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.buildings dwindled in the distance.And it was a release that just about made up for the discomfort of the ride.The horses sweated in the heat, attracting clouds of irritating, buzzing flies that plagued mount and rider alike.Forever waving a hand in front of his face, Hirad's body was covered in a sheen of damp, beads running down the line of his back where they collected in his seat to chafe and rub.The late afternoon brought mercifully cooler temperatures, a cover of cloud and a change in the terrain.Passing across the northern edge of a beautiful region of river valleys, lush green vegetation, great and ancient trees and fern-covered hillsides, the Eastern Balaians moved into altogether harsher lands.The ground rose to a series of sharp peaks, littered with cracked rocks and strewn with boulders.Darrick ordered a dismount to save the horses' legs and hooves, relieved men and mages stretching as they led their mounts over teacherous slabs of stone, half-buried under tough stands of long grass.To both sides, the ground fell away down steep scree slopes into wind-blasted clefts.Nowhere in sight was there any sign of habitation.Nevertheless, The Unknown was nervous.'We're exposed here,' he said.'But only, it seems, to the elements,' replied Ilkar, drawing his cloak more firmly around his shoulders, the breeze whipping at cloth and grass, the heat changing quickly to chill.'If we're spotted, we have no obvious cover,' said The Unknown.'Thraun, what do you think?' The shapechanger had spent some time at the head of the column earlier in the afternoon, advising Darrick's scouts.He walked up to join The Unknown.'It's not as bad as it looks although we might want to ride perhaps another quarter of a mile north if we can.The scouts have reported very little habitation up here.The land is useless for all but grazing goats.We're unlikely to meet locals; the only risk is running into Wesmen warriors.'There are limited passable trails for horses and this is one of the better ones, believe it or not.I get no feeling that Wesmen will be a problem for a day or so.I've advised three of the scouts to travel to the fork above Terenetsa.That's still more than two days' ride from here for a fast scout.We'll have a better picture in three days.Until then, the elves and me are the best chance we have of avoiding trouble.''And you think we will?' asked Ilkar, who had come to respect Thraun's reading of land and scent.'Yes.'Shortly after dusk, Darrick halted the column in the lee of another steep climb.The wind had blown away the cloud and, while it had dropped to a gentle breeze, the clear skies were cooling fast.Quickly, elves marked fire boundaries outside of which no flame could be shown.Thus marked, the perimeter of the camp was established, the first guards set and the cook-fires laid.The Raven took themselves to the opposite corner from Styliann and the Protectors.As they sat down around Will's stove, waiting for water to boil, Hirad chuckled.'I wonder how he feels?' he said.'Styliann, I mean.I know he hasn't got too many friends but there's got to be a hundred feet between him and the nearest cavalryman, and they still look nervous.''I shouldn't think he cares at all,' said Denser.'The Lord of the Mount is used to isolation.' The Dark Mage was flat on his back, head propped up on Erienne's lap, she stroking his hair in what was becoming a familiar scene as he recovered from the casting of Dawnthief.Hirad and The Unknown exchanged a glance.They were the first words Denser had spoken the entire day.And it had been a detached silence, the Xeteskian riding or walking apart from The Raven.All he had got from Erienne in response to his looks had been shrugs and shakes of the head.Now, as she cradled Denser, Erienne's concern and confusion were obvious even in the uncertain light of the flames.The talk pattered on in a broken way until coffee was poured.To Denser and Erienne's left sat Thraun and Will while Hirad and Ilkar flanked The Unknown to their right.The Unknown called for attention.'Ilkar, Hirad, feel uncomfortable?' he asked.The two nodded, expressions stark in the firelight, eyes hidden by shadow.'Why just them?' asked Will.'Because it's only the three of us who have been in potential large-scale battle situations before, and there's a lot wrong with this one.''Not so far as I can see,' said Erienne.'We just have to reach the Colleges quickly and safely and this is surely the best way.''No,' said The Unknown.'Because we don't want to invite battle and this troop is doing just that, or it will be when we reach the vicinity of the Blackthornes.''So what do you suggest?' asked Thraun.'We have to split from them.Our course lies in a different direction.''How do you work that out?' Thraun frowned, his gruff low voice grumbling across the stove.'The situation is going to be very difficult when we reach Triverne Inlet, which is, I suspect, the favoured destination.We can assume the Wesmen will be supplying their armies across the water so there'll be a relatively heavy presence.'If we stride up with Darrick and Styliann there'll be a battle.If we go through on our own, with Thraun's eyes and ears, we can take a boat and get across unseen.''And what happens to Darrick?''We have to persuade him to go south to the Bay of Gyernath, maybe creating a diversion for us along the way.Either way, we have to go alone.''The point is,' said Hirad, 'that we're being run as an addition to the cavalry.That isn't how The Raven operates.Not now.''So just how do we operate?' asked Denser.'You should know,' said Hirad, frowning at Denser's flat tone.'We go into a situation, assess, make decisions and recommendations and don't expect to be questioned.''You don't consider that a little high-handed?' ventured Will.Hirad merely shrugged.'Just ask yourself why we're still alive after ten years' fighting.And why, particularly, we're alive when the Wytch Lords are dead.It isn't high-anything, it's The Raven's way.'Ilkar smiled.'Only you could be so cocky with fifty thousand Wesmen between you and your next port of call.''It's not that, it's—''We know,' said Ilkar.'If we do things how we think they should be done, we'll stay alive.' He mimed a yawn.Will and Thraun laughed.Hirad scowled slightly.The Unknown cleared his throat.'I'm glad we've cleared that up,' he said.'Now listen.While Darrick will almost certainly see sense, Styliann almost certainly will not.''Why not?' asked Will.'Because Triverne Inlet represents his quickest route to Xetesk, barring Understone Pass.If he won't see sense, we'll have to leave by the back door in a couple of nights.I just hope it doesn't come to that.Styliann could still be a powerful ally and his sway will definitely help us gain access to the College libraries.'T don't trust him,' said Ilkar.'Now there's a surprise,' muttered Denser.'No, it's more than inter-College mistrust.He tried to kill us at the Wrethsires' Temple and let's not forget why.He wanted Dawnthief so he could use it to assume power over the Colleges, and as a threat to the Wytch Lords and Wesmen.He wanted to rule Balaia and I'm sure he still does.God knows what this pooling of knowledge will reveal but I don't think Styliann should have any part in it.''What, just cut Xetesk out, is that it?' asked Denser sharply.Ilkar sighed.'You're here, aren't you?''You made your choice at the Temple,' added Hirad.'You're Raven.''There's something more,' said Erienne.'The dividing of Septern's works between the Colleges was no freak or accident.Septern was very careful to ensure no one College had enough knowledge to be dominant.''Was he really that good?' asked Will.'It was the potential of his magic that he recognised as so dangerous,' said Erienne.'I suspect he could see the way his research might be taken.And he was right, as Xetesk proved with their DimensionConnect.Just think of the danger when they can stabilise the gateway [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]