Emotion blocked her throat. She reached to take his hand and pressed it against her cheek. 'You tried.' 'What will you do now?' Darl spoke listlessly.

'I can do two things. I can quit – which I shall never do as long as I draw breath. Or I can go elsewhere for assistance.'

'Where will you go?' he asked distantly. 'I have used up my stock with the folk of the North. Where will you find the men for a second army?' Her lips drew back in grimace. 'I will not use men. Or at least, not humans.'

'I don't understand.'

'The builders of the City – Zr'gsz, as they call themselves. They live at Thendrun in the Mystic Mountains.' A gasp burst from her listeners.

Still possessed by the awful calm of shock, Darl asked, 'What can you offer the Fallen Ones? You can't offer them the City.'

'By the Five Holy Ones, no! It's a matter of personal interest to the rulers of the City in the Sky to know how things go with them. There are artifacts, sacred relics, which the Fallen Ones would be overjoyed to recover. Without human aid, they have no chance of regaining them. And I think those trinkets a small price to pay for my City.'

'But what of your soul?' asked another underaged knight with a bloody-bandaged arm. 'They are evil. They are the soul of evil! How can you bargain with them?'

'The Zr'gsz are not the soul of evil, friend. You know little of the Dark Ones if you think any earthly evil can surpass theirs.' The intensity of the feeling with which Moriana spoke caused her to shudder. 'I hate the Dark Ones and fear them far more than you know. More than you can know. But I would sell myself to them…' Her listeners gasped again and drew back. 'Yes, I would do that if it would free my City from my demented sister Synalon. She seeks to return the City in the Sky to the Dark Ones, then give them the entire world. Do you think my soul too great a price to save your wives and friends and children from that?'