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I awoke slowly to blessed warmth enveloping me. I moaned and snuggled into it, hearing a faint chuckle from someone lying beside me in the near darkness. Alarmed, I came fully awake, gasping and sitting up. The man beside me tried to pull me back down in his warm embrace, but I started to struggle, still not fully awake.

“Stop it, Sergey. It’s all right—it’s only me.”

I did stop struggling then and stared at his beloved face, only inches away. It was Tarrak, and I could hardly believe it. I thought at first that I must still be dreaming. I had parted from him in anger, but all that was forgotten in my joy that he was here with me now, like an answer to my unspoken prayers. I threw myself back down over him, wrapping myself around him and reveling in the scent and feel of him. “If this is a dream, please don’t wake me.”

He laughed softly again and nuzzled my throat with his nose, a thing that roused shivers up and down my spine. He whispered sweetly to me in Elven as I clung to him, and he pulled one of my legs up onto his hip. I suddenly realized I was very naked and so was he. He had thrown heavy furs over us, and the fire was burning brightly beside us to keep us warm.

“I took off your wet clothing and thought I should share some body heat with you to get you to wake up. You were really cold when you arrived, and I was worried.”

The words filled me with warmth, and I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding him close against me. Without another word, he rolled me over onto my back, slipped his finger in his mouth to get it wet, and we both groaned as he slipped that one finger gently, but persistently, inside me. A few minutes later, when he added another, I arched against him, crying out a little. He made soothing sounds against my mouth, kissing me tenderly, but he didn’t stop or slow down, just kept steadily on until the sounds I made were those of pleasure, and I turned my head and licked and bit his bottom lip. The fierce sweetness of his lovemaking was making me a little out of control. He didn’t try to breach me with his cock, as we had no oil with us, but his fingers were inside me and lighting me up.

Little golden sparks flashed in the air around us as a piece of wood shifted, dancing up off the fire as he nudged his cock between my thighs, and I arched to meet him. He was wet and slick with his own pre-cum. He thrust against me again and again, pushing and sliding my cock inside his fist at the same time, in a rhythm that made me cry out his name and writhe with pleasure. He had an unholy skill in lovemaking that was not at all human. I sucked in a deep breath as he moved against my body, feeling close to a climax. This wouldn’t last long. I could already feel the heat curling in my belly and tingling along my spine.

He licked my earlobe and then bit down on one of them gently, and I shuddered and came apart. His hand on me was still moving in the same slow rhythm that he’d used to thrust between my thighs. It was too much pleasure after so long without and I came hard, little jets of milky white fluid shooting onto his skin. I was totally blissed out as he began to cry out and surge against me, reaching his own orgasm and arching his back, his mouth open in a wordless cry as he came. He lay heavily on me, his cheek to mine, still in that intimate embrace. I could feel his heart bumping rapidly against my chest. I opened my eyes to find him staring down at me, his beautiful blue eyes wide and adoring, and I said, a little breathlessly, the first thing that popped into my head.

“I love you, Tarrak. I love you so much.”

He tensed in my arms a little, but then lowered his head to kiss me again and sighed deeply against my mouth. “I was frantic when I thought the Dark Elves had you.” He clutched me even tighter until it was hard to breathe. “Don’t ever run away from me like that again. Don’t go where I can’t get to you. Promise me.”

“I will, but how—how are you even here?”

“The servants sent word that you escaped your room and left the palace with Prince Glorfindel. They overheard you talking about going to Dokkalfar territory.”

“So, you came after me?”

“As you see.”

“But where are your soldiers? Your guards?”

“It’s far easier and much faster for me to slip into Dark Elven territory alone than with a troop of my men tagging along behind me. I hoped to find the two of you quickly and get back out again.”

I buried my face against his neck. “I don’t think Glorfindel wants to get back out,” I said, still feeling bitter. “He seemed to be perfectly happy there. He turned me in to the Dark Elves after we arrived at the city yesterday. He betrayed me, and they came to arrest me. You saved me.”

