Текст книги "The Raven Collection"

Автор книги: James Barclay

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Текущая страница: 219 (всего у книги 235 страниц)

Through the smashed floor of the Klene, in the midst of the maelstrom, Sol could make out indistinct shapes.

‘What now?’ he yelled.

‘Now we land,’ said Jonas, and he’d be damned if the boy wasn’t actually smiling.

Abruptly, the Klene stopped its juddering and the wind lost much of its power. Sol could still hear the roar as the chaos passed by the openings the Garonin had torn in the fabric of the Klene but the sucking and grabbing strength had ebbed almost to nothing.

Sha-Kaan moved swiftly, placing Jonas and Sol on the ground.

‘Beware,’ he said. ‘They are outside.’

Sol became acutely aware that he had neither armour nor weapons. He backed away to a safer section of wall, keeping Jonas behind him.

‘Where are the others?’ he asked, imagining them being pulled helplessly into eternal night.

‘They chose a safer place to be,’ said Sha-Kaan, glancing back over his body.

And there they were. All three of them. Unclasping their arms from the very tip of Sha-Kaan’s tail. Hirad stood and brushed himself down; Ilkar was rolling his shoulders and Sirendor flexing his legs. All looked battered and bruised. But still here.

Without warning, Sha-Kaan turned his head and breathed fire into the gaping hole in the floor. Flame boiled around its edges, smoke billowed. This time Sol did hear the screams above the roaring of the wind.

‘You must leave now,’ said Sha-Kaan.

‘We need to stay and fight with you,’ said Hirad.

‘No. They cannot hurt me. In a blink I will be back on Beshara.’

The door began to open inwards, revealing a night-time scene.

‘Where are we?’ asked Sirendor.

‘We’re about to find out,’ said Hirad.

Sol walked towards the door, the others following him.

‘Jonas,’ said Sha-Kaan.

‘Yes, Sha.’

‘Your mother is quite close. Go. I will be here when you need me again.’

Jonas smiled. Sol put an arm about his shoulder, as much for support for himself as comfort for his son. His back, shoulder, arm and legs were all protesting.

‘I must warn you of one thing,’ said Sha-Kaan. Sol turned. The dragon was not looking at them but tracking something beyond the Klene. ‘They are closer than you think. And they move faster than you know. Good luck, my friends.’

The Raven and Jonas walked out into a mercifully quiet night in Xetesk.

Chapter 23

Auum haunted the empty streets by the east gates of Xetesk. Miirt and Ghaal ran the rooftops above him. A ClawBound pair sat in the shadows on the gates themselves, sampling the air and looking back at the college or out over the open ground to where the clouds were gathering.

Sol and Hirad were here somewhere, he could sense it. Diera’s mumblings had been mere confirmation. The ClawBound had chosen the hiding place in the small park well. The bordering houses belonged exclusively to the mage elite and all of them were ensconced full time in the college. The odd servant had been in residence but none now remained at large to cause any trouble. It was amazing how good a jailor a single wolf could be. No bars had been necessary.

Auum heard footsteps. He faded into the shadows and indicated to Ghaal and Miirt that an intruder was approaching. A man appeared from an intersection of the narrow, winding artisans’ quarter. He turned right and towards Auum. The TaiGethen withdrew further into his chosen doorway and ceased all movement. He watched.

The man was dressed in plain shirt and trousers and wore a light cloak about his shoulders. He was of average height, with short dark hair. He appeared unhurried. However, his actions marked him out as a man not merely out for a stroll. He was criss-crossing the street, crouching occasionally and laying his hands on blank stone or timber. Each time he did so, he uttered words of incantation.

Auum waited and watched. There was little point in doing anything else. The man, clearly a mage, moved closer. He crouched to attend to a spell not five feet from Auum, crabbed two paces to his left and saw Auum’s boots.

‘Ah,’ he said.

He tried to leap out of the way but Auum’s hand was already around his neck, pushing his head back and lifting him upright.

‘Ah, indeed,’ said Auum. ‘Do not attempt to cast. Do not attempt to cry out, or I will kill you.’

