Sebastian

the pond. A savage shake of its head severed the horse's head, leaving it to bob in the bloody water.
    Another of the creatures suddenly appeared and ripped off a hind leg, while another one bit into the horse's belly and spun, churning the water until the sharp teeth and the spinning motion tore off a chunk of meat.
    Gasping for breath, his body shaking with fear, Koltak stared at the pond. He didn't remember moving, but now he stood several man-lengths from the carnage.
    He knew what they were. Every wizard had to study descriptions and rough sketches of the creatures that had been locked away with the Eater of the World. Bonelovers, trap spiders, and wind runners were some of the creatures that had been taken out of the world.
    These were the death rollers. Crocodileans bloated by human fear. A larger, more savage version of one of Ephemera's natural predators.
    His hands were full. Puzzled, Koltak lifted them. One fist gripped the strap of the canteen. The other still held reins.
    His eyes followed those strips of leather. Then he screamed, dropped reins and canteen, and stumbled back a few steps to get away from the severed head he must have dragged from the pond. He fell to his hands and knees, was violently sick, then crawled away from the mess and lay on his back, staring at the first stars to shine in the darkening sky.
    The terrors that had been manifested from human fears were no longer contained. The landscapes where those terrors dwelled had been reconnected to the rest of the world. If a connection had been made that allowed the death rollers to intrude in this landscape, had other landscapes been altered to give those creatures access? And what about the other terrors? Would a child on a family outing to the beach walk across a patch of rust-colored sand and disappear, caught in the bonelovers' landscape?
    It could happen. Fed by grief and fear, those landscapes could encroach on all others, changing the resonance, consuming hope. And the nightmare the Eater of the World had tried to create once before would become fully realized, and all that was good in the world would shrivel away until there was nothing left.
    For one shining moment, as he stared up at the stars, his heart and mind were swept clean of ambition and personal grievances and only one thought resonated: He had to find Sebastian. Ephemera's survival was at stake, and finding Sebastian was the key to saving the world.
    Shaky but determined, Koltak got to his feet and began walking.
    Sebastian was the key to saving the world.
    Reaching into the inner pocket of his robe, he felt the reassuring crackle of paper.
    Sebastian… and the message he'd brought with him from Wizard City.
    *
    Dalton leaned against a tree and wondered, again, what he could have done to change things.
    "Cap'n?" Addison walked up to him, then looked toward the creek where Guy and Henley were standing watch. "What happened to Darby wasn't your fault. You sent him to the city to pick up supplies and leave a report at the guard station to be taken up to the wizards. You didn't tell him to stop at a tavern, get into some piss-assed fight, and end up knife-stuck enough times to die."
    "He wasn't a hot-tempered man," Dalton said, his voice full of baffled anger and regret.
    "No, he wasn't. But something's been bringing out the mean in people lately. Surely does seem that way."
    "I know."
    Addison rubbed the back of his neck. "It's none of my business, Cap'n, but maybe you should be thinking of another place for you and yours."
    "I've thought about it," Dalton said softly. "My current contract is finished in a few months, and my wife has said more than once that she wouldn't mind leaving Wizard City. So I've thought about it. But where would we go? What kind of landscape could we reach?"
    Addison shifted from one foot to the other. "I've spent time in a few landscapes over the years, and I've served under several guard captains. Even the ones who were good captains weren't always good men.
    You're a good man. You don't belong here. Knew that after the first week of being assigned to your fist.
    Haven't changed my mind in the years since. It's not a kind city, Cap'n. Never was. You keep on rubbing elbows with the wizards, you might start forgetting what it means to be a good man."
    Addison was coming too close to the bone, giving voice to things Dalton tried not to think about—
    especially in the darkest hours of the night.
    "What about you, Addison? You came here from