area. Red-hot charcoal burned within it and a body was spitted over it. There were bloody bones scattered around the floor, and most of the Daroth were sitting well back from the fire, eating in silence. Two others were standing by the open door, overlooking the gates.
Sirano dipped his hand into the bag he carried, pulling forth a bottle. Then he strode into view. ‘I was asking myself,’ he said in a loud voice, ‘whether the Daroth could be considered to be evil. Do you see yourselves as evil?’
Heat and pain roared into his mind and he staggered. He thought he had been prepared for the mental onslaught, but it had come so swiftly he had no time to fight it. He did so now, summoning a masking spell which flowed through his mind like a cooling stream. ‘Have none of you the wit to offer me an answer?’ he called.
‘We came for you, Sirano,’ said a deep voice. He could not, at first, identify the speaker.
‘And you have found me. Now answer the question. Are you evil?’
The two Daroth by the door had moved inside. Sirano scanned the group. Two were now missing. A towering Daroth warrior moved closer, carefully avoiding the fire. ‘The word has little meaning for us, human. We are Daroth. We are one. There is nothing else of importance under the stars. Survival is the ultimate goal. What is good enables us to survive and to continue. What is evil threatens that survival.’
‘How did the Oltor threaten you? I thought that they saved you.’
‘They sought to deny us land. They closed the gateways to our own world.’
‘And the Eldarin?’
‘We will not coexist,’ said the Daroth. ‘Their magic was strong. They could have . . . troubled us.’
‘So!’ shouted Sirano. ‘It was fear that prompted you.’
‘We fear nothing!’ declared the Daroth, his voice rising.
The gallery door swept open and a huge Daroth warrior surged inside. Sirano spun and let fly with the bottle, which burst on the warrior’s chest. Flames spewed out to envelop the enormous white head, and a terrifying scream sounded. Fire consumed the towering figure, and the air was filled with black smoke. The Daroth crashed back into the door, then fell to his knees, his body flaring like a great torch. Blue flames hissed from him, and the heat was incredible. Pulling another bottle clear, Sirano swung towards the second door. As it opened he hurled the bottle – but it exploded harmlessly against the far wall. Climbing over the gallery rail, Sirano leapt to a ledge on one of the ten wooden pillars supporting the ceiling.
‘You fear extinction!’ he shouted. ‘Your lives are ruled by terror! That is why you cannot coexist. You believe that every race is as vile and self-centred as your own. And this time you are right. We will destroy you! We will hunt you down and wipe your grotesque species from the face of the earth!’
Three Daroth moved out onto the gallery. Sirano hurled another bottle, but they dived back and it too exploded without harm to the warriors. From his vantage point on the column, he saw the figures of Tarantio and Duvodas make the dash across open ground to the gates.
A hurled spear smashed through Sirano’s belly, pinning him to the pillar. Pain engulfed him, blood spraying from his mouth as he sagged down against the spear.
‘You pose no threat to us!’ sneered the Daroth leader. ‘Your pitiful race is weak and spineless. Your weapons
are useless against us. We have crushed your armies, and destroyed two of your greatest cities. Nothing that lives can stand against us.’
Loosing the bag from his shoulder Sirano, with the last ounce of his strength, tossed it into the fire. It erupted with a tremendous explosion that hurled several Daroth from their feet, engulfing two of them in flames.
A second spear slammed into Sirano’s chest. And with it came the gift he sought above all others.
Darkness.
As Duvodas entered the tavern Shira ran to meet him, throwing her arms around his neck. ‘I was so frightened,’ she said. ‘I thought you had left me.’ He hugged her close and kissed her cheek.