“I should think you saved yourself, as I had no hand in it. Are you sure about Glorfindel? Tell me what happened.”

I relayed the whole sordid story of being drugged, attacked, and almost arrested. I told him how I escaped using the fire and earned myself a deep frown, but I hurried on with my story of how I got to Violet and how the stag ran through the gate and then brought me here.

“Which seems amazing when you think about it. That he would come to this very cave and find you.”

“Not all that amazing,” Tarrak said. “This is the cave we took refuge in after the battle with King Orrin. After Orrin threw himself off the cliffs, your brother was in a bad way. We stayed here that first night to let him recover his senses enough to travel back home. Violet was with us.”

I popped back up to look for Violet. “Violet! Wait a minute,” I said, looking around frantically. “Where is Violet?”

“I should think that right about now he’s rummaging around for food under the snow just outside. He won’t go far. My stag, Strawberry, is with him. They’ll come back in when they get too cold. Like us, they’ve gotten accustomed to a warm fire.”

I leaned on one elbow to gaze down at him. He was wearing a small amulet on a golden chain around his neck. It was a shade of dark red, like old blood, and I played with it idly, twisting it around my finger. “I hit Glorfindel with a bowl.”

He smiled at me and quirked up one eyebrow. His fingers drew lightly down my face, brushing back my hair and then tracing along my jawline. “Did you now, da’len ?”

“ Da’len ” was an Elven word, but I wasn’t quite sure of its meaning. I thought it was a term of endearment, though, because Juul called Pavel that word sometimes and I’d heard mothers use it to their children. The word hung there in the air between us, shimmering like a star in the nighttime sky. It struck me dumb for a moment. Then I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. He touched it wonderingly and then gave me a slow smile.

I decided the best thing to do was to keep talking and not give him time to regret saying it.

“The bowl cut his forehead and knocked him out, but it didn’t kill him. At least I don’t think so anyway. I’m sorry, Tarrak, but he did betray me.”

“I understand. I might have hit him with a bowl or two myself if I’d been in your shoes. I wonder why he brought you here just to have you captured by the Dokkalfar?”

“He told me he was taking me to the tomb where old Ludimarien is buried. Near King Gratin, he said, in the main city of Daineid.”

Tarrak shook his head. “No. I mean the main city may be Daineid, but the tombs aren’t there. They’re farther west. They’re near the old Midgardian tombs. In the same mountain range as old King Gratin’s home used to be, according to legend.”

My mouth dropped open a little. “Then why did he bring me here at all? Was it so the Dark Elves would kill me?”

He looked grim as he shrugged. “Who knows? Fairies are hard to figure out. The Dark Elves despise humans almost as much as they do the Quendi, so it’s possible. Considering the fact that your brother killed their last king, I don’t think you’d have lasted long in their prison.”

“No, neither do I. I assumed Glorfindel did it to keep me from getting the Sword of Light. He had a lot of questions about it. I even told him about the riddle that Gratin gave me.”

“It’s possible, I suppose. I’d need to talk to him to find out. But you’re safe now and coming back with me. The siege can’t last much longer, and then I can bring Pavel and Lord Juul home.”

“No, Tarrak, seriously. I have to get that sword. Queen Olga and Prince Adan will kill them both before they ever surrender. They’re holding out for me to bring them the sword.”

“Then they’ll be waiting a long time.”

“But I have to go find that sword and axe, don’t you understand?”

“Sergey...”

“Tarrak, you were there. You saw Gratin’s shade and heard him tell me where the Sword of Light and the Battle-Axe of Lebor are hidden. I know I can find them.”

“I heard whatever spirit you managed to conjure up say he was old King Gratin and then spout some gibberish and foolish riddles.”

“They weren’t foolish. Glorfindel told me that the name he mentioned, Ludimarien... that was his wizard. And he’s probably buried in a tomb near Gratin’s.”

