My instincts sparked. Another crowd of interlopers from the outside? Perhaps they were the cause of the knocking I had sensed. They looked rather harmless, not the usual run of thieves and murderers.

  "Have they a leader? If so—"

  The keeper anticipated the rest of my request and bustled over to one of the men. They made a rapid exchange, mostly with the innkeeper pointing hesitantly in my direction, and with a puzzled shrug the man stood and came over. He was a big broad fellow with a sword in a battered scabbard whose workmanship did not originate in Barovia.

  My lips twitched, suppressing a smile, and I motioned for him to take the keeper's chair.

  He spoke and I was mildly surprised that I could understand some of his speech, though the intonation of his words had a lilting sing-song quality totally alien to Barovia. Though a word here and there was familiar, the rest was indeed gibberish. I feigned that I had not heard him while I cast the appropriate spell which would allow us to communicate more effectively.

  "I would first know who I am sitting with, sir, if it is not too much of a liberty," he repeated, his accent strange but cultured and not at all challenging. His gentlemanly demeanor was in vast contrast to his humble clothing and rough face, the look of an outdoorsman, but with the manner of one of my more polished nobles.

  "I am Count Vasili von Hoist," I said, searching for a reaction. Most people in Barovia knew the name of Lord Vasili, Strahd's able and slightly less terrifying envoy, almost as well as that of Strahd himself. Though I was now speaking this visitor's native tongue, a few of the nearby merchants overheard the name Vasili and exchanged nervous glances.

  This large specimen merely gave a low bow, full of dignity. If he was surprised, it was at my seeming command of his language rather than my name.

  "I am Auric, son of Courewsy. It is an honor to meet your lordship."

  Then, with a dignity which belied his attire, he lowered himself into the chair opposite me. I bought him a flagon of the house's best beer then commenced the drawing of information from him. It did not take long. He could no more withstand my hypnotic command to speak than others before him. His genteel behavior was explained when I learned he was the son of a retainer in the house of some noble I had never heard of, confirming that he and the others had come from the outside. It was most unlikely any of them would know aught of Tatyana, but I did inquire just in case, getting a negative reply. That cleared, I went on to other points.

  "What land are you from?" I asked.

  "Forlorn."

  "That is its name?"

  "Indeed, your lordship."

  It seemed an unlikely appellation, but I would deal with it later. "Cinder what circumstances did you come to pass through the Mists?"

  "Mists?" he queried back, brow wrinkling.

  "To get into Barovia you passed through a thick mist."

  "There was no mist." His face was blank now under my pressuring, indication that his mind was wide open to me.

  "What do you mean?"

  "The weather has been fine and clear," Auric, son of Courewsy said, placid as a sheep.

  "But you had to—" I cut myself short, thinking fast. He was telling the truth. They had come in from the outside but had not been delivered here by the Mists. "What brought you into Barovia?"

  "We walked."

  Ask a foolish question.

  "Why did you come to Barovia?" I continued.

  "We wished only to escape Forlorn. There are horrors in its forests now. We sought shelter when we saw the mountains."

  "What horrors?"

  "I know not, but a few weeks ago I found the body of one of my friends, or what was left of it. He'd been torn to bits. I went to others who lived throughout the forest and they spoke of the same thing. People were vanishing. Sometimes we would find a body, or what is left of a body. We gathered ourselves together and departed while we could."

  "Who are your people?"

  "We have no name. We lived in the forest, apart from each other."

  Hermits, then, I'd heard of such eccentrics. It was not a life much favored in Barovia. Solitude was a dangerous practice in its harsh, wolf-infested mountains. Then there were other, more exotic hazards—myself for one.

  "Does not gathering into a group defeat the purpose of your isolation?"

  "We only came together for safety at the end, and if allowed we'll soon part company again. This land seems more welcoming."

  "You have much yet to learn, then."

  I questioned Auric closely and at great length under the watch of the others. We were far enough removed so that our low conversation couldn't be heard even when the Vistani weren't playing, so our privacy was complete. This was just as well, for what I learned was something so profoundly disturbing the impact could not have been more alarming than if a second moon suddenly appeared in the sky.

  Auric and his companions had not been brought into Barovia from Forlorn by crossing through the Mists; they had simply walked in, unimpeded. If his story were true, then Forlorn itself was physically attached to Barovia. I was literally stunned—something which had not happened in many, many years.

  For such to have happened would mean the greatest change to come to this plane since Barovia's appearance in the first place. It was almost beyond belief. I had to know everything about it.

  The hermits, though, had not perceived any drastic occurrence of change, merely puzzlement upon noticing a new mountain range rising beyond the Forlorn forests. Their unconcerned reaction to it I attributed to the alteration the land could bring to unaware minds, affecting their very memories. They were certain, though, that something had happened but a few scant weeks ago soon after the summer solstice when people in their population began to disappear.

