Bendegit Bran sent out scouts who returned to say that the surviving Panthers had fled the previous night’s fortress and were heading south. He had no choice but to let them go.
With the afternoon sun dropping towards the mountains Bran and twenty Iron Wolves rode to the east and the golden Circle of Balg. A stoop-shouldered man and a young boy were sitting with the body of the king, who was once more wearing his armour of gold. Of Bane there was no sign.
Bran dismounted and spoke to the man. He was the father of the boy, and had come seeking him. Bran thanked them both for tending his brother.
‘Where is the warrior who was with him?’ he asked the man.
‘I saw no-one, sir,’ he said.
‘What about you?’ Bran asked the boy.
‘Another man came, sir, just before my da found me. This man cast great magic. There was a bright light in the circle, and he walked into it, and was gone.’
‘Gone?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘And that was all you saw?’
‘I saw mountains, sir, beyond the circle. White mountains.’
THE END