Elfsorrow

'Move! Move!'

And they reacted like all conscripts to a voice of authority. For a few priceless heartbeats, a path opened to the fighting line but he knew it couldn't last. One of them turned and recognised him.

'What-?'

The Unknown's sword took out his throat. He tightened his grip on Diera's hand and surged on, soldiers on all sides alerted to the enemy in their midst. He drove his blade through the back of a man too slow to react and kicked him aside, swayed left to dodge a blow from his flank and clashed swords with a third who turned from the fight.

'Open the line!' he roared at the Xeteskians. 'Open the line!'

But there were still Dordovans in the way. Just yards from relative safety and he was going to be trapped. He swung Diera round and backed towards the left-hand side of the street.

'Shout if anyone comes behind,' he said.

FlameOrbs dropped into the centre of the street, flaring off SpellShields, the fire routed harmlessly into the ground. In the flash of light, The Unknown saw eight or ten Dordovans moving towards him, all wary of his reputation unlike the others before them, but all confident in their advance.

'Sol…'

'It'll be all right,' said The Unknown.

But it wouldn't. He looked frantically at the line of Xeteskian warriors backed by archers and mages and hemmed in by the Dordovan aggressors.

'Push your right, damn you!' he shouted, not even sure now if they'd seen him at all.

A sword thrust came in. He blocked it easily. He squared up to the overwhelming numbers, letting go of Diera at last and gripping his sword two-handed. He weaved it slowly in front of him, fencing away the first feints. He identified first and second targets and wondered how many he could take with him.

'Take a dagger from my belt. When I fall, run. Hug the wall and try to get through. Find a Protector.'

'I won't leave you.'

'You'll do as I say. I got you into this and I'm getting you out.' He lunged forward, striking left to right, blade weight beating aside a weak defence and nicking through leather. The target fell back; The Unknown did likewise. The rest closed, scant feet from him now but unwilling to attack. They were a disparate group, not under command. Maybe. Just maybe.

Consternation rippled through the Dordovan line to his left. ForceCones flew out from the Xeteskian mages, scattering Dordovans behind the front. Two of his attackers fell. A heavy detonation sounded. The building next to him shook and tottered under an EarthHammer. More ForceCones. Very close. The edge of one caught him a glancing blow and he sprawled. Diera screamed.

The Unknown rolled onto his back. Dordovans ran at him, three at least fast on their feet.

We are come.

Panic spread in the Dordovan line. The trio running at The Unknown faltered then came on again. Halfway to his feet, The Unknown sheared aside a thrust to his chest and jumped back. A second came in but it didn't get close to its target, stopped by the flat blade of a massive axe.

Protectors sprinted in front of him. He drove to his feet as Diera yelped in surprise. He turned to see her lifted from the ground by one of the Xeteskian elite taking her to safety. He heard a voice by his ear.

'You go too.'

He looked round into the blank mask of a Protector and nodded.

'Thank you.'

'Go.'

A backward glance told him the Protectors were holding the gap. The Unknown nodded again and ran after his wife down to the dockside where the Calaian Sun bobbed against the wharf.

With his wife and son safely below deck in their cabin, he came back to the wheel deck to shake hands with Jevin, the ship's captain, but could see instantly that all was not right. There were Protectors and Xeteskian mages everywhere on board and the ship was already under way.

'Thank you for waiting.'

'It's what you pay me for,' said Jevin curtly.

'What's all this about?' asked The Unknown. 'I agreed half a dozen research mages. There must be twenty here.'

'Thirty,' corrected Jevin. 'And a hundred Protectors.'

'What?'

'Ask him.' Jevin gestured at a tall young mage striding towards the wheel-deck ladder. 'I've got a ship to sail.'

The Unknown watched the mage quickly scale the ladder and smile as he approached.

'The Unknown Warrior,' he said, extending a hand. 'I'm glad you got through.'

'Sytkan,' said The Unknown, ignoring the hand. 'Are you going to tell me what this small army is doing on board Jevin's ship?'

Sytkan at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. 'It was felt at the highest level that Herendeneth should be secured from Dordovan invasion.'

The Unknown cleared his throat and looked back to the dockside. It was ringed with fire but secured. Spell after spell crashed into the shields all around it and, high in the sky, he could just pick out the silhouettes of Xeteskian demon Familiars, watching the perimeter. He shuddered, imagining their maniacal laughs all too easily.

'This was to be a peaceful mission,' he said. 'You're sharing your findings with the other colleges. Or supposed to be.'

Sytkan waved a hand at the ruins of Arlen. 'Things change,' he said. 'The Dordovans wanted something we were not prepared to give.'

'Which was?'

'Their mages in the research party.'

'And this is the result?' The Unknown shook his head. 'Gods burning, was it really worth going to war over?'

'If not this then something else.' Sytkan shrugged.

The Unknown slapped the railing. 'But this was supposed to help broker peace! What the hell went wrong?'

Sytkan didn't answer.

'Dystran and Vuldaroq,' said The Unknown, answering for him. 'You don't need this, you know – the colleges, that is. There's already unrest.' He gestured back at Arlen. 'This sort of thing will be the death of magic, ultimately.'

Sytkan snorted. 'I hardly think so.'

The Unknown rounded on him and pushed his face in very close. 'Don't underestimate Selik and the Black Wings. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a family to attend to and a cut to stitch.'

He nodded at Jevin as he descended the ladder, pain shooting through his left hip and lower back. Now the adrenaline was gone, the liberties he'd taken with his old wound were taking their toll. Before going below, he scanned the deck once more, seeing too many Xeteskians on it.

Ilkar wasn't going to like this. He wasn't going to like this at all.

Chapter 2

Two hours before dawn and the mood of the rainforest changed. Imperceptible to all but those whose lives were inextricably linked to the canopy but there just the same. Rebraal became utterly still, all but invisible against his background.

Behind him, the green-gold dome of Aryndeneth rose two hundred feet into the air, its apex on a level with the highest boughs of the canopy. The temple had stood for over five thousand years, its stone partially hidden beneath a tapestry of thick mosses, ivies and liana. It was periodically cleared but the voracious forest growth didn't lose its grip for long.

But whether cleared or not, the temple was barely visible more than fifty yards away.

It hadn't always been like this. In the centuries after its building, Aryndeneth had been a place of pilgrimage, revered by the elves as the centre of their faith. The Earth Home. A grand stone apron with a carved path between the massive slabs had greeted travellers, and the rainforest trail had been carefully cleared and maintained for a hundred miles north.

Now the trail was long gone, and though a portion of the apron and its path was still visible beneath the weeds and creepers the rainforest's march was relentless, and Rebraal and his people fought a constant battle against it.

Rebraal looked to his right across the great iron-bound wooden doors of the temple. Mercuun had sensed it too. His eyes were scanning the dark, his ears pricked gauging the forest mood. Further out, on the tree platforms, Skiriin, Rourke and Flynd'aar had bows ready. It was all the confirmation Rebraal needed.