Hirad paused. ‘You’ve got what? Gods in the sky.’ He pushed harder. ‘Did you hear that, Denser? You’ve got responsibility now, damn you. Breathe! Breathe!’ Hirad slapped his face to either side, hard. The Unknown massaged his neck and worked his jaw.
‘Breathe!’
Denser’s mouth opened, his lungs seized air, his body heaved and he sat bolt upright, knocking Hirad aside. His hands clutched his chest and his throat gulped air. Erienne burst into fresh tears. Denser turned to her but fell back, and she cushioned his head from the fall. She ruffled his hair.
‘I thought you’d died, you bastard. I thought you’d died,’ she said, a tear falling on to his cheek.
Denser smiled and shook his head. ‘I tried my best, though,’ he said. ‘My chest hurts.’
‘Well, we had to do something,’ said Hirad.
‘It feels like you shook hands with my heart.’
‘No, no. Just persuaded it to beat.’
‘Thank you.’
Hirad shrugged. ‘You’re Raven. I can’t let you die when you’ve just destroyed the Wytch Lords. No glory in that.’ He followed Denser’s gaze up through the dust-clouded air into Balaia’s mainly blue sky. A rolling grey-flecked brown patch hung there.
‘Oh dear,’ said Denser. ‘I’m not sure that was supposed to happen.’
Hirad looked a little longer at the new rip before settling his gaze on Denser.
‘We’ll live with it,’ he said. He stood up and brushed dust off his tunic and leggings. The rip ate at the sky. ‘How’re you feeling?’
‘Tired. And sore.’
‘Well, this is a place of rest,’ said Ilkar, not able to take his eyes from the rip for too long.
‘It’ll do for now.’ Denser closed his eyes. ‘Wake me in a few days.’
‘Could you give us a little space?’ asked Erienne, her hand again idly stroking Denser’s hair.
‘Of course,’ replied The Unknown. ‘Gentlemen . . .’ He sheathed his sword, slung it across his back and made a shovelling motion with his hands.
‘What’s up, Ilkar?’ asked Hirad, coming to the elf’s shoulder.
‘That,’ said Ilkar, pointing at the rip. ‘I wonder where it leads. Somewhere harmless, I hope.’ He clacked his tongue and sighed. ‘What have we done, eh?’
Hirad put an arm round his shoulder and squeezed him.
‘We won. Come on, you’ll be able to see it better from outside,’ he said. He turned Ilkar from the rip to face The Unknown, Will and Thraun. ‘We won.’
‘At least we can collect on the contract,’ said Ilkar.
‘I thought you wouldn’t touch Xetesk’s filthy money,’ said Denser from his prone position.
Ilkar laughed. ‘It doesn’t do to be too proud where money’s concerned,’ he replied.
‘Spoken like a true mercenary,’ said Hirad. Erienne cleared her throat noisily. ‘Sorry, Erienne.’ He indicated the way to the sunlight.
‘Raven,’ he said quietly, crooking his finger. ‘Raven with me.’
No book is constructed in complete isolation and the path to this one contains many milestones, some way back in my youth. Here goes.
To my parents, who never once complained at the incessant tap of the typewriter throughout my school days and, well, for just being you. To Stuart Widd, an English teacher who encouraged imagination and expression. To Paul H, Carl B, Hazel G, Chris G, Robert N, and Ray C who unwittingly gave birth to The Raven many years ago, did any of us but know it at the time. To readers like Tara Falk and Dave Mutton who criticised and improved me at every turn. But most to Peter Robinson, John ‘George’ Cross and Simon Spanton (more Ravenites) for cajoling, bullying, ideas and encouragement all the way. It’s a cliché, I know, but without you, this wouldn’t just be only half the book, it wouldn’t be a book at all.
I thank you all for your love, help and support.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Contents
Dedication
Cast List
Map
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
For my parents, Keith and Thea Barclay.
Always there, always wonderful.
Cast List
Prologue
The intensity of vibration grew in his head. Within the dark of the Choul, deep beneath the jungles of Teras, those of the Brood-at-rest shifted in sudden nervousness, most of them unaware of what they were feeling.
Like an itch he couldn’t rub, the humming picked at his mind and worried him deep in the core of his being. He opened a huge blue eye, pupil widening to admit the dim light from the entrance high above, picking out the hollowed damp rock, the lianas creeping down and the lichen which covered every surface. It showed him the fluttering of a wing, the shaking of a neck and the shifting of clawed feet as the Brood moved to premature wakefulness. He felt the quickening of pulses, the rumble of lungs drawing in air and the creaking of jaws stretched wide.
A great shiver coursed his body and Sha-Kaan’s heart leapt. The vibration, a siren for disaster, clamoured in his skull. He came to his feet, great wings unfurling for flight, a cry forming in his mouth. He called to the Brood and led them from the Choul, charging towards the light, drawn to the great boiling in the sky where a new battle was just beginning.
Chapter 1
It would be a glorious victory. Lord Senedai of the Heystron Tribes stood on a raised platform watching the smoke billowing over Julatsa as building after building was put to flame. The acrid smell of the smoke was beautiful in his nostrils and through the fog it created, he could see the white and black fire his Shamen wielded through linkage with the Wytch Lords, tearing what was left of the city’s heart to shreds. And there was nothing the Julatsans could do to stop them.