Chapter 10

He made his way to the sixth room on the right and found it was empty. Thinking he may have misunderstood, Uriel checked a few other rooms but encountered nothing different. He was afraid of that. He had secretly hoped that when he got here, regardless of her reasons, Khyrhyelle would be waiting for him. It was not enough to be tired and worried. Now he would have to wait for her on top of it.

Upon entering the sixth room, a blinding flash was emitted. Because of his long trek in the darkness, Uriel had difficulty adjusting his eyesight. But after a long moment his vision cleared, allowing him to see the magical symbols of a ward floating about him.

After his initial anger subsided, Uriel tried yelling to gain someone's attention but it was to no avail. He finally sat down, resigning himself to his fate. He asked himself over and over who would do this and why. His speculations were endless. They were also fruitless.

Time slowly passed and his thoughts drifted to the High Witch. In Khyrhyelle, he believed he had found someone who could adequately fill the void that had hurt him for so long. He recalled the lingering look he had of her and was afraid that somehow, something had changed between them. He prayed it would not be so. He also thought of Eyrmysse. He knew that every time he saw or even thought about Eyrmysse, the unbidden image of her partial nakedness would enter his mind. He had a feeling that the woman was as dangerous as she was alluring and vowed to keep his distance.

Finally, there was Arhyvhynne. Though she lacked Khyrhyelle's wisdom, she made up for it with her honesty, sincere caring and willingness to give of herself. She was one of those rare people whose outer beauty matched the inner. He was very fond of her. As he pictured Arhyvhynne in his mind's eye, the words of the haggard old man on the mountaintop echoed hauntingly in his ears. They were Uriel's last recollections as he surrendered his exhausted body to sleep.

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