‘Not saying,’ Sharfy repeated, and he seemed a little pale.
Anfen came back inside. He quickly examined Eric as though for physical injury, but said nothing. ‘Ready to hear me out now?’ said Loup. ‘I’m telling you, I saw something important. Real or no, you should hear it.’
Anfen shook his head and kept tensely silent over on his mattress, running a dead stone over his blade.
‘He’s not happy,’ Eric whispered.
‘Nope. That was a fine sword of his, and that Invia snapped it like a stick,’ said Loup. ‘Eskian blade. Heck, it made me sad, wasn’t even my sword.’
‘I get the feeling that’s not what’s bothering him,’ said Eric, though he marvelled again at the often scattered dots Loup managed to connect.
‘He’s got to understand something about us,’ said Sharfy. ‘We’re never gonna be like his old unit was. Not as disciplined, never will be. We can scrap all right, survive in the wild. We got the balls to come on a mission like this in the first place, can keep our mouths shut about where we been, s’long as they pay us what they promised. That’s going to have to be enough.’
‘How high up the chain of command was Anfen, in the army days?’
‘First Captain, rank below General,’ said Sharfy. ‘Youngest ever to make that rank, best swordsman around, in his day. There’s a tournament, Valour’s Helm. Use blunt wood swords so no one’s killed. Best sent in from all cities, best from the castle. Week long, it runs, whole lot of smaller tournaments before it to pick the cream. Even Free Cities send their best, kind of a truce. Anfen won it four years running.’
‘Three,’ said Loup.
‘Three, four, may as well be ten. No one won it twice, before him. He’s nearly a decade older now; I reckon he’d be a chance to win it still.’
‘But you’d give him a good fight, wouldn’t you?’ said Loup, grinning.
Sharfy considered this question very carefully. ‘When I was younger, maybe I’d make him sweat, but he’d win. Now he’d cut me up in three seconds, if I really went at him.’
‘And I might,’ Anfen said from across the room. ‘Among my virtues is uncannily good hearing. I was waiting for you to add it to your list.’
Sharfy winced.
‘Valour’s Helm was pointless,’ muttered Anfen, running the dead stone over his blade with aggressive tugs: scrape, scrape, scrape. ‘You said it yourself. Blunt wooden swords so no one gets hurt. Three years running I was best at wielding a piece of tree barely fit for firewood. Some of those others would have spilled my guts on my shoes with their own swords.’
Anfen tossed the sword aside as though afraid he’d be tempted to vent his anger by using it. ‘You think I’m pining for elite soldiers, Sharfy,’ he went on. ‘Not really. It’s common sense not to do magic rituals when a powerful mage stalks your company. And to tell your leader when you’re being followed by one. Siel knew, Loup knew, even Case knew before I did. And let’s not even mention Kiown’s idiocy at the wagon train, which was so stunning I’m almost in awe. Would you people think about this, please? In my pocket is a charm, with a message on it that may change the course of all history: they have shown us their fear and their weakness. All we have to do is get this charm back to the Mayors. Not to mention two Pilgrims with heads full of priceless knowledge. Yet, we are extremely lucky to be alive right now, and not in castle dungeons being slowly tortured. You of all people, Sharfy, should be wary of that.’
Sharfy’s face darkened, jaw clenched.
‘If this were the army,’ said Anfen, ‘the castle’s or a city’s, on a campaign with one hundredth as much at stake, most of you would be headless in a roadside ditch. And I’d side with the officer who did the cutting.’
Siel gave Eric and Sharfy a look that said, maybe you should just keep your mouths shut. So they did, and soon Faul bade the birds good night.
33
No one had been put on watch duty, so Eric was the first to hear it. As he came up from deep sleep, he thought it was only the claws of Faul’s birds scraping the metal floors of their cages. The half-giant’s snoring from deeper in the house rumbled like an idling engine.
He hadn’t noticed Siel climb under his blanket, and it was a shock to find her naked body pressed to his, with his arm pulled around her, her hands clutching it like he was her protector. Fine joke, that — she could probably kill him with bare fists. Her skin felt cool on his and he could smell her body, unper-fumed and clean.
The sky had just begun to lighten, so that the sleeping silhouettes stood a little firmer across the long spacious room. Again came the sound that had woken him, thump thump on the roof. Like something falling on it. His heart quickened.
With regret he gently prised himself away from Siel, trying not to wake her, but she stirred, and was up a second later. She heard something too. In seconds she was clothed again, bow in hand, stalking through the house with footsteps not making the slightest creak on the floorboards. Eric pulled on his shoes, grabbed the army-issue sword, scoffed at himself and picked up the gun instead, quickly strapping on the holster. It was loaded and ready to fire. He went out after Siel, his steps not nearly as stealthy as hers.
He had just begun to wonder if they’d imagined things when Lalie’s voice came from outside, a shrill yelclass="underline" ‘Something here! Help, something here! They’re back, they’ve come!’ Her words dissolved to panicked whimpering.
The whole company was up, armed, and rushing through the house. There was a crashing sound as something punched through the roof. Anfen shouted an order Eric didn’t catch. He and Siel were out on the porch with Lalie, who groped for them in her terror. Siel told her twice to be calm. Now she slapped the girl, and Lalie hushed.
They stared around the yard. The rocky outcrops, the forest lined down to the left, were black outlines against the bluish gloom. Again came the sound on the roof. And the sound of wings beating the air. All Faul’s birds began screeching at once.
‘Lalie, do your beasts have wings?’ said Siel, pulling an arrow back, angled upwards. Lalie whimpered and didn’t seem to hear. ‘I don’t see it,’ Siel muttered. ‘Answer me! Do they have wings?’
But Lalie cowered on the floor, stupid with terror.
Faul’s snoring still rumbled from within the house. They heard Lut’s voice in there trying to rouse her, apparently without luck.
Anfen and the others came outside on the porch with them. Then many things happened at once.
A flash of light flared out in the yard. There, a woman in a green dress — Stranger — had arms aloft, a look of concentration on her face. A fountain of light poured from her, illuminating the yard like a lightning strike that stayed put, but for its slow twisting. She had not made the sound on the roof; she was showing them what had.
Perched on the yard’s lone tall tree were two Invia, staring at the house — rather, at Anfen. Wings beat at the air again as two more took off from the roof and flew to join those in the tree. Not knowing who or what else was inside with the clearly dangerous Marked one, they had wanted to draw him out.
‘Damn it,’ Anfen muttered. He didn’t even look at Stranger. He called to the Invia, ‘You only want me?’
There was a fluttering whistle in response, like an unearthly bird’s coo. Anfen strode down the steps, into the yard. Stranger called, ‘Fight them, I’ll aid you.’
Siel hadn’t looked away from Stranger for a moment. She loosed an arrow which sliced the air and narrowly missed. Stranger looked at her with great surprise. Case gave a strangled cry and threw himself at Siel, who had begun aiming another arrow. It flew well wide, as Siel tripped over Lalie and landed sprawling on the porch.
Anfen meanwhile approached the Invia in their tree. All four creatures watched him and only him, the Marked one, their faces neutral and curious. One by one, they stood and stepped onto the air, wings spreading. Back over his shoulder, Anfen yelled, ‘Don’t attack them. Take the charm to the council. Sharfy leads. Be safe.’