Citadels of the Lost by Tracy Hickman

toward the square of light at the end of the enormous room. A shadow again flickered against the intense light.
    â€œDid you see that?” Urulani shouted.
    â€œKeep running!” Drakis urged. “Run through it if you must, but don’t stop!”
    The rectangle of light was getting closer; Drakis’ eyes were adjusting to the change. There were trees and sky beyond. Fitted stones of a plaza and . . .
    They burst into the open stone court beneath a towering city wall behind them. The sounds of the monsters were beyond the wall, but Drakis doubted that it would hold them back once they caught the scent of him and his companions. Yet that was not what astonished him.
    The plaza sloped down, forming a quay that jutted into a wide, green river.
    More astonishing still, two long boats formed from bundled reeds were tied to the end of the quay. One held a few provisions. The other was nearly empty except for one very interesting occupant.
    No longer a child but not yet grown into his beard, a young male human stood at the front of the boat a long pole in his hand. He wore a leather loincloth and vest but little else, his feet being bare. His skin was a deep brown color, but his hair was straw colored, long and pulled back into a thick braid. The pole he held extended down into the water where the youth was holding the boats against the current next to the quay. He stared at them expectantly.
    Waiting.
    â€œEthis, I think we’ve found your thief,” Drakis smiled.

    The tied-togther boats drifted down the center of the river. The young man—he looked to be about fourteen years old—piloted the boats with his long staff. When the boy had pulled the staff from the water earlier in the day, Drakis discovered that the pole actually had a flattened, wide end at the bottom that allowed him to use the implement as a pole and as a paddle or rudder, depending on the needs at the time. It proved to be a most effective tool in keeping their course steady down the serpentine convolutions of the river’s passage.
    â€œHe doesn’t say much, does he?” Urulani observed from the front of the reed boat. She seemed more relaxed now that they were on the water although Drakis suspected that she was a bit restless over not being in command of the ship. She continued watching the river as they drifted with the current, affecting a pose of being in charge of a craft over which she had no authority or control.
    â€œHe may not speak our language,” Ethis said. The chimerian was sitting at the front near where Urulani stood, his back to the direction of travel as he inspected and repacked his gear in his field pack. “It has been more than five hundred years since the Unified Tongue was spoken in these lands. Their language would almost certainly have been corrupted by now. For all we know they may have even lost the ability to speak altogether.”
    â€œAltogether,” the Lyric said.
    Ethis glanced up at her. She was sitting in the back of the boat near the silent young man. “What did you say?”
    â€œI said, ‘altogether,’ ” the Lyric replied.
    â€œWhy?” Ethis asked.
    â€œBecause you wondered if we had lost the ability to speak it,” the Lyric replied.
    â€œI don’t understand,” Ethis said, shaking his head.
    Drakis chuckled. “Ethis, may I introduce you to Litaria; a relatively minor character . . .”
    â€œI am not a minor!” huffed the Lyric.
    â€œ. . . from the Rivaen Sea Tales. She was renowned for taking everything said literally.”
    â€œCharmed,” Ethis said without enthusiasm.
    Drakis watched the deep jungle drift past, its thick brush occasionally giving up a glimpse of some piece of ancient, fallen structure. “There are many ruins along the river.”
    Following Drakis’ gaze, Urulani looked over at a broken tower foundation around which the river waters swirled. “There will be more ruins along