“Just how do you propose getting into the tomb? The Dokkalfar will be looking for you, and even if they aren’t, Glorfindel has no doubt told them of your intentions.”

“I’m not sure, but I know I can find a way. I know it.”

“You’re not making yourself invisible again.”

“But I...”

“No. I mean it, Sergey. It’s far too dangerous, and you don’t even know if it has any lasting effects on you. No more Infernal Magic. No more Necromancy. I’ve told you what the penalties are for that, and I can’t keep protecting you if you persist on doing it.”

“It’s the only kind of magic I have, don’t you see? Glorfindel told me he thinks it’s because Pavel and I are both part Nephilim.”

He cocked his head in the way of the Quendi when they either didn’t understand something you said or thought you were delusional. “Sergey, what are you talking about?”

“I know it sounds crazy, and I have no reason to trust Glorfindel now, but I still think he may be right. Pavel and I already suspected that our grandfather, our mother’s father, was some kind of otherworldly being. We thought he was maybe a Woodland Fairy because our grandmother spent so much time in the woods gathering her herbs. But our magic is darker than that. At least some of it is. Our grandmother was a Hearth Witch or what some called a wisewoman. Pavel inherited her skill with healing, and he definitely inherited some of her talent with playing the pipes. But he has that side to his magic that is dangerous and unpredictable. It could be deadly—you saw that when he confronted King Orrin. And my magic is the same, only without the healing skills and with absolutely no talent for singing or music. Mine is just dark. Infernal. And still, Pavel says he knows I’m not a corrupt vessel for the magic, so he thinks I won’t be changed or influenced by it.”

He took my hand in his and shook his head. “He thinks ... personally, I’m not so sure about that. Not that you’re corrupt, but maybe the magic is changing you, or trying to. You told me several stories about this Sword of Light, for example. You first said the sword was for me and then you changed your mind and promised it to Queen Olga, and now I think you want it for yourself, don’t you?”

“Not in the way you mean, no. Not for personal power. I do want to be your champion. Your warrior. I want to be of some use to you, Tarrak, so you won’t send me away, and I can do that with the Sword. If Glorfindel’s theory about me being part Nephilim is right, then I may actually be inhuman. Or at least partly so. At any rate, if the theory is true, I might live for a really, really long time, so we can be together. It’s what you said you wanted, isn’t it?”

He cocked his head even further. “Wait. Are you trying to tell me you think you’re some kind of angel ?”

“No. Not me. But maybe my grandfather was—a fallen angel—or maybe he was a Nephilim. Or my mother was. Oh, I don’t know. Maybe she passed some of that on to me and Pavel. I know it sounds crazy, but it explains so many things about my magic. Why it’s so powerful, yet it always goes so wrong. It’s because I tried to do traditional spells with Infernal Magic. Don’t you see? Then when I just embraced it and called on the fallen angel Samael—and on the Demon Lords—to help, then everything started to work!”

“It’s still wrong, Sergey. It’s dark magic. You’ll have to renounce it.”

“But...but then I might not be able to be with you. My mother renounced her heritage and her magic left her. She passed away far too young. I want to be with you as long as I can.”

He pulled me to him and held me against his chest. “Don’t you think I want that too? I know that you won’t be with me my entire life. I know I’ll be devastated when the time comes, but no one has any guarantees when it comes to life or to love. I finally came to my senses when I thought you’d been taken by the Dokkalfar, and I thought I might never see you again. I decided that if I could find you again, I’d keep you with me for whatever time we have together and be thankful for it.”

“But that might not be enough for you. It might not even be enough for me .”

He made a sound of frustration and sat up. He blew out a harsh breath, and I knew I’d made him angry. I still wasn’t ready for him to turn and take me by my arms to shake me a little.