  I wondered if Azalin's latest failed experiment had anything to do with it. Instead of taking us to Oerth, could he have brought a portion of Oerth to us? It seemed unlikely, but perhaps he was indeed as ignorant of Forlorn's existence as I had been. Certainly my tie to the land made me more sensitive to changes, and I hadn't had the least clue of it until my dream. On the other hand, the experiment may have had nothing to do with this, and it was only coincidence of timing. But I'm very reluctant to believe in coincidence.

  More information was required, and I wanted Auric along. Freeing him from my influence, I gave him a fair offer to guide me into Forlorn, which he accepted after recovering. We would leave now, I told him. He had no objection to it, which again marked him as an utter stranger to Barovia.

  The innkeeper had sufficient scruples to offer a nervous admonition against our leaving. "It is very dangerous to be out after dark," he said, understandably reluctant to open his door.

  "What dangers?" I asked, in a good enough mood to twist his rope.

  "There are wolves, many, many wolves. They are always after the flocks in the valley, but they have attacked people, too."

  "Wolves have never bothered me," I said truthfully.

  "But—"

  "Unless with your boundless concern for my well-being you wish to accompany us as a guard?"

  "Uhhh—ah—er—"

  "Then I suggest you see to your customers."

  He seized the offered escape and fled, nearly plowing into Auric, who had just made his good-byes to his friends. They had also been anxious over his safety, but not for being out after sunset. They were more worried about him returning to Forlorn than anything else.

  "It is not a good place to be, Lord Vasili," Auric said as we departed. Behind us the innkeeper hurriedly shut and locked the main door.

  "We will not be without protection," I assured him. "And you are well armed."

  "The men who died were also armed, and two were known to be very skilled at fighting. Yet still they died."

  We approached the gate, and he removed the crossbar, allowing me through. No one was around to replace it, so I accomplished the act with a word and gesture while on the outside. The thick length of oak dropped accurately into place. Auric watched this with interest.

  "You have a talent for magic, Lord Vasili?"

  I had been open about it to see his reaction. He was completely unafraid. How refreshing. "I've studied the Art for a few years," I answered obliquely.

  "Glad I am to hear it. I don't know what plagues the forest, but I have a feeling that it would fear you and your powers far more than my sword."

  "Most things would."

  In his role as guide he took the lead by half a pace, striding unafraid through the deserted streets to the edge of town before striking off over an open field. I easily kept up with him.

  Ahead, where there should have been a wall of Mists, was a long shallow valley, matching the form of the land as if it had always been there. Last night I had been so focused on finding the inn before sunrise that I hadn't bothered to lift my gaze in this direction, for why should I? The view had been the same featureless barrier for nearly two centuries.

  "Is Forlorn large?" I asked as we hiked over the uneven ground. How much easier it was to fly or lope across as a wolf.

  "No more than eight miles in width and about eighteen in length. Much of it is covered in forest and by the double peaked mountain in its heart."

  "Were you born there?"

  "I came from another land."

  "What was it called?"

  He provided the name of a country unknown to me, along with some of its history. Perhaps it was part of Oerth, I could not say. His family had been well respected retainers, and he had fought for his lord's house in some war but tired of battle and struck off on his own upon his release from service.

  "Forlorn suited me for a time," he said rather wistfully. "But things began to change. The skies became more gray, the nights darker and less quiet. Even the trees seemed to shut out the light and make things colder."

  "Does Forlorn have a ruler?"

  He shrugged. "To the west there's a castle, but it's in ruins; no one goes there. I never ventured close, for it has an evil feel."

  "Has it a name?"

  "I heard it once; but it's slipped my mind." He seemed quite untroubled by the lapse.

  I gave him a sharp look. Auric's memory of his life in Forlorn must be dimming as his mind struggled to harmonize itself with its new plane. I wondered if his memory would clarify once we crossed the border.

  Mount Sawtooth's thick shadow crept over us as the moon began to set. The floor of the shallow valley was smooth, but in places rifts had been cut into the land, allowing miners to burrow horizontally into the north face of the valley. We paused by a deserted mine entry. A rather large pack of my four footed children had claimed it for their own and now tumbled forth to greet me, all playful snarls, yips, and hopeful whines for attention.

  I resisted the impulse to adapt to their form; Auric was quite alarmed as it was. He started to draw his sword the instant the wolves appeared, but I put a restraining hand on his arm and told him to stand easy. His eyes fairly popped as he watched them fawning over me, tongues lolling and tails tucked low in homage to their master. Even the half-grown pups came forth from the safety of the den to join the pack in their greetings. They crowded Auric as well, sniffing with curiosity, but nothing more. I had already commanded them to leave him quite alone. To his credit, he stood fast and tried not to show fear, and after the first few trepidatious moments even relaxed slightly, though his eyebrows now seemed permanently affixed well up into his hairline.

  "Your lordship is a mage of great power," he finally whispered.

  "It is just the art of making the right friends," I said lightly. My wolves always put me into a pleasant mood with their uninhibited devotion. "Shall we go on?"

  I motioned to the unmarked border only yards away. Less than a quarter mile off began the dark band of Forlorn's forest, rising high to the western peak of its one mountain. With the wolves as our playful escorts we proceeded forward—or at least Auric did. I reached the point where Forlorn and Barovia were seamlessly joined and stopped cold in my tracks.

