Chien felt there was little good in this entire adventure, but he held his tongue. They reached the palace corridor and ran into the throne room.
Warriors raced from the shadows but Chien cut the first from his feet, ducked under a wild slice and skewered another. Tanaki hurled her dagger into the face of a charging warrior – then saw Tsudai. All thoughts of the quest vanished as she dived to the floor, scooping up the sword of a fallen warrior and rolling to her feet. Tsudai ran to meet her, screaming a battle cry. She blocked his cut, spun and rammed her sword through his chest.
‘Rot in Hell!’ she hissed as he sagged to the floor.
Chien was surrounded now, and Tanaki wrenched the sword clear of Tsudai’s body and ran to his aid. There were six warriors against him, but she could hear more running in the corridor outside. She stabbed one man in the back and slashed her blade across the face of another. They all fell back briefly.
Asta Khan rose from the opening in the floor and uttered a weird howl. An icy wind blew across the throne room and the Nadir staggered back, screaming. The first three warriors stumbled to their knees with blood streaming from their eyes.
Tanaki grabbed Ravenna’s arm and dragged her back to the hole in the floor. ‘Down!’ she ordered.
Ravenna clambered into the hole and Tanaki followed her, leading her down the steps, Chien bringing up the rear.
‘Swiftly,’ said Asta. ‘The spell will not hold them long.’ Ravenna staggered, but stayed upright, and Chien took her arm.
Behind them they could hear the Nadir pounding down the steps . . .
They reached the darkness. Asta took Ravenna’s hand and she flinched away from the shaman, but he held her tight. ‘Now is the time for courage, woman,’ he said, and pulled her into the Void.
As before a circle of flames sprang up around them, and they moved across the darkness. Behind them the Nadir ran – unsuspecting – into the Void. Their screams were terrible.
The circle of fire began to fade and the dwellers in the dark closed in. Sweat shone on Asia’s brow as he struggled on. Taloned hands reached out for them, but the flames held them back. At last they reached the outer limit – and passed through. Asta collapsed to the stone floor. Seeing Ravenna, Kiall ran forward to take her in his arms. Tanaki watched the scene and turned away, her thoughts confused.
Chareos helped Asta to his feet.
The old man shrugged clear of his aid. ‘We must get out of here,’ he said. ‘Help the woman. Carry her if you must.’
Back they went through the honeycomb of tunnels, arriving at last at the fissure. Kiall, Chareos, Tanaki and Chien climbed to the surface, Kiall carrying the rope. They lowered it down and Asta made a loop in which Ravenna sat. Slowly the three men pulled her to the top.
Then they began to walk towards the hills. Chareos glanced back to see that half a mile away the city gates had opened and a column of riders was galloping out towards them.
The sound of hoofbeats came from the left. Chareos drew his sabre and spun . . . Harokas dragged his horse to a halt, behind him a string of ponies.
‘You had better mount,’ said the assassin. They helped Ravenna into the saddle of the first, then the others mounted.
‘There is only one place we can reach,’ said Asta Khan. ‘Follow me.’ He kicked his pony into a run and set off towards the west. The questors followed him, cutting to the right through a series of narrow passes. After an hour’s hard riding, with the Nadir closing on them, they emerged at last into a narrow valley.
The moon was high and Chareos groaned as he saw the broken tower and the stretch of battlements silhouetted against the sky. ‘No!’ he whispered.
But they rode on into the ghostly fortress of Bel-azar.
*
The eastern gates lay open and the questors rode their weary mounts inside. Chareos and Kiall dismounted and ran back to the gates, forcing them shut. Harokas found a thick beam which he and Tanaki wedged into the great bolt-plates. Then they mounted the rampart steps and watched from the battlements as the thirty Nadir riders drew rein outside. Asta Khan joined them. He leapt nimbly to the wall and stood looking down at the riders, letting them see him.