The hunters rose and moved off into the jungle.
Kiall lay back and smiled at the young woman. She did not respond in kind, but touched her hand to her breast, then to her brow, then pressed her fingers to Kiall’s mouth. Not knowing how to respond, Kiall lifted her hand and kissed it. She settled down beside him, closed her eyes and slept.
For some time he lay awake, too frightened to leave the sanctuary of the undergrowth. Then he too drifted off into a light doze – and awoke with the moon shining high above the trees. The woman sat up and crawled into the open. Kiall followed. She whispered something to him, but it was a language he had never heard.
‘Okas?’ he asked. Her head tilted. ‘I am looking for Okas.’
She shrugged and trotted off along the river-bank. He followed her through the moonlit jungle, up over hills and rises, down through vine-choked archways and on to a wide cave where she stopped outside and held out her hand. He took it and was led inside. Torches flickered and he saw more than thirty of the Tattooed People sitting around fires built within circles of stone. Two young men approached them. After the woman had spoken to them for a few moments, he was led further into the cave.
An old man, near toothless, sat cross-legged on a high rock. His body was completely covered in tattooes and his lower face was stained blue, as if emulating a beard and an upturned moustache.
The woman spoke to the old man, whose face remained expressionless throughout. Finally she turned to Kiall and dropped to her knees. Taking his hand she kissed it twice, then rose and was gone.
‘I am Okas,’ said the old man.
‘I am . . .’ Kiall began.
‘I know who you are. What do you want of me?”
‘Your help.’
‘Why should I seek to aid the soul of Tenaka Khan?’
‘I do not know what you are talking about,’ said Kiall. ‘I am seeking to rescue a woman I love – that is all.’
‘Where is fat Beltzer?’
‘I lost them when we were attacked.’
‘By the Azhtacs, this also I know! Give me your hand.’ Kiall reached out and Okas took his hand and turned it palm upwards. ‘You lost your woman – and yet not your woman. And now you are on a quest you do not understand, that will determine the fate of a people you do not know. Truly, Kiall, you are a part of the World’s Dream.’
‘But will you help me? Chareos says you can follow spirit trails; he says that without you we will never find Ravenna.’
The old man released his hand. ‘My people are finished now, the day of the Azhtacs has dawned. But soon another day will dawn, and the Azhtacs will see the destruction of their homes, the torment of their people. Yet that gives me no pleasure. And I do not wish to be here when they come for my children. I had thought to die tonight, quietly, here on this stone. But now I will come with you and die on another stone. Then I will join the World’s Dream.’
‘I don’t know how to thank you,’ said Kiall.
‘Come,’ said the old man, dropping to the floor beside him, ‘let us find the ghosts-yet-to-be.’
*
Chareos dragged his sword clear of the dying Azhtac and swung to see if any of his companions needed help. Beltzer was standing over a dead warrior with axe raised. Maggrig and Finn had sheathed their knives and notched arrows to their bows. Nine dead Azhtacs lay sprawled around them. Chareos glanced up at the sun; it was almost noon and the silver-grey Gateway beckoned him.
‘Where in Bar’s name is Kiall?’ hissed Chareos.
Finn joined him. ‘I marked as many trees as I could, Chareos. I think he must be dead.’
Beltzer dropped to his knees beside a corpse and began to tug at the gold circlet the man wore on his brow. At that moment Maggrig shouted a warning and a large group of Azhtacs raced from the trees. ‘Back!’ shouted Chareos. Beltzer cursed and rose. Maggrig and Finn ran through the Gateway. Beltzer raised his axe and bellowed a battle-cry and the Azhtacs slowed. Beltzer turned and sprinted through the Gate, followed by Chareos.