‘Has this been keeping you awake at night?’
‘I just want to be able to reassure the Il-Aryn that we’re doing the right thing.’
Auum nodded. ‘It’s the only thing to do, Rith. We have to believe the Wesmen don’t want to be in thrall to the Wytch Lords, and if we convince them to rebel, we’re most of the way there. And Ystormun and his cadre? Well, that’s where our Julatsan friends come in. Human magic must defeat them. Stein says there is a way and I trust him.’
‘But it doesn’t solve the problem with Dawnthief.’
‘No, it doesn’t. But it means our people are safe in their homes, at least for now. One step at a time is all we can make.’
Rith nodded but Auum could see she was unconvinced.
‘We must have faith,’ said Auum. ‘And belief. If you think of a better plan, don’t keep it to yourself.’
At last Rith smiled. ‘I won’t.’
Outside the barrier the snow had abated but the wind was still high. Stein was relying on it dropping enough to allow flying as they moved down the ice shelf. It was critical that it did. Merrat had reported that the drop at the end was sheer for more than a thousand feet. The face was possible to descend but realistically only for the TaiGethen.
Auum walked with Ulysan at the rear of the group on the journey across the plateau to the ice shelf. It was a strange landscape, snow-blown and with hundreds of small rounded peaks, like fingers or capped chimneys, some no taller than an elf. They wove in and out of them, heading west under a partially blue sky and in a wind that, though still strong, was no longer gale force.
‘I will not miss this cold,’ said Auum.
Ulysan nodded. ‘Nor I.’
Auum sighed. He’d been setting Ulysan up for the entire walk and the big TaiGethen’s voice had remained flat.
‘I am almost afraid to say this, but the one thing I wish for right now is to hear one of your appalling jokes.’
Ulysan shrugged. ‘They’ll come back.’
‘Anything I can do to help?’
‘Nothing you haven’t already done.’ Ulysan shook his head. ‘You know, for a moment I was back there in that hole in the Arish complex. I could even hear the rush of water. . and my brother’s scream. I looked, but it was dark and then I saw you and you had my hands and you brought me back. I’d have fallen without you.’
‘But I was there and you didn’t. Don’t you forget you owe me.’
Ulysan said nothing. Ahead, the group was gathering at the edge of the shelf. Before he joined them to look for himself, Auum could see the tension in many bodies, and when he saw it, he could understand why.
It was vast and a blinding white that left him wishing for cloud. Its far edge was lost in the horizon and it stretched to either side as far as he could see. The near edge behind which they stood resembled a sculptor’s vision of a wave rearing in the sea before crashing in on itself. It must have been formed by the prevailing wind blowing loose snow up the incline and freezing it to ice. It was spectacular but also a distraction from the dangers beyond it.
Merrat and Grafyrre had been depressingly accurate in their assessment of the slope. It looked to Auum to be twenty degrees from the horizontal and was smooth and treacherous for the most part, punctuated sparingly by low ridges of ice like ripples caught on a frozen sea.
‘Is there no other way down?’ asked Rith, standing near Auum and next to Merrat.
‘In all likelihood there is, but can we stay here until it’s found?’ replied Merrat. ‘Just take it slow. It’s not as bad as it looks.’
‘Right!’ called Auum. He hopped over the wave form and felt the shine of the ice beneath his boots. He turned a gentle half-circle and came to a stop. Balance would not be so easy for others. ‘Here’s the method and all who want to live should follow it.’
The group gathered, eager to hear his words, wishing to miss nothing in the wind, which Auum guessed was still too stiff for flying though it was easing. The shelf was something over half a mile wide and the time it took them to traverse it might allow the wind to drop enough for Wings of Shade. They were taking a considerable risk that it would.
‘Those of you who are confident enough to walk, do so slowly and try to butt your toes against the ice ridges you find as often as you can. Do not lean back as you are more likely to fall and slide. Carry at least one knife in your hand, one in each if you have them. Should you fall, dig the blades in to stop you sliding. Don’t trust to anything else. You’ll gain speed fast and there is no fence at the bottom.
‘Those of you who do not wish to walk, sit with your legs forward and move yourself with hands and feet. Again, knives in hands. If you have no knife, ask a TaiGethen. Stop when you’re told to and wait to be lifted from the shelf. Do not be tempted to look over the edge. If you think it’s difficult here, it is far harder down there by the precipice.
‘Take your time. We have all day. Any questions?’
There were none.
‘One more thing: the TaiGethen will walk behind the rest of you,’ said Auum. There were murmurs of dissent and Auum held up his hands. ‘I know how it sounds but think about it. From behind we can see you slip and slide and we can get to you and help you stop. Ahead of you, we will not see you go, only know you have fallen. Which way carries the greater risk to you and us? Yniss is with us. And now we pray.’
Auum was surprised to feel more fear on the slow, slippery walk than he had on either of the far more dangerous climbs they had undertaken. Ulysan, walking by him with knives clutched tightly in his hands, was staring at his allotted Il-Aryn with a fierce fervour.
Auum didn’t blame Ulysan for the way he was dealing with the trauma he’d suffered yesterday, but he needed his friend back and he felt helpless to make it happen. He had said Ulysan needn’t have any Il-Aryn to watch but he had refused. Auum prayed none of them fell.
They made steady progress. The wind blowing up the slope was helping keep the pace slow and giving people the confidence to lean forward over their feet as they walked. About half the Il-Aryn and mages had chosen to walk, and while a few had slipped and fallen early on, there had been no panic and confidence was growing gently and quietly.
Two thirds of the way to the edge, Merrat came over, moving fast, his feet sliding across the ice in gentle sweeps. Stein, who with Tilman was walking next to Auum, clapped his hands.
‘Now in my country we call that ice skating,’ he said.
Merrat dug in the sides of his feet and came to a walk by Auum.
‘We should have ice on Calaius,’ he said.
‘I can live without it,’ said Auum. ‘Is there something on your mind?’
‘Are your people being watched by others?’ asked Ulysan.
‘By Graf and Merke, my friend.’
‘Good.’
Ulysan nodded and returned to his staring. Auum shook his head but kept his words to himself.
‘What is it?’ he asked Merrat instead.
‘We’re all so concerned with getting off the mountain that we haven’t spoken about what comes next. Which way will we go? Who will we try to find? We’re about to be afforded the best view of the Wesman lands we’re going to get. Let’s not waste it, that’s all.’
‘Ulysan, you coming?’ asked Auum.
Ulysan shook his head. ‘Someone has to stop them if they slip. Someone has to be there to grab their hands.’
‘I understand,’ said Auum. ‘Stein, we need you. Come on, Merrat, this is your idea. . and no skating.’
A short while later the three of them sat near the edge of the dizzying drop down to the Wesman lands, feet braced against ice ridges and knives in hand just in case. The ground below appeared full of jagged rock spears pointing up to impale them as they descended. Beyond them the ground was less wild but remained doggedly rugged, dominated by mountains and high hills in the distance and shot through by an overwhelming bleakness.
Smoke rose from the fires of several small settlements perhaps a day’s walk from the base of the mountains, and smudges in the air further afield represented the smoke and dust of larger towns, perhaps even a city. Auum could see goats and cattle roaming the hills searching for grass and roots, but the mass movements of armies he had half expected to see were absent.