The sky darkened and thunder jolted Chareos’ mind back to the present. Finn called a halt and turned to face Chareos. ‘It will be dusk soon and there’s going to be a heavy snowfall,’ he said. ‘I suggest we look for somewhere to camp and sit it out. We will build two shelters and gather wood for fires.’ The group walked on into a thick stand of pine; Finn and Maggrig scouted the area, locating two good sites. Kiall watched as the hunters tied twine to the tops of four sapling trees. These were then pulled together and fastened. Finn sent Beltzer and Chareos out to cut branches from the surrounding pine, and these were threaded through the tied saplings to form a spherical shelter some ten feet across. The bowmen left Kiall, Chareos and Beltzer to complete the walls, then walked some thirty feet away to build their own shelter.
Snow began to fall – gently at first, then thick and fast. The wind strengthened, gusting the snow into the faces of the workers, ice forming on brows and beards. Chareos continued to pack the walls of the shelter while Beltzer and Kiall gathered dead wood for a fire. The temperature plummeted as the sun dipped below the peaks.
Chareos had left a rough doorway on the south side of the structure and Kiall and Beltzer crawled inside. A tiny fire surrounded by stones was burning at the centre of the circle, but there was not heat enough to warm a man’s hands, let alone keep death from his body, thought Kiall miserably. The snow fell harder, covering the shelters, blocking the gaps in the walls and cutting out the icy draughts.
The temperature began to rise. Take off your cloaks and jerkins,’ ordered Chareos.
‘I’m cold enough already,’ Kiall argued.
‘As you please,’ said Chareos, removing his fur-lined cloak and heavy woollen overshirt. Adding fuel to the fire he lay down, his head resting on his pack. Beltzer did likewise, having discarded his bearskin jerkin. Kiall sat shivering for some minutes. Neither of the others spoke for a while, then Kiall undipped the brooch which held his Nadren cloak in place. Immediately he struggled out of the goatskin jerkin, the warmth from the fire enveloped him.
‘I don’t understand,’ he said. Chareos raised himself on one elbow and smiled.
‘Wool and fur are made not just to keep cold out, but to keep warmth in. Therefore it will work in reverse. If your body is cold and there is heat outside, the furs will stop it getting through to you.’
‘Why did you not just tell me?’
‘I find some men learn best by suffering,’ said Chareos.
Kiall ignored the rebuke. ‘Why did Finn and Maggrig choose to have their own shelter?’ he asked. ‘Surely there is enough room in here with us?’
‘They prefer their own company,’ answered Beltzer. ‘They always did. But I am sorry they will not be coming with us beyond the Gate. I never knew a better shot than Maggrig, nor a cooler fighting man than Finn.’
‘Why won’t they come with us?’ Kiall asked.
‘They have more sense,’ Chareos told him.
*
Ravenna’s dreams were strange and fragmented. She was a child in the arms of her mother – safe, warm and comforted. She was a doe running through the forest, pursued by wolves with long yellow fangs, sharp as swords. She was a bird, trapped in a gilded cage and unable to spread her wings.
She awoke. All around her the other women lay sleeping. The air was close and there were no windows. Ravenna closed her eyes. Tomorrow she would stand naked on the auction block. Her heart began to beat wildly; she calmed her breathing and tried to relax.
The dreams flowed once more. Now she saw a knight in shining armour riding through the gates, the Nadren scattering before him. Leaning from his saddle, he plucked her from the auction platform and rode out across the steppes. Safe in the trees he helped her down and dismounted beside her. He lifted his visor . . . the face inside was rotted and long dead, the flesh hanging in leather strips from the grinning skull.