‘Are you ready for this?’ He really only asked it of two of them. Of Ilkar, whose courage in the face of the loss of his College was extraordinary but flawed. And of Styliann, whose determination to minutely examine the wreckage of the Avian dimension had frayed tempers during the short walk between rips.
The former Lord of the Mount nodded stiffly. Ilkar managed a smile.
‘As ready as I’m going to get,’ he said.
‘I wish I could say the same,’ said Hirad. ‘Denser? Anything we should know?’
‘Just be ready to fall backwards. The place was a mess and I doubt it’s got any better.’
In fact, it was completely different to Denser’s description. He had spoken of blackened earth, a sky heavy with dragons and fire splashing from the air. But through the rip they emerged inside a cave. And though it was dark where they landed, a gentle grey-green light filtered from around a sharp left-hand corner a few paces ahead of them.
‘What in all the hells is this?’ Denser dusted himself down. ‘The rip must have been moved.’
‘I don’t think that’s possible without the casting mage,’ said Erienne.
‘Well, this bloody rock wasn’t here before.’
‘Anyone got a torch?’ Hirad was smiling.
‘Dare I ask why?’ asked The Unknown.
‘Perhaps the dragons are painted on the ceiling, or something.’
‘You really are hilarious, Coldheart,’ snapped Denser. ‘I know what I saw.’
‘Then,’ said Styliann, the quiet authority of his voice cutting through the still air, ‘someone must have built it.’
Hirad looked askance at Styliann but before he could speak, the power of Sha-Kaan’s mind gripped him.
‘Welcome to my world, Hirad Coldheart. Now you will see what your carelessness has caused. Jatha will guide you from the enclave.’ As fast as the power had come it was gone and Hirad found himself looking into The Unknown’s puzzled face.
‘You all right?’
Hirad nodded. ‘It was Sha-Kaan. He knows we’re here. He—’ He was interrupted by movement from ahead of them. A shadow moved in the light. Seamlessly, The Raven formed up. Hirad, The Unknown and Thraun, responding automatically, unsheathing swords and spacing themselves centrally in the chamber. Ilkar, Denser and Erienne stationed themselves behind. A heartbeat later, the Protectors joined them on either flank.
A short man, simply dressed, and with a sheathed weapon at his side, walked into view. He showed no fear at the line of warriors facing him, his face breaking into a smile above his long braided beard. Hirad relaxed and put up his sword.
‘Jatha?’ he ventured, knowing he was right. The man nodded and with vocal cords sounding unused to regular speech, said:
‘Hirad Coldheart. Raven.’
Chapter 29
The Lord Tessaya received two messages via carrier woodruff within the space of an hour around midday, and they led him to preside over a slaughter he had thought to avoid.
The first message, from the remnants of Taomi’s force fleeing north-west towards Understone, confirmed all his worst fears about the state of the invasion of Gyernath and the defiance of the Baron whose wine he so enjoyed. But worse, it informed him of the destruction of the southern supply base and that Darrick not only still lived but still fought hard.
And the second, while giving him the news he had craved from Julatsa, left him plagued with doubts because it spoke of a small force breaking through the siege line a few hours before the College fell. It spoke of a mission to a land of dragons, it spoke of cataclysm and death from the sky greater than any the Wytch Lords might have unleashed. And, coming so hard on the heels of the rout of his men chasing the cursed Xetesk mage, he felt uncertain for the first time since he rode from his village.
Hating himself for doing it, he called on Arnoan to help him. The two men sat inside the inn, ate and talked, the old Shaman’s eyes sparkling and mischievous. Tessaya knew Arnoan felt a great wrong had been righted and was happy to let the idea ride.
‘It will pay you to be calm,’ said Arnoan, breaking bread and soaking it in his broth.
‘Calm?’ echoed Tessaya. ‘The Raven, damn them, have escaped a siege city and apparently go to speak with dragons, to form an alliance against me. Styliann and his dread force which now numbers somewhere around five hundred have massacred, massacred, thousands of my warriors at precious little cost and, if my scouts are correct, appear to be travelling to meet The Raven. And now I find my southern brethren are fleeing from a town they thought was theirs and have now been forced to destroy to prevent its recapture. Their spirit is broken and those that are left are coming here expecting my sympathy. Something they will not get.
‘This is not a situation in which I see any reason to remain calm.’ He drained a goblet of wine, Blackthorne red ironically, and refilled it, pushing a hunk of bread into his mouth with his free hand.
Arnoan smiled gently. ‘But how much of it is true, my Lord? Darrick and Blackthorne, yes, I can see that. But dragons? And death from the sky? Are we not beyond these wild stories? I rather suspect that much of Senedai’s report is the hysterical claims of a mage knowing his life is about to end and wishing to strike fear into his tormentor.’
‘He succeeded.’ Tessaya regarded Arnoan over the top of his goblet.
‘But we must discount dragons. They are creatures of nightmare with no hold on the real world. They do not exist,’ said Arnoan.
‘And supposing I accept that, why did The Raven leave, and where are they going? And why has Styliann not remained in Xetesk to defend his own city, taking with him their prime fighting force?’ Tessaya drummed his fingers on the table.
‘It seems clear to me that, knowing the College was falling, The Raven ran. They have no allegiance, they are mercenaries,’ said Arnoan. Tessaya almost smiled, though irritation at the Shaman’s dismissal of circumstance lent his mood anger, not levity.
‘I would sooner believe dragons exist than that The Raven ran from a fight. Don’t try to smooth over what is going on. Senedai’s message was quite clear that they broke through with the aid and, I must presume, the blessing of the Julatsans.’ He held up his hand to silence Arnoan’s next utterance. ‘Something is going on. I can feel it. And we are sitting here just waiting for the storm to break. I will not wait any longer.’
‘We can track them and watch them as we are doing now,’ said Arnoan. ‘Understone is important to us. We must not desert it.’
‘Perhaps you have lost your stomach for the fight now you are toothless, my Shaman, but I have not.’ Tessaya’s voice was quiet and cold. ‘Let me tell you the way it is. The Raven are riding to parley with dragons and if not them, something equally powerful they believe can stop us. Styliann and his bastard creations will join them. At the very best, if we do not hunt them down and kill them, they will advance the defence of Korina and I do not want that. At worst, they might just find an ally we cannot beat.
‘Lord Senedai has treated it seriously enough to give chase with much of his army, Lord Taomi is running here with Baron Blackthorne and perhaps General Darrick in his bootprints. Our goal is to control Balaia through the capture of the capital and we will not achieve that sitting here waiting for Taomi to lead trouble to our door.
‘You will instruct Riasu that he is to man the eastern fortifications of Understone Pass. No mage must get close enough to cast the water magic. He has enough men and he can call on the reserve. We will march first to The Raven and then to Korina. Time is slipping from us, my old friend, and we must grasp the opportunity while we still have it.’
Arnoan was quiet for a time, sucking his top lip and nodding his head as he thought. ‘It is a bold move, my Lord. But what of Understone itself? We have expended such effort securing it.’