The water rationing was announced at the midday rest stop. Serans had given orders to Royth, the cook, to give everyone one cup of water with the meal and no more. When the grumbles and complaints began as furs found out that they weren't getting any more, Serans stood up and told everyone what the problem was.

"Family! Friends! I've spoken with our guide, and she is going to find us a well to replenish our supplies. But until she does, we need to conserve what we have. I'm sorry it has come to this, and I have to admit my own error in not anticipating the amount of water we would actually need in this heat. Please, I beg of you, do not waste your time in needless worry or fear. I have every confidence that we will get more water in plenty of time."

"What if we don't?" someone yelled.

As Serans opened his mouth to reply, Lilith's voice cut through the noise. "You will." No one dared argue outright with the firmness and definitiveness of that assertion, but there were plenty of dubious looks. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilith noticed Turins looking sick to his stomach. Whether it was from fear of dying from thirst, or of the fact that he might owe her his life when she did find water, she wasn't sure. She was sure, though, that the thought he already owed her his life because of the guiding and protecting already done had not even crossed his mind- or had been buried in denial.

Everyone began to return to the task of putting things up, and putting the animals back into their harnesses. Lilith walked over to where Royth was busy overseeing the storage of the cooking utensils. "Mistress Royth, I need a cup of water."

Royth turned around with a startled look, then licked her lips nervously when she saw Lilith's expression. "I'm sorry, adept, I truly am, but you heard the wagonmaster's order. I can't give seconds to anyone, and he didn't make any exceptions."

Lilith's answering grin somehow seemed to lack humor as she replied, "you mistake me, Royth. I'm not looking for another drink. Would you like it back when I'm through using it?"

Royth's jaw dropped and she almost started to ask a question, but hastily changed her mind. "No, no, that won't be necessary adept, here..." she managed to pour a cup without losing anything, a miracle considering the nervousness that shook her paws, "here you go. You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

Lilith's grip closed on the cup as she replied soothingly, "of course, Royth, I know that. I just need this for reasons of my own."

Serans stared out front where Lilith and Xenith stood. He wasn't sure what was going on, but decided that didn't matter. Xenith had told him that he needed to stay put until Lilith figured out which trail was best for the afternoon, and he wasn't about to argue. After all, that's what he'd hired her for, right? He just wished he knew what they were doing up there....

Xenith stared at the sky. It might be blank to others, but to her wondering eyes, a fine network of life cords covered it. Moments before, the life energy had blazed forward from the cup in Lilith's hands, and had shot into the sky. It had impacted the network of thin lines that must have always been there, although she'd ignored them for so long that she'd forgotten about them- if she ever had known. Now they pulsed with life for as far as Lilith could see. Waves of energy made the whole network tremble, and she noticed Lilith's face fur starting to darken with perspiration. Whatever was going on must not be easy. She could sense the tension, until suddenly there was a snap of release. The network above her immediately grew dark, except for one fine line that branched off ahead and to the right. Looking in that direction, she thought she could see a splash of life energy flowing from sky to ground.

Lilith sighed with relief. "Not as bad as I thought it might be. We've got our direction of travel settled for the afternoon, apprentice. Let's saddle up and get moving."

As the caravan creaked towards the northwest, Xenith found herself doing the usual job of looking for life signs all by herself while Lilith concentrated on the fine glowing line above them. As they followed it, Xenith saw that its end remained in the cup which Lilith still carried, and that it simply shortened as they rode down the trail it outlined.

When the usual time came to stop that afternoon, Lilith rode back to talk to Serans.

"Wagonmaster, we need to push on for another hour or two this evening. It will make things easier later."

"But the oxen and horses! We've been driving them under the afternoon sun, they need to be rested."

"Rest them if you want, give them some water if it will help, but we need to travel more this evening."

