The massive, two headed form of the Great Linnorm heaved itself out of the sea and straddled the Drownway, water running down its sides in sheets. Within the pale, shimmering green spirit was a slim, feminine form. Cassian groaned. Clearly Verina Highplains hadn't taken no for an answer.

  "Calm down," he said to the others, "I don't think that one's out to get us. Well, maybe me after what I said yesterday but she'll probably give you two a pass."

  "She?" Adalai's question had a decidedly pointed tone.

  "Yes, she." Cassian gently pulled Marta back, motioning for Adalai to lower his weapons with his other hand.

  The Great Linnorm surged forward, a pair of leathery bat-like wings unfurling from its back, and it lept over the waves to land in front of Cassian with a titanic splash. Unlike Verina, who was protected by the body of the spirit she had Invoked, Cassian wound up drenched by the spray. Almost as soon as it appeared the body of the Linnorm vanished and left Verina on the shore, a massive serpentine gap in the water behind her slamming closed with a crash of rushing water.

  "Signorina Verina," Cassian said with a polite bow. "It's a pleasure to see you again so soon."

  "Is it?" She directed a skeptical look in Marta's direction. "Perhaps it is. Your opinion on things has changed a great deal over the past night."

  "Others have made a compelling case for a different approach," Cassian replied. "I admit I am a little surprised to see you here today, although given the way things have been going so far perhaps I should have been expecting it."

  Verina's mood markedly changed when her gaze stopped on Adalai. She stood motionless and a little wide eyed for a moment when their eyes met then she took hold of her skirts, curtsied, and said, "Greetings, stranger. My name is Verina Highplains, a daughter of the People of the Steppes, a yaga of the Lost Slavs."

  It was evident from his expression that Adalai didn't understand what she had said. Whether that was because Verina's accent combined with Adalai's poor grasp of Neronan kept him from comprehension or the man just didn't know what the terms meant Cassian couldn't tell.

  At least he wasn't rude about it. He bowed saying, "My name is Adalai Carpathea, a bravo from far away."

  "Far away?" She leaned forward to peer at him, her expression unreadable. "How far? I do not recognize the sound of your speech."

  "I'd rather not say." Adalai turned and gestured to Marta. "The Lady Towers is of Hexton lands and serves at the pleasure of their king."

  Verina inclined her head towards the other woman but didn't acknowledge her otherwise. Instead she looked over to Cassian and said, "What made the difference? Has your luck taken a turn?"

  "That's one way to look at it," he grumbled. "Perhaps I never had any to begin with. Before you ask, yes, if the Linnorm still insists on partaking in this disaster in the making I suppose you can come along. Provided your brother has given his permission. The last thing I need to happen is for the whole of the Highplains cavalry to follow us out onto the Drownway. Especially when they're under levy."

  A blinding smile transformed Verina's face, changing her dour Slavic features into a beacon of delight. "Many thanks, Signore Cassian. My brother and I are once again in your debt."

  "You and your Linnorm, too. I just want you to understand that you're to be very careful how you Invoke that thing." Cassian gestured out at the land bridge gradually poking its way out of the waves. "That's not the place to carelessly flail about with a spirit of that size, understand?"

  "It's the privilege of the Linnorm to act as it needs and the duty of the yaga to assist it as we can."

  "If it can't see a way to act that doesn't throw us into the ocean then it stays here, understand?" Cassian didn't wait for an answer. The tide was moving out and, barring the Linnorm flailing about, the waves were pretty calm. It was best to get a head start. As he'd said to Marta, they only had a few hours of low tide to travel in.

  Cassian picked his way across a rocky outcrop towards the submerged portion of the Drownway, the slick stone sending the soles of his boots slipping and squeaking as if the ground itself was conspiring against him. "Did you bring provisions suited to the situation?"

  "Certainly," Verina assured him. "The Highplains are no strangers to long campaigns. I have brought jerky and hardtack sufficient for two weeks along with a mercurial glass to judge the weather, though I see that you have one of your own."

  Cassian nodded his grudging approval. "It never hurts to have a spare of any tool made of glass."

  "Then she will be coming with us?" Marta asked.

  "She will," Cassian confirmed.

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  "Can the spirit just carry us over the water?" Adalai was studying Verina with a keen eye and she returned his scrutiny with equal intensity.

  "I'm afraid not." She held up one hand to display the faintly glowing tattoo there. "Without the marks of a yaga a person cannot safely touch the body of the Great Linnorm, or any other ancestral spirit of the Slavic lands."

  Marta eyed the woman suspiciously. "For the best, I think. Two of us are seeking to discover the fates of family or friends who have traveled this path. If we were wrapped in the coils of such a large spirit we might overlook signs they have left behind."

  "That reminds me," Cassian said, crouching down by the water, "do you have any idea where the Baron you are looking for went missing?"

  "None, sir."

  "How about you?" Adalai asked. "You had that wheel axel, do you know where that came from?"