‘What do you want? Why are you here? We thought . . .’

‘Speak. Thought what?’

‘Thought . . . you were hiding elsewhere.’

‘Then I have disappointed you. What are you doing here?’

‘Just walking. These are the streets where I was born,’ said the mage brightly.

‘And where you will die if you lie to me again. You were studying trap spells – wards you call them. Why?’

The mage’s brightness had deserted him and he had begun to shake. He put his hands to Auum’s to try and shift his grip. It was like trying to crush stone.

‘Please, you’re hurting me.’

Auum cocked his head. ‘I know. What of it?’

‘I’ll tell you if you let me go.’

Auum shrugged and released his grip. The mage turned to bolt and collided with Miirt’s fist. He doubled over, coughing and retching, dropping to his knees.

‘Speak,’ said Auum.

‘It’s nothing,’ gasped the mage, wrapping his arms around his stomach. ‘We have to test the segments of the defensive grid. Check the linkage. Can’t afford any errors.’

Auum looked up at his Tai. Both shook their heads.

‘We do not believe you. Try harder.’

‘It’s true, I swear.’

‘Kill him,’ said Auum.

A short blade flashed in Ghaal’s hand. He dragged back the mage’s head and struck down, stopping a hair’s breadth from breaking the skin. The mage fouled himself and held up his hands.

‘Please no,’ he said, wheezing and crying. ‘Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry.’

‘Speak.’

‘Septern changed the exclusions of the wards. We hoped you were still in the grid somewhere. Needed to trap you here. Anything larger than a dog will trip them when they go active. I was checking to see the exclusion formula had filtered down to the periphery. Please, I’m telling the truth.’

‘Yes.’ Auum took a step back, happy to be away from the stench of excrement and urine. ‘When will the grid be active?’

‘When all the mages have reported back to the college.’

‘You will not be reporting back,’ said Auum.

‘Please!’ The mage held out his hands in supplication. ‘I told you the truth. Please.’

‘You will come with us. We have a place where you can clean yourself.’

‘Yes, yes of course. Thank you.’

Auum’s nose wrinkled at the pathetic gratitude. ‘You may be of some use to us yet.’

‘I’m hoping you recognise this place,’ said Hirad.

They’d walked out into an area of scrubland that bordered the blank faces of warehouses. The scrub was littered with pieces of stone and broken timber. A quick scout of the immediate area had told them that the college was to their north. Directly opposite the warehouses, more buildings rose about a half a mile away, and the city walls loomed a further mile or so distant.

Sol was sitting with his back to a wall while the pain in various parts of his body settled. He’d fussed over Jonas’s scrapes and cuts until the boy had pushed him away with a comment about his age and ability to look after himself. Sol felt tired and at a loss.

‘I’m too old for all this racing about,’ he said.

‘Well you should die and pick yourself a younger body,’ said Hirad. ‘It does wonders, you know. Anyway. Where are we, exactly?’

‘South-east corner of the city. Not too far from the east gates. This used to be a pretty rich area until the demons came. It never got rebuilt and all people did was steal the stone and wood to repair elsewhere. I think Denser wanted it to be some form of remembrance park or something. As you can see, dreams are yet to become reality.’

‘We ride around here quite a lot,’ said Jonas.

‘Didn’t I tell you not to because of the risk of injuring your horse on all this loose stone? Full of holes, this place.’

Jonas shrugged. ‘Probably. Anyway, we’re lucky we didn’t appear in the middle of the college or somewhere like that, aren’t we? At least I can tell you every way out of here that takes us away from most patrol routes.’

‘Yes, but where are we going?’ asked Ilkar. ‘Back to where the dead were? Auum won’t have stayed there.’

‘Yes, but he said he’d be in the eastern quarter somewhere,’ said Sol.

‘Diera’s relatively close to here, so Sha-Kaan said.’ Sirendor was walking in small circles, scanning the Xeteskian night.

Sol nodded. ‘I have no doubt at all that Denser would use her as a hostage if he had to. So if she’s calm and safe as we are told, that means she’s away from him and we can assume Auum has been as good as his word yet again. The question is, where would he hide her and himself?’

