He looked down the swath cleared by the monster's body, mashed vegetation from which a miasma rose. Birds hopped among the crushed branches, hunting for prey stunned by the catastrophe. All this power… "Here, Captain Archas," Salmson said in a clear voice.

"Take the talisman. By the grace of Franca, God over all Gods, it is given to you to conquer the Kingdom of the Isles!" Archas reached left-handed for the offered statuette. Before he touched it, he paused and said, "And what then? When I've conquered the Isles, what of your folk in Palomir?" "We're all slaves of Franca, Captain," Salmson said.

"When the whole world worships Franca, then He will decide our fate."

Archas hesitated a moment longer, then snatched the talisman. "There's nothing more to it?" he demanded. "I just-use it as you did?" "The Worm is yours to command," Salmson said quietly. "But don't lose the talisman, or-" He shrugged and gestured with his head toward the gouge in the jungle. "-the whole world will look like this. Like the Worm's own world." And will it be any different for mankind when Franca is God of Gods? Salmson wondered. But there's no turning back…

Chapter One Cashel carried Rasile in the crook of his arm up the last few tens of steps to the top of the fire tower, the highest point in Pandah. The old wizard's people, the Coerli-the catmen-held the physically weak and aged in contempt even if they happened to be wizards. Since the Change, Rasile had been helping the humans who'd conquered the Coerli; her life and health had improved a great deal.

Still, the fire tower was a hollow pillar with many tens of tens of steps shaped like wedges of pie on the inside. Lots of younger people, catmen and humans both, would've had trouble climbing it. Cashel didn't mind. Rasile scarcely weighed anything to begin with, and besides, it made him feel useful. Cashel's friends were all smart and educated.