And yet, even before her feelings had awakened, she saw how he was around that woman. How could Tellus have known she would show up again like that? She wanted to blame that enchanted rose crown, but she knew better. It did not create his feelings. It only gave him a push. She knew his love for that woman ran deep. How could she compete with that?

As if that were not enough, there was the mission given to her by her mother. Those black vines she encountered deep within the earth threatened the whole world, life itself. She did not fully understand her part in all this, but she was supposed to learn more when she reached the temple beyond the sea. What would that mean for her? A girl's one-sided romance counted for little in the face of a threat to the world.

Shoshanna had tried to talk to her earlier, but Tellus rebuffed her. She did not want counsel or consolation. What did she know of it anyway? She had never felt like this, not herself. She had only leeched those feelings off others and thought that she understood something.

For some reason, Tellus remembered Shoshanna's warning. She did not want to hear it at the time and she did not want to think about it now. However, it came into her mind as she was alerted to a presence, one that mirrored her own feelings, only stronger, deeper. True to Shoshanna's words, Tellus found herself drawn to the presence. It was not like the time in Ydom, though. There was no compulsion, no subversion of her will. Nothing was making her seek this presence out. It was her own choice.

It was a wonder she managed to slip away. Tobias was distracted looking in just about every other direction but hers. There must have been too much noise from the minds around them for Shoshanna and too many smells about for Tym'r's nose. They were bound to notice before too long, so she had to find the presence quickly.

Fortunately, she did not have to go far. As you passed the storehouses around the docks, there was a narrow alleyway that led to a series of doors. If Tellus recalled correctly from the memories she claimed from Tobias, these were called tabernae, but usually they faced the main road where it would be more likely for customers to drop in. Here it was almost like they did not want ordinary people to visit. Perhaps she should have felt a greater sense of danger, but she was too busy thinking about the presence she felt.

She soon found the door where the presence was strongest. There was a sign she could not read, but that did not matter so much to her. The door was neither locked nor barred. In fact, it was hanging slightly open, so she went on inside. What she found was a scene of chaos. Furniture upturned, broken pottery, and all manner of trash scattered about. She continued on in to a small room in the back. The only reason there was not as much of a mess there was because there was not much there besides a simple pallet and a man curled up on the floor in the corner. If he meant to sleep, why was he not lying on the pallet?

As she got closer, she saw that he was not sleeping at all. He was shaking like he was cold, but it was not cold out. Curious, she stooped down and touched the man's shoulder. He swung his arm wildly and screamed.

Tellus jumped back in surprise. The man continued to cringe and cower. If not for the presence she felt about him, Tellus would have left, but she wanted to understand what the presence was. It did not seem that she was going to learn much from the man, but then he spoke.

Tellus titled her head then stooped down again and asked him in turn, "What are you?"

The man sighed.

It did not appear that Tellus could expect a straight answer from the man, and she was losing patience with him. It was not that the presence she sought was merely about him. He was the presence, or at least he was the center of it. He had a power to him far greater than any normal human, like the woman who healed her or that Son of the Mountain who broke the enchantment on her chains. If this man was so powerful, what did he have to be afraid of?

There was one way she could find out. It worked with Tobias, Shoshanna and Tym'r, so there was no reason why it would not work here. She took hold of the man's face and kissed him. It was not exactly pleasant for her. She probably would have rather kissed Tym'r again, but it served its purpose. She was able to take a portion of the man's knowledge and his power. Now she knew. Her eyes were opened.

She could not see them before, but the room was filled with pale figures, so gaunt that their skin clung to the bone, their eyes empty caverns that streamed tears of black blood. They were the shades of the dead, twisted by the torment of their life beyond death and fixed on spreading their misery to those who remained in the land of the living, this man in particular.

So this was what the man feared. Tellus, however, was not afraid. Perhaps at one time she would have been, but not after what she had seen. When she was touched by the Darkness and left hovering between life and death, she saw what lay beyond, what even the dead would fear. These miserable ghosts with their petty grudges were like pebbles at the foot of the mountain.

With a wave of her hand, Tellus swept the spirits away. The shades vanished like wisps of smoke in the wind. They were not banished completely—Tellus did not have that sort of power—, but they would not be back for some time, she was sure. It took the man a moment to realize they were gone.

The man touched his lips.

As the man's mind began to settle, he gave her a hard-eyed look and said, "So you're the one they've been talking about."

Honestly, Tellus thought it was more troubling not to know, but she did not think he would tell her anything more on the subject. She did not have the chance to try, as that very moment Tobias came bursting in that same clumsy way he always did, like some wild bull tearing through a fence.

The man, who had only regained his wits a few moments ago, was thrown into a fresh panic.

Ignoring the man entirely, Tobias said, "Tellus, are you alright?"

Tellus remembered that she was upset with him, but more than that, she was embarrassed for causing trouble for him. It was not easy to reconcile these conflicting feelings, so all she ended up doing was bowing her head and muttering a muted, "Sorry."

Tobias then turned his attention to the man. With his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, he asked him, "Who are you?"

Tobias gave the man an awkward look and removed his hand from his sword.

The warning was more than enough for Tobias. He took Tellus by the arm and pulled her to her feet, saying, "Come on, Tellus. Let's go."

Tellus did not fight him over it. There was a part of her that wanted to wallow in her unhappiness and make things as difficult for him as possible, but that was not what you did to somebody you loved. Even if he did not love her the way she wanted to be loved, he was kind to her and he cared for her. She did not want to lose what she had for the sake of what she could not have.

As Tobias led her out of the back room, Tellus saw Shoshanna and Tym'r waiting for them. Shoshanna did not say anything, but she did not have to. Tellus looked away, not that it did anything to escape the piercing gaze of her mind's eye. Meanwhile, Tym'r appeared to be on edge.

Sniffing the air, he said, "This is an ill-omened place. We should go."

When they exited into the alleyway, Tobias looked at the sign outside the door, apparently not having paid attention to it before in his rush to get to Tellus. Tellus did not pay attention to the sign when she first approached the place either, but she could not read anyway, so it would not have made much difference for her.

Shoshanna put her hand on Tobias' arm and said, "Let's leave at that, Tobiyah ben Yishak. Just be thankful we were able to find her without incident. We must hurry if we want to board the next ship out of the city."

Tobias did not press the matter any further. Tellus probably should have been grateful that Shoshanna put a stop to his questions, but she was not feeling as charitable toward her as she was for Tobias.

Tellus remembered the warning her mother gave her. There were those who would use her for her powers, gods and men and everything in between. They could not get to their destination soon enough. Tellus knew that it would not be the end of her journey, but it was at least a horizon to aim for. Maybe when they reached the temple beyond the sea, they would find some way to stand up to their enemies and not just run from them.