“How long do you want to be loved, Sergey? Is forever enough? Is it? Because that’s how long I’ll love you, and I’ll never stop. Not ever. The oceans can dry to dust; the mountains can crumble. All the stars can go out and the moon can fall right out of the sky. It won’t matter to me because I won’t have need of any of them anymore once you leave me. I’ll love you and cherish you for as long as I have you, and when it’s all said and done, when one of us is...gone...I-I’ll still be loving you. There’s no choice for me. Don’t you see? A thousand years from today, five thousand...it doesn’t matter. I’ll still be dreaming of you. I will, Sergey. Because I’ve only been fooling myself about sending you away in some vain, ridiculous effort to protect myself. It’s already far too late for that. I’m in love with you and that won’t ever change. I think death must not be a limit for love. Not for true love, anyway. It’s past time I admitted that to myself. And to you.”

I had to kiss him again through my tears, and we spent a long time at it. I still disagreed with him about my magic, but the rest of what he’d said was so much more than I ever thought I’d have from him. I was dumbstruck, but now, when he was making soft sounds against my hair that sounded suspiciously like choking and trying desperately to hide any trace of strong emotions from me—it was really not the time to have a discussion. I clung to him, pretended not to hear a thing, and he put his forehead against mine and we breathed each other’s air for a while. I heard his words over and over again in my head because I never, ever wanted to forget a word of what he’d said.

****

We woke the next morning and made love again. Truthfully, though, we’d been closely entangled all night. Tarrak had been quiet, embarrassed after showing me some of his feelings. Elves tried hard to pretend they didn’t have any of those.

Afterward, I heated some snow over the fire, and we did our best to clean up. Later we had some hot tea and ate some food he had in his packs, and he began to feel better. He wanted to go back to Quendi land then and there, but I begged him to let me try to find the sword.

“If you know where the tomb of King Gratin and his wizard, Ludimarien, is, I wish you’d show me. Please, Tarrak. We can go there and at least try to solve the riddle. I know you don’t really believe in it but think of what that sword might mean for you if it was real, and we found it.”

“Sergey...”

“We’ve come this far, and we’re so close. It would be a shame not to at least try. Please, Tarrak. We can go back at once if you think it’s too dangerous at any point.”

He gave me a dubious look and sighed. “All right. Since we’ve come this far and I think you’ll never give up until you try, we can go and have a look. But if it seems dangerous, we’ll go back at once. Are we agreed?”

I nodded happily. He shook his head and handed me one of his sleeping furs to wrap around myself in lieu of a coat, and then gave me the hat off his own head.

“But Tarrak, you’ll need this.”

“Not as much as you. You’re not used to this kind of cold, and I’ll be fine. Now come along. Round up Violet and let’s get started.”

We traveled west for most of the day. We had left Daineid far behind, and I was glad. If I never saw those dark caves and Glorfindel’s smug face again, it would still be too soon. I didn’t know if he’d make his way back to the Ice Palace or not, or if Tarrak would allow him to stay if he did, but I wasn’t forgetting his treachery anytime soon. We stopped in the early afternoon to let the stags rest. Tarrak produced a small bottle of ale that he shared with me, and we ate some bread and cheese. The sun had actually peeked out from behind a cloud, making the temperature almost, though not quite, tolerable, and I had cleared us off a rock to sit on. After we ate, we both began to feel a bit drowsy. We hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep during the night what with one thing and another. Tarrak lay back in the sunlight, wrapped in his fur and with his eyes closed.

I sat for a moment admiring him. His bright hair lay loose on his shoulders, framing a face that was unnaturally beautiful, his skin pale and his bone structure perfection. His long, dark eyelashes swept down over his cheekbones, and his lips were plump and sensual, parted a little as he relaxed. He opened his eyes a slit and saw me watching him and his lips curved in a lazy smile.

