<html> <head> <style></style> </head> <body class='hmmessage'> Author's note:  This story absolutely would not have gotten finished without the profoundly appreciated help and support of Phil, Matt, Misha, and Ryx.  Thank you all -very- much. ----- A Pack of Secrets       by Hallan Mirayas Mid-October, 707 CR    The morning dawned clear and cold, but that didn't stop Drift from his daily run outside the curtain wall.  As a matter of fact, he relished it, the late autumn air singing crisply in his lungs.  The first frost of the season had turned the grass of Metamor Ridge to crystalline silver that rolled away into the plains below.  Although the sunlight had not yet reached the Valley itself, it had reached the tops of the Great Barrier Mountains beyond it.  Their white-wrapped peaks glowed like beacons, stretching away to the north and the south as far as the eye could see.  A gentle breeze tugged at Drift's deep green vest and breeches and rippled his fur as he paused to admire the snow-covered evergreens just began to gleam along the mountain flanks.  Below them, the broadleaf trees on the lower slopes were in the last weeks of their fall color, a glorious patchwork of reds and golds and browns.  All were reflected in glints of color in the Metamor River as it wound its meandering way between the mountain foothills and Metamor Ridge.  It wasn't cold enough yet for the river to freeze, but that would change in a few more weeks.    When it did, he would be ready.  With a wave to the gate guards, he started down the descending road to Euper.  Even from this far off, he could see his ice-house standing nearly finished at the edge of Euper's cluster of warehouses.  The white shingles had not been cheap, but they and the white-painted walls would keep the inside colder during the warm months.  Between that and the insulating sawdust inside the double walls, he hoped that the ice would barely notice the temperature outside as the seasons passed.    The ice-carving sleds and the transport sledges were almost completed, and he had quite a few prospects for workers and haulers picked out.  The investigations of their backgrounds were currently in progress; there had been enough attempts at theft and sabotage while building his icehouse that he had considered the investment wise.  Something going deliberately or even accidentally awry in the middle of a frozen lake could be deadly.  Now, if he could just find the cause of his troubles…        So engrossed was Drift in his thoughts that he didn't notice the shadow fall across him until it was too late.  A cheery "Good morning!" arrived just before impact.    "Hello, Alexis," Drift groaned a moment later, face down in the dirt.    Alexis leaned down from astride his back and smooched him on the cheek.  "A little distracted this morning, dear?" the she-bat asked, amused.    "Ow," Drift replied.    Alexis' smile faded into concern when her fiancée didn't try to get up.  "Hey," she asked, giving his white-furred shoulder a shake.  "Are you all right?"    "I landed on my keys," he grunted.  "Please get off before they puncture my thigh."    Her ears dipped in apology, Alexis helped Drift to his feet.  She couldn't hide a giggle, though, when Drift fished a ring of iron keys out of his hip pocket.  One was slightly bent.  Before either could speak, however, a high-pitched voice called down from above.    "Ahem-hem-hem.  Excuse me?"  A hawk-sized sparrow stood perched on the edge of the curtain wall overhead, the double cross of the Lothanansi hanging from his neck.  "I'm very sorry to interrupt," he said, "but I have a message for you, Mr. Snow.  The Lothanasa has asked that you come to the Temple as soon as possible.  Your first Task is upon you." <hr />The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. <a href='http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3' target='_new'>Get started.</a> !DSPAM:4c1d4eb526581804284693! </body> </html>