Roc Feathers
- That was one close call. Alnor's cautious as always and makes sure nobody else is out there (18.1), but the Ropemaker says all's well (18.2). Tilja turns to look at Moonfist's body, which is just a skeleton (18.4). That's his real body, she observes; in fact, the real Moony died a long time ago. The evil magician made sure his soul survived in a body that seemed to be living until Faheel died—all so he could steal the ring. Then he planned to de-age himself like Faheel did to Meena and Alnor, and renew his body again and again with the ring.
- Til asks Ropey who Moonfist was and admits she knew the gawky guy was the cat in Talagh (18.5). The Ropemaker is surprised—he tries to put up a magical defense, but knows that Til can just dissolve it (18.6). Ropey doesn't know much about Moonfist and does a spell to cause Moonfist's body to crumble into dust and be swept away by the wind (18.8). A nice rain makes things good and clean again.
- Everybody sits around the fire (18.10), and Tilja muses on her adventures at the lake (18.11). She wonders at the size and strangeness of her "inward landscape"—and her power—that she's just begun to discover. Tilja wakes the next morning to Meena making breakfast (18.14). Ropey's gone, but then she sees a big orange bird with a hare in its talons. The animal pecks at a cord, which weaves itself into a string bag; the bird flies away and fills it with plums. Tahl suggests that he should have made a magical breakfast, which he then does, but Tilja's biscuit vanishes when she touches it (18.20). She wonders if she can learn to not dissolve all made magic upon touching it, but Ropey admits he's not sure (18.23).
- The Ropemaker decides to explain his role in all of this. He was born in a tiny village on the eastern coast near the ocean and didn't like it there, so he apprenticed himself to a traveling ropemaker (18.24). He learned a few bits of magic and knew he was meant to be a magician; he kept on going and learning skills like shapechanging—not even the Watchers scared him off (18.25). Once the Watchers tried to send a terrible piece of magic to freak him out, but it just got him interested, so he went to Talagh. Then the Ropemaker avoided the Watchers and learned about the Valley and its forest (18.26). He got really curious about its magic and wanted to investigate it for himself—and if he learned enough about that magic, he planned to return to Talagh and win the Emperor's favor.
- In a flash of intuition, he realized the forest's magic has something to do with unicorns, so he tried to shape-change into a unicorn to get in to the woods (18.27). Meena's unhappy that he was that big, ugly unicorn that bonked her daughter on the head (18.28), but he assures her it was an accident. The Ropemaker had never transformed into a magical animal before, and the magic part took over (18.30). He knew he wanted to get the unicorns out, but he got lost in the magic. Once Meena started singing to the unicorns, Ropey listened in on what the group planned to do in the Empire; he was reminded of who he was, and he switched back to being a person (18.31). He followed them into the Empire and was hanging out outside Lananeth's window in bat form when someone said Faheel's name, causing him to lose his shape (18.32). He kept on following them to Talagh and, when he overheard bandits about to kidnap the group in the Pirrim Hills, he arranged it so that he would rescue them (18.34).
- Ropey was also the dog that woke Tahl and Alnor up when they landed in the Empire, the cat on the walls of Talagh, the donkey that helped fight off Silena, and then the giant lion in Goloroth (18.36-37). Ropey followed Tilja all the way once she wore his hair tie (18.43). When Tilja beat Dorn, the Ropemaker absorbed the Watcher's powers (18.44)—he wanted to be a Watcher in Dorn's place, but realized that was a bad idea. He couldn't back out, so he decided to escape after the installation ceremony, but he liked the spectacle so he didn't leave when he had the chance, only fleeing when he saw Moonfist's darkness (1.47).
- Tilja realizes that Moonfist must've realized the power in Axtrig and wanted to get the spoon to take the ring from Faheel, the ring he'd been waiting centuries to steal (18.50). But Til's ability to mute made magic defeated him—until Tahl realized that Tilja had the ring, and Moonfist came after them.
- Tahl and the Ropemaker discuss time as a great rope (18.54-57). Changing one event takes all the Ropemaker's strength—and altering one event is a big deal because it changes the future of everything related to the original event. It's a good thing they did it though, because now everyone's alive and the Valley can be saved (18.58). Tilja realizes that the Empire is like a sick animal and only the Ropemaker can heal it, but he needs to know why it got ill in the first place in order to do so (18.61). That's why she needs to tell him all about her journey, which she does—it's his job to make the Empire better now.
- The Ropemaker shows that he's assumed Faheel and Asarta's legacies by refreshing the old barley bread and water supplies Meena and Alnor brought from the Valley (18.65-66). Alnor says that the true magic lies in the Ortahlson and Urlasdaughter bloodlines, not so much in the food and water (18.68), but Ropey says they've still got to get back to save the Valley before that's really true (18.69). Everybody needs to get home, but the guys can't pass through the forest without getting sick (18.72).
- Ropey realizes Tilja has feathers from the roc, so he asks for them (18.73). Calico wanders over to him and he slides the feathers into her coat—and the feathers begin to grow until they sprout into wings (18.77). And just like that, Calico's a flying horse. The guys will fly back to the Valley on Calico's back, while the girls will slog it out through the forest (18.80).
- The Ropemaker gives Tahl a tasseled rod—like a whip—to keep Calico in line, telling him to shake it if trouble appears (18.82). Calico takes off and they fly away (18.83). After they leave, Ropey admits that was Dorn's old magical whip, which might cause some problems—Tilja should keep an eye on Tahl now (18.84).