“Come here,” he said in that imperious voice that only a king can get away with. I lay down beside him willingly though and wrapped an arm around his slim waist. We lay cradled together and I was at once incandescently happy and worried half to death. Could this much happiness possibly last? After all, I was pretty ordinary, and these feelings he’d talked about having for me were still relatively new. What would happen when he’d grown accustomed to me? When he saw me day after day and realized how plain I was?

“Do you think you’ll grow tired of being here with me, Sergey?” he asked. “It’s hard for humans sometimes. They don’t always fare well living with the Elves.”

It was so close to what I’d been thinking, only about him instead of me, that I wondered if Elves could read minds and I just hadn’t heard of it. “Can you possibly be serious?” I asked him. “I’ll never be tired of you. I’ve lived in your palace for the past ten years, and I can’t even imagine ever being bored or restless.”

“Yes, but I wasn’t around you much all those years. You were a child then, and now you’re a man. You may feel differently after a few months with me. I’ve been told I can be a bit... demanding.”

“You? Oh, surely not,” I said, laughing at him.

He looked outraged and then he pushed me off him and rolled over on top of me, holding me down.

“Don’t be fooled. I am demanding. And jealous of what belongs to me. This is it for you, angel-demon. No one else but me will ever touch you. Not ever. You belong to me now. Do you understand?”

I nodded, my face blushing hotly, thrilled by his possessiveness. Tarrak smiled and pressed his lips against mine and gently pushed his tongue inside my mouth. “This mouth is mine,” he whispered.

“Yes,” I whimpered softly.

Tarrak reached inside my tunic and touched my nipples, hard and pebbled as the cold air hit them. I arched my back as Tarrak bent over to nibble on one. “These little nipples are mine.”

I moaned and shivered. “Sensitive?” Tarrak asked, smiling at me. “Oh, really? How sensitive?” He lowered his mouth again and bit down a bit harder then and licked it thoroughly until I was squirming and begging. With a smile, he put his hand over my groin and massaged me none too gently. “This is all mine too.”

My hips came up off the rock, and I was moaning and clutching Tarrak’s shoulders at that point, trying to either push him away or pull him closer. It was hard to tell which one. Tarrak raised his head and gazed at me innocently. “Oh. Did you like that da’len? Shall I try that again just to make sure?”

“No. I mean, yes,” I said, panting for breath. “I liked it very much, but we-we can’t do this here. What if someone should see us?”

Tarrak glanced over at Violet and his own stag, Strawberry, and then back down at my groin, where my aching cock was trying, apparently, to rip through my trousers. “Violet and Strawberry don’t mind, and I don’t see anyone else.” He pulled down my trousers to my knees. “I think I like this look on you very much. I may insist on it in the future. It will save us time too, when I want to fuck you. Or when I want to do this.”

He plundered around then with his tongue and teeth on the head of my cock until my eyes rolled back in my head, and I started to beg. He engulfed me with his mouth then, and my knees fell apart in total surrender as my head fell back and banged on the rock, and I groaned so loudly Violet gave a loud sniff and pawed the snow.

“Oh God…”

“No, it’s just me, and I have no plans to show you any mercy. You need to be punished a little for causing me so much trouble, in fact. Your job is to spread those thighs for me nice and wide. I’m going to put my fingers in this little hole and you’re going to ride them for a while, while I suck your cock.” He quickly arranged me to his satisfaction, then massaged the hole in question gently, and with apparent satisfaction, as he listened to me moan and cry out. He wet two of his fingers and pushed them inside me. I didn’t need much preparation as we had been at this most of the night. “Fuck yourself on my fingers, Sergey. Go ahead.”

I nodded and did as I was told while Tarrak urged me on. “Harder and with more enthusiasm. Show me how sorry you are for putting me to so much trouble coming after you. Show me how much you want to make amends.”

“Oh, Tarrak. Oh, please.”

“Please what? Tell me what you want.”

“You. Inside me. Now!”

Tarrak smiled. “But what if someone should see us? No, I’m enjoying this.”