  "A courier crossing in the other direction discovered it and marked the location with a flag." Cassian sent his tin mirror out over the waves again as he spoke. "He planted it only a few days ago so there is a good chance the flag is still in place now."

  "Then we should make all haste," Marta replied, poking at barely submerged stone with the toe of her boot.

  "Wait," Cassian said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back. "There's sharks in the water out there, see the fins?"

  She squinted and stared out at the waves. "Surely the water is too shallow for them to reach us."

  "The animals know the patterns of nature far better than we do," Verina said. "If they are lurking around here then there is a chance that they could eat. Respect that."

  Marta sighed and stepped back until she was again standing on solid ground. "If you insist."

  "Water in your boots is just as bad," Adalai said. "Don't underestimate how nasty a case of trench foot can be if you never get your feet dry again."

  "You think of such lovely things," Marta said dryly.

  "I do try, especially at moments like this."

  In a mere five minutes the water receded enough that they were able to start hopping across the dryish portions of the path, keeping their balance as best they could. In truth Cassian understood Marta's sense of urgency. Every moment they lost was another chance for Cazador to lose his life. However every craftsman knew the fastest way to work was slow enough to avoid mishaps and, from the stories he'd heard from customers, it was much the same for bravos. So he did his best to keep the group's progress as steady and deliberate as possible.

  Unfortunately things did not go as smoothly as he might wish. It was little things at first. Verina hadn't seen a map of the Drownway, nor did she know the route, so the small island she'd waited on wasn't on the path. That wouldn't have caused a delay except she'd left her pack and provisions there and they'd been forced to go out of their way to retrieve it. Only a five minute delay but Cassian bristled at it none the less.

  Then, as the tides began to roll back in, Cassian called a halt at the beginning of a high, narrow ridge that crossed the gap between two larger land masses. At one point a previous expedition had strung a rope as a handhold between two posts driven into the rocks but, from the frayed end of the bits that remained, Cassian concluded that something had caused it to break. The ridge was narrow and uneven. That wouldn't have been a problem if there hadn't also been a strong westerly wind blowing.

  By all accounts danger was part of the bravo's calling. Foolhardiness was not. So they hunkered down on the side of the ridge for nearly half an hour until the wind died down. Then Cassian carefully picked his way across the expanse, using his Gift to grab ahold of his armor and push himself more firmly towards the ground. He made the trip with a coil of rope around his waist. Once it was firmly tied to the post on the far side the rest of the group made the trip with no issue.

  Unfortunately the prolonged pause left them far enough behind schedule that the tides had turned. They had just enough time to scramble through a final low point in the path before the waves closed over it. The small island that left them on was the first of its kind they'd seen.

  Marta stared around at the old, crumbling buildings that dotted the low hill and said, "I thought this place was cut off from the mainland most of the day. How did someone get all this stone out here? Did they carry it over that ridge?"

  "There's other routes through the Drownway," Cassian replied. "They're used by caravans like the one we're looking for but the path is a good five miles longer. This is the fastest route through the Drownway and the one your Baron probably took if he was trying to move quickly. It merges with the caravan route later on. Since I have an idea of where Cazador's group went missing I plan to head there first and spiral out from that location rather than retrace the caravan route and lose a day to the tides."

  "That doesn't explain how they got the stone out here," Verina said.

  "They got it from right here." Cassian gestured to the Gulf. "There was a time before Lum drowned half of Nerona, when these lands were joyful and prosperous rather than hidden by waves. This was probably a fishing village once. There is wreckage from Nerona's lost cities washed up along the path as well. These buildings are still on their foundations so I presume this is where they were built."

  Adalai had climbed up the remains of a nearby wall, which had crumbled into a stair step shape. Now he suddenly jumped down. "There's smoke rising from the far side of the island."

  Cassian frowned. "Well, it's not a bad place to hunker down til low tide. The ruins give some shelter after all."

  "How common is it for people to travel this way?" Marta asked.

  "Not that rare," Cassian said. "But hardly commonplace either."

  "Should we go have a look?" Adalai asked.

  "Let's."

  The island wasn't very large. If they'd been moving at a full march, aiming to make another crossing before the tides came back in, they could have made it across in eight to ten minutes. Cassian chose to move much slower, using his reflective tin to help them carefully scout the way, checking behind each wall and inside each ruin they passed. As a consequence it took then almost half an hour to get from one side of the island to the other.

  Once there Cassian carefully slid his tin around a wall to get a glimpse of the source of the smoke. Tin didn't make for the best mirror in the world but it showed enough that Cassian could make out three men crouched around a campfire with crankbows leaned against nearby rocks. That, in and of itself, was not unusual. Only fools would travel Nerona's wilds unarmed.

  However one of the men suddenly sat up, quietly motioned to his companions and pointed towards the piece of tin. He must have seen the sun reflecting off of it. Whatever clued him in, his reaction didn't bode well. He and his friends immediately reached for their weapons, worked the levers and slipped bolts into place.

  "Bandits," Cassian hissed. "Make ready for battle."