‘Some place with trees. With high-sided buildings and plenty of routes in and out,’ said Hirad. ‘When I was running with the TaiGethen back on Calaius, he used to keep going on about keeping every option available for as long as possible and having height on any enemy. Easy in the rainforest, not quite so easy here because he doesn’t know it so well. How’s Xetesk off for parks?’

‘Well, there are a good number of squares with gardens. There’s the old Park of Remembrance but that’s just lawns and grazing these days. Jonas?’

‘There are three or four squares a short ride from here,’ said Jonas. ‘The park is way over the other side of the city and it’s too open if Auum wants what Hirad says he does.’

‘Can you take us to these squares?’

‘With my eyes shut, Father.’

Sol stood up slowly and grimaced at the state of his body.

‘That won’t be necessary. Lead on. Hirad, up front with him just in case you remember some of your Tai training on markers and tracks.’

‘Fat chance,’ said Ilkar. ‘He has trouble walking and breathing at the same time most days.’

‘Can we keep it quiet?’ asked Sol. ‘We’re not welcome here.’

Jonas led them to a wide street that ran away in the direction of the east gates. Every house, every tenement and business, was shuttered and quiet. No lights could be seen, no noise could be heard close by.

‘This place has been evacuated,’ said Sirendor quietly.

Sol nodded. ‘I presume Septern’s ward grid has been laid by now. No doubt Denser was planning to squeeze the entire population into the western side of the city beyond the college. I hope he’s right about which gate the Garonin come through. He’s taking a big gamble.’

‘It won’t make a damned bit of difference,’ said Hirad. ‘It’s not a gamble, Unknown, it’s a guaranteed defeat.’

‘I want everyone to stop right now.’ Ilkar’s voice brooked no dissent.

‘What’s up, Ilks?’

‘Well, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but if we’re about to walk into a ward grid, our chances of walking out of it again are slim in the extreme, wouldn’t you say?’

‘The elf in man’s clothing has a point,’ said Hirad.

‘But you go right on walking, Hirad. Test my theory, why don’t you?’

‘Touchy, touchy.’

‘Focus,’ hissed Sol. ‘Ilkar, what I know is that Septern was intending to tune out anything man-sized. He was also going on about leaving the grid dormant until the Garonin got here. Something about maintaining cohesion of wards and retaining mana stamina; does that make sense?’

‘Kind of. And easy enough if you’re a genius, like him. Put it this way. If he hasn’t done the things you said he was talking about, every step could be our last.’

‘Can’t you detect them as we approach them?’ asked Sirendor.

Ilkar’s face was glum. ‘Not now. That kind of fine work is denied me. Our turn to gamble. How big was this grid going to be, anyway? ’

‘The whole eastern half of the city if we had time,’ said Sol.

Ilkar whistled. ‘Now that is something I’d like to see.’

Hirad began walking. ‘Well, if the Garonin get here before we’re done, you’re going to get your wish. Come on, Raven, and sons of Raven, let’s get out of here.’

‘Hirad, be careful.’

‘How?’ asked Hirad over his shoulder. ‘If I can’t see it, how can I avoid it?’

Jonas fell into step with him, and at an indication from the boy the two of them turned left. Sol spread his hands and began to follow. They’d turned into a wide residential street that led towards the eastern grain store. Ten yards along it, Ilkar gasped.

‘Whoa,’ he said, dropping to his haunches and blowing hard. ‘That is not good.’

‘Jonas, Hirad. Stop moving. Ilkar? Talk to me.’

Sol’s eyes darted left, right and up. Nothing out of the ordinary.

‘Something . . .’ Ilkar closed his eyes and reached out with his hands. ‘Something.’

‘What?’ Sol thought he heard a whisper on the wind. A sound from his distant past.

‘There’s—’ began Ilkar.

‘How interesting,’ said a voice from above their heads. ‘Even without a college Heart, a Julatsan may still feel a construct should it contain enough power, I see.’

Two figures descended slowly into view, hovering thirty-odd feet away. Denser and Septern.

