maybe a dozen, but then he‘d be dead himself, covered in rats or mice, his throat choking with a
thousand millipedes.
It made the older among them yearn for the relative certainty of a large-bodied Skraeling.
The youngster who‘d impressed Herme with his plan to empty barrels of oil down city
streets was among the first to die. The children—and adults, for that matter—had planned as best
they could for an invasion of the animals, but nothing had prepared them for this tiny-bodied
flood.
The boys, the small male two-legs, died horribly. None of them was granted a quick
death. While a score of rats would attack a face, keeping hands occupied, thirty or forty mice
would chew into a belly, diving through entrails and tunnelling up through diaphragms and lung
cavities until the boy began to cough mice and whatever millipedes and centipedes that had
scrambled in after the initial invasion.
Then, if circumstances permitted it, the rats and sundry rodents would leap off the dying
two-leg‘s body and sit in a fascinated circle about him, listening to his frenzied screeches and
wails, watching his agonised convulsions, their whiskers twitching in anticipation as the blood
ran in bright rivulets towards them.
There was little that Herme, or any other captain, lieutenant or even general horse waterer
could do, save shout orders for people to climb as high as they could and block exits to floors
below.
The streets are awash! To the attic, to the attic!
And when families and army units ran for the attics, and thought of some means whereby
to block the grey writhing mass on the stairs behind them, not a few instinctively grabbed at
lamps and candles, and threw them down to erect a moat of flame between themselves and the
rodents.
But it was not only the rodents that went up in flames.
Within a quarter hour of the initial attack, Carlon was on fire.
Beyond the walls the bestial army howled and shrieked, scrabbling at the gates in the
hope that soon guards would be dead and bolts chewed through.
Beyond both walls and demonic force, and totally unnoticed by any, the waters of Grail
Lake began to quiver…almost as if something within their depths was moving.
Upwards.
64
The Doorways
―We have lingered here far too long,‖ Drago said again, and the others looked at each
other, wondering at the fear in his voice.
―What is wrong?‖ Zared said.
―Carlon is under attack,‖ Drago said. ―Desperate attack.‖
―Then what are we doing here?‖ Zared said, waving an arm at the gently waving flowers.
―Get us back to the Ranges, and then to—‖
―No,‖ Drago said. ―We cannot go back to the grassy flat. It is the mid-morning hour of
Tempest, and you and Theod would lose your minds the instant we transferred back there.‖
He opened and closed his hand about the staff, and the next instant sketched a symbol in
the air. Again, without being asked, the feathered lizard poked his head out of the flowers, then
raised a claw and retraced the symbol in light.
This was pure white light, and the symbol was the least complex Faraday had yet seen
Drago draw.
It was a simple rectangle of light, slightly taller than the height of a man, and half as
wide.
Through the rectangle she could see the dizzying balconies and stairwells of Spiredore.
―A fortunately uncomplicated enchantment,‖ Drago said, and Faraday looked at him
sharply, hearing for the first time the weariness in his voice. She remembered how Axis, as all
Enchanters, had sometimes pushed themselves close to death by wielding enchantments that
required them to manipulate a frightening amount of the Star Dance.
―Are you all right?‖ Leagh asked, moving close to Drago and taking his arm.
Faraday watched Leagh and wished she‘d thought to ask first.
Drago nodded. ―Quick. Through the door. Theod, say goodbye to your sons. They cannot
follow for the moment.‖
For the moment? Faraday locked eyes with Leagh, but she shrugged slightly, and no-one
else seemed to take any note of Drago‘s words. Theod bent close to his sons, kissed each one on
the cheek, then stood back as they drifted off through the flowers.
―Thank you,‖ he said to Drago.
―Time enough for thanks later,‖ Drago said. ―Through the doorway. Now!‖
They walked through, a not unpleasant buzz passing through their bodies as they did so,
and on the other side grouped on a balcony within Spiredore. Once the lizard had ambled
through after them, Drago turned to the rectangle of light, the field of flowers clearly visible, and
literally folded the rectangle up into a tiny box of light which he slipped into a pocket.
Curious, Faraday was about to ask what he was doing when he turned to her.
