him, the blood-veined saliva catching Selik on the cheek and running down the side of his face. He merely smiled.
‘You’ll regret that when your thirst becomes unbearable.’
‘Come closer and I’ll do it again. I’m not afraid to die.’
‘Lucky for you,’ said Selik, his mouth bent into a grotesque sneer. ‘Our trouble is that there can be no warning without a message. And, since we’ve run right out of parchment, we need to use a somewhat different medium.’ He turned to his men. ‘Hold him still and shut his useless mouth.’
Black Wings moved in and hands pressed on the mage’s head, shoulders, knees and the top of his legs, rendering him immobile. Selik walked up slowly, staring deep into the mage’s eyes, watching the fear begin to grow and the first cracks appear in his bearing.
Taking the tip of his dagger between his thumb and first two fingers, he began to carve letters on the mage’s chest, letting the blade bite deep, feeling his human canvas heave and hearing choked cries through his closed mouth.
‘Hold him, I’m trying to write,’ he said.
He bent back to his task, dragging the dagger in letter shapes, keeping the mage’s chest and stomach skin taut with his other hand. Soon it was done. He backed up, wiped and sheathed the dagger and looked at his handiwork, which was a little lost in the streaming blood. With a flick of his hand, he waved his men away. The mage drew in shuddering breaths, his face dripping sweat and pale. He swallowed.
‘You’ll die at the hand of a mage, Selik,’ he managed. ‘And when you do, my death will seem painless by comparison.’
Selik ignored his words. ‘I expect you’re curious to know what I’ve written.’
‘I couldn’t care less,’ said the mage, regaining some control over his wracked body. ‘You are worthless vermin, Selik. I’m surprised you can write at all.’
‘It says, “Mages: fear the Black Wings.” Succinct, I think. To the point, if you will.’ He laughed. ‘Of course it isn’t easy to read but I expect whoever finds you will fathom it eventually. And if you are very lucky, you’ll be able to tell them yourself.’
He swung away and strode back to his horse. ‘Mount up, Black Wings; we’ve a long way to go and a mage to educate.’
‘Burn in hell, Selik!’ roared the mage, straining at his lashings.
Selik laughed again. ‘No, dear mage, I will not. Because the righteous are blessed, not cursed.’
He kicked his heels into his horse’s flanks and led the Black Wings away, the mage’s shouts growing ever fainter in his ears. It had been a truly uplifting day.
Chapter 11
The Calaian Sun sailed slowly into Ysundeneth shortly after midday on the third day after leaving the Ornouth Archipelago. Even Jevin had declared himself surprised at the speed they’d made. A steady southerly wind had driven them through a light swell and the dolphins that had swum with them most of the journey added to the idyll.
Standing next to Ilkar as they cruised towards their berth at the heart of the docks, Denser could sense the relief in the Julatsan mage, shot through as it was with nerves. It mirrored Denser’s own feelings, though his reasons were very different. The voyage had not been easy. Erienne had barely left her bunk the entire time, her heart re-broken by the ever-increasing distance from Lyanna’s grave. And when she had walked the deck, the set of her body kept everyone away from her.
Denser could understand her reaction but was frustrated he wasn’t being allowed to help. She had withdrawn into herself completely, ate little and said less. Ilkar had given voice to his concern the day before. Calaius and its climate were not like Balaia in any way. It drained and fatigued the fittest of bodies and sickness was so easy to contract, particularly for those not born there. Erienne, he said, would be seriously risking her health if she refused to keep up her strength for much longer. And if her capacity for casting was impaired, she could be risking the health of The Raven too.
As he had so often in the last three days, Denser had sighed and hoped she’d come back to herself once they landed. But, with the sun beating down hard from a clear blue sky, Denser found he could forget for a moment by simply looking straight in front of him at his first clear view of a new land. When they had first sighted Calaius and The Raven