Arriving at the mass of tents, weapon stands, wagons and fires, The Raven reined in. Three men walked towards them calling others as they came. Hirad slid from his horse and strode towards the three, seeing them falter as they recognised him and those behind.
'Aeb, stay with Ilkar,' he heard The Unknown saying. 'Denser, we need a HardShield. Erienne, ForceCone – something to hurt them, not kill them. Remember who most of these people are. Form up, Raven. Let's keep close.'
Hirad knew he'd be protected so he carried on, not even bothering to draw his sword. He focussed on the guard in the centre. He was no soldier. A trader by the look of him. Soft hands. He had no stomach for trouble. The barbarian grabbed him under the chin.
'Where's Selik?' he demanded.
Another of the men grabbed at his arm. Hirad turned his head.
'Take your hand away or lose it.'
'HardShield up,' he heard Denser say.
The Raven closed in around him and the hand on his arm was gone, gripped and crushed by The Unknown.
'You heard him. Now get back.'
The man whimpered in pain. Hirad turned back to his charge, seeing people running in from all sides.
'Speak. Selik. Where is he?'
'I don't know,' stammered the former trader. 'Not here.'
'Gods burning.' Hirad thrust the man away from him. 'Get me a Black Wing.' He raised his voice. 'Any of you got the tattoo? Show yourself.'
By now quite a crowd had gathered. Not too close but there were hundreds of them. Hirad knew they were on dangerous ground but guessed none of them would want to make the first move. Someone shouldered his way through the crowd, a confident man with a bushy beard and grey-flecked hair. He walked into the space between the crowd and The Raven, taking them in and looking behind to where Aeb sat with Ilkar.
'I am Edman,' he said. 'Your mages can consider themselves under arrest as can the monstrosity on the horse there. The rest of you are complicit in supporting magic. I suggest you lower your weapons.'
Hirad waited for him to get to the point of no return before pacing out to meet him. But instead of facing him, he stepped in, grabbed Edman's lapel and swept his feet from under him, landing on top of him in the dirt. All around there was a concerted move forward but The Raven were in front of him in moments, the TaiGethen ready with bows to the sides.
'You've got about a heartbeat to live,' said Hirad. 'Some of your men took a Xeteskian soldier to the east of here. Got into trouble with some rather handy elves like the ones standing with us. Know anything about that?'
Edman struggled uselessly beneath him. Hirad fetched out a dagger and held it to his throat.
'I'm not going to ask you again,' said Hirad.
'You're way too late,' said Edman, forcing a smile onto his lips.
'They took him to Understone. He'll be dead by now. The cleansing is coming, Raven man, and you will be washed away like all the rest.'
'Not by you though,' said Hirad. He snapped the dagger into Edman's throat, holding the thrashing soldier there while his blood pumped into the soil.
'You shouldn't have done that, Hirad,' said The Unknown.
'Just wait till we get to Understone,' he said.
He stood and picked up Edman by the front of his armour, dragging him through The Raven line and dumping his body in front of the swelling crowd, which fell silent.
'Anyone tries to stop us leaving, it's the same for them,' he said. 'Gods, what are you doing here? You're sensible people with your heads turned. You're farmers, bakers, merchants. Husbands and fathers. Why don't you just go home?'
'Because we don't have homes,' said one. 'Magic took them away.'
'So build them again,' said Hirad. 'Why are you wasting your time here?'
He swung round and faced The Raven. An arrow whipped in, bouncing from the Shield. The answering shaft from Auum took the archer through the chest. There was a murmur in the crowd.
'I'm disappointed,' said Hirad, turning to face them once again, his voice loud enough to carry over their heads. 'We have no fight with you, just your Black Wing friends. You all know you could overwhelm us if you wanted to but how many of you are going to die first, eh?' He pointed at people in the crowd. 'It'll certainly be you. And you.' He shrugged and tapped his head. 'Just think about it. And think of the hundreds waiting for you on the walls of Xetesk.'
Slowly The Raven backed away to their horses, Denser keeping the Shield up, the TaiGethen and Ren with their bows trained on the crowd. Hirad had been right. None of them had been in a hurry to die. But as he spurred his horse away towards Understone, he wondered how many of them would waste their lives at the walls of Xetesk, helpless under a barrage of magic. They rode until exhaustion and The Unknown forced them to stop and rest. Ilkar had recovered during the ride, and although weak was no longer in any pain and took food with them around their fire. Denser had set alarm wards around the campsite and Aeb had chosen to patrol, declining both food and rest.
Hirad couldn't take his eyes off Ilkar. He was tired to the bone but could barely sit still and his mind was buzzing. Sleep would be a long time coming. They would all be feeling the same.
'How're you feeling, Ilks?' asked Hirad.
'Since you last asked me just now, nothing has changed. I feel all right. I ache and I'm dying, but apart from that no problem.'
Ren pulled him closer and he rested his head on her shoulder.
'You might be dying but you won't if we get the thumb back to the temple,' said Hirad. 'Right?'
'Hirad, even if we had the thumb now, it's eight days to Blackthorne, another seven across the ocean and another three upriver. As far as we know, this thing runs its course in as little as four days.' Ilkar's eyes were glistening in the firelight. 'You work it out.'
'Let me worry about that. You just fight it. Don't give in.'
Hirad felt an arm around his shoulders. It was Erienne. She squeezed and he felt better for it.
'My dear old friend, there are some things even you can't sort out,' said Ilkar.
'But this isn't one of them,' said Hirad. 'If you don't stop believing, we can save you.'
'Hirad-'
'I don't want to hear it. You aren't dying on me and that's final.'
He was aware his hands were shaking. Erienne kissed his cheek.
'Keep on telling him,' she whispered into his ear.
He nodded.
'So,' said The Unknown. 'Before we all turn in, what's your plan for Understone? Would I be wrong in thinking it included a good deal of riding through the town laying about us with swords and spells until we find what we're looking for?'
Hirad couldn't stop the chuckle though the Gods knew he didn't feel like laughing. 'You forgot the bit about where I cut down Selik, but apart from that you're not far from the mark. You have something better in mind?'
'Well, actually, I do,' said Darrick. 'I know plenty about Understone, and with one small alteration and a slight detour, your plan might just work.'
Darrick sketched out his idea quickly and accurately. Later, as Hirad felt sleep steal his thoughts from him, he felt they might just pull it off. They had no idea how many there were in Understone or where exactly they'd be but they didn't have to. After all, they weren't rescuing anybody, just one object. And eventually they'd find it, no matter how many were killed in the process.
Hirad turned over, his saddle a pillow for his head, the ground soft beneath him and his cloak covering him against the night's cool. Only Ilkar's coughs and his occasional gasp of pain kept him from easy rest. Auum and his Tai sat by the fire long after The Raven had taken to their rest. They sat in silence, listening to the sounds of sleep and those of the night around them. The Protector, Aeb, was ill at ease as he walked the perimeter, sometimes stopping for an extended period in one place, his body quite still but his lips moving soundlessly. The ClawBound pair padded in some time after midnight, the elf sitting with his back to a tree stump, the panther curling up at his feet.