The valley widened out into a long scar that followed the course of the river, and after the dim gorge, the acres of bare, pale rock were almost blindingly bright. Dalip moved up further to allow those behind him entrance. He crunched up the scree, shielding his eyes from the glare with one hand.
He blinked as the scene slowly resolved. There was a crowd of people a little way off, in amongst a series of what looked like half-buried cubes. Beyond them were more substantial buildings, and there were fields and a waterfall and other features, but his gaze was drawn hypnotically back towards the people.
There were at least two distinct types. One formed an outer perimeter, their pale faces at variance with the block-colour gaudiness of their robes. They seemed to be standing and silently watching as the grey-and-brown workers attempted to dismantle one of the cubes, shouting and swearing as they darted in and out to grab pieces of stone.
The stone, inexplicably, was fighting back, judging from the number of men clutching their bloodied hands.
Dalip drew close to Simeon, who was having equal difficulty understanding what was happening.
‘Are they mad? Are they taken with drink or poppy juice?’
‘I have absolutely no idea.’
The rest of the pirates filled the slopes, each gazing with wonder at the bizarre sight and the mean collection of buildings.
‘Is this supposed to be…?’ asked Dalip, He knew that the real White City was the overgrown ruins down by the sea. This place was a shadow of it, barely a conscious aping of the fallen grandeur.
‘Yes.’ Simeon knocked his hat further down over his eyes. ‘Not much to look at, is it?’
‘No. But if this is where Crows came, this is where we’re supposed to be.’ Dalip felt his fist instinctively tighten about his machete’s grip, because there was Crows, standing amongst the robed figures, his tattered black cloak all but a shadow.
He searched for Elena in the faces around him, wondering what she’d do, now that she wasn’t alone and unarmed, but instead had an army at her back.
He didn’t have to wonder. She was already running forward, sabre outstretched.
‘Crows! Crows, we have come for you!’
‘So much for keeping a tight ship,’ said Simeon. Rather than be left behind, he started after her, catching her up and then pulling ahead.
Dalip felt his legs move, despite his better judgement, or because of it, he couldn’t tell. But he was advancing too, and with him Dawson, the steersman, Sebastian, and everyone else: a loose, uncoordinated wave, washing towards the strange robed figures, their flighty, dancing servants, and Crows.
They were spotted, although it wasn’t as if they were trying to hide any longer. Crows saw several faces he knew and had never expected to see again. He was the first to back away, but certainly not the last. All of them began to withdraw, those wearing robes first, their men afterwards, moving away from the stone cube they’d been so intent on dismantling. They headed down the slope towards the road and the buildings.
Elena picked up her pace. So did they.
Then it became a chase, and rapidly a rout, as the pirates raised their weapons and roared and whooped and ululated. They ran them down the street, and those in robes with their immobile white faces peeled off, heading to one door or another, thinning the pack down by twos and threes.
Dalip caught up with Elena, hooked his hand around her arm and pulled her back. She tried to shake him off, but he refused to let go.
‘Crows,’ she said.
‘We’re too spread out. Simeon, tell her.’
‘Chased the dastards indoors, but unless we go house to house, dragging them out by their scruffs, there’s no further advantage in our current position. Singh◦– you and Dawson gather the troops up at the defile, seal this place up tight like a cork in a bottle. I’ll hold the fort here until an orderly retreat◦– unlike our advance◦– can be achieved.’
Simeon sounded the horn, and the chasing pack slowed and milled about, staring up at the high, blank walls and tiny, out-of-reach slitted windows.
‘Come on, you sea-dogs. Rally and regroup. If the cowards won’t stand and fight, we’ll have to stir them in their lairs.’
Elena growled, and directed her frustration at Dalip.
‘We could have caught him.’
‘We were nowhere near catching him. And we know he’s here, that’s the important thing.’
‘This cannot wait!’ She backed away from him. ‘He must pay.’
‘He will. Just not this very second.’
‘If he escapes—’
‘We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t. But there’s no magic here: he can’t use his crows or cover himself in darkness or anything like that.’
‘You know,’ she said, ‘that his lying heart is the most dangerous thing about him. He needs no magic for that.’
‘Elena, we’ve cornered him and he’s not getting away. Let’s do what Simeon says, and you’ll have all the help you need to catch Crows.’
Dawson, holding the horn, sounded it again and started the general retreat towards the scattered cube structures. Dalip obeyed, and when she realised that everyone else was following, so did Elena, stamping her feet, cursing loudly and swiping at the air with her sabre. Dalip stayed away, and so did the others. Even Sebastian walked behind her, out of range.
They gathered amongst the stone cubes, which weren’t solid, but hollow, with heavy slabs making the roofs, and lockable doors built into the downslope faces. Which was interesting, considering that the robed people and their minions had been trying to pick one apart.
Dalip tried to find which one it was. Up close, they all looked the same, and it was only by carefully comparing where he’d been standing earlier with what he could see now that he found it, further uphill and at the end of a row.
The ground around it was no different◦– the cliff wall spalled shards like shattered bricks, so none of the buildings had used dressed stone. Just that where the edges of the other structures were straight, this one was ragged. Dalip circled it at a respectful distance, and wondered what it contained.
The door, when he tried it, was locked fast. But such was the dry-stone construction that he thought he might be able to peer through the cracks to see inside. The instant he put his hand on the wall, he felt a sharp sting. He jerked away, and clenched his fist tight. A bright drop of blood squeezed out.
When he thought he could, he unrolled his fingers and inspected the wound. Something had punched a hole in the palm of his hand, and it was bleeding. The steersman saw him and went to inspect the structure himself. Dalip waved him back.
‘Careful.’ He held up his hand as proof of the danger.
‘What’s inside?’
‘Something sharp.’ Dalip clenched his fist again. ‘They seemed very keen on getting it out.’
‘I’ll tell the cap’n.’
Simeon came over and inspected the problem.
‘If it was important to them, it’s important to us. Get it open.’ He frowned at door. ‘Have you tried knocking?’
‘Do you think it’d help?’ asked Dalip.
‘If it’s some fell beast inside, no, and we can safely leave it where it is. If it’s a captive of theirs, then the poor soul can be released into our care. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that.’
He strode forward and, avoiding any of the open stonework, rapped his knuckles on the thick wooden door.
‘Ahoy in there. Are you man, or monster?’
‘Fuck off.’
Dalip’s eyes went wide. ‘Mary?’
‘You can fuck off too.’
‘You know her? You’re full of surprises, Singh. Winkle the good lady out, if you please.’
Dalip approached, still nursing his hand. ‘Mary? It’s Dalip. You can come out now.’
There was silence. Then: ‘Dalip? Are you sure?’