is a very important matter on which much depends. Understood?"

  Yuff and Konrad exchanged glances.

  "No one can deny your cunning, little brother," Lainter said coldly. "One–nil in your favor. There’s some good sense in that speech… except for the last point—but that’s not for me to judge. Folks, what do you say?"

  "We’ll have a chance to retreat," Rita nodded, not taking her eyes off Kairu. "In any case, we’re obliged to at least try. I agree."

  Ashley shrugged.

  "I’d rather not take the risk," she said. "But there’s one more thing… Konrad, remember that underground passage?"

  "We could try it." The monk nodded. "Though I suspect it’s long since been buried under lava. But indeed, it’s another possible escape route."

  "Rodrigo?" Kairu asked.

  "We’re with you," Demetra answered for the bodyguard.

  "Viggo? Remiz?"

  "Where else would we go?" the Kald grinned crookedly.

  "Then it’s settled," Konrad summed up. "Ioran, I suppose we’ll have to go through…"

  "Through the Fire-Breathing Mountain," the centaur nodded. "It’s our last chance."