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Slowly it settled to reveal a huge pile of rocks.

Where are the Sachakans? Are they buried? Dannyl took a step forward, but a hand caught his arm. He turned to Unh, but the man wasn’t looking at him. He was looking toward the valley. Following his gaze, Dannyl saw a lone figure walking toward them. His heart skipped a beat.

Lorkin!

“They’ll be fine,” the young magician said. “They had strong barriers. It won’t take long for them to haul themselves out, then to work out how they’re going to get through to you, so I can’t stay long.” He smiled and stopped a few paces from Dannyl. “We need to talk.”

“We certainly do,” Dannyl agreed.

Lorkin looked healthy. He was even a little tanned. He was wearing slave’s clothes, yet he looked strangely comfortable in them. Perhaps only because he’d been wearing them for several days now.

“Let’s sit down,” Lorkin said. He moved to a low boulder and sat. Dannyl found another rock to sit upon. Unh remained standing. The tribesman watched Lorkin with a cautious, knowing expression.

Abruptly all sounds in the ravine were silenced. Dannyl guessed that Lorkin had created a barrier to prevent their conversation being overheard. Overheard by Unh, or others as well?

“You must have many questions,” Lorkin said. “I’ll do my best to answer them.”

Dannyl nodded. Where to start? Perhaps where it had all started to go wrong.

“Who killed the slave in your room?”

Lorkin smiled wryly. “The woman I’ve been travelling with. She saved my life.”

“Tyvara?”

“Yes. The one you found dead in my room tried to kill me. Tyvara said that others would try to finish the job, and offered to take me somewhere safe.”

“Who wants you killed, and why?”

Lorkin grimaced. “That’s kind of complicated. I can’t tell you who, but I can tell you why. It’s because of my father. But not because he killed any Ichani. Because of something else he did. Or rather, something he didn’t do. Do you remember how someone helped him escape Sachaka by teaching him black magic?”

Dannyl, nodded.

“Well, that person was a Traitor. He agreed to give them something in return, and he never did. In fact, it was something he was not authorised to give, but I guess he was desperate to go home and would have agreed to anything.” Lorkin shrugged. “I need to sort that out with the Traitors. And... there are other things. I have to tell them what happened with Riva – the slave Tyvara killed – or Tyvara will be charged for murder and executed. So I need you to stop following me.”

“How did I know you were going to say that?” Dannyl said, sighing.

“They’ll kill you if you don’t.” Lorkin’s expression was more serious than Dannyl had ever seen before. “They don’t want to. I don’t think they want to kill the Sachakans either... well, they’d love to kill them, I suspect, just not here and now. They know that the more people they have to kill to keep their location secret, the more people will try to find them.”

Dannyl nodded. “So you want me and Unh to pretend we lost the trail.”

“Yes. Or whatever you need to say to end the search.”

Somehow I don’t think it’ll take much to convince the Sachakans, after this, he thought, looking at the rocks blocking the ravine. What about Unh? I guess he’ll follow orders. But maybe the truth will suffice. If I decide we don’t need to find Lorkin, will the Ashaki keep searching?

Then Dannyl remembered the gemstones. He looked at Lorkin closely.

“This isn’t just because of your father and this woman, is it?”

The young magician blinked, then smiled.

“No. I want to know more about the Traitors. They don’t have slaves, and the way their society is structured is completely different to the rest of Sachaka. I think they may have forms of magic we’ve never heard of – or haven’t seen in thousands of years. I think they might be good people to establish friendly ties with. I think... I think that we need to get on their good side, because one day we might be dealing with them instead of the people ruling Arvice now.”

Dannyl cursed. “If it comes to a war, don’t take sides,” he warned. “If they lose, you may not be immune to the consequences.”

“I wouldn’t expect to be.” Lorkin shrugged. “I do realise the problems that would cause for the Guild. For now it would be better if everyone acted as if I’d left the Guild. I’m not sure how long I will have to stay here.” He frowned. “There’s a chance they won’t let me leave in case I tell others how to find them. I’ve explained all this to Mother, by the way.”

“Oh. Good.” Dannyl heaved a sigh of relief. “Do you realise how much I dreaded telling her about your disappearance?”

“Yes.” Lorkin chuckled. “Sorry about that.” The amusement left his face and he grimaced. He looked down and uncurled the fingers of one hand. On his palm lay a blood ring. He held it out to Dannyl with obvious reluctance. “Take it. I don’t dare carry it any longer. If they found it on me it would hardly encourage them to trust me and I don’t want to risk it falling into other hands.”

Dannyl took the ring. “It’s Sonea’s?”

“Yes.” A movement caught their attention. Dust rose from the pile of rocks behind them. Lorkin’s gaze flickered to them, and he stood up. “I have to go.”

At the movement, Unh turned to look at them. Once more Dannyl remembered the cave full of gemstones.

“My friend here – he’s from the Duna tribes, by the way – told me something interesting the other day. He said that his people have knowledge of how to make gemstones like those in the Cavern of Ultimate Punishment.”

Lorkin’s eyes brightened with interest.

“He also said,” Dannyl continued. “That the Traitors stole that knowledge from his people. You might want to keep that in mind. Your new friends may not be without a few nasty traits.”

The young magician smiled. “Who is? But I will keep that in mind. It is interesting information. Very interesting.” His eyes narrowed for a moment, then he looked at Dannyl and grasped his upper arm. “Goodbye, Ambassador. I hope your new assistant is more useful than I’ve proven to be.”

Dannyl returned the gesture. Then he jumped as sound returned. Lorkin moved away, pausing to say something to the tribesman as he passed. Dannyl rose and moved to Unh’s side and they watched the lone magician stride away.

“What did he say to you?” Dannyl asked when Lorkin finally moved out of sight.

“He said, ‘You’re the only one in danger’,” Unh replied. “He means the Traitors fear I may lead you to their city.”

“Not without the help of a magician, I suspect.”

The tribesman looked at him and smiled. “No.”

“So we’d better get you out of here sooner rather than later. How about we levitate over that pile of rocks and see if any of our Sachakan companions have dug themselves out yet?”

“Is a good idea,” the tribesman agreed.

When she had finally left Skellin, Sonea had simultaneously wanted to scream in frustration and cheer in relief.

By now, not only could Dannyl have found Lorkin, she’d thought, but there could have been a battle, funerals for the dead arranged, and a victory celebration held. Osen must have progressed from wondering where I am to discovering I haven’t been at the hospice all night to ordering Kallen to start strengthening himself ready to hunt me down.

And all for nothing. Well, not nothing. They had found one rogue. Just not the one they were looking for.