moved to a library annex outside the valley, where the protection spells would reactivate and slowly restore the book until it was fit for another fifty years in the library.
He began to mouth a prayer to Karkarn before catching himself - he wasn’t going into battle, he had only a knife on his belt, and rumour was the Menin were no longer favoured by Karkarn: the priests travelling with the army and in Akell, where most of the Menin were billeted, had been troublesome for months. Demanding greater involvement in political and military matters had apparently been only the start and factions were now developing.
Ritual and combat training mixed easily for the War God’s chosen tribe. Many of the officers, including as Major Amber, had learned weaponscraft at a training temple dedicated to minor Aspects of Karkarn. Now there were divided loyalties, and like many, Hain wasn’t sure what side he was on in the argument between Gods and tribe. Loyalty to the Gods was something he had always taken as a given, but it was the priests themselves who were pushing men into taking sides and declaring what authority they bowed to - nation, lord or priesthood.
He shook the matter from his head. Now was not the time for such things; he had a dragon to worry about. His task was to scout the valley without getting eaten, and lay the snares.
Captain Hain took a deep breath and stepped out into the weak light of dawn, moving as silently as he could to the animal pens. When he glanced behind at the doorway he could just make out the eyes of one of Gaur’s huntsmen, lurking at the edge of the tunnel that led back to the Akell quarter. The man gave him an unnecessarily cheerful thumbs-up that made Hain shake his head in bemusement.
Bunch of madmen, the lot of them, he mused. So why is it I’m the one playing rat-mazes with a damn dragon?
He reached the animal pens and, trying not to breath in the pungent odour, crouched down to check his route. Then he set off at a crawl towards the shattered building. Guessing stealth would serve him better than haste, he kept an eye on the distant Fearen House, ready to sprint for the tunnel entrance at the first sign of movement. It was only a hundred yards of ground, but for Hain it felt like it took an age to cross. He could smell the charred wood before he reached the building, but when he got there the thick stone walls appeared sound enough for his purposes.
Hain made his way around the edge and surveyed the rest of the valley. The Scholars’ Palace had been almost entirely destroyed, with what was left of the lower floors scorched and blackened. Great chunks had been ripped from the building and thrown down onto the valley floor. There was a lot of debris lying around, but other than the one wing which had been torn open the Fearen House didn’t appear to be much damaged, and as far as Hain could see, it was empty. His breathing came a little more easily at that, but only until he began to imagine the creature perched on the cliffs, watching him like a hawk watches a mouse. The dread returned.
A little surprisingly, the huge gate that led to Ilit’s Stair, the two-hundred-yard-long slope leading down into Ismess, was untouched. The dragon had destroyed large sections of the quarter, but it obviously preferred to fly over the cliffs of Blackfang rather than waddle out through the gate. Of the remaining large buildings inside the valley, two had been completely destroyed while the rest appeared whole.
There was no sign of the beast anywhere right now so Hain took one last look up at the cliffs and made his way back to the other corner of the ruined palace and gestured to the waiting huntsman. He emerged from the tunnel, carrying a pair of shovels, with a long cable looped over his shoulder.
Hain pointed at a patch of ground between them and the animal pens. ‘That’s the spot,’ he whispered.
‘Don’t believe we’re even tryin’ this,’ the huntsman moaned with a shake of the head. ‘You’re goin’ t’get us killed, settin’ snares for a damn dragon!’
‘Shut up and get back there for the rest,’ Hain hissed, trying to keep from raising his voice. ‘We know they’re not going to hold it.’
The huntsman said nothing more as he handed over the cables and made