‘I wondered how long it would be before you came back here to get your wife and completely bugger things up, Sol. Did you really think a dragon opening a second Klene corridor in one day could go unnoticed in my city?’

‘I will do what I came here to do, Denser, and that includes beating you to a bloody pulp. One punch for every time I considered you my trusted friend. That’s a lot of punches.’

‘A couple of points, if I may. First of all, no, you won’t lay a finger on me, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. Secondly, and it’s a small thing, but I have, um, adjusted my name. Just to aid the record keeping of the college, you know.’

Sol felt a rush of sadness, the end of possibility. A closing-down on the potential for redemption.

‘You’ve taken the “y”, haven’t you?’

‘Yes. So it’s Densyr, not Denser.’

‘Makes no difference to me,’ growled Hirad. ‘You’re still a traitor to The Raven and Balaia and you will die for it.’

Densyr chuckled. ‘How I have missed your idle threats, Hirad. Now, as Ilkar will be able to tell you when he gets his breath back, you have walked into the middle of a cell of explosive fire-based ward constructs which, as luck would have it, Septern was able to make active when we spotted you. These wards, like all of them across the city, have been tuned to include moving shapes of your size, but I’ll leave it to you to decide whether to believe that or not. I don’t really have the time to care.

‘Should you stay exactly in the positions you are, you will come to no harm. Not until the Garonin blunder into them in a day or so, anyway. I’m sorry it has come to this and I truly don’t want to kill any of you. So the choice remains yours. To try and get out of your current predicament or to come voluntarily into custody and let me decide your fates when the battle is won.

‘I’ll leave you for a few hours to make up your minds. I trust I don’t need to demonstrate what happens when a ward is triggered?’

‘Not for my benefit,’ said Ilkar.

‘Good. Until later then.’

Septern and Densyr rose quickly into the night and were lost, missing much of Hirad’s colourful volley of abuse.

‘Do you mind?’ said Sol. ‘My son is standing next to you.’

‘It isn’t like I haven’t heard all those words before,’ said Jonas.

‘But perhaps not strung together with such alacrity and with the multiple repetition of certain choice terms, eh?’

‘So do we believe that bastard?’ asked Sirendor, who was standing next to Ilkar.

‘Ilkar?’ asked Sol.

Ilkar, who had recovered from the shock of the surge of mana all about them, scratched at his chin.

‘I think testing if he’s bluffing would be incredibly stupid.’

‘Can’t we just throw something at one of them?’ asked Hirad.

‘Must I repeat myself? You haven’t studied Septern. There are very interesting passages and witness testimonies discussing his death, and more than one talks about wards triggering other wards in chain reactions. Big chain reactions. Throw one stone, bring down the whole street, that sort of thing. What I need is a little quiet and I’ll see if I can divine any wards, triggers or linkage lines.’

‘I thought you said you couldn’t do that any more,’ said Hirad.

‘Got a better idea?’

‘Nope.’

‘Then shut up.’

Diera came to, lying on her back with her head cushioned by a cloak. The images she’d seen, so real and so terrifying, began to fade, and the relief of waking from a dream washed over her.

‘Welcome back,’ said a voice.

She turned her head. Baron Blackthorne was kneeling by her. His kindly face wore lines of worry.

‘What happened?’ she asked. ‘Where’s Hirad?’

‘He’s safe. Thraun is showing him not to be scared of wolves. As for you, well you were complaining of a headache, and the next we knew, you’d collapsed. You muttered some strange things about dragons and your son. You said they were coming. You said that over and over. Who did you mean?’

Diera shook her head. ‘Can you help me up?’

Blackthorne supported her to a sitting position and waited while her blood settled and the faintness passed.

‘I don’t remember too much. It was just a dream. Jonas and Sha-Kaan being attacked somehow. There was wind and darkness. It’s nothing. Just a mother worrying about her son.’

‘I don’t think so. Neither does Auum. He is out there now, looking for Jonas and Sol. You said they’d come for you. We believe they have.’

‘Based on a dream?’

‘And elves know the perspicacity of dreams.’