Serans swallowed hard, but agreed. He gave the orders to stop, then told everyone to keep their animals in the harness while they saw to their most pressing needs. If an animal looked like it needed it, he would ok a drink for it, but they were to continue their journey in about fifteen minutes. He got more than one puzzled look, and there were the expected mutters, but no one said anything out loud.

Dusk was fading a little over an hour later as Lilith came back and signaled a halt. "We've done about as much as we can today. There's no use to continue wandering around in the dark."

Serans gratefully gave the order to halt and make camp for the night. The relieved sounds of creaking seats, harnesses, and Xenith could have sworn a few creaking bones, sounded in the air as everyone got down and made camp.

Lilith nudged Xenith in the ribs. "Apprentice, look at our rocks."

When Xenith did so, she gasped. "They're so bright! I could see them with my eyes closed!"

Suddenly, her sight was gone as one furry paw and one metal one clamped themselves over her eyes. "That's a good idea, apprentice," her adept's voice said. "Now point them out to me."

Xenith gulped, and almost started to back away, but a slight pressure from behind made her think better. Her eyes strained uselessly against their blindfolds, then she sighed with relief as she realized what Lilith had been looking for. She dropped her concentration on eyesight, and instead looked with that other sense with which she had been observing the caravan behind her. It felt odd to do it towards the front instead of the back, but the immediate surge of response that she got rewarded her efforts. "Ohh! There they are!"

"Where?"

"There, there, there....." Xenith pointed out all of them with only a small bit of trouble towards the end.

"Good!" Lilith said, and released her hold on Xenith's eyes. "Remember, apprentice, sensing the life webs does not depend on sight. In fact, most magicians depend way too much on their sight to see the life cords. Some practice spent in seeing in every direction with your eyes shut will be good for you."

"Yes, adept."

"Now then. Since you've figured out where the rocks are at so expertly, I assume you can go retrieve them for me?"

Xenith giggled. "Yes, adept."

"I'm glad to hear it. Go on, then."

Xenith nodded and left without a further word. Lilith watched her climbing the wagons, then turned away to look at the brightly glowing cord in the sky. As she had expected, the darkness of the evening made it easier to see. Her lips quirked in a smile as she thought, eyesight comes in handy, too, no matter what I said. She could see it coming down to the ground in the distance. A quick feel of the cord itself, and she estimated that it was about another three miles. Not bad- in fact, almost perfect, considering what the odds had been. She'd had to find a likely spot within about 15 miles of the midday rest, and she had found one, even if it was right at the edge of that range. Of course, she would have simply searched a bit farther if she hadn't found anything, but this meant that they could get the well dug tonight.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Xenith's voice. "I've got them all, adept. Now what?"

Lilith turned around and as she took the bag that Xenith had put the rocks in, she replied, "Now, we wait."

Xenith looked surprised. "But aren't we going to make our own camp?"

Lilith looked at her thoughtfully. "No, we're going to be busy tonight. But now that you've brought it up, it would be a good idea to see that our pack horse is unloaded and fed along with the others. Why don't you do that?"

"Yes, adept." Xenith nodded and headed back towards the caravan.

By herself again, Lilith began to calculate a lot of possibilities and amounts. She looked at the rocks appraisingly, then back over her shoulder to where their well site glowed in the distance. Not enough energy to do what she'd wanted to do, it looked like. Too bad. They'd just have to make do, she supposed. Then she looked towards the caravan and lost herself in calculating less concrete probabilities.

When Xenith returned this time, Lilith had already made her final plans. As Xenith sat down beside her, Lilith raised her head and sent pulses flowing through the life cords that led to the camp. Xenith watched, but didn't say anything. Soon seven figures came out, almost hurrying, although none of them seemed to pay much attention to anything else.

The one in front turned out to be Serans himself. "I thought you might need some help, adept. There isn't anything wrong is there?"

"Not at all, wagonmaster, but thank you for coming. The others should be here any time... ah, here they are already."