  Auric paused, the wolves milling around him. "Lord Vasili?"

  I pushed hard against some barrier I couldn't see but solidly felt. With some annoyance, I backed away and tried again, meeting with the same immutable result. I put my hand out and let it trail along the unseen wall of force for several yards and as high as I could reach until I was satisfied the barrier was consistent. It reminded me of the external pressure I'd once encountered long ago when trying to gain entry to a monastery, but this was far more formidable. Back then I'd been able to summon a protecting spell to allow me passage; now I had the sinking feeling I would need something much more potent to get through this check.

  I told Auric to come back by the mine entrance so that I could try some spellwork. He did so without question, and as he crossed in I had a strange recurrence of my dream feeling. I was cognizant on two different levels of his action. Yes, I was there actually watching him, but within my mind I also felt the brush of his consciousness, touched briefly by the presence of another thinking being. As soon as he crossed the feeling ceased, but in its wake was the comprehension that I was aware of his entry into my land. That was what had disturbed me during the day. When he and his friends had quit Forlorn for Barovia, I had noticed. How very fascinating.

  I made Auric repeat his entry and exit twice, much to his mystification, and each time felt the same effect. I wondered if I would always have this ability. It could certainly prove useful. I wouldn't have to rely so much on the Vistani to spot strangers for me. Why had I not enjoyed it before when other intruders came out of the Mists? To that I had no ready answer, though it may have had to do with the fact that the Mists bringing others here was but a temporary phenomenon, whereas this joining to Forlorn looked to be more permanent. I had to get across so that I could explore this land myself.

  Auric sat cross-legged by the mine and watched me at my magical work. So engrossed was he that he began to absently pet the wolves that lay down near him.

  An hour's effort and I was forced to give up, my head ringing from the necessary concentration, and the spells I had tried quite exhausted. They were anything but minor cantrips; I had put all my energy and will into them trying to break through. The last one was my most powerful entry invocation. I'd known it to blast a hole through a three foot thick wall of rock. Here it smashed ineffectively against the border in a shower of green and purple sparks that snaked off like tiny lightnings before finally fading away from the central point of impact. I bowed my head in defeat. Damnation.

  The Mists were gone, yet still was I a prisoner.

  "No!" I snarled aloud to myself. The wolves growled as if agreeing with my denial.

  My captivity was something I'd sworn I would never accept. The answer of escape existed; I simply hadn't discovered it yet. Physically shaking off this latest failure, I rounded on Auric. He saw I had something in mind for him and stood, his face pinched with sudden worry.

  "I have a small favor to ask of you," I began, walking swiftly toward him, gathering fresh power with each step.

  Before he could respond one way or another, I froze him in place with a word and a stony look. The wolves, sensing something uncanny was afoot, milled around in some confusion, whimpering. From a pocket I drew forth a small amulet on a thin necklace and slipped it over Auric's head. I had intended this magical trinket for Tatyana as a means of looking out for her safety from afar, but it would serve well in this instance. Putting forth my full power I took control of Auric's frail human mind and in turn his body, operating it like a puppet-master. His will was not up to resisting mine at the moment, though he might try struggling later. As proof against that possibility I would require a certain amount of protection and privacy so I could concentrate. The mine presented an answer to both needs.

  It seemed wise to arm Auric with a bit of magic so that he could at least survive long enough to be useful. I possessed a number of them, but they were only good if one was skilled at spell casting. I did have a small copper wand, though, prepared so that the utterance of a single word would unleash the powers stored within it. This would work well enough for him should the need arise. I tucked it into one of his pockets.

  Leaving the quiescent Auric without, I ducked inside the mine, my eyes quickly adjusting to the pitch blackness there. I picked a careful path, the shaft suddenly widening into a natural chamber, the floor dipping low. Above I heard the familiar squeal and rustle of bats. From the quantity of droppings on the floor I deduced that the greater part of them were out hunting and no doubt would fill the place once they returned. With this in mind I found a convenient alcove out of the line of fire and tucked myself tidily away, lying flat on the cool stone floor, my cloak wrapped about me.

  Now did I redouble my concentration, aided by the crystal ball that I clasped between my hands on my chest. I looked closely into its depths, my mind consumed with an image of Auric until I again seemed to stand next to him. That accomplished, I focused upon the amulet.

  A few minutes more and I seemed to be inside its amber colored depths… looking out. It was disorientating, being both bodily in the mine yet mentally elsewhere, but it was otherwise harmless to me.

  The original intent of the amulet was for Tatyana to wear it and by this link could I see the approach of any threat to her and either help her myself or send some form of protection to her aid. Thus no matter the distance between us, she wouldn't be without a guardian.

  In Auric's case I was less a guardian than an observer. The amulet reinforced the impact of my influence over him, but if he truly tried to resist I would have trouble keeping control.

  Time to test my limits. I had him step forward, halting just before the border, and put his hand out. It moved freely past the point where earlier I had been blocked. Taking one slow pace and then another, he easily passed over the invisible line that had held me back.