―Faraday, take Katie and DareWing back to Sanctuary—‖
―I come with you!‖ DareWing said, then bent double coughing.
―—and hand DareWing to one of the Icarii Healers,‖ Drago said. ―Tell StarDrifter to
expect the people of Carlon to start arriving—and tell him to expect that many of them may be
injured. Burned. Then get WingRidge, as many of the Lake Guard as are present, and bring them
back to me. Fast! ‖
―How will I find you?‖ Faraday asked, her eyes and voice steady.
―The bridge leading to Sanctuary can reconnect you with Spiredore, and ask Spiredore to
bring you to me.‖
Faraday nodded. ―Katie, DareWing…come.‖ She held out her hands, and Katie took one.
DareWing looked at the other, then looked silently back to Drago.
―I need you well,‖ Drago said softly. ―Now… go!‖
DareWing continued to stare at Drago for an instant longer, then he jerked his head in
assent, and turned to Faraday.
―I can walk,‖ he said, ignoring her hand.
―Spiredore, I ask that you take myself, Katie and DareWing FullHeart to Sanctuary,‖
Faraday said softly, and walked down the stairs before her, DareWing following, leaning heavily
on the balustrade.
Drago watched them disappear, then looked at Goldman and Gwendylyr. ―I will need
your help, as yours, Leagh. Are you strong enough?‖
―Yes,‖ Gwendylyr and Goldman said together, and Leagh just nodded.
―But—‖ Zared said.
―Zared,‖ Drago said. ―Swords and fighting skills are not going to save Carlon, not now.
These three can. Will you deny me their company?‖
Zared shot one desperate look at Leagh—how could he put her straight back into danger
after having almost lost her?—then made a helpless gesture. ―What can I do?‖
―Both you and Theod can join us,‖ Drago said, ―for your wives will need your support.
Spiredore, take us to…to Herme, Earl of Avonsdale.‖
StarDrifter, standing in the meadowlands that lay between the bridge and the valley
entrance to Sanctuary, could hardly believe what he was seeing. Faraday and the girl? The Strike
Leader? Wearing that…that tunic? And he looked ill. ―Faraday? DareWing…what are you doing
wearing that—‖
―StarDrifter, we have no time for pleasantries. Here, take Katie‘s hand and look after her
well. Is WingRidge close by?‖
StarDrifter tore his eyes away from DareWing, taking Katie‘s hand. ―He‘s still at the top
of the stairwell. Some of the Avar Clans are coming in. Some…Isfrael has made no effort to
order the lot in.‖
―Get DareWing to a Healer. I have to—‖
―Faraday, whatever is wrong can wait just one more moment.‖
―No, it can’t, StarDrifter. Carlon is under attack, and Drago needs me back there. Very
soon there are going to be tens of thousands of Acharites coming over that bridge, and they are
going to be frightened and many injured. You are going to need help here to get them into
Sanctuary.‖
―Yes, but, dammit, listen to me Faraday. The Demons have come and gone from
Fernbrake. And—‖
―Why tell me this?‖ Faraday almost shouted, desperate to get WingRidge and the Lake
Guard and get back to Drago. ―We always knew that they would go to Fernbrake! I do not need
to hear the details of what desecration they committed there. I just don‘t want to hear it!‖
StarDrifter, angry himself now, seized her arm. ―Yes, you do need to hear it! They have
seized WolfStar, and the damned undead Niah thing he had with him. Whatever else, you cursed
impatient woman, Drago needs to know that!‖
And the details of exactly what desecration had been committed in that dead rose garden,
StarDrifter certainly knew Faraday did not need to hear.
She stared at him. ―Very well. I will tell Drago. Now, will you let go my arm and take
DareWing‘s? He needs your support and help far more than I!‖
―Faraday…be careful.‖
―I will, StarDrifter.‖ Impulsively she leaned forward and briefly kissed him. ―Take care.‖
She hugged Katie, and then she was gone.
Spiredore sent Drago and his companions into a living nightmare that must have sprung
straight from the firepits of the AfterLife.
They walked into a room thick with smoke and heat.
Drago took one breath and choked. He pulled a section of his cloak over his mouth and