the luminance of the grove. He
knew without looking that he did too, and that he was dressed as his
original body was, in open-shirted uniform. He also knew by now who
these people were; their images stood on the upper tier of every Traiti
altar.

"Welcome, Ruhar," said the one Tarlac recognized as the presence which
had brought him here. The voice was as clear and pure as the light.
"And welcome to your place in the Circle of Lords."

Tarlac recognized him from the statuettes and from his Vision. He took
a deep breath of the sweet, vital air before he spoke. "My place, Lord
Kranath? I'm human, not Traiti."

"In body," Kranath agreed, smiling. "In mind you are both, and have
been since your conception. We insured that. The human body on
Ch'kara's altar means nothing. Here you--and we--can be either. Think
of yourself as Traiti, Ruhar."

Remembering his Vision of being Kranath, and before that the time at
the altar when he'd felt as much Traiti as human, Tarlac did as he was
told. There was a brief indescribable sensation, and when he ran his
tongue over sharp triangular teeth, he realized that his experience as
Kranath, impressive as it had been, was only a shadow of this--
seeming?--reality. He touched his face, ran fingertips along the scars
on his chest, extended and retracted powerful claws . . . yes, this
body felt as appropriate as his own. And the grove's other occupants
were now in human bodies.

His place, Tarlac thought bemusedly. He didn't think he quite liked
that idea, and for a moment he let himself indulge in a fantasy that he
hadn't died but was in the middle of a hypoxia-induced hallucination.
It didn't last; he knew that what he was experiencing was quite real.
He was in a Traiti body that fit him perfectly well, though he'd prefer
the familiarity of his human form.

He felt the sensation of change again, and the glade's Traiti and human
Lords returned to the bodies they'd first had. "One's original form is
usually best," Kranath agreed calmly.

"You have accepted that we exist," Sepol--Lord of the Ordeal--put in.
"And you have accepted the abilities of those who went before. Why,
then, are you so reluctant to accept the fact that we have called you
to join us?"

Tarlac shrugged. "The same reason, I guess, that I don't like the idea
of gods who interfere in mortal affairs. It goes against my grain."

"Relax, Steve," Lord Carle--Tarlac would have said Lady, in
English--advi