'The resistance is weakening in both places but it still holds. These are determined men,' said Drenoul, master of the Xeteskian battle front.
'So they are but that must end. I know your commanders will want the prized souls of those within but we need their strength of numbers here to keep die Wesmen from causing us delay while we face Julatsa and Xetesk combined. Order them to extinguish that which will not be cowed and travel here with all haste.
'It is time to deploy the destructors.'
'Surely they will be too weak yet. The mana density is not high enough,' said Drenoul.
'But not for long and they are many,' said Hiela. 'Summon the karron.'
The malevolence was causing panic throughout. The others were packed far away from the pulse of pure hate that was spreading. Like a battering on the door to their world. And it was getting louder and stronger. He had struggled with the concept of there being a force wanting to harm them. But then he had travelled to a place where the sense of evil intent and salacious desire washed over him in a wave.
While searching for The Raven he had seen in a moment of clarity that the threat was genuine and that they in their countless number were helpless against it. Those who could have heard him in his
homeland were gone from there but one had resurfaced near The Raven. It would be his brother, he was sure. It was logical, if logic held sway here, that they were aware of the threat and were battling it.
But did they really know the extent of it? And did they know where to travel? He knew. And now here he was, unsure how to proceed. He had the battering pulse filling his mind and soul. He had The Raven, bright lights surrounding one that dazzled. And he had the sense of the destination. It was a place of enormous power that ebbed slowly as if that power was being drained. He could feel it pass him like a wind through his being and tracing it back had found its source in an otherwise cold and dead land.
The Raven had to go to there and nowhere else in that land. He needed a way to contact them that was not the loose meeting of subconscious minds that he had managed so far. So often, Hirad had almost grasped him but each time the fluidity of dreams had snatched away what he was trying to say.
He concluded that he had to get closer, if closer was possible. Before him, indeed all around him, the battering was weakening the Spirits within. The anxiety had spread through all of them and communication was laced with terror and the knowledge that they had no defence against those wanting to break through. There would come a moment when the door would fall and the panic would overflow and communication would be impossible. But until that time, he had to believe in his own safety and in the strength of the Spirits that wished him success.
He forced himself to concentrate. There was a point between The Raven, the place where they had to go and the door through which they must pass. It was a place of great risk, where the boundaries between worlds were weak and the malevolence waited its chance. But it was the only place he was sure he could make a difference.
Letting the light of his friends suffuse him and protect him, he journeyed on.
Chapter 32
'You are in no fit state to be standing here,' said The Unknown.
'You can say what you like, Unknown, but I don't think what we're looking at leaves us any choice, do you? You need me here.'
'Gods, just let him do it,' said Denser. 'At least if he dies we won't have to listen to this sort of bleating any more.'
'Thank you, Denser,' said Hirad.
'You are not helping,' said The Unknown.
'I can't believe you're surprised he's here.'
'I'm not surprised, I'm questioning the wisdom of his decision.'
'You think wisdom ever applies to anything Hirad does?'
'All right, Xetesk-man, I thought you were on my side.'
'He is, Hirad,' said The Unknown. 'We all are. If you must do something foolish, why don't you do it in the wagon where you can protect Erienne at the same time?'
'Thraun has got that covered.'
'You are so stubborn.'
Auum shook his head and scratched at his forehead. He would never understand how they had survived this long. Always arguing. He finished applying the green and black paints to Duele's face before leading them all in prayer. Throughout, he could hear The Raven bickering like children over a broken doll.
He brought his Tai back to their feet and they walked to the front of the stationary wagon train. It was dawn and it was cold, very cold. The breath clouded in front of his face and the chill breeze whipped it away. The wagons had been halted when the cursyrd had ceased their attacks an hour or so before first light. They had retreated as far as the edge of the shell and most of them were grouped on the ground. Very few still remained in the air and none encroached on the periphery.
The temptation had been to continue on but both Darrick and Rebraal had advised the stop. It was inconceivable that they would not be attacked severely on their way into Xetesk, which now lay just three miles ahead, and any chance to rest horses and mages had to be taken.
It was a decision that looked at best over-cautious as light had strengthened. It could turn out to be a huge mistake. Beyond those gathered before them, other cursyrd were moving up. These were not reavers and they were not strike-strain. They were a strain none of them had seen before in this conflict.
Auum watched them approach. There were hundreds of them. Squat wingless figures with rolling gaits. They were covered in a dense, dark, fine hair. Each one had eyes to die front and sides of its head and no discernible mouth or nose. But what they did have was arms that ended in what for all the world looked like spiked clubs or hammers.
The assembled company had fallen silent while these things advanced towards the shell. Other cursyrd made way and a screeching filled the air. Auum couldn't make out what it meant but it was more a sound of anger than of anticipation.
'Gods drowning, but they're ugly bastards. What are they?' asked Hirad.
'Karron,' said Auum, the word leaving a harsh taste in his mouth. 'Destructors.'
'This isn't going to be any fun at all,' said Hirad.
T don't understand this,' said Denser. T mean, these look capable of causing us a real problem. Why haven't they thrown them at us before?'
'Because before, they wanted our souls,' said Rebraal. 'Now I fear they just want us dead.'
'That's comforting,' said Hirad.
'Thoughts?' asked The Unknown.
'They're slow but powerful,' said Darrick. 'If I'm not mistaken, we'll be harried as we have come to expect by the winged strains and these will look to break us from the front.'
'Can't we just drive round them?' asked Hirad.
Darrick shook his head. 'If they got into our flanks they could