Diera hugged her knees. ‘I hope they’re right.’

‘And let’s hope they get to them before the guards do. Altogether too many roaming the city right now.’

‘Will they find us here? The guard that is?’

‘Eventually,’ said Blackthorne. ‘But we’ll be ready for them.’

‘I don’t really understand what we’re doing here. Shouldn’t we be going west?’

‘Auum has high ideals and I share them until my courage falters.’ Blackthorne chuckled at his own joke. ‘He aims to break the college hold and get people away from here before it’s too late.’

‘He doesn’t have much time and very few here to help him. What can he do?’

‘He is waiting for an opportunity to present itself.’

‘And will it?’

‘When the battle starts.’ Blackthorne raised his eyebrows.

‘But surely that will cut things too fine.’ Diera searched her memory. ‘Sol wanted everyone away days ago. You know what he’s planning to do, don’t you?’

‘Rumour has it that there is some thought we can escape to a new home. Seems a distant prospect to me. But I know that staying here is folly. I’ve seen this enemy, and a few spells set about the city will not stop them.’

There was a brief commotion at the gates to the garden. Auum barked an order and ran in. Diera had never seen worry on his face before. Blackthorne stood.

‘Auum?’

‘We have a problem.’

Away to the south and east of the city, a ClawBound panther called out. It was a disquieting sound. Auum listened to it and his frown deepened.

‘Two problems.’

Chapter 24

The awful truth about the fate of Julatsa had dampened hope three days before. The fleet had been sailing out of sight of the north Balaian coast and there had been no encounters nor indeed any sightings whatever of the Garonin. The ships were scattered over a wide area, attempting to diminish the density of souls for the enemy to sense. There had been an uneasy quiet across the whole fleet. It felt like the absence of belief.

And now, approaching Wesman territory at North Bay, with the hard grey peaks of Sunara’s Teeth dominating the near horizon, trepidation reigned. Mage reconnaissance had revealed no evidence of Garonin activity but neither had it revealed any sign of the Wesmen.

Rebraal was not unduly concerned by that. This desolate, dangerous coast had been largely abandoned since the storms of the Night Child had swept away the bay’s lonely fishing village over fifteen years ago. They were a superstitious race, the Wesmen, and Sunara’s Teeth were cursed.

‘I’ll drop anchor half a mile from the shore,’ said Jevin. ‘Well before we get snagged in the currents close in.’

He and Rebraal were standing in the prow of the Calaian Sun, staring at the coastline and searching for any sign, good or bad.

‘Let’s hope your plan works. I feel nervous at the thought of three hundred ships crowding in here, even in rotation.’

‘We’ve had plenty of time to plan,’ said Jevin. ‘Weather conditions and tides are both in our favour to begin right now. Have faith.’

‘It’s still going to take three days to disembark. We’re exposed the whole of that time.’

‘I do not rule the tides. It’s the best I can do.’

‘Forgive me. I’m not being critical. I’m just . . . well.’

Jevin nodded and slapped Rebraal on his back.

‘So are we all, Rebraal.’

‘Indeed.’

Rebraal looked back to the beach and wished it four miles long rather than the four hundred yards afforded them. North Bay was a funnel trap for the unwary sailor, an invitingly broad shelter that narrowed quickly into rock-strewn shallows around which the water eddied and surged, denying escape for ocean-going vessels that strayed too close to the shore. Multiple wrecks beneath the waves only added to the risks.

Three TaiGethen cells had already landed to scout the immediate area and secure the path away from the beach. One cell waited on the beach. The other two would be looking for shelter and cover. They would not find a great deal of either outside the lee of the mountains.

The Calaian Sun was leading the first twenty ships into the landing area. The decks were crowded with evacuees, who had now been joined by all of the TaiGethen and Al-Arynaar warriors. Half their mages too. It had been a risky transfer. Jevin kept a tight grip on the ship’s progress from his forward position. Topsails hung from two masts, giving a speed of little more than one knot. Periodically, Jevin would hold out his right or left arm to direct the helm to starboard or port. He would also display a number of fingers to indicate the degree of turn he desired.

