'And who the hell do you think you are – Lord of the Mount?' demanded one mage, the irritation in his voice mixed with a certain respect.
'No, I think I'm the Unknown Warrior and that we are The Raven and we all want Lyanna saved from Dordover.'
The mage nodded. 'In truth, I recognised you. You think you have a better chance of achieving our goal your way?' Now the respect overrode the ire.
'The Ocean Elm is gone. Our only chance is to get a ship ourselves. We know of one provisioned and ready but Dordovan cavalry are riding to it now. I need the Protectors to get aboard and to help in any future fight. And I need the rest of you to keep the main Dordovan and Lysternan forces busy. I need your answer now.'
The mage nodded again. 'Take thirty. I can spare no mages. I am Sytkan. Have Denser signal me when you have the ship.'
The Unknown smiled. 'Thank you, Sytkan. You might just have saved the One child.' He pointed. 'Aeb. Bring our brothers.' He didn't wait for them but turned and, with Hirad and Ilkar, ran for the docks once again.
Erienne heard the sounds of battle but could see nothing, her tiny window looking backwards into the night. She prayed her College
had come for her. She prayed harder that the next time the door opened, Denser would be framed in it. She felt the bump as the stern of the Elm ground against the berth wall, the timbers protesting. She heard the orders shouted out by the captain, reluctance in every syllable, and she felt the rocking as the ship gained clear water and got underway. And finally, when the door opened and Selik entered, she wept.
'Well, well, well,' said Selik, ignoring her tears. 'Such excitement, it seems a pity to leave it behind.'
'Get out, Selik. You are filth and I don't need to see you until you come to kill me.' She used the cuffs of her shirt to wipe at her eyes.
'Unfortunately for you, this is my ship and I go where I please,' said Selik before lightening his tone. 'I spoke to your old friend General Darrick just now. It seems he's unhappy to see the forces of good in charge of this ship.'
Erienne was interested in spite of herself but didn't raise her head. 'Well, he's not a murderer, is he?'
'No. But a man whose principles get in the way of expediency.'
'What do you mean?' Erienne felt confused and alone. They were sailing to Lyanna yet the journey only promised her death at the hands of her betrayers and she was exchanging irrelevancies with the Black Wing, Selik.
'He has deserted rather than help his Dordovan allies further.'
'Good for him. They've proved little better than you,' said Erienne, the taste of bile back in her throat. 'Is there anything else?'
'Actually there is. I wanted to introduce you to those I promised would be arriving. And I do so like to make good on my promises.'
'You know something, Selik, you sound just like your dead friend Travers.'
'I'll take that as a compliment. He was a great man.'
'Don't.'
Selik's smile was forced. 'Don't forget to whom you belong. Now, I'm forgetting my manners.'
Erienne saw him come in and saw the smile on his face, the half-open arms and the benign expression. Then, the rushing in her head fogged her vision and she sat heavily on her bed, hands pressing on
the blanket either side of her to keep her upright. She looked again, forcing herself to focus.
'You,' was all she could find to say.
The Raven ran ahead of him but Aeb's eyes never left the figure of Sol, The Unknown Warrior. The Protectors ran with him, and only him, and Aeb experienced a feeling of which he had only a vague recollection. It burned through him and in the tank, all the souls shared. But it was he and the brothers by him who felt it the most strongly and, though alien, it was most welcome. Joy.
There were lanterns lit along the length of the ship Darrick indicated as the one provisioned and ready for boarding. It was called Catalan Sun and its deck was ringed with its crew, staring down the dock to where the stand-off was being played out in front of the fierce fires now burning and hissing into the rain-drenched sky. Whipped up by the wind, great sheets of flame scoured the dark, threatening nearby buildings so far undamaged by spell attack.
HotRain fell in a steady stream over the dockside, cast by Lystern, Dordovan and Xeteskian alike and the flaring on the shields that now covered every horse and rider completed the magical tapestry.
As Darrick watched, HellFire struck the Lakehome Inn and in the screaming death that followed, men flooded out of a side road and threw themselves at the Lysternan cavalry. Surprised, the Lysternans responded, beating back the attack with a half charge before it became evident that spare mages had blocked the road with Force-Cones.
'See what you can do with the crew. I've got to prepare,' said Denser.
'Certainly,' said Darrick.
'And Darrick.'
'Yes.'
'Thank you.'
Darrick frowned. 'What for?'
'For putting my family's lives above politics.'
'Eventually.' Darrick turned away.
Denser eyed the buildings opposite. There were three warehouses
end on to the dock, each with a passage between, wide enough for four or five horses abreast. Knowing he couldn't hope to cast a ForceCone with anywhere near enough strength to cover the possible entry points, he opted for something more of a hindrance and prayed The Unknown brought the Protectors on very soon. He knelt to give himself balance against the wind, closed his eyes and, ignoring the rain that lashed into his face and the growing smell of burning wood and hot metal, began his preparation.
Ditching the shield for the run to the docks, Ilkar had paused to cast ShadowWings and was lost in the sky above Hirad, searching for the Dordovan cavalry. In the absence of information, The Unknown was leading them back past the timber yard, giving them quickest sight of the docks and the target ship.
The rain made the stone cobbles slick, water ran down the guttering in torrents and mud brought in by the rains and the hooves of every horse was sluicing down the streets, adding to the treachery underfoot. More than once, Hirad slipped on the surface, only to find the hand of a Protector steadying him almost before he realised he'd lost his balance. He wanted to be angry that they assumed he needed help to run in the rain but found himself instead amazed at their quickness of thought and action.
He glanced up into the fire-stained night to see Ilkar swooping towards them. He flew beside them as he spoke.
'Denser and Darrick are at the ship. Denser's preparing something. The Dordovans will be on them in a few moments, they're riding down the side of a warehouse a couple of streets from here. There's no movement from the ship but the crew's all on deck. This is going to be close.'
'We'll need a shield when we hit them,' said Hirad.
'With you all the way.' Ilkar flew ahead, landing fifty yards away to disperse the wings and prepare the shield.
The Unknown upped the pace, Hirad feeling the Protectors ease along while he suddenly felt every one of his thirty-nine years.
'I could do without this,' he said, gasping slightly.
'Too much good living with the Kaan,' said The Unknown.
'Let me do the jokes, all right?' said Hirad.
They rounded the corner, Ilkar now beside them, and in moments, the docks were awash with chaos.
For a few paces, it looked as if the impossible would happen and they'd beat the Dordovans to the ship but when they were seventy yards from Denser and Darrick, the General yelled something inaudible and the Xeteskian mage brought his fists together in front of his face before bringing them down in a punching motion.
The warehouses close to the berth shuddered, were still and then shuddered again. The stone of the docks rippled by the timbered buildings and loose wood tumbled off the roofs. There was another momentary pause, in which Hirad saw the first Dordovan horse gallop on to the dockside, before huge wedges of stone thrust out of the earth in a dozen and more places, cascading cobbles, flags, mud and water in all directions.