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He spotted movement not far away, and crept over, staying low and relying on the thicker smoke at the back of the cavern to shield him. He heard a groan and found dal Sason, lying on the ground not far from Banneret Eston. Eston’s skull was split in two, its contents spilling onto the rock below. It was a gruesome sight, but would have been a quick death. Dal Sason was still breathing and appeared to be free of any major injuries.

“Nicholas, can you hear me?” Guillot spoke quietly by the banneret’s ear.

Dal Sason groaned, his breathing laboured. Guillot heard an angry rumble from the back of the cavern, followed by the sound of movement. He grabbed dal Sason and hauled him up onto his shoulders. He was convinced that Hallot was the source of that first agonised scream, and someone making such a sound does not survive it. He took a quick look around for Sergeant Doyenne, without success. There was something deeply unchivalrous about the idea of leaving without finding out her fate. He thought of calling out to her, but the risk of drawing the dragon’s attention was too great.

At the cavern mouth, Guillot unceremoniously dumped dal Sason beside Leverre, who was starting to come to his senses. Dal Sason groaned again.

“Eston and Quimper are dead,” Guillot told Leverre. “I think Hallot is too. I’m not sure about Doyenne.”

Leverre nodded with an expression that said he knew Guillot was talking to him, but couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Guillot cast a glance back into the smoke-filled cavern, hoping to see Doyenne stumble out of the gloom. He thought about asking Leverre for one of his magic touches of night sight, but knew at a look that the man was incapable at the moment. Guillot took a deep breath of fresh air, a panacea to his stinging throat, and sighed.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” he said.

Guillot found Sergeant Doyenne at the back of the cavern. The setting sun had dropped to just the right height to fill the cavern with its failing light. It became clear that the notable absence of the dragon while Guillot was rescuing the others was down to Doyenne. The smoke had cleared, revealing the woman standing a few paces in front of the beast, which had, if Guillot were to attribute human expressions to it, a look of bewilderment on its face. Doyenne looked to be concentrating fiercely. Her feet were firmly planted on the cavern floor and she held one hand out in front of her, her index finger extended.

“Quickly,” Guillot said, “we have to go.”

Doyenne’s eyes flicked to him for an instant before returning to the dragon. She seemed tired. Exhausted.

“You go,” she said. “Get the others out if they still live.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Guillot said.

“I’m already dead. I’ll hold it here as long as I can.”

“What in hells do you mean?” Guillot said. “Come now, we can all get out.”

“No, we can’t,” she said. “I’ve burned myself out and I’m not going to last much longer. Now go!”

There was such ferocity in her voice that Guillot didn’t even consider disobeying. He ran back to the others. Leverre looked more alert and dal Sason showed improved signs of life.

“Where’re the others?” Leverre said.

“Dead,” Guillot said. “Doyenne is in there with the dragon. She wouldn’t come out. Said she was already dead. Burned out. What in hells was she talking about?”

“I’ll explain later,” Leverre said, a grim look on his face. “We will be too if we don’t get moving.”

“Help me with dal Sason,” Guillot said.

They each grabbed dal Sason under the arms, and with his feet dragging behind him, pulled him out of the cavern, and down the mountainside as quickly as they could.

Going downhill was easier than the reverse, but only marginally. With each step, the scree beneath their feet gave way and they slid several paces. That made for a fast descent, but Guillot expected a leg-breaking fall at any moment. He refused to look back for fear of what he might see; the sick feeling of wondering what had happened to that brave young woman kept him company the whole way.

Almost before he knew it, his feet were wet again, and they were pulling dal Sason across the river. Although he knew the sanctuary it offered was an illusion, there was something heartening about seeing the stand of trees where they had camped the previous night. The dragon could no doubt torch it, and them, with only a single breath, but Gill had convinced himself that once they reached it, they would be safe.

As soon as he reached the tree line, he collapsed to the ground, his face pressed into the dirt and the pine needles. Letting his mind focus on the prickly sensation, he tried to distance himself from the ordeal he had just been through.

“Are you all right?” Leverre asked.

“As all right as you can be after something like that,” Guillot said. He allowed himself a moment longer to rest, then rolled over and sat up. He looked up at the cavern mouth from between the tree trunks. “Do you think it’ll come after us?”

“It didn’t the last time,” Leverre said. “But who’s to say. I saw you wound it. My sword just seemed to bounce off it.”

“Lucky, I suppose,” Guillot said. “Maybe it was the Telastrian steel?” He leaned over to check on dal Sason, who seemed to be breathing easier, but was still in bad shape. “Nicholas has seen better days.”

“Nothing a session with a few of the Order’s healers won’t be able to fix,” Leverre said. “I could do with one myself.”

“You’re not the only one,” Guillot said, starting to notice all the bumps, bruises, and scrapes he had acquired now that the excitement was fading. “We should get away from here as quickly as we can.”

“I’ll send a pigeon from Trelain and get the Prince Bishop to dispatch help,” Leverre said.

Guillot hauled himself to his feet. “Let’s concentrate on getting ourselves to safety first.”

  CHAPTER 30

Solène felt groggy when she woke, as though her sleep had been interrupted in the midst of a particularly vivid dream. As she worked out what was reality, and what was imagined, she realised that dal Drezony was sitting at her bedside. She jumped in surprise.

“Oh, you’re awake,” dal Drezony said. “Such a relief. How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Solène said. Her head was a muddle and her memory of the tests was fuzzy. “Did I pass the tests?”

Dal Drezony laughed. “Yes, with flying colours. The Prince Bishop was amazed by what you did. No one’s managed to complete all the tests in one go before, and for that I have to apologise. The Prince Bishop wanted to see what you were capable of. I should have stepped in and stopped things, but I didn’t, so I have to ask for your forgiveness.”

Confused, Solène said, “You have it.”

“I’ve so much to say to you right now, I really don’t know where to start. The facts, I suppose.”

Solène sat up on her elbows.

“You collapsed at the end of the test,” dal Drezony said. “You were brought back to your rooms and have been watched constantly since.”

“For how long?” Solène said.

“Since yesterday afternoon. All things considered, it could have been far worse. What happened to you is something we’ve come to call burnout. In the early days, it killed a couple of novices, so we’ve been careful about it ever since. We weren’t sure if it would happen to you. I genuinely thought the tests lay well within your powers and was so eager to see what you’re capable of. I didn’t give it proper consideration. That was foolish and a mistake I won’t be making again.”