He let me writhe and moan a few minutes more and then the bastard pulled his fingers away.

“Damn you, Elf! Let me get up so I can find my knife,” I said, panting so hard I could barely speak.

He only threw back his head and laughed. “Listen to how you speak to your king. I could filet you like a fish if you tried. But I have much better plans for you. Now go down to the stream and wash. The cold water will help you regain your senses, I think, and remind you never to threaten your king. When you’ve finished your ablutions, we’ll start on our way again.”

He rolled over on his back then and closed his eyes, oblivious to my distress, but with a wicked little smile playing on his lips. Cursing, I got up and went down to the small, ice-cold stream we’d stopped beside. I had to break some ice to get to the freezing water underneath, but I used it on my fevered flesh, berating all Elves and wishing I’d never met one. When I was done washing, I did feel a bit better, though I was shivering, but I still hadn’t forgiven Tarrak. He pulled me into his arms to kiss me when I returned and wrapped my fur back around me to warm me up, but I turned my head away and pushed on his chest. Not very hard, but I think I made my displeasure clear about his teasing. I did eventually let him kiss me once. Or maybe a few times. No need to cut off my nose to spite my face, after all.

By mid-afternoon, we were back on the trail, and I was able to see another large mountain range looming ahead of us in the distance—a dark, snow-capped form on the horizon. Another hour of riding brought us to the base of one of the mountains, and we stopped underneath its shadow to look up at it. There was a trail leading up its face, and I glanced eagerly over at Tarrak.

“Is this King Gratin’s resting place?”

“According to legend, it is. All the Dokkalfar kings are buried in various and ancient tombs in these mountains. Why the Dokkalfar chose this as a resting place is anyone’s guess, but it was King Orrin’s father—the king who was later killed in a fire in his residence—who brought us here. There was some talk of peace back then, but after he died, we found Orrin too unreasonable to deal with, and it all fell through. At any rate, we toured some of their important sites. This mountain was one of them—it’s said that ancient kings of Dokkalfar and even Midgard are entombed here. King Gratin’s supposed tomb is not far up the mountain.”

“Do you think it’s real?”

“Who knows? I was fairly young, but we had a tour of the kingdom. Too bad things didn’t work out better back then. The Dokkalfar have a new king now, by the way—a young man named Stefan, who is King Orrin’s nephew, I believe. I’ve wondered if I should approach him, but the Dark Elves have been our enemies for far too long for there ever to be peace between us. I’ve heard they have no interest in a treaty.”

“Who did you hear that from?”

He looked over at me and smiled. “Glorfindel, as a matter of fact.”

“Hmm. So maybe take that with a grain of salt. Besides, maybe if you had the Sword of Light, they might be eager to make peace.”

He turned to me and laughed. “Maybe they would at that.”

“Can we begin climbing then? It’s hours until dark.”

Tarrak nodded. “We can follow the main trail for a little way. As I recall, Gratin’s tomb wasn’t that hard to reach, and it might be a good place for us to spend the night. We won’t be disturbed there, and if anyone sees the smoke from our fires, they’d be too frightened to investigate.”

“Why is that?”

“The mountains have a curse on them, of course, for anyone who disturbs the kings’ rest. Like all good tombs and scary places do.”

I widened my eyes at him, and he smiled. “Don't worry. The dead aren’t the ones who can hurt you. Besides, you’ve already made King Gratin’s acquaintance, so if this tomb should happen to be his, you should have nothing at all to worry about. Just remind him he invited you here to solve his riddle. I’ll go first on the trail, but you stay close behind me. It’s treacherous in parts as I recall.”

“When did you say you came here?”

“I came as a boy with my father. Perhaps a hundred years ago or so.” He was always saying things like that, and it upset me because it underscored how different we were and how foolish I was to fall in love with this beautiful, otherworldly, practically immortal being. I clucked my tongue to my mount, and we started up the trail.