Serans turned around to find the other six foxes behind him. They all looked as baffled as he did. "What is this? I don't understand?"

Lilith stood up. "Wagonmaster, foxes, we need to get water, and I needed your help to do that. Serans, my apprentice and I won't be able to maintain our usual watch tonight, so you're going to need to make your own arrangements there. Swerte, Corith, I'll need you two to get several water buckets and about a hundred feet of rope. Everyone get a horse and saddle up, there's no use to walk when we don't have to. Wagonmaster, I didn't mean you on that, you're going to need to look after your caravan. Roweth, get whatever you're going to need to take care of the horses for a few hours. Any questions? None? Good, let's go."

Everyone left and set about their chores. Lilith noted the sharp whispers and felt the emotions that she had generated. Yes, that should do it. Two very good allies, two fairly good, and only two others who might want to make trouble.

As Swerte and Corith got the needed supplies, they were arguing over what had happened.

"I tell you, we've got to get out of this! She pulled us out of our wagons and made us come!" Corith insisted.

"No she didn't pull us, she called us. If she'd pulled, you wouldn't have had any choice."

"I didn't have a choice! None of us did, and none of us will if we don't stay out of her way!"

"Oh, quit letting your fear get the best of your good sense. If she'd wanted to kill us, all she had to do was ride off and let us die of thirst. She's trying to save your life, Corith, not kill you."

"How do you know? This could all be a trap to get rid of potential trouble."

Swerte snorted. "If it was just you she'd called, you might have a point, but she called six of us, and most of us have good sense. She's not going to have five witnesses along just to watch her kill you."

"You don't know what she's capable of, " Corith muttered darkly.

"No, but I know what you're capable of, and that's jealousy. You've hated her from day one. If I was in her place, I probably would have knocked you flat a few times just out of sheer principle."

"You just try it!"

"I don't need to. Now quit being a stubborn mule and come on. She's waiting for us, and you wouldn't want her to get impatient with you, now would you??"

Corith glared at him, but in the firelit darkness it didn't do all that much good. They rode out and met the others. Lilith did a quick check to make sure everyone was with her, then said, "let's ride".

The caravan members followed her, watching how she held the cup of water in front of her. A prickle ran up a few spines, as they wondered what that cup meant, and what was going to happen. Before too long, Lilith reined in her horse and dismounted. Everyone else followed suit. She passed her horse and Xenith's to the other caravan vixen, saying, "Roweth, we're leaving the horses here. You know what to do." The other vixen nodded and set about staking all of the horses out and making them comfortable with an experienced hand. "The rest of you just wait here for a few minutes. Apprentice, follow me."

They walked downhill to the site, which was a bright glow in Xenith's eyes now. Lilith made a small gesture and a circle of light about two feet across appeared on the ground around the point at which the life energy went in. Another gesture extinguished their guiding light. Lilith looked at the cup of water thoughtfully, then drank some of it and gave it to Xenith. "Here, you can finish this off. No use wasting it."

Xenith did so gratefully. Her mouth was dry with apprehension. The water helped some, but as it entered her gut the almost queasy feeling made her wonder if it had been a mistake. A deep breath or two helped that, though, and she watched as Lilith sat down their bag of rocks and opened it.

"Now, what you're going to need to do tonight is fairly simple, Xenith. These rocks are going to be my energy supply for what I'm about to do, and I'll need you to help me with them. I'm going to hold one rock in each hand, and when one is exhausted, you'll need to replace it with a full one."

"Yes adept... umm... adept?"

"Yes, Xenith?"

"What happens if I don't have any rocks?"

"Then we're going to be in trouble, but that's my worry, not yours. If I've calculated right, we should have plenty. Now let's get to work. You just stand behind me, do your best to stay calm and watchful, and replace the rocks as necessary."

