It was late afternoon by the time they reached the far side of the mountain. The plateau was more hospitable than the saddle lands behind. A broad expanse of deciduous forests and long meadows laced with small streams. The peaks all around were low, without snowcaps. Miles away to the north east they could see a village; its yellow stone buildings cresting a hillock. Thin strands of smoke wound their way up out of chimneys.
'No wall, Edeard said under his breath. Even now that still startled him. He remembered his surprise on the long journey east with the Barkus caravan how the fortifications around settlements grew smaller and more dilapidated with every mile they travelled. Until finally in Oxfolk province on the other side of the Ulfsen Mountains they had been abandoned altogether, leaving towns and villages completely exposed to whatever lurked outside their boundary. Only nothing dangerous did lurk there, not any more. Not for hundreds of years.
With the pass guarded by the ge-eagles far behind them, Topar guided them along the treeline to a steep little valley leading away from the mountain. They hiked down to the stream at the bottom, and mounted up again. The ge-horses splashed along the stone bed, taking them out on to the plateau. Small martoz and bluebeech trees grew out of the steep slopes, their roots webbing the big flood boulders littering the valley. Long whip-like branches waved across the sky above them, providing more cover. Their ge-eagles flew low, barely skimming the uppermost branches, watching for any of their own kind; while the ge-wolves spread out across the boggy meadowland on either side, sniffing the air.
As the sun fell below the high, rumpled horizon they reached one of the many forests sprawled across the plateau. Here the trees weren't so tight, and the ground underfoot was a mat of dead leaves and soft loam. Tall weeds and grass offered no resistance to the ge-horses. They made their way to the centre where they set up camp.
When the first glimmers of the nebulas began to shimmer overhead, Topar dispatched their five night-viewing ge-eagles to see if they could spot the watchers from the pass.
'They're here somewhere, Macsen said intently. 'They wouldn't keep a look-out on the pass otherwise.
'Unless they're in the valley on the other side of it, Dinlay pointed out. 'And we crossed each other sometime when we both crept through the trees.
'Ever the optimist, Macsen grunted.
'Practicalist.
'That's not a word.
'Realist, Larby supplied.
'Thank you, Dinlay said.
'They're here on the plateau, Topar said.
Edeard was one of those guiding the ge-eagles, his farsight enabling him to send it over vast swathes of land. It soared up into the air, giving it a broad view of the rolling plateau. Topar had asked him to cover the south east, where there were forests and narrow gullies and long talus slides spilling out below from faultline crags.
The ge-eagle flew swift and silent, showing him the muted ground, as if he was peering down on a world shrouded by the thickest stormclouds. He saw a drakken pack scampering along a slim gorge like an oily tide; then they began to churn around a chamalan carcass. Small rusals skipped nimbly up bushes and trees, searching for cones and pods to store for the winter. Trilans wove their low dams across streams, producing wide bogs that proved treacherous to other animals. Several zlocks of chamalan's huddled together, those on the outside nervous of whatever skulked through the night.
After an hour observing the relatively harmless nocturnal activities of the plateau's wildlife, the ge-eagle caught a flash of motion next to a sprawl of hatlash trees growing along the marshy banks of a small lake. Something bigger and faster than anything else it had seen that night. The ge-eagle dipped its wing and curved round until it was coasting along several hundred feet above the tops of the hatlash trees. Their trunks were swollen from the lake water, pressed together in a battle for space; the pushing and shoving resulted in the trees leaning at steep angles, producing an interlocked tangle. Perfect cover. The ge-eagle turned again, scouring the swaying tree-tops for any sign of incongruous movement.
It glimpsed something on the third pass, and began a tight spiral. Through its eyes Edeard saw a fastfox slinking along, picking its way through the ragged curtains of weeping boughs. The big predator sped up when it reached a small clearing where dead trunks were rotting into a rancid pile of fungi. Even so, the ge-eagle clearly saw the collar round its neck.
'They're here, Edeard announced quietly, and gifted the ge-eagle's vision to the others.
'Sweet Lady, Dinlay muttered.
'I never thought I'd ever see one of those things, Macsen said.
Edeard instructed the ge-eagle to back off.
'Why? Larby asked.
'Its master won't be far away, Edeard explained. 'They're not that easy to keep control off, I know. He might farsight our ge-eagle.
Sure enough, a few minutes later the fastfox left the hatlash trees. A man was with it, jogging along effortlessly.
'Dear Lady, Edeard gasped. The man was wearing a simple dark tunic and knee-length boots. Two belts were looped over his shoulders, crossing his chest. Slim metal boxes were clipped to it, the kind that held bullets for the rapid-fire gun that was hanging on a third strap. 'He's one of them! Shock was making him giddy. His hands started pawing at his chest as he sucked down air.
'Them? Macsen asked. 'You mean the bandits?
'The ones from Ashwell. He's dressed exactly the same as they were that night. I swear on the Lady, he's got to be one of them. He became aware of the nervous glances the others were trading. 'Them, he insisted.
'To be expected, Topar said. 'They chased me before.
'That's no bandit from the wilds, Larby said.
'Are you okay? Macsen asked in concern.
Edeard nodded a slow reassurance. Seeing this nemesis return out of his own past was profoundly shocking. But I've grown since then. This time it's their turn to know fear.
'Do you recognize this actual one? Dinlay asked.
Edeard returned to the ge-eagle's view. The bird was still gliding higher, keeping level to the bandit and his fastfox. The profile was hardly distinct, but… 'No, Edeard said. 'I don't remember any faces, not really. Though there's one mind I will know forever.
'All right, Topar said, 'Let's follow him, see where he takes us.
The ge-eagle stayed high in the air above the bandit, gliding idly to keep pace. Topar got them all back in the saddle as the bird reached the edge of Edeard's perception, and they started to ride slowly after the bandit, leaving the forest behind. All of them cast a seclusion haze, even though the nebulas above were wan shadows of their usual iridescence. The mild psychic baffle should be enough to deter all but the sharpest farsight at night. To bolster their safety the ge-wolves ranged around them, while two of the night-viewing ge-eagles under Verini's instruction scouted ahead. Their own farsight was used to guide the horses through the darkness.
'Is it just one? Macsen asked after half an hour. The bandit was making good time, alternatively jogging, then walking, heading south east, and making use of the spinnies and thickets that were scattered across the plateau. He was clearly adept at moving unseen across the land, even the ge-eagle had trouble keeping track of him in some of the deeper terrain.
'I can't see any others, Edeard admitted. They'd deliberately kept a long way back in case the bandit had a powerful farsight. 'But I know from experience they can all use concealment.