‘A conduit,’ Kollarin told him. ‘The sorcerer uses an apprentice, who is placed in a trance. The spell is then spoken through the apprentice. If it fails, the demons take the soul of the conduit… the familiar.’
‘Enough of this!’ stormed Taliesen. ‘We are not here to educate the dwarf. Can you find her, Kollarin?’
Kollarin shook his head. ‘Not from here. I must go to where she last slept, then I will pick up her spirit trail.’
‘It will take three days in the snow,’ said Asmidir. The black man swung to the sorcerer. ‘However, it did not take you three days, Taliesen. Do you know another path?’
‘Aye, but none of you could walk it,” he said despondently.
‘Why do you need to be in the hut Kollarin?’ asked Ballistar. ‘Could you not merely track her by using a piece of her clothing?’
‘I am not a bloodhound, you idiot! I don’t follow the trail with my snout to the snow!’
‘Then how do you hone your talent?’ asked Asmidir.
‘It is hard to explain. But for me a person leaves an essence of themselves in any building. It fades over a period of weeks, but once I hook to it I can follow it anywhere.’
‘And where is such an … essence . .. most strongly felt?’
‘In a bed, or a favourite chair. Sometimes attached to a family member, or a close friend.”
‘By going to the hut, could you gain a sense of her ultimate destination?’
‘No,’ admitted Kollarin. ‘I would follow the trail.’
‘Damn!’ said Asmidir. ‘It brings us no closer. What of you, Taliesen? You are a sorcerer. You claim to be able to see the future. How then do you not know her whereabouts?’
‘Pah!’ said the old man. ‘You think in straight lines. You talk of a future. There are thousands upon thousands. New futures begin with every heartbeat. Aye, in all of them Sigarni is the Chosen One. In some of them she even succeeds for a while. In most of them she dies, young and unfulfilled. I am seeking the one future among so many. I do not know where she is; I don’t know why she has run away. Perhaps in this future she lacks courage.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Ballistar, reddening. ‘She would not flee. If she knew the demons were coming she would try to think of a way of fighting them. I know her – better than any of you. She has gone to choose her ground.’
‘Where would that be?’ asked Asmidir. ‘That is the question. And why did she not come to us to aid her?’
‘Her father was a great fighter,’ said Ballistar, ‘but he was torn to pieces. She would not take her friends into such peril. Who among us could fight demons?’
‘I could, but I wasn’t here,’ said Taliesen. ‘My people are fighting a war in another time. They needed me.’
‘There was no one she could turn to,’ said the dwarf. ‘Therefore she will fight alone.”
‘Wait!’ said Taliesen, his eyes brightening. ‘There is one she would turn to. I know where she is!’
‘Where?’ Asmidir asked.
‘The cave by the pool. She has an ally there. I must go!’ Taliesen rose.
Ballistar lifted his hand. ‘A moment, please,’ said the dwarf. ‘Do you know what Sigarni took with her when she left?’
‘Knives, balls of twine, some food, a bow, arrows. What does it matter?’ asked the sorcerer.
‘It matters more than you think,’ said Ballistar. ‘You had better let me come with you.’
9
SIGARNI PUT OUT her hand to the fire. The warmth was both welcoming and reassuring. When the demons had killed her parents all heat had vanished from the blaze in the hearth. This, she reasoned, would be her only warning that death was close. She stared at her hands. There were blisters on her palms and on the inside joints of her fingers; one had bled profusely and they were painful.
It was the eve of her second day by the frozen Falls and she had worked hard through the hours of daylight. Fear was a constant companion, but somehow that fear was eased merely by being alone. Sigarni the Huntress had no other concerns now save to stay alive. To do that she must somehow defeat a wizard and his demons.