Ciall limped out into the courtyard, broken spear in hand.
‘Halt!’ he said. His arrival broke the tension and the riders began to laugh.
The leader raised his hand for silence and then leaned forward over his horse’s neck.
‘We seek two riders, old man. Are they here?’
‘You are not welcome at the fortress. The Gan commands you to leave.’
‘Did you not learn your lesson yesterday fool?’
‘Must we force you to go?’ countered Ciall.
The outlaw leaned over to whisper something and the leader nodded. He turned in the saddle. ‘The tracker says that they are here. Take the old man and get him to talk.’
Two riders began to dismount. Ciall screamed a battle cry and ran forward; the officer was still half turned when the broken spear rammed into his side. He screamed and half-fell. Ciall dragged the spear loose and hacked at him once more, but a rider to the left dipped his lance and spurred his mount forward and Ciall was lifted from his feet as the iron tip plunged into him. The lance snapped and the old man fell to the stones.
The officer hauled himself upright in the saddle. ‘Get me away from here; I’m bleeding to death!’ he said.
‘What about the riders?’ asked the tracker.
‘Damn them! We have men spread out from here to Delnoch and they can’t escape. Get me away from here!’ The tracker took the officer’s reins and the troop cantered back through the gates. Tenaka raced out to the courtyard, kneeling beside the mortally wounded Ciall.
‘You did well, Dun Ciall,’ he said, lifting the man’s head.
Ciall smiled. ‘They’ve done it now,’ he said. ‘The stone.’
‘You will still be here. With the Gan and the rest.’
‘Yes. The Gan has a message for you, but I don’t understand it.’
‘What does he say?’
‘He says to seek the King Beyond the Gate. You understand?’
‘Yes I do.’
‘I had a wife once . . .’ whispered Ciall. And died.
Tenaka closed the old man’s eyes; then lifted the frail body and carried it to the shade of the gate tower, laying it to rest beneath the stone of Egel. He placed the broken spear in the dead man’s hand.
‘Last night,’ he said, ‘he prayed to the Source. I don’t know enough to believe in any god, but if you are there then I pray you will take his soul into your service. He was not an evil man.’
Renya was waiting in the courtyard when he returned.
‘Poor man,’ she said. He took her in his arms and kissed her brow.
‘Time to go,’ he told her.
‘You heard what they said – there are riders everywhere.’
‘First they must see us. Secondly they must catch us. We are only an hour’s ride from the mountains, and where I go they will not follow.’
Throughout the long morning they rode, hugging the tree-line and moving carefully out on to open ground, avoiding the sky-lines. Twice they saw riders in the distance. By midday they had reached the base of the Delnoch peaks and Tenaka led them up into the high country. By dusk the horses were exhausted and the riders dismounted, seeking a place to camp.
‘Are you sure we can cross here?’ asked Renya, wrapping her cloak tightly about her.
‘Yes. But we may not be able to take the horses.’
‘It’s cold.’
‘It will get colder. We have maybe another three thousand feet to climb yet.’
Throughout the night they huddled together beneath their blankets. Tenaka slept fitfully. The task he had set himself was awesome. Why should the Nadir follow him? They hated him more than the Drenai did. The two-worlds warrior! He opened his violet eyes and watched the stars, waiting for the dawn.
It arrived in garish splendour, bathing the sky in crimson – a giant wound that seeped from the east. After a hurried breakfast they set off once more, moving ever higher into the peaks.
Three times during the morning they dismounted to rest the horses, leading them on over the patchy snow. Far below them Renya glimpsed the red cloaks of the Delnoch riders.