She turned toward him instantly, hesitated, saw him standing back in the shadows, and moved over to him. He was surprised at how calm she looked, her face composed and her violet eyes untroubled. She had always looked somewhat ethereal, but just then she seemed oddly distant, as well-as if she were seeing beyond him to another place, as if in her mind she were already there.
She reached for his hand and took it in her own, surprising him. "Elven Prince, you are alive," she whispered. There was genuine relief in her voice, and it made him ashamed to know that she thought better of him than he deserved. "You shouldn't be out here alone," she continued urgently, her grip on his hand tight. "It is very dangerous. Where are the others?"
He took a quick breath to steady himself. "Dead, I think. I'm not really sure."
She glanced around quickly, her long, silver hair shimmering in bright waves. "There are Mwellrets back that way, a large company of them." She pointed from where she had come. "I think they might be following me."
"Mwellrets?" he repeated in confusion.
"From Black Moclips. They've come ashore to hunt us down, all of us that remain. The Ilse Witch came with them, but she's gone now. She found us in a clearing where the Elven Tracker left us-"
"You mean Tamis?" he interrupted excitedly. "Is Tamis with you?
"She was, but she left to find help. Bek was with me, too, but when the Ilse Witch found us, there was a confrontation between them. I'm not sure what happened, but Bek disappeared and she went after him. In the confusion, I slipped away. But the Mwellrets will have missed me by now and be searching. That was what the witch told them they were to do-to find all of us who weren't dead and make us prisoners, then take us to Black Moclips and hold us there until she returned."
Ahren stared at her. Accepting that the Ilse Witch had somehow made it through the Squirm and come down the channel to the cove, what was all this about a confrontation with Bek? Why would she be hunting him?
"Hsst!" she signaled in warning, clasping his hand in hers once more. "We have to go now! Quickly! They're coming!"
She drew him from his concealment, back the way he had just come, and he pulled up sharply. "No, wait, I'm not going back there!"
"You have to! They're sweeping all of the ruins! They'll find you otherwise!"
"But I can't!" he whispered in desperation. "I can't!"
She stopped tugging on his hand and released it. "Do what you wish, Elven Prince. But if you stay here, they will find you. Hiding won't help. Mwellrets can sense you better than most creatures can, and they will search you out." She stepped close. Her violet eyes were steady and searching. "Come with me."
He wasn't sure what made him decide to follow, but he did so, abandoning his shelter and hurrying after her. He glanced back several times without seeing anything, but his instincts told him she was telling the truth.
"What about Bek?" he asked after a few moments, keeping his voice low and his head bent toward hers as they slipped through the ruins. "Is he all right? Did you say the Ilse Witch is tracking him, that she's gone after him on her own?"
The seer nodded. "Belt is unhurt. His magic and his courage ward him. Perhaps she will find it difficult to overcome both."
"His magic? What magic?" The Elf hurried to keep up with her. "Wait a minute. Are you saying she's tracking him because he has some sort of magic?"
Ryer Ord Star grasped his arm and pulled him close to her. "She is his sister, Elven Prince." She registered the shock in his eyes and tightened her grip. "Walker told him just before we arrived, but Bek kept it to himself. When she appeared in the clearing, he told her who he was. The Ilse Witch did not believe him. She cannot. That was the cause of the confrontation between them. She hunts him now because she can't get the truth out of her mind, even if she doesn't accept it. She thinks that if she can confront him once more, he will admit he lied to her. Or perhaps she realizes there is something to what he says. Now walk more quickly!"