01 THE TIME OF THE DARK

There was only one reason, in this world, that the wizard would need fire tonight.

He hadn't spoken of going back until she'd offered to remain with him, until she'd spoken of the possibility of the Dark following him through the Void. He had refused to flee Gae until all those who needed him were utterly past help. So he would take his own chances, alone in the isolated cabin, rather than risk involving anyone else.

"Climb out," she said. "I'm going back."

"What the hell?" Rudy was staring at her as if she'd gone crazy.

"He lied," Gil said, her low voice suddenly trembling with urgency. "He lied about crossing the Void tonight. He wanted to get rid of us both, get us out of there, before the Dark Ones come."

"What?"

"I don't care what you think," she went on rapidly, "but I'm going back. He was afraid from the beginning that they'd come after him across the Void... "

"Now, wait a minute," Rudy began, alarmed.

"No. You can hitch your way to where you're going. I'm not leaving him to face them alone."

Her face was white in the glare of the headlights, her pale eyes burning with an intensity that was almost frightening. Crazy , Rudy thought. Both of them, totally schizoid. Why does this have to happen to me?

"I'll go with you," he said. It was a statement, not an offer.

She drew back, instantly suspicious.

"Not that I believe you," Rudy went on, slouching against the tattered upholstery. "But you two gotta have one sane person there to look after that kid. Now turn this thing around."

With scarcely a glance at the road behind her, Gil jammed the accelerator, smoking across the center divider in a hailstorm of gravel, and roaring like a tin-pan thunderbolt into the night.

"There," Rudy said, half an hour later, as the car skidded to a bone-jarring stop on the service road below the groves. Ahead of them on its little rise, the cabin was clearly visible, every window showing a dingy yellow electric glare. Gil was out of the car before the choking cloud of dust had settled, striding quickly over the rough ground toward the porch steps. Rudy followed more slowly, picking his way carefully through the weeds, wondering how in hell he was going to get out of this situation and what he was going to say to his boss back at the body shop. Dave, I didn't make it to work Monday because I was helping a wizard rescue a baby Prince out someplace between Barstow and San Bernardino? Not to mention explaining why he never made it back to Tarot's party from the beer run.

He looked around him at the dark landscape, distorted by starlight, and shivered at the utter desolation of it. Cold, aimless wind stirred his long hair, bearing a scent that was not of dusty grass or hot sunlight-a scent he'd never smelled before. He hurried to catch up with Gil, his bootheels thumping hollowly on the board stairs.

She pounded on the door. "Ingold!" she called out. "Ingold, let me in!"

Rudy slipped past her and reached through the pane of glass he'd broken last night to unlock the door from the inside. They stepped into the bare and brightly lighted kitchen as Ingold came striding down the hallway, his drawn sword in his hand and clearly in a towering rage.

"Get out of here!" he ordered them furiously.

"The hell I will," Gil said.

"You can't possibly be of any help to me... "

"I'm not going to leave you alone."

Rudy looked from the one to the other: the girl in her faded jeans and denim jacket, with those pale, wild eyes; the old man in his dark, billowing mantle, the sword gripped, poised, in one scarred hand. Loonies, he thought. What the hell have I walked into? He headed down the hall.

Tir lay wrapped in his dark velvet blankets on the bed, blue eyes wide with fear. The only other thing in the bare room was a pile of kindling in one corner, looking as if every piece of wooden furniture in the little cabin had been broken up; next to it stood the can of kerosene. Steps sounded behind him in the hall, and Ingold's voice, taut as wire, said, "Don't you understand?"

"I understand," Gil said quietly. "That's why I came back."

"Rudy," Ingold said, and the tone in his voice was one of a man utterly used to command. "I want you to take Gil, get her in the car, and get her out of here. Now. Instantly."

Rudy swung around. "Oh, I'm gonna get out of here all right," he said grimly. "But I'm taking the kid with me. I don't know what you guys think you're doing, but I'm not leaving a six-month-old kid to be mixed up in it"

"Don't be a fool," Ingold snapped.

"Look who's talking!"

Then, as Rudy bent to pick up the child from the bed, the lights went out.

In one swift movement, Ingold turned and kicked the door shut, the sword gleaming like foxfire in his hand.

The little starlight leaking through the room's single window showed his face beaded with sweat.