David Zindell - The Lightstone

'I'm cold, I'm tired, I'm wet,' Maram complained. 'But at least I'm not hungry – and we have Liljana to thank for that. Oh, my Lord, no one else could prepare such delicious meals in such foul weather!'

Liljana, riding her tired gelding who practically draped his hooves through the squishing mud, beamed at his compliment. I noticed that just as she thrived on sacrificing herself and serving others, she relished their appreciation at least as much.

Her selflessness was an example to us all She never minded being roused from even the deepest of sleeps and taking her turn standing watch. Twice, she even stayed awake in the exhausted Alphanderry's place to let him sleep; as she put it, some people needed more rest than others, and we had all observed that Alphanderry's talent for sleeping was almost as great as for making music and song.

As for myself, I often liked wandering about the camp when the hours grew darkest.

On clear nights, I had a chance to be alone with the stars -or what 1 could see of them through the thick cover of the trees. And on rainy nights, I turned my marveling toward Flick. It almost seemed that he could sense my fervor to reach the Tur-Solonu, for with each passing day of the quest, his fiery form grew brighter as if to give me hope. The most bitter of rains passed right through him, dimming his light not even a little. In truth, he seemed to burn the brightest at precisely those moments when either rain or kirax or fear of the evils we faced damped my spirits and touched me with its cold.

On the fourth night of rain, I was awakened well before it was my turn to stand watch. I heard Kane shouting, and immediately grabbed for my sword. I sprang up from my wet furs, as did Atara and Liljana, followed more slowly by Mararn and Master Juwain. We all rushed to the edge of our camp, where Kane had piled some brush. He stood glowering above Alphanderry, who sat in the drizzling rain looking bewildered. If not for the fire that Maram had made earlier – and the radiance pouring out of Flick – it was so dark that we wouldn't have been able to see them at all.

'He fell asleep!' Kane accused as he pointed at Alphanderry. His eyes were coals glowing like those of the fire. 'He couldn't even make it through an hour of his watch!'

'I don't know what happened,' Alphanderry said as he rose to his feet. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and then looked at Kane as he smiled sheepishly. 'It was so dark, and I was so tired, so I sat down, only for a moment. I just wanted to rest my eyes, and so I closed them and -'

'You fell asleep!' Kane thundered again. 'While you rested your damn eyes, we might have all been killed!'

His whole body tensed then, and I was afraid he might raise his arm to Alphanderry.

So I clamped my hand around his elbow. He turned toward me and glared at me; again his body tensed with a wild power. I knew that if he chose to break free, I couldn't stop him. Could I hold a tiger? And yet, for a moment, I held him with my eyes, and that was enough.

'So, Val,' he said to me. 'So.'

As I let go of him, Liljana came up to Kane and poked her finger into his chest. Her pretty face had now grown as hard as Kane's. In her most domineering voice, she told him, 'Don't you speak to Alphanderry like that! We're all brothers and sisters here – or have you forgotten?'

Her admonishment so startled Kane that he took a step backward and then another as her finger again drove into his chest. Her zeal to defend Alphanderry completely overwhelmed Kane's considerable anger. I was reminded of something I had once seen near Lake Waskaw, when a wolverine, through the sheer force of ferocity, had driven off a much larger mountain lion trying to take one of her cubs.

'Brothers and sisters of the earth!' Liljana said again. 'If we fight with each other, how can we ever hope to find the Lightstone?'

Kane looked to me for rescue as he took yet another step back-ward. But for a few moments I said nothing while Liljana scolded him.

'All right, all right!' Kane said at last, smiling at her. 'I'll mind my mouth, if it bothers you so. But something must be done about, what happened.'

He nodded toward Alphanderry, then looked at me. 'What befalls a Valari warrior caught sleeping on watch in the land of the enemy?'

Alphanderry ran his hand through his curly hair as he looked about the dark forest.

'But there are no enemies here!'

You don't know that!' Kane snapped.

'Well, at least I don't see any enemies,' Alphanderry said, looking Kane straight in the eye.

I thought that the usual punishment meted out to overly sleepy warriors – being made to stay awake all night for three successive nights beneath the stinging points of his companions' kalamas – would do Alphanderry little good. He would likely wind up looking like a practice target – and then fall asleep in exhaustion during his next watch anyway. And yet something had to be done.

'It's not upon me to punish anyone,' I said. 'Even so, if everyone is agreeable, we might change the watches.'

I turned to Kane and said, 'You never have trouble staying awake, no matter the hour of your watch, do you?'

'Never,' he growled. 'I've had to learn how to stay awake.'

'Then perhaps you can teach this wakefulness to our friend. For the next few nights, why doesn't Alphanderry join you on your watch?'

Truly, it was my hope that, like a stick held to a furnace, Alphanderry might ignite with something of Kane's fire.

'Join me, eh?' Kane growled again. 'Punish him, I said, not me.'

With a bow of his head, Alphanderry accepted what passed for punishment. Then he smiled at Kane and said, 'I haven't had Flick's company to help keep me awake, but I'd welcome yours.'

The yearning in his voice as he spoke of Flick must have touched something deep in Kane, for he suddenly scowled and muttered, 'So, I suppose you can't see him, can you?'

Alphanderry shook his head sadly then said, 'I'm Sorry I fell asleep – it won't happen again.' The utter sincerity in his voice disarmed Kane. It seemed impossible for anyone to remain angry with Alphandeny very long, for he was as hard to pin down as quicksilver.

'All right join me then,' Kane said. 'But if I catch you sleeping on my watch, I'll roast your feet in the fire!'

True to his word, Alphanderry kept wide awake during his watches after that. But his attention slipped from other chores that should have been simple: set him loose in the woods to find some raspberries, and he might wander about for hours before returning with a handful of pretty flowers instead. It was as if he couldn't hold on to anything in this world for very long. He was a dreamy man meant for the stars and for magical lands told of in songs.

It surprised us all that he and Kane became friends. None of us saw very much of what passed between them during Kane's nightly watches. But it seemed certain that Alphanderry was in awe of Kane's strength and immense vitality. He hinted that Kane was teaching him tricks to stay awake: walking, watching the stars, keeping the eyes moving, and composing music inside his head. As for Kane, he listened closely whenever Alphanderry sang his songs, especially those whose words were of a strange and beautiful language that we had never heard before. And it gladdened all our hearts to hear Kane laughing in Alphanderry's presence – more and more frequently, it seemed, with every day and night that passed.

On the morning following Alphanderry's failed watch, the rain finally stopped, and we had our first glimpse of the Blue Mountains. Through a break in the trees, we beheld their dark oudine above the haze hanging over the world. They were old mountains, low to the earth with rounded peaks. But in that moment, I thought they were the most beautiful and magnificent mountains I had ever seen. The sight of them made me want to forget Alphanderry's flaws; it was he, after all, who had caused us to journey these many miles. Another two days' march, perhaps, would bring us to the ancient Tur-Solonu. And if the words that Alphanderry had heard in the Caves of Senta proved true, there, among the ancient ruins, we would find at last the golden cup that held so many of our hopes and dreams.