The flagship of the elven exodus slipped into the wind shadow of Sunara’s Teeth, which ringed the entire bay and glowered down on all who sailed within their compass. Immediately, the topsails flapped. Here the eddies in the water and the currents that drove them played havoc with the handling of the vessel.

Jevin held up two fists to signal steady as she goes. Any desultory conversation died in throats. People lined the rails, staring down, looking for disaster to loom up at them. Plumb lines in the water spoke their depth. The beach crawled closer.

‘That’ll do, I think.’ Jevin began striding back towards the wheel deck. ‘Helm, bring her up into the wind. Bosun, make our masts naked. Stand by, anchor. On my order. Signals, fly the all stop. This is as far in as we dare go. Oars, ready the boats. Rebraal, get your people organised. I want out of this bay in two hours or I’ll not get another squadron in before the tide moves against us.’

Rebraal nodded. The ship had exploded into activity. Al-Arynaar and TaiGethen assembled by their boats. Refugees were herded this way and that as crew set about their tasks. Blocks and tackles were set up to winch out cargo. Nets were filled with crates and barrels.

In the hold of the Calaian Sun was the statue of Yniss that bound the elves to life on Balaia. He would not be coming ashore. When Jevin’s work with the refugees was done the captain was to perform one last task. To scuttle his ship and send the statue to the bottom of the ocean, far from the destructive hands of the Garonin. Jevin had expressed his intent to see Yniss all the way down.

‘Anchor away,’ called Jevin to an accompanying rattle of chain.

Rebraal checked his armour and weapons. He stood before his warriors and the TaiGethen. To their left another ship had dropped anchor about fifty yards away. ClawBound crowded the deck. Panthers growled. Bound elves sniffed the air.

‘They, like us, desire the ground beneath their feet,’ he said. ‘My brothers and sisters, now we reach the most dangerous part of our flight. The lands of the Wesmen are open. Our souls are a beacon for the Garonin, bound as they are with the mana that suffuses each one of us.

‘Yet we must not rush. Our people depend upon us. They must be supported at every point. Our camps must be sound and our direction clear. We must neither pause nor falter. You all have your tasks. Contact with the Wesmen at the earliest opportunity is vital. Warning of attack equally so.

‘My friends, we hold in our hands the fate of the elven race. Yniss cannot help us. We must help ourselves. To your boats.’

Four longboats were lowered to the sea. Elves swarmed down rope and net. Cargo followed for forward and aft stowage. Oars were readied. Rebraal felt Jevin come to his side.

‘Good luck out there,’ said the captain.

‘Yniss blesses you, Master Jevin,’ said Rebraal. ‘Your path to the ancients is assured.’

‘Only if you succeed.’

Rebraal turned to find Jevin smiling at him.

‘And we will.’

‘See that you do,’ said Jevin. ‘I might have had the wander in me as a sailor but I like to think my soul will find eternal rest. No pressure.’

Rebraal and Jevin clasped arms. ‘You should wander the northern oceans a little. How many are coming with you?’

‘Twenty assuming no others change their minds. And we intend to. Who knows what sights there are to see?’

Rebraal climbed down into his longboat, and when he looked back to the ship’s rail Jevin had already turned away. He could hear the captain barking orders. The longboat pulled smoothly from the ship and sped into the shore at North Bay. Up in the sky, the cloud was heavy and grey. Rain was coming, perhaps a storm. Rebraal, his heart a little heavy, looked forward. There was no sense in looking anywhere else.

‘You cannot let them kill my son,’ said Diera. ‘Please. You have to do something.’

‘He is no immediate danger. None of them are,’ said Auum. He turned to Miirt. ‘Get our prisoner back here now. I don’t care how bad he smells.’

‘No danger? You’ve just told me your panther has seen them and that they are plainly trapped. You told me that Densyr knows exactly where they are. How does this represent no danger?’

‘I think it is a relative term,’ said Baron Gresse. He was lying flat out on the grass, his leg surely agony yet he retained a morbid cheer.

‘In any event it appears action is imminent, and if that means damage to the wielders of magic, I count myself satisfied.’

