"More powerful, Rabbit," Omago replied. "She'll probably get better when she grows up, but she's still got a long way to go. Does that answer all the questions you have? We have quite a long way to go, so we'd better get started."

Chapter Three

The chill wind sweeping across the rock-strewn Wasteland had a distinctly mournful sound to it that Omago found quite depressing. There were several reasons why they should hurry, but Omago knew in his heart that what was really pushing him was the sad song of the wind.

After they'd gone down the slope to the west of Gunda's fort, Omago fell back to what he'd always called the "skip-ship" method of crossing empty ground. He didn't mention it to the others, and he was fairly sure that they weren't even aware of the fact that he was cheating. When his skips reached about ten miles each, however, Longbow held up one hand. "I don't think this is a very good idea, friend Omago," he said.

"What was that?"

"These jumps of yours are covering too much ground. We could pop out right in the middle of a large group of bug-people, and they're making just enough noise to catch the enemy's attention. The jumps are all right, of course, but I'd hold them back to one mile apiece if I were you."

"Did I miss something?" Rabbit asked.

"If you look at the mountains on the east side of the Wasteland, you'll notice that they seem to be jumping fairly often. A mountain peak that was fairly close is suddenly a long ways away." Longbow smiled at Omago. "I really think we should play it a little safer, don't you?"

"Do you catch everything, Longbow?" Omago demanded rather peevishly.

"I'm supposed to, friend Omago. Part of my job involves keeping my friends out of danger. If we keep going at this pace we'll arrive very suddenly at our destination. We don't really want to reach the nest of the Vlagh before the sun goes down, and we don't want to go inside until some of the servants of the Vlagh drift off to sleep, do we?"

Omago sighed. "I guess not," he reluctantly agreed.

It was only a few days later when they reached a peculiar-looking rock peak that jutted up out of the barren desert called The Wasteland. "I think that's it," Omago quietly told his friends.

"There do seem to be quite a lot of bugs scampering around outside that pile of rocks," Rabbit agreed.

"It looks almost like a fort, doesn't it?" Keselo said. "I don't think I've ever seen a peak that looks very much like that one, though. What could cause something like that?"

"Erosion," Omago told him. "At one time, what's now called The Wasteland was the bottom of a fairly large sea, and water tends to eat rock. Give a sea a few million years, and it'll turn just about every rock along its shore into sand."

"If I understand what you're saying about this peak," Rabbit said, "it's the 'nest' the bug-people all live inside."

"Not quite all of them, Rabbit," Longbow said. "Quite a few of them have been out in the open killing people. That's why we call this a 'war,' isn't it?"

"Very funny, Longbow," Rabbit said. "What I was getting at is that bugs don't build fires—or didn't until the war up in the North. If they don't build fires, what do they use to give them light inside that mountain?"

"Many bugs don't need light, Rabbit," Keselo said. "They find their way around in dark places with touch, not sight. Then too, there are certain bugs that generate light from inside their bodies. Some people call those particular bugs 'fireflies,' but there isn't any fire involved, and I've heard that those bugs are beetles, not flies."

"We'll know more once we get inside," Longbow said in a bleak voice. "One thing, though. I want you all to know that the Vlagh is mine. I'm the one who's going to kill her."

That took Omago by complete surprise, and it disturbed him more than a little. He had come up with something entirely different, but it was now fairly obvious that he and Longbow needed to talk about this—soon.

"That cave-mouth at the center of the peak is almost certainly the main entrance to the nest," Keselo told them quietly as dusk began to settle over the Wasteland.

"There are a lot of bugs going in and out of that cave," Rabbit noted. "Even if they can't see us, we'll probably be bumping into a lot of them inside the cave."

"I can deal with that," Omago assured the little smith. Then he looked around. "What is that buzzing sound?" he demanded rather irritably.

"I don't hear anything," Rabbit said.

Omago glanced at Longbow and then at Keselo. "Can either of you hear it?" he asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Is it possible that you're listening to the Vlagh herself?" Keselo asked. "I've heard about what's called 'the overmind.' Maybe the Vlagh's giving orders to her children, and you're eavesdropping. You do have capabilities that we don't."

"It is a possibility, Omago," Longbow agreed. "Is there some way that you might be able to understand what the Vlagh's overmind is saying to her children? If we knew what she wants them to do, we'd have a tremendous advantage."

Omago frowned. "That hadn't occurred to me," he admitted. "I think what she's telling them will be more clear once we're inside the cave."

"This might just turn into a very easy war," Rabbit said. "If you can listen in while the bug-queen is giving orders to her children, we should be able to stop them before they even get started."

"Let's go on inside," Omago told his friends. "If I can still hear the buzzing when we're in the cave, we should look into it."

The walls of what had appeared from the outside to be nothing more than a natural opening in the side of the mountain were as smooth as the walls of Veltan's house off to the south. Polished walls—particularly in a mountain cave—seemed to Omago to be more than a little absurd, but they'd obviously given the children of the Vlagh something to do when they weren't busy invading people country.

There were many bug-people moving in or out of the cave, and even though they most certainly couldn't see Omago and his friends, they almost politely stepped out of their way. As Omago moved farther and farther into the cave, the irritating buzz became louder and more distinct. He probed at that sound with his mind, and after a few false starts, his mind captured the meaning of what the Vlagh was telling her children. "Care for the little ones" came through quite clearly. "Take them to a place where it is not cold, and feed them much, for they will soon grow larger and will take on their tasks. Fail me not if you would go on living, for the little ones are most precious to me."