manes. Gelaming. He had never seen anything so beautiful. If these are the angels, he thought, then we must be the devils.
They were so close now and the chant was rising in pitch. Surely the Gelaming could see them standing in the trees and hear their voices? Soon they would veer off the road and surround them.
The voices sounded feverish now, chanting so fast the words melted into one another. Flick could feel the spiralling power they had conjured, but how could it be enough? Couldn’t angels see through everything?
Tel-an-Kaa suddenly screeched, ‘Release!’ and Flick, like the others, was compelled to throw up his arms. He felt something tear out of him, like part of his spirit. He imagined a shining cloud bursting out of them all, a cloud which then drifted down over them like a caul.
The ground shook, and the Gelaming horses thundered by, so close. Flick could see crystals flying off their manes and tails. He could see their distended nostrils, the sweat upon their necks. They could not really be horses. He could see the hands of the riders upon the reins, and their stern countenances. And then he saw only the dust of their passage and the sound of hooves grew fainter.
He released his breath, realising he had been holding it for a long time. The group broke up, each wandering towards the edge of the trees.
‘Will they come back?’ Lileem asked. ‘Will they search for us in the town?’
‘We do not leave the boundary of this grove for some time,’ Tel-an-Kaa said. ‘Step back, Lileem. Do not break the web.’
‘They were magnificent,’ Mima said in rather a dazed tone. ‘And they are my brother’s tribe.’
‘Beautiful to behold,’ said Tel-an-Kaa, ‘like a snake with its jewelled coat. Do not be deceived. They are ruthless.’
Tel-an-Kaa made them wait until sunset before they left the grove. They kept off the road and galloped through the fields towards the town, the horses jumping over sagging fences that had fallen into disrepair. They careered through farmyards and woods, until they could hear the song of the ocean as it threshed against rocky cliffs. The clouds had dispersed and now moonlight illumined the narrow road they took down to the little port of Atagatisel, renamed for an ancient goddess of the sea.
Tel-an-Kaa had sent a mind-touch message to parazha of her tribe that patrolled the north eastern coast, looking for Kamagrian wanderers. The Zigane had made sure that a boat would be waiting for her party. The town was dark and quiet, almost too much so, and Flick could barely draw breath. It was built on a sheer hillside and all the narrow streets sloped alarmingly. Every time they passed a side alley, Flick expected to see a ghostly Gelaming horse materialise before their eyes. Seel had sent hara to find them, after all. What did this really mean?
Tel-an-Kaa did not take them to the main harbour, but to a private jetty just outside the town. Trees that grew right to the shoreline hid it from prying eyes. Here, a har was waiting for them in a small rowing boat.
‘He will take us to the ship,’ Tel-an-Kaa said. ‘He is one of Opalexian’s most trusted agents, and as foxy as any Gelaming. His name is Zackala.’
‘No,’ said Flick. ‘That is just too much of a coincidence.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ulaume asked.
Flick shook his head. ‘Nothing. Cal was once chesna with a har named Zackala, but he is dead.’
‘Like Pell is,’ said Ulaume. ‘There are no coincidences.’
‘No, there aren’t,’ Tel-an-Kaa said, ‘but there are many lies.’
The Zigane rode up to the jetty and dismounted, and Zackala jumped out of the boat to hold her horse. ‘Hurry,’ she called to the others. ‘Leef, Chelone, you had better get going, very quickly. Ride south and then go across country back to the mountains. The Gelaming are near, but my colleagues in this area have emitted an ether fog to beguile them. It will not fool them for long.’
Flick dismounted and patted the horse affectionately. He’d miss it. Leef and Chelone didn’t even dismount. They gathered up the reins of the horses between them.
‘Good luck,’ Leef said to Flick. ‘I hope we meet again one day.’
‘I doubt very much I will return to Forever,’ Flick said, ‘but it was good to know you for this short time. Thanks for all you’ve done.’
‘Our pleasure,’ Chelone said. ‘May the Aghama smile upon your journey.’
With these words, they set off, without a backward glance.
‘Poignant,’ said Ulaume in