‘Bloody right it’s a relative term,’ said Diera. ‘We’re talking about my family.’

Auum stared at her for a moment. He was unsure what he saw and felt a frisson of nerves.

‘Were you joking?’ he asked.

‘Kind of,’ she said. ‘It’s what I’d call executioner’s humour. At least it got your attention. What are you going to do about my husband and son?’

‘We have another problem,’ said Auum.

‘That isn’t an answer. What of it?’

Auum paused again, gauging her mood and likely responses to what he wanted to tell her.

‘The two are connected,’ said Auum carefully.

Down on the ground Gresse was chuckling away to himself. And patting the ankle of Blackthorne, who was standing by him and failing to get him to be quiet.

‘Are you drunk or something?’ asked Blackthorne. ‘We are in serious trouble here, Gresse. Laughter isn’t the answer. Not this time.’

‘Oh but it is, my dear Baron Blackthorne. Besides, whichever way this goes, I am soon to die. And is not the confusion of a male over a female always the most magnificent thing to watch. Even the great Auum squirms.’

‘I am not trying to confuse him, Baron Gresse,’ said Diera.

‘You never do, my dear, you never do.’

‘Patronising bastard,’ she said. ‘Go on, Auum, unless you’re too nervous to speak to me. What are we going to do? My family are in trouble and I will not stand by and wait for them to die. Do you understand me?’

‘We are all in similar trouble,’ said Auum.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘We have information that makes staying here impossible. It also makes leaving here extremely difficult.’

Auum felt the pressure of a dozen pairs of eyes on him. The two barons and their small retinues, Diera of course, and also Thraun, who had remained in earshot. Of his eight wolves, four were by him. Of the others, there was no sign. Auum feared for them.

‘Difficult how, exactly?’ asked Gresse.

Auum respected the old baron though their paths had barely crossed. Anyone who had survived the demon invasion, remaining free the whole time, was clearly worthy.

‘The ward grid, when it is activated, will not exclude human or elf. Neither will it exclude wolves and panthers.’

‘But we’re right in the middle of it, aren’t we?’ said Diera.

Auum nodded. ‘There are spells covering much of this area.’

‘We’re camping in a trap,’ said Blackthorne.

‘Well, there’s one way out of it,’ said Gresse, and he gestured at the rooftops. ‘Those who can’t fly will just have to climb and jump, won’t they?’

Auum nodded again and Gresse smiled at him, understanding very clearly what it meant.

‘There is one other possibility,’ said Auum.

‘Well there needs to be. Certain among our party of young rebels are not merely old and riddled with cancer, they also can’t walk.’ Blackthorne was glaring at Gresse. ‘I told you to stay behind.’

‘Right. To bring down the system from within. Not really my style, Blackthorne. Don’t worry about me. I’ll keep the place warm for you.’

‘I think when the God’s Eyes start firing you’ll find it warm enough,’ said Blackthorne. ‘Stupid old man. I bet you thought this might happen. I’m not leaving you.’

Gresse stuck two fingers in his mouth and made a retching sound.

‘Spare me the bleeding hero stuff, Blackthorne. I’m sure I can make myself a nuisance.’

‘It’s got nothing to do with that. I have hauled your wretched carcass from your own vineyards. You owe me.’

Gresse laughed out loud and clapped his hands. ‘Good for you.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m not finding this at all funny,’ said Diera.

‘When you get to our age, Diera, you are forced to see the funny side of most things.’

‘Well, right now, getting to your age seems a distant prospect, doesn’t it? And what about my son? He’s five years old. He deserves the concentrated effort of every one of us, don’t you think?’

Gresse reached out a hand, which Diera, a little reluctantly, took in both of hers.

‘Yes, he does, my lady,’ he said quietly. ‘And he shall get it. I’m sorry if I offended you.’

Diera shook her head. ‘No, it’s not that. It’s just, you know . . . all of you. You’re used to this. You’ve grown up with fighting and death and blood. I married someone who has too, but I’ve seen so little because he won’t let me see it. So I’m scared. And I’m terrified for my boys. Auum, please?’