burning.’ Hirad thrust the man away from him. ‘Get me a Black Wing.’ He raised his voice. ‘Any of you got the tattoo? Show yourself.’
By now quite a crowd had gathered. Not too close but there were hundreds of them. Hirad knew they were on dangerous ground but guessed none of them would want to make the first move. Someone shouldered his way through the crowd, a confident man with a bushy beard and grey-flecked hair. He walked into the space between the crowd and The Raven, taking them in and looking behind to where Aeb sat with Ilkar.
‘I am Edman,’ he said. ‘Your mages can consider themselves under arrest as can the monstrosity on the horse there. The rest of you are complicit in supporting magic. I suggest you lower your weapons.’
Hirad waited for him to get to the point of no return before pacing out to meet him. But instead of facing him, he stepped in, grabbed Edman’s lapel and swept his feet from under him, landing on top of him in the dirt. All around there was a concerted move forward but The Raven were in front of him in moments, the TaiGethen ready with bows to the sides.
‘You’ve got about a heartbeat to live,’ said Hirad. ‘Some of your men took a Xeteskian soldier to the east of here. Got into trouble with some rather handy elves like the ones standing with us. Know anything about that?’
Edman struggled uselessly beneath him. Hirad fetched out a dagger and held it to his throat.
‘I’m not going to ask you again,’ said Hirad.
‘You’re way too late,’ said Edman, forcing a smile onto his lips.
‘They took him to Understone. He’ll be dead by now. The cleansing is coming, Raven man, and you will be washed away like all the rest.’
‘Not by you though,’ said Hirad. He snapped the dagger into Edman’s throat, holding the thrashing soldier there while his blood pumped into the soil.
‘You shouldn’t have done that, Hirad,’ said The Unknown.
‘Just wait till we get to Understone,’ he said.
He stood and picked up Edman by the front of his armour, dragging him through The Raven line and dumping his body in front of the swelling crowd, which fell silent.
‘Anyone tries to stop us leaving, it’s the same for them,’ he said. ‘Gods, what are you doing here? You’re sensible people with your heads turned. You’re farmers, bakers, merchants. Husbands and fathers. Why don’t you just go home?’
‘Because we don’t have homes,’ said one. ‘Magic took them away.’
‘So build them again,’ said Hirad. ‘Why are you wasting your time here?’
He swung round and faced The Raven. An arrow whipped in, bouncing from the Shield. The answering shaft from Auum took the archer through the chest. There was a murmur in the crowd.
‘I’m disappointed,’ said Hirad, turning to face them once again, his voice loud enough to carry over their heads. ‘We have no fight with you, just your Black Wing friends. You all know you could overwhelm us if you wanted to but how many of you are going to die first, eh?’ He pointed at people in the crowd. ‘It’ll certainly be you. And you.’ He shrugged and tapped his head. ‘Just think about it. And think of the hundreds waiting for you on the walls of Xetesk.’
Slowly The Raven backed away to their horses, Denser keeping the Shield up, the TaiGethen and Ren with their bows trained on the crowd. Hirad had been right. None of them had been in a hurry to die. But as he spurred his horse away towards Understone, he wondered how many of them would waste their lives at the walls of Xetesk, helpless under a barrage of magic.
They rode until exhaustion and The Unknown forced them to stop and rest. Ilkar had recovered during the ride, and although weak was no longer in any pain and took food with them around their fire. Denser had set alarm wards around the campsite and Aeb had chosen to patrol, declining both food and rest.
Hirad couldn’t take his eyes off Ilkar. He was tired to the bone but could barely sit still and his mind was buzzing. Sleep would be a long time coming. They would all be feeling the same.
‘How’re you feeling, Ilks?’ asked Hirad.
‘Since you last asked me just now, nothing has changed. I feel all right. I ache and I’m dying, but apart from that no problem.’
Ren pulled him closer and he rested his head on her shoulder.