Tarrak turned his stag’s head toward the top, and we began to climb. The trail wound around the mountain, and it was, as Tarrak had promised, steep and unsafe. The trail looked as if it were seldom traveled, and I was thankful for the sure-footedness of the stags. In places, the path up the mountain was so narrow I could simply look right down over the edge into the valley below. With no stirrups or saddle, I clung extra hard to Violet’s fur at those times, practically lying over his back and digging my feet into his sides. Tarrak made sure we rode extra slowly, and he glanced back at me often to make sure I was all right. He’d offered to let me ride with him, but the trails were too steep to expect Strawberry to carry us both.

Around the time it began to get dark, and I started looking around for a place to spend the night, we came around a bend, and I saw the dark, wide mouth of a cave hidden behind some snow-laden bushes. It was beside a widening in the trail, and when I called ahead to tell Tarrak, he turned his mount and came back to me.

I greeted him eagerly. “Have you found a cave...maybe a tomb?”

“This is it...or I should say this may be it. Old King Gratin’s tomb. I remember it being near the trail and not far up the mountain. If this is it, then I believe Ludimarien’s would be nearby. His tomb may even be inside and down a separate passage. Shall we go see?”

“You mean we can just ride in? There’s no gate or sealed entrances? No one here to stop us?”

“Gratin has been dead for centuries. There may have been a seal at one time, but it’s long since gone. Gratin was a human, but the Elves have been in this territory for a very long time. Elves don’t believe in being buried with jewelry or weapons or riches. Anything like that would have been removed long ago, as it’s only an enticement to graverobbers, practically begging them to come in and plunder. There won’t be anything of any value left inside this tomb, I can assure you. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. It’s useless to find Ludimarien’s grave because he wouldn’t have anything hidden there either.”

“I’d still like to see for myself. This is where Gratin told me to come.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself. We need to find shelter for the night anyway, and this is as good a place as any.”

We went inside, riding our stags right in without having to even dismount. The entrance was tall and wide, though mostly hidden by the underbrush. The floor of the cave was flat for a while before sloping down sharply about ten meters inside the huge open chamber that made up the entrance to the cave. I could see that the cave’s ceiling opened up again at one spot, and we could look up and see a big patch of sky. It was here that a set of roughly hewn steps in the rock went down a sharp decline into a dark passage, with rock walls close on either side of it. Obviously, people had been here before, because there were old, rusted iron sconces on the wall for the torches, and even the remains of an ancient gate that may have once stretched across the opening.

Tarrak pulled his sword and went in a little way to explore but just when I was beginning to get nervous about him, he reappeared. “It’s too dark to see much. We can explore more tomorrow, but I think this might lead to the actual graves through this lower passage. It seems to me that I vaguely remember that. But it was a long way, as I recall. It would be best to do all that in the morning. For now, we should make a fire and our supper before nightfall, and it gets any colder. Let’s get farther away from this opening in the roof of the cave. It looks like it might snow again tonight.” He looked around and pointed down another passage. “That way. Come along.”

I followed him down another long passage until we reached an interior room. It was spacious and had a high ceiling, and there were the remains of previous fires scattered here and there.

“Probably hunters,” Tarrak said. “Must have been caught in a bad storm to make a camp here, as usually Elves avoid the tombs. But this is a good spot to build a fire.” He pointed up at the ceiling of the cave, and I strained to see. “There’s a natural cleft in the rock up there that will act as a kind of flue to help carry away the smoke. I’ll go back and get the stags settled. You can come with me and gather wood for a fire. I still have a little food in my packs for tonight and tomorrow morning, but after that we’ll need to hunt. We can do a little more exploring in the morning, Sergey, and then we have to get started back, and no more arguments.”

“But we have to at least see if that passage in the outer chamber is really the one that leads to the tombs.”

He got his patient look that I was coming to hate. “I said we’ll take a look in the morning. Come now, and let’s find some wood. It’s going to be a long, cold night.”