“The Portal Stone beside which I woke is up there,” Selene said, pointing into the mountains, off to the east of their path. Cassel found himself wishing for her warmth again, and her smiles. “If you take me to it, you can return me to my home, as you promised. We can reach it in an hour.”
Cassel barely looked where she pointed. Using the Stone—Portal Stone, she called it—meant wielding the Power, if he were to take her back to the real world. “Hurin, how is the trail?”
“Fainter than ever, Lord Cassel, but still there.” The sniffer spared a quick grin and bob of his head for Selene. “I think it’s starting to angle off to the west. There’s some easier passes there, toward the tip of the Dagger, as I recall from when I went to Cairhien that time.”
Cassel sighed. Fain, or one of his Darkfr