Xenith followed her instructions as Lilith knelt down in the sand, arms held out and to the side with a rock sitting in the palm of each hand. A sizzling sound and a flaring of the circle announced that she had started. Xenith watched in wonder as the sand turned white with heat and melted. Out of the center of the circle, a puff of sand rose up and was blown downhill by the wind-- but there wasn't any wind that Xenith could feel. She looked down at Lilith's hands and saw the rock on the right getting noticeably dimmer.

The next few minutes were something that no one would ever forget. The amount of sand coming up out of the center of the ring of fire grew until it was a plume about four feet high, being blown away. The fire itself dimmed at the top, but the red-orange glow and rumble from below showed that it was still continuing. Then the sound started. The beginning hiss of blown sand and sizzle of hot sand being melted had faded and then deepened into a dull roar. The sand that was coming out of the hole now was coming out with the roar of a superheated column of air, and as the column deepened, so did the roar. It grew in volume, and Xenith had to concentrate on keeping her knees from buckling with fear as she began to replace stones ever more quickly.

Foxes often laughed at the rats' superstitions of the Seven Hells of Chabat, but the glow and roar made every watcher there shiver with fear as that superstition seemed to become a reality. The few grumblings that Corith and Trons had made faded away and now the five foxes stared until the whites of their eyes were reflecting the reddish glow. Suddenly, the roar was interrupted by loud cracking noises, and a hiss of boiling steam came out the top. The sand stopped coming, although the glow continued for a little while, reflecting off of the steam clouds that were now billowing up into the night sky above.

There were more crackling, hissing sounds and as they died, Lilith sighed and sat back with two exhausted stones in her hands. Xenith had the last remaining full one in hers as she gulped for air and tried to keep from collapsing as well. Unlike the others, she had seen the life energy being sucked down the hole, and it had seemed to her to be a whirlpool that was about to suck her down into the fiery depths as well.

Lilith's cough and hoarse whisper of "It's finished, Xenith. Here, help me up," brought her back to her senses. She reached down to take Lilith's hand, and helped her stand up. Lilith leaned on her for a few seconds, then a small flare of life energy among her rings seemed to strengthen her so that she stood quietly.

"Come on down and bring the buckets and rope, " she said to the others.

They did so, and cautiously approached the pitch-black hole set in the gleaming white of melted sand that now reflected the moonlight.

"Swerte, would you do the honors?" As he stared at her, she said, "just tie one of those water buckets on your rope and let it down into the well. You're going to go down about fifty feet when you hit the water level."

As he did so, someone whispered shakily, "just how deep is that thing anyway?"

"A little over ninety feet, " Lilith replied, not looking around to see who had asked it. "It's a good vein of water, though, so we've got about forty feet of standing reserves in it."

Trons waded downhill into the loose sand, and quickly backed out as he felt its heat. "Amazing," he breathed. "There's enough sand here to fill the floor of a good-sized room to your shins, at least."

"About that, " Lilith agreed. Trons looked at her with wonder in his eyes, then he looked over at the well. A muffled splash sounded as the bucket hit water, and Swerte began hauling it back up. It came up dripping water, and he put it on the ground carefully. Everyone stared at it in silence, until Lilith said gently, "Corith, why don't you have a drink."

Corith's face fur pulled back with embarrassment as everyone looked at her, but she summoned enough bravado to try and act casual as she said, "sure, why not. Sounds good to me." She knelt down and reached into the bucket with cupped hands, then brought them out full of water. After taking a good swallow, she gasped and said, "It's warm, but it tastes ok." She looked up at Lilith's rather enigmatic smile, and the little remaining water fell from her nerveless hands back into the bucket.

No one noticed her awe and fear, though, as Swerte suddenly let loose with a loud cry of, "Yes! She's DONE IT!" As if that were a signal, everyone burst out laughing and hugging each other. Everyone, that is, except for Corith, who looked ready to crawl anywhere, even down the well if it had been safe.

Xenith had no such problems. She and Lilith hugged each other in their own private celebration, while she tucked the last stone away with a smile.