He stood with the horses for some time, their warmth and innocence comforting. They demanded so little. But they missed almost nothing of what was around them. There was a moment when all their attention was in the same direction. Thraun moved away from them then, walking smoothly back towards his friends. Denser was stirring but in his anxiety he might have done that at any time. Might have.
Thraun paced evenly and very quietly towards Denser, seeing the mage flap his arms as if pushing away an unseen enemy. Indeed. Thraun saw the shimmer against the heat signature of the dead embers. He walked past Denser’s feet, bent down and dropped his hand on the Cloaked figure, catching him a little high but adjusting his grip. Thraun pushed, the assassin becoming visible as he stopped moving, his face driven into the ground, a knee on his back. The shapechanger growled.
‘Knife,’ he said.
The assassin held out his right arm. The dagger in his right hand was coated. Thraun punched his wrist and the weapon dropped from his grasp.
‘You will not move,’ said Thraun. He tightened his grip on the assassin’s neck, dragging him backwards and up, the other arm wrapping around his front grabbing his groin. ‘Raven!’ Thraun’s voice boomed across the campsite.
Around him, they awoke, rolling and standing, shaking sleep from their minds and dragging swords from scabbards lying on the ground.
‘Form up!’ shouted The Unknown.
Quickly, the four Raven men ran to positions around the still sleeping but stirring Erienne. Thraun pulled his man inside the ring.
‘Where’s your friend?’ asked Hirad.
The assassin said nothing. Thraun pulled him closer, both hands gripping a little tighter.
‘Talk.’ Where there was one, there would be another. He would be watching them, probably from close by. ‘Talk.’
The assassin let go a small groan of pain. Denser turned at the sound. Thraun saw the disappointment in his face.
‘Takyn?’ he said. ‘You?’
‘I am sorry, Denser,’ replied the assassin. ‘I am so ordered.’
‘That’s just bloody great,’ said Denser, he swung back round. ‘Now they’re sending my friends to kill me.’
‘You should have chosen better friends,’ said Hirad.
‘I did.’
‘Yes, Denser, you did,’ said Takyn.
‘Call the other one out,’ said The Unknown. ‘Either that or have him watch you die.’
‘I’ll do it,’ said Denser. ‘Gythen, I know you’re there. Come in and join the party. Let’s work this out and all walk away with our lives tonight.’
‘Don’t be naïve, Denser,’ said a voice from the dark. Thraun struggled to pinpoint his direction. ‘How can you possibly let us go? Takyn knows it. I know it.’
‘Come out and take us on, then,’ said Hirad.
They heard a dry chuckle. ‘Getting myself killed on duty has never been in my plans.’
Denser turned to Takyn. ‘In a moment, it looks like you’ll never be able to father children. Call him out, we won’t kill you.’ He paused. ‘How could you accept this job? Don’t our years of training together mean a thing to you?’
‘They were a long time ago,’ said Takyn between measured, difficult breaths. Thraun did not slacken his grip anywhere. ‘You chose your route, I chose mine.’
‘But this?’
‘I’ll admit I never expected to be assigned to The Raven but you have to be prepared. You know how it works. You’d have made a good assassin.’
‘I’m so flattered.’
‘Denser,’ said The Unknown sharply. ‘This is not helping our problem. Gythen, this is your chance to walk away with your friend, not alone. Show yourself.’
Hirad spoke to Takyn over his shoulder, loud enough for the other to hear.
‘Denser may have trouble killing you but I won’t. Anyone who does Dystran’s bidding shares the blame for the death of my friend. All your lives are forfeit.’
‘Hirad, please.’ said Denser.
‘I’m just telling it how it is.’
Erienne stirred again and awoke, finding herself in a ring of men, tension in the air. Thraun watched her puzzlement turn to irritation, the light that was in her eyes diminishing quickly.
‘Assassins,’ he said.
‘So kill him and let me rest,’ she said, her voice rough and dry. ‘I must have rest.’
‘We’re dealing with it, love,’ said Denser. ‘But there’s another one. You could pinpoint him. You know you have the talent.’
She was on her feet now. Thraun could see her expression clearly when she looked at her husband. It held contempt and impatience but she forced those alien thoughts away, leaving Thraun to see the struggle she was enduring and the fear when her face relaxed.
‘I don’t know if I can stop it if I start it,’ she said, her voice now small and desperate.
‘What are we debating this for?’ asked Hirad. ‘I’m with Erienne. Denser, light up the site, I’ll slit this bastard and we ride out. The coward in the shadows can get us back if he can keep up with a galloping horse. How about it?’
‘Ever the diplomat, Hirad,’ said Denser.
‘We have a Code,’ added The Unknown.
Hirad scoffed. ‘Assassins have no honour. I will show them none in return.’
He spun round, his movement quick enough to surprise even Thraun and Takyn started violently. The barbarian’s sword point prodded Takyn’s chest above his heart. ‘Any of you think you’re quick enough to stop me?’
Erienne’s voice in the void was enough. ‘If it’s any help making up your mind, whoever you are out there, you are moving very slowly to my right. You have just ducked under an overhanging branch. In your next pace, you will pass a small drift of leaves. Denser’s FlameOrbs will be ready in moments. You can’t get away from the splash zone. Your call.’
Thraun watched Erienne’s head fall to her chest and her arms clutch at her ribs as if she was feeling an acute pain. Outside the circle, Gythen blinked into view.
‘Sorry, Takyn,’ he said.
Takyn shrugged. ‘It’s why we want her.’
‘Not another word,’ said Hirad.
‘Gythen, drop your weapon,’ said The Unknown as Darrick moved purposefully towards him. ‘Right now. Hirad, lower your sword.’
‘Un—’
‘Now!’
Thraun watched the conflict on Hirad’s face. His respect for the big man prevailed over his desire for more revenge. His swordpoint dropped and he pushed his face into Takyn’s.
‘Consider yourself one lucky bastard.’
Next to Thraun, Erienne swayed. He thrust Takyn at Hirad and caught her before she fell. The Unknown spoke into the moment’s uncertainty.
‘Darrick, bring him over here. Denser, you can forget the Orbs now, I think deep sleep is more what they need. And us, for that matter. Man on watch guards them too.’ He nodded in some satisfaction. ‘Reckon that makes us safe tonight, don’t you?’
Erienne sank into brief and broken, haunted dreams, feeling more alone than at any time in her life. Since forcing herself back to consciousness to do battle with the One entity throughout her body, she had sought Cleress but the old elf did not or could not answer her. There had been occasions when she thought she had heard a voice but it was vague, like a whisper in a gale. Perhaps the One had shut her out. Perhaps she really was dead.
The effort of adopting the structure allowing her to see Gythen had taken such energy. The technicalities of the casting were simple, enough. Stopping the One from using it as a route to vent power was not.
The Al-Drechar had taught her so much in the short time they had been with her. The possibilities and the dangers, so closely connected, the partitioning of her mind that was demanded to keep castings under control while capping the well of One power. But she hadn’t understood the most basic lesson they had been trying to teach her since that first day she had let them into her mind. She understood it now.