A slim figure moved from the shelter of the trees and stood waiting.
Sofarita saw that it was a woman, and one of the wolf soldiers. Her face had been smeared with red lines, her brow painted black. Touchstone gave a wild whoop and ran towards her. The woman stood very still. Touchstone halted before her.
‘All is complete,’ he said. The winter of my soul is over.’
She did not smile, but she reached out with her left hand. Touchstone took it in his right, and held it to his heart. ‘Did you hear my prayer-songs?’ he asked her.
‘Every one,’ she replied. ‘Did you feel my heart reach out to you?’
‘I felt it. Aya! But this is a good day!’ Still holding her hand he led her to Talaban. ‘This Suryet,’ he said proudly. This wife of heart. Die happy now.’ Then he spoke in Anajo to Suryet. This is the Lord of the Black Ship, who promised to bring me to you. He is a good man, a fine warrior, and he has come to aid the People against the invaders. Greet him as a brother of my soul.’
Suryet stepped forward and placed her hand over Talaban’s heart, then transferred it to her own. This done she spoke a swift sentence to Touchstone and swung away, walking swiftly towards the trees.
‘She say we go,’ said Touchstone. ‘Enemy close.’
Talaban nodded and led his men after her. For an hour they followed Suryet along deer paths and narrow trails through the trees. Sofarita found the journey increasingly difficult and began to fall behind. Questor Ro called out to Talaban. The warrior loped back. ‘What is the problem?’ he asked her.
‘My joints are crystallizing,’ she said. ‘I cannot walk much further.’ Tossing his zhi-bow to Ro, Talaban swept her into his arms. She was lighter than he expected. Ro looked crestfallen as the warrior moved back towards his men. Being small and slight he could never have carried her far, but the sight of her in the arms of another man was hard to bear.
For Sofarita the relief from pain was more than welcome and she nestled her head on Talaban’s shoulder.
The moon was bright in the sky, its light bathing the forest in a spectral glow. It was silent and ghost-like, not a breath of wind disturbing the trees. At the head of the column Suryet walked with Touchstone, neither of them speaking.
Towards dawn Suryet threw up her hand, then crouched low. The Avatars halted. Setting Sofarita down, Talaban moved alongside Suryet. She touched a finger to her lips then pointed away to the right. There were campfires in a large hollow by a stream. Suryet indicated that the column should swing to the left and move around them. Talaban nodded, and the journey began again. Talaban was tired now, and ordered an Avatar soldier to carry Sofarita. Talaban himself walked at the head of the column, alongside Touchstone and Suryet.
With the coming of the dawn they emerged from the tree line. Ahead of them was a range of mountains, but it was not the mountains that caught the eye and made the breath catch in the throat. Beyond the range was what appeared to be a black wall across the world, gigantic and dark, and stretching as far as the eye could see.
‘Almec land,’ said Touchstone.
It was alien and unnatural and Talaban could not tear his gaze from it. ‘It stretches for hundreds of miles,’ said Sofarita.
‘Open ground now,’ said Touchstone, pointing to the narrow plain between them and the mountains. ‘Big danger.’
Talaban alerted his Avatars. All along the line strings of light appeared on the zhi-bows. ‘Time to go,’ he said.
Moving out onto the slope the Avatars spread out, bows ready. There was at least a mile of open ground to cover before they would reach the foot of the mountains. They were halfway across when one of the Avatars shouted a warning. Behind them they could see armed men emerging from the trees.
The chasing group was a half-mile back, but carrying Sofarita was slowing the Avatars, and Talaban knew there was little doubt that the Almecs would get into range before they reached the shelter of the slopes.