Chapter 17Collen was not as young as he would have liked, and on more than one occasion on the way to the Tor he had to pause for breath. At such times Lukas lowered Creiddylad to the ground beside him, and paced restlessly around, anxiously estimating how far they still had to go.
The afternoon sunlight flickered through the new green leaves of the forest and Creiddylad looked up in wonder at the sky glittering like tiny fragments of sapphire through the intricate filigree of gold and emerald. Sometimes she stroked the earth as though it were the child she loved and had been parted from for a long time.
‘It’s a pity there is no more of that holy water left,’ Lukas said to the hermit. ‘We might have need of it.’
‘Don’t fret about it. I would not go to such an encounter as we expect unar
