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.In the case of Outremer, disaster had come at the hands of a seriously unbalanced child withpowerful psychic and magic powers: a deadly combination, when put together with the Unformed.Anyone who was both psychic and a mage could find himself facing down his worst nightmares out inthe Unformed.In the old days, that had often been a test of a new mage, the test that proved howgood his control was not only of his magic but of himself.There were a lot of mages who hadn'tsurvived this particular ordeal.There were a number of unclaimed pocket domains that were the results of these trials-by-fire, aswell.The one that they were in might well be one of those, come to think of it."Any idea how big the pockets are?" he asked finally.Shar shook her head."Not even a guess.Can't help you.The only thing I can tell is that one ofthem might have more than one Gate in it.The other might have a physical connection to anotherrealm.You have to remember that it is very likely that every setting on the Gates there is takenup by a destination we wouldn't like.The Unseleighe and their ilk still prove out young mages intrial-by-Unformed."file:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20M.errated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txt (123 of 173) [6/4/03 10:33:37 PM]file:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20Mercedes%20-%20Serrated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txt"Go for the one with the physical connection?" he hazarded."That would be my choice.The drawbackI can see to the Unformed with two Gates in it is that there's twice the probability that there'ssomething really nasty still roaming around in the mist out there, left over from a trial—andtwice the chance that some new Unseleighe mage is going to pop in on us while we're there, andmaybe even break the Unformed down around us while he goes through his trial."Shar nodded thoughtfully."I hadn't thought of that, but you're right.It's going to be hardenough to keep our own thoughts pleasant; I'd hate to meet some Unseleighe nightmares.Actually, aNightmare may be exactly one of the things we'd meet out there.""A Nightmare?" Tannim had only heard of those, and he had no real wish to meet one in person.Sometimes a skull-headed white horse with her retinue of nine black, man-eating foals, sometimes agrim woman in a robe of storm clouds, with the head of a fanged horse in place of her own, shewas, as Dottie succinctly put it, "mondo bad news." If you were lucky, she would only force you tomount and ride her through your greatest fears.If you weren't lucky."Anytime I can avoid a Nightmare, I'd prefer to," Shar replied, echoing his own thoughts."They'reclassic Unseleighe, so they wouldn't like the Mustang's Death Metal, but why take chances?""Heh.Mustang versus Nightmare—now that's something I'd like the video rights to!" He cracked asmile, and Shar pretended to swat him."So, you want to aim for what, then? The destination withthe possible physical outlet?"She shrugged."They're all bad; that seems the one with the least risk.With luck, that physicalconnection will be to something neutral.""Right." He was under no illusions here; they were in enemy territory, working without a map, andtheir best hope was to end up somewhere Shar recognized.Only then would they be able to maketheir way to safe ground.And home.Unexpectedly his throat closed for a moment, as longing for home hit him like a physical blow, andhe bit his lip.God, he was so tired of running.Home had never felt so far away, sounattainable; at least in the past, he'd known where he was, what to expect, what the limits were.Here, it was all up in the air.And he would give almost anything to see a familiar face.Would heever see anyone he knew again?"What's the matter?" Shar asked, quickly putting one soft hand over his cold one, as his facereflected some of his feelings despite his effort to hide them.He shook his head, intending to say nothing, but it came out anyway."I want—to go home," hewhispered hoarsely."All this—it's all so strange.I've never been this far Underhill before.I'venever been anywhere but Elfhame Fairgrove, Furhold, and—I just want to go home."He couldn't continue.Fairgrove was a short step, and I was back on my side of the Hill.I wasn'tlost.And even if someone was trying to kill me, it didn't matter, because I was standing by myfriends.He had to face the reality of the situation: he could die here, and no one would everknow what had become of him.He was pretty sure by now that Shar was on his side, but they couldbe separated—they would be separated if they were caught—and he would die alone here."I've never had a home, as such," Shar said wistfully."I have my own domain, but it's really justa place to live.I've never felt comfortable enough with the kitsune to live in their realm.Icertainly don't want anything to do with my father, or his allies.I have a few friends, but notmany.Maybe that's why I spent as much time on your side of the Hill as I did." Her tongue flickedout thoughtfully."Things are simpler there.At least on your side of the Hill I know the rules,and they don't change.""Simpler—" He nodded."That's not a bad thing." Then he shook off his mood of melancholy with aheroic effort.They didn't have time for this.Maybe Hamlet could take time in the middle of afile:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20M.errated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txt (124 of 173) [6/4/03 10:33:37 PM]file:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20Mercedes%20-%20Serrated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txtfirefight to soliloquize, but real people had to keep on running and shooting."I'll go set the Gate," she said, as if reading his mind."Be back in a few seconds."She slipped out of the blanket and the car at the same time; a rush of cold air numbed his ears asshe opened and shut the door.She stood beside the Mustang for a full minute, staring at the stonearch, one paw-hand raised to it, palm outward [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]