" Wonderful ."
Nikon beamed , got up , and took Spenser ' s cloak from a hook on the wall .
" The moment I saw you , I knew you were the man for the task ."
Spenser was ushered outside . Nikon draped Spenser ' s cloak over his shoulders
and tucked the bundle under one arm .
" Just head away from Paleothea , the way you came on horseback . The path to the
promontory is off to the left . You can ' t miss the white sand in this moonlight ."
Spenser headed down Paleothea ' s dirt road . Fishermen and their families slept in
wooden shanties , exhausted after long hours of work , the only sign of life the reek from
hearths ' banked embers . Spenser walked alone in silver moonlight , near bright as day .
The path was easy to pick out . There was the heady scent of wild thyme and sage . A
nightingale sang from nearby . Initially muffled by low hills , the sea ' s roar grew steadily
louder as Spenser walked down the path . Spenser rounded a massive stone boulder .
The huge , luminous full moon hung over the gray white sea , so near the horizon
it seemed about to crash into the water . The curved promontory stretched before
Spenser , a crescent that cut into the sea like a sickle blade . Several strangely shaped
stones jutted out from the shallow bay formed by the promontory , monoliths left by an
earlier race of men . The sea beyond the bay was an agitated , seething broil of white