straps while the fire ate through to sear the flesh beneath.
Denser grabbed at the Familiar, rolling aside to let Erienne free, punching upwards blind and feeling his fist meet the demon’s head again and again. It yowled but didn’t stop, its tail raking down his arm, a fury of thrashing limbs and scything talons and teeth as the pair rolled on the scorched earth.
And then, incredibly, Aeb was there. Bare-chested, his axe in one burned hand, his other reached down to grab the Familiar at the back of the head and wrench it clear. Denser felt the talons gouging at him as it was torn free and heard Erienne’s voice close to him.
‘Aeb, hold it still, keep it still.’
Denser looked round, wiped a film of blood from his eyes and saw Aeb holding the Familiar at arm’s length while it boiled and heaved in its desperation, calling for its master.
‘Too late, you little shit,’ said Erienne, and she clamped both hands over its skull. FlamePalms erupted from them and blazed through its head, killing it instantly.
Aeb threw the body away, helped Denser to his feet and ran back into the battle, the Raven mages right behind him.
The Unknown saw a mage crumple ahead of him in the act of casting another spell and breathed a sigh of relief. He charged into the swordsmen defending him, delivering his sword overhead and through the shoulder of an unprepared man, rotating on his weaker left leg and kicking into the stomach of the other.
Pain from the old injury flared briefly and he landed unbalanced, barely getting his sword up to block. The Xeteskian was good and quick, moving to The Unknown’s left, seeing it was his weaker side and forcing the attack. The Unknown fielded blows on dagger and sword, looking for an opportunity, but didn’t need it. An arrow took the man clean through the neck as he backed off to compose himself and Ren ran past, nocking another.
The Unknown turned, searching through the dark for The Raven. Hirad and Darrick were together, Ilkar behind them, casting again. They were facing three swordsmen and a mage. The Unknown watched as Darrick disarmed one of them, disembowelling him with the return strike. Hirad leaned in and headbutted his nearest opponent, following up with a punch to the nose and his sword across the man’s chest. He turned far more quickly than the third man was expecting, switched his sword to his left hand and jabbed it forward, slicing through his neck. The two Raven men advanced on the doomed mage.
The Unknown ran back towards the fire and Aeb. The Protector, with Denser and Erienne in his wake, his axe in both arms and his back covered in burns, savaged into the two men attacking Thraun. The shapechanger was only just keeping them at bay but Aeb changed all that, unleashing a blow of shocking power that divided one of the enemy in two from left shoulder down to right hip. He hung together a split second, eyes wide, and fell in a mass of gore. The other disengaged and ran. He didn’t get far. Thraun was far quicker, clattering his blade through the enemy’s lower back.
It was over. Hirad and Darrick quartered the field checking the bodies of the Xeteskians, quick thrusts killing those that still breathed. Aeb, at Denser’s instructions, came back to the fire. The Unknown followed them, as did Ren and Thraun.
They had been lucky. Very lucky. The Unknown wanted to know how they had been found and attacked so easily and there, still trapped beneath a log by the fire, was the route to the answers. Damaged by FlameOrbs but still spitting and cursing was the surviving Familiar.
The Raven gathered around it.
‘See to Aeb, will you?’ said The Unknown to Denser. ‘I’ll ask this some questions.’
‘His master is dead,’ said Denser. ‘He’s fading but still dangerous. Don’t let him up.’
The Unknown nodded and knelt by the creature. It stopped its squealing stream of abuse and fixed its gaze on the big shaven-headed warrior.
‘Sol,’ it hissed, dragging out the word.
‘Yes, Sol,’ confirmed The Unknown. ‘And you are dying.’
‘Soon,’ said the Familiar, its voice like a rake over gravel. ‘Let me up.’
‘I don’t think so,’ said The Unknown. ‘But maybe I will if you answer me truthfully.’
The Familiar’s hairless head pulsated, veins throbbing. It spat into The Unknown’s face. ‘Traitor.’
The Unknown wiped the fetid spittle from his cheek. ‘No. We did not start this.’