'And the camps will have to be within range of villages, Topar agreed. He pointed at the summit of Mount Alvice at the south-eastern end of the valley. 'There's a plateau beyond the crest, with several villages. Sandmarket is a day's ride beyond that.
'That kind of area is a possible for them, Boloton agreed. 'Secluded but in range of Regentfleet.
Edeard thought they were right, but didn't say anything. He was content with someone else making all the decisions for once. Topar hadn't said how long he was prepared to stay out here trying to track down the bandits, but they were carrying enough food for a fortnight.
Once they were back in the saddle, Topar led them onwards towards Mount Alvice. As before, they clung to the treeline to avoid being spotted. They were assuming the bandits would be using ge-eagles, and probably dogs. All of them had listened intently to Edeard on the first day when he told them about the tamed fastfoxes he'd encountered back in Rulan province.
By midday they were half way round the mountain's slopes, when Topar stopped them. Their ge-eagles came flashing down to settle among the treetops. Verini, who was using the ge-eagle with ordinary vision had spied two similar ge-eagles in the air above the shallow pass into the plateau country. The pair of them were orbiting high above the stony track, soaring round in a huge circle.
'Definitely keeping watch, Topar said after they'd watched the ge-eagles for over half an hour. 'We'll have to go through the trees to get past them.
Everyone dismounted and began to lead their ge-horses into the trees. Edeard went last, sweeping his farsight along the track through the pass to see if he could locate the bandits instructing the ge-eagles. There was no sign of them, not even if he used the counter to concealment — though that wasn't reliable at any distance. They were either on the other side of the pass, or hidden behind some thick rock.
Their ge-wolves prowled through the forest of kalkand trees, using natural senses to scent anyone hidden amid the undergrowth. It was dank and cold under the boughs, as if the tall leaden trunks were somehow caging a winter's mist. The cold soon wormed its way through their jackets and trousers to chill their limbs. Everyone had to use their third hand to ward off low branches and clinging damp fronds. The undergrowth of straggly bushes stunted by the lack of light tore at their legs, slowing them further. An endless canopy of scarlet sporecones dripped sap on to their hats which then dribbled in sluggish rivulets down on to their shoulders.
It was late afternoon by the time they reached the far side of the mountain. The plateau was more hospitable than the saddle lands behind. A broad expanse of deciduous forests and long meadows laced with small streams. The peaks all around were low, without snowcaps. Miles away to the north east they could see a village; its yellow stone buildings cresting a hillock. Thin strands of smoke wound their way up out of chimneys.
'No wall, Edeard said under his breath. Even now that still startled him. He remembered his surprise on the long journey east with the Barkus caravan how the fortifications around settlements grew smaller and more dilapidated with every mile they travelled. Until finally in Oxfolk province on the other side of the Ulfsen Mountains they had been abandoned altogether, leaving towns and villages completely exposed to whatever lurked outside their boundary. Only nothing dangerous did lurk there, not any more. Not for hundreds of years.
With the pass guarded by the ge-eagles far behind them, Topar guided them along the treeline to a steep little valley leading away from the mountain. They hiked down to the stream at the bottom, and mounted up again. The ge-horses splashed along the stone bed, taking them out on to the plateau. Small martoz and bluebeech trees grew out of the steep slopes, their roots webbing the big flood boulders littering the valley. Long whip-like branches waved across the sky above them, providing more cover. Their ge-eagles flew low, barely skimming the uppermost branches, watching for any of their own kind; while the ge-wolves spread out across the boggy meadowland on either side, sniffing the air.
As the sun fell below the high, rumpled horizon they reached one of the many forests sprawled across the plateau. Here the trees weren't so tight, and the ground underfoot was a mat of dead leaves and soft loam. Tall weeds and grass offered no resistance to the ge-horses. They made their way to the centre where they set up camp.
When the first glimmers of the nebulas began to shimmer overhead, Topar dispatched their five night-viewing ge-eagles to see if they could spot the watchers from the pass.
'They're here somewhere, Macsen said intently. 'They wouldn't keep a look-out on the pass otherwise.
'Unless they're in the valley on the other side of it, Dinlay pointed out. 'And we crossed each other sometime when we both crept through the trees.
'Ever the optimist, Macsen grunted.
'Practicalist.
'That's not a word.
'Realist, Larby supplied.
'Thank you, Dinlay said.
'They're here on the plateau, Topar said.
Edeard was one of those guiding the ge-eagles, his farsight enabling him to send it over vast swathes of land. It soared up into the air, giving it a broad view of the rolling plateau. Topar had asked him to cover the south east, where there were forests and narrow gullies and long talus slides spilling out below from faultline crags.
The ge-eagle flew swift and silent, showing him the muted ground, as if he was peering down on a world shrouded by the thickest stormclouds. He saw a drakken pack scampering along a slim gorge like an oily tide; then they began to churn around a chamalan carcass. Small rusals skipped nimbly up bushes and trees, searching for cones and pods to store for the winter. Trilans wove their low dams across streams, producing wide bogs that proved treacherous to other animals. Several zlocks of chamalan's huddled together, those on the outside nervous of whatever skulked through the night.
After an hour observing the relatively harmless nocturnal activities of the plateau's wildlife, the ge-eagle caught a flash of motion next to a sprawl of hatlash trees growing along the marshy banks of a small lake. Something bigger and faster than anything else it had seen that night. The ge-eagle dipped its wing and curved round until it was coasting along several hundred feet above the tops of the hatlash trees. Their trunks were swollen from the lake water, pressed together in a battle for space; the pushing and shoving resulted in the trees leaning at steep angles, producing an interlocked tangle. Perfect cover. The ge-eagle turned again, scouring the swaying tree-tops for any sign of incongruous movement.
It glimpsed something on the third pass, and began a tight spiral. Through its eyes Edeard saw a fastfox slinking along, picking its way through the ragged curtains of weeping boughs. The big predator sped up when it reached a small clearing where dead trunks were rotting into a rancid pile of fungi. Even so, the ge-eagle clearly saw the collar round its neck.
'They're here, Edeard announced quietly, and gifted the ge-eagle's vision to the others.
'Sweet Lady, Dinlay muttered.
'I never thought I'd ever see one of those things, Macsen said.
Edeard instructed the ge-eagle to back off.
'Why? Larby asked.
'Its master won't be far away, Edeard explained. 'They're not that easy to keep control off, I know. He might farsight our ge-eagle.
Sure enough, a few minutes later the fastfox left the hatlash trees. A man was with it, jogging along effortlessly.
'Dear Lady, Edeard gasped. The man was wearing a simple dark tunic and knee-length boots. Two belts were looped over his shoulders, crossing his chest. Slim metal boxes were clipped to it, the kind that held bullets for the rapid-fire gun that was hanging on a third strap. 'He's one of them! Shock was making him giddy. His hands started pawing at his chest as he sucked down air.