‘But I want—’
‘Hirad, please. Be a good boy.’
Diera appeared in the bedroom doorway and held out her hand. ‘Come on, Hirad. Let’s find a game. I’ll be back, Sol.’
Sol nodded and turned back to Jonas.
‘Jonas, can you hear me? I’m here right by you.’
‘Fire . . .’ mumbled Jonas, a line of dribble coming from the corner of his mouth. ‘Burned scales. White fire. Ahh!’
The gasp was accompanied by an opening of his eyes. He stared about him for a moment before settling on Sol. His face cleared a little and a hand moved to grip his father’s arm.
‘Are you seeing or relaying?’ asked Sol.
‘Seeing,’ whispered Jonas. His bottom lip trembled. ‘The enemy are there. Garonin. The dragons are fighting. I think they are losing.’
‘Jonas, it’s important. I have to know if we can escape to Beshara. Can I speak to Sha-Kaan? Will you channel for me?’
Jonas frowned and his teeth grabbed at his upper lip. ‘Father.’
‘I know I’m asking you to endure pain. Believe me, I wouldn’t ask unless I thought we had no other choice. I need answers and I don’t think you can ask the questions, even if I’m here. I need to hear Sha-Kaan. Jonas?’
Jonas’s eyes had closed but his mouth had curved up into a smile.
‘The Great Kaan says you had better be careful with me or . . .’
Sol laughed. ‘Or he’ll crush me like a twig, I know.’
The room filled with a new presence. A smell of oil and wood and the weight of great age and power. Jonas’s mouth hung open. He breathed deeply but otherwise was completely still.
‘Sol. It is good to feel you though the times are our darkest yet.’
‘As ever, your presence honours me.’
‘We can dispense with that. Your family gives so much that the Kaan value. You have questions. I have questions. Jonas is strong but he still cannot support this for long. He is young yet.’
‘Then ask, Great Kaan.’
‘Jonas relates that you are attacked. Is it the Garonin?’
‘They destroy everything in their path and leave an expanding disaster behind them. We have hurt them but I do not think we can stop them. I have to know. Can we escape to Beshara? Can you protect us?’
There was a heavy silence. Sol could feel Sha-Kaan’s concern in the air. He could all but taste the tension.
‘No. They would combine forces and we could not repel them. The damage they have caused is extensive but I believe we can turn them if they do not reinforce. But not if we lose Balaia. Not if I lose Jonas.’
‘You will not lose him. Not while I still draw breath,’ said Sol. ‘But we are on the verge of losing Balaia already. Only Julatsa and Xetesk still stand and both are weak.’
‘You have questions. You need another way to fight.’
‘Yes. Sha-Kaan, I was taken by the Garonin. They wanted to negotiate a peaceful end to our existence. They took me to a place beyond anything I have known and yet it was familiar. Something they said made me wonder. They said they saw all that passed through the place. I got the impression it was outside everything else, every other dimension but perhaps a route to each one. Something like that. And I travelled from there by force of will to appear back here. This is vague, I know, but you are a dimensional traveller. Do you know of this place?’
‘It is impossible,’ breathed Sha-Kaan, and for the first time in their long association Sol heard awe and fear in the great dragon’s voice.
Sol’s heart sank. ‘What is?’
‘I know of where you speak,’ said Sha-Kaan, his voice rumbling but quiet, his tone reverential. ‘In your language we would describe it as the top of the world. It is not a place any should be able to travel to by choice.’
‘But it is a place we can fight them, I’m certain of that.’
‘That may be so but there are two things you should know. If indeed you were there and the Garonin can travel there at will, they are more powerful than even I imagined. And for them to have taken you there speaks even more highly of their abilities as travellers and more dangerously of their capacity to rape any dimension they discover. Because from all the lore I know, only the soul free of the body may travel there, and even then only to pass through on the journey to ultimate rest.’
Sol felt another door close on their chances. Diera laid a hand on his shoulder. He covered it with one of his own and squeezed.
‘Diera,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘Your son bears up well.’
‘He looks weak,’ she said. ‘But it is good to hear you.’
‘We have little good news. Sol, should you wish to pursue this path, speak with me again. But tell me. Jonas said the dead have returned. No doubt pursued by the Garonin into Balaia through the top of the world. Who has returned? Only the strong bonded souls?’
Sol relaxed a little. ‘So it seems. Much of The Raven though we have already lost many of them again. Hirad is here.’
‘Ahhh. I would love to feel his mind again.’
‘I’m sure it can be arranged. He has not changed.’
The Great Kaan chuckled. Pictures vibrated on the walls.
‘Is Septern returned? His soul would desire it and his ego would bring him back, I am sure.’
‘There is a man in Xetesk claiming to be him,’ said Sol.
‘Then speak to him of where you were taken. He knows much he did not commit to parchment. Jonas is unsteady. I must tend to his mind and return him to you.’
‘We will speak again, Great Kaan.’
‘Remain strong. We will fight, you must fight too. If you should flee, do not leave us in the dark.’
‘Never.’
Sha-Kaan’s presence left the room. Jonas was still for a moment before screwing up his face and opening his eyes.
‘Mama!’
Sol left them to their embrace.
Hirad had been clutching at his stomach while the pain threatened to swamp him and the wind threatened to tear his soul from its anchorage and cast him into the void. Neither Ilkar not Sirendor was in any better shape. Yet abruptly the pain had eased, returned to what Ilkar would describe as a manageable level. He blew out his cheeks and straightened in his chair. To his left and right he could see the other two were feeling the same. Across the table Denser paused in his reading and looked at the three of them.
‘What just happened?’ he asked. ‘Something good, I’m hoping.’
Hirad could not keep the smile from his face.
‘He’s back. I told you he wasn’t dead. I told you.’
‘What?’ Denser was gaping. Hirad knew how he felt. ‘Where?’
‘Close. Right now that’s all I care about.’
Denser smiled. ‘That is good news. We need him on the streets.’
Hirad nodded. News of the losses of Xeteskian mages and soldiers had spread quickly through the city. The confidence the departing force had inspired had dispersed like dust on the breeze with the returning stragglers. The populace was nervous and the returned dead were beginning to have a serious impact. People were leaving.
‘And what do you expect him to be saying?’ asked Ilkar. ‘I’d have thought he’d be showing the way to the west, not trying to shore up morale.’
‘There is no need for this panic reaction,’ said Denser.
It was dawn now and a pale light was streaming through the window of the dining chamber, where an early breakfast had been laid and ignored by all but the Lord of the Mount.
‘Where does that opinion come from? The catacombs? The destruction of one machine shouldn’t give us rash confidence about saving Balaia,’ said Ilkar. ‘You heard Sharyr. They just rolled into Lystern and rolled out with the Heart. We are down to two functioning colleges and Julatsa is likely to fall within days. You know where that leaves us.’
‘Yes, with Xetesk still standing and not even under threat because we turned them away.’