It opened its wide mouth even wider, borrowing substance from the rest of its body to create a cavernous abyss of fangs that closed down upon Jaya.
‘Idiot,’ said Bel.
The Mireform’s eyes rolled to focus on Bel. ‘What?’
‘You’re going to start with her, the one I hold dearest …and then work your way back through the others, when you’ll have already done the worst of the harm? That’s like cutting out a man’s heart and then tickling his toes. You have the order all wrong.’
The Mireform managed to look uncertain for a moment, and Bel wondered if his argument, made in near-hysteria, had actually worked.
‘Good try,’ the creature said, and once again its maw descended.
‘Stop,’ said Gellan.
‘ Stop? ’ one of the others chuckled wetly. ‘No, little mage. We think not.’
Gellan sighed. ‘I guess I can’t let this go on any longer.’
Losara dropped his disguise. The mage Gellan, whose real body lay buried many weeks behind them, disappeared. Everyone but Fazel stared at him in shock. Eldew paused on the brink of decapitating Jaya, his spittle dripping on her as his massive open mouth took on an expression of surprise.
‘Lord Shadowdreamer!’
‘I am disappointed in you, Eldew,’ said Losara. ‘This,’ he waved around at the village, ‘was not part of your orders.’
‘We did not deviate from the course you gave us,’ said Eldew. ‘Why not dispatch enemies of Fenvarrow if we find them in our way?’
‘Peasants,’ said Losara. ‘Farmers. We had no cause to fear them.’
‘But they could be made to pick up swords, pitchforks, stand against us in the coming battles.’
‘We killed the dragon,’ added Ectid, almost whining.
‘True,’ said Losara. ‘In that you did well.’
He turned to his counterpart, and was taken aback by the cold, livid hatred he saw in Bel’s eyes.
He’s here , thought Bel. He’s been with us for …since when? Was he Gellan from the start?
‘How long?’ he said, his voice tense.
‘Remember when you awoke to Gellan’s cry in the night?’ said Losara.
Bel glowered darkly in answer. So there had been a real Gellan, but that man had not been with them for some time. Murdered on the trail, back near the beginning. They had only known him for a few days.
‘But …’ he said. ‘You cast a light spell, in the wood …’ It seemed a strange thing to focus on, and even as he said the words, he wished he could take them back. He had been tricked many times in these last days, that was plain enough, and the details seemed less important than the act itself. His greatest enemy had been in their midst for weeks, and he had not realised.
Fazel , came a thought. Yes – Fazel had been under Losara’s command for most of this time. Now springing into his mind came Fazel’s explanation of why they had journeyed towards Valdurn the long way, through Crystalweb. All lies, all artifice. Tactics of the shadow.
‘Let Jaya go,’ he said. ‘Let them all go.’
Losara smiled wanly at him, then nodded at the Mireforms. ‘Do as he says.’
‘But Shadowdreamer –’ began Eldew.
‘You have sworn to serve me,’ said Losara, ‘so do what I command.’
Uncertainly, reluctantly, the tendrils that held Jaya to Eldew wound away, receding into him. Unrestrained, she collapsed from his chest to the ground, shaking. Bel came forward to grab her by the shoulders, and dragged her away from the hulking monster. The Mireforms holding M’Meska and Hiza seemed equally unsure, but Eldew gurgled at them and they obeyed. Hiza half-crawled, half-stumbled away, while M’Meska sprang snarling to her feet, with apparently little injured but her pride.
Bel realised he was holding Jaya more tightly than was comfortable for her and forced himself to ease his grip. He was disgusted with himself for having let her come so close to harm. He tried to wipe some of the slime off her face, but his hand was too unsteady. What was he shaking with? Rage? Losara may have saved Jaya, but he had also been the one who put her in danger.
Bel stood, bristling to do something, ready to lash out. He noticed M’Meska raising a bow towards his counterpart and shook his head at her, though it galled him. Confused, she lowered her weapon.
Losara, for the moment, seemed to be ignoring him.
‘Off you go,’ he was telling the Mireforms. ‘Back to Fenvarrow, please.’
‘Lord Shadowhand,’ said Eldew, ‘do you not wish us to complete our task? We can take the Stone!’
‘I don’t need your help for that,’ said Losara.
Bel felt his hand creep into his pocket and close around the chain and the Stone.
‘I thank you for certain facets of your expedition,’ Losara continued, ‘though I should have been clearer about your parameters. It was a mistake to use agents I could not find when I needed to. Thus I declare, on your way home, kill no innocents.’
‘What are innocents?’ said Eldew, his tone sounding as though he was genuinely asking. Losara thought about the question but seemed to struggle finding an answer.
‘Anyone who isn’t a soldier,’ he sighed. ‘Or a mage.’
Eldew nodded. ‘And the other dragon?’
‘Behind us now,’ said Losara. ‘Besides, I do not think Bel will accept you as allies should it arrive. Would you, my friend?’
Bel stared at the Mireforms, itching to attack – but he still had his companions to think of.
‘Get out of my sight before I chop you all to pieces,’ he said. ‘And,’ he added to Losara, ‘we are not friends.’
Losara sighed again. ‘I suppose not. Something other than that, perhaps. Mireforms – depart.’
The Mireforms loped away, dispirited, disappearing amongst the huts. As Eldew turned to leave he paused. ‘You are lucky to be obeyed by the Mireform, Shadowhand,’ he said, not facing Losara. ‘There are none before you we would tolerate speaking to us as you have.’
‘Why do you then?’ shouted Bel suddenly, looking for any outlet for his fury.
Eldew chuckled. ‘Have you not seen his eyes, boy?’
The Mireform moved on.
Maybe one day we will meet again , thought Bel. Certainly, at that moment, he hoped so. He wanted to make them pay, but now was not the time. Instead he returned his gaze to Losara, who was considering him curiously.
‘Why?’ Bel spat. ‘Why did you come with us?’
‘To learn,’ said Losara calmly.
‘Why did you save her? You knew they wouldn’t harm me.’
‘I do not wish you ill, Bel,’ Losara said. ‘I do not enjoy causing suffering. Besides,’ and again that fleeting smile crossed his face, ‘if, one day, one of us does indeed become the other, I would not rob him of his great love. I would have to live with that misery too, should you succeed. But,’ he finished, the smile gone, ‘you will not. Now give me the Stone.’
‘Never,’ Bel said, but inside he felt sick. What hope did he have, path or no, against a shadow mage of Losara’s power? He would lose the Stone, and all hope of ever defeating his counterpart.
Losara reached out a hand towards Bel, readying his power to grasp the Stone. Now was the time, he supposed, for a rather definitive choice. He stood at destiny’s crossroads – if he took the Stone, he was almost certain he would never be able to use it himself, for no mage of the light would aid his cause. Bel and he would forever stand apart, but what of it? He was doing well on his own, he felt, as a leader, as a lover, as a man. There were the gaps, of course, but he was used to those, for they had been with him as long as he could remember. The fact that parts of him were missing had become a part of him.
Making up his mind, he channelled power towards Bel. Bel stood waiting, hand in his pocket, where Losara knew he was clasping the Stone. Losara tried to seize it and pull it to him. Bel tensed, his face a mask of frustration and scorn.