Barrow Faraday found she needed more and more to reach down and steady herself with her free
hand. ―Where are we going?‖ she panted after some fifteen minutes. Yr bounded ahead of them
with an apparently endless supply of feline grace and energy.
―Shhh,‖ said Veremund, hardly breathing deeply at all, ―we‘re almost there now.‖
A moment later they climbed onto the top of the Barrow. Even though they were in an
exposed spot, the air was still and calm and not a breath of the cold north wind touched their
faces. From Faraday‘s vantage point a hundred paces in the air the hundreds of campfires of the
Axe-Wielders seemed like a necklace of diamonds and rubies nestling around the Barrows.
―Look,‖ Veremund pointed. ―They wait.‖
Faraday followed his finger. ―Oh!‖ she exclaimed, surprised. About twenty paces away,
in the very centre of the small plateau on top of the Barrow, Ogden and Jack the pig boy sat
inside a circle of white stones. Jack‘s heavy staff lay to one side outside the ring of white stones.
―How did Jack get here?‖ she said, half to herself. ―We rode so fast.‖
―Jack knows the land somewhat better than the Axemen with whom we ride,‖ Veremund
said mildly. ―Come.‖
Faraday let herself be led towards the other two. Yr‘s small white form reappeared a few
paces in front of them, and she sat down between Jack and Ogden just as Faraday and Veremund
stepped up. Faraday stepped into the circle of white stones.
―Lovely lady,‖ Jack smiled at her, although he did not rise, ―it gladdens my heart to see
you again.‖ Faraday looked at him carefully. He did not look so simple tonight, although his
good-hearted nature still shone forth at her. ―Please, sit down within this our circle, and know
that you are safe among us.‖
Faraday sat down cross-legged, tugging the skirt she had donned after the day‘s ride
down over her knees and ankles. She turned to Veremund to say something, but the old man laid
a soft finger across her lips as he sat down beside her. ―Shush, dear one. For the moment you
must simply watch and listen. We will answer all your questions in good time. Remember that
you are in no danger.‖
Faraday looked about the group. All of their eyes glowed in a most unusual manner,
almost as if there were coloured lamps behind them. Ogden and Veremund‘s eyes shone golden,
Jack‘s a brilliant emerald green, while Yr‘s glimmered a deep midnight blue.
―Let us begin,‖ Yr said in a soft, burred voice, the end of her tail twitching slightly.
Faraday just managed to stifle a shocked gasp. The cat blinked slowly at her, then turned
back to her companions.
―We are…‖ she began.
―Diligent,‖ Ogden whispered in a tone reminiscent of brothers when they chanted the
Service of the Plough.
―Careful,‖ Jack whispered in the same tone.
―Heedful,‖ Veremund chanted softly beside her. Faraday‘s eyes were wide as the chant
went on about her, each taking turns to carry the chant on.
―Attentive.‖
―Mindful.‖
―Regardful.‖
―Thoughtful.‖
―We are the…‖ Veremund chanted softly.
―Harbourers.‖
―Keepers.‖
―Shelterers.‖
―Servants.‖
―We wait,‖ they all chanted together, ―for…‖
―The One.‖
―The Appointed.‖
―The Saviour.‖
―The StarMan,‖ they all breathed as one. Then they all turned their startling eyes on
Faraday.
―We are the Sentinels!‖ they suddenly finished with a shout. Overhead the clouds milled
in sudden anger and lightening forked through them. Thunder cracked and roared so that the very Barrow they sat on trembled.
The mood was broken now, and Yr followed Faraday‘s eyes to the sky. ―Ah,‖ she said,
―the Destroyer knows we have emerged to walk the land of Tencendor again. See his temper. He
will seek us out, soon enough.‖
―What is this?‖ Faraday whispered, lowering her eyes. ―Who are you? What are you?‖
She looked at Jack, for she could not talk directly to the cat. ―How can Yr speak?‖
Jack smiled gently at her confusion. ―We all choose different forms, dear one. Yr,‖ he
turned and smiled affectionately at the cat, ―prefers a form that will let her be stroked as much as
possible. She has always been a sensual creature. Not all of us are so social, however. My other
companions,‖ nodding at Ogden and Veremund, ―and myself generally prefer solitude to
company, prefer the pursuits of the mind rather than the pleasures of the flesh.‖ Looking at
Ogden and Veremund‘s stained and tatty habits Faraday thought that they had totally ignored the
basics of cleanliness as well as the pleasures of the flesh. Her nose wrinkled a little in distaste.
―As for what we are, sweet child,‖ Ogden continued, the first time he had spoken directly
to Faraday since she had sat down among them, ―well, you do not need to know it all. But this
we can tell you. We are creatures of the Prophecy, recruited and recreated and bound to serve the
Prophecy. We are watchers and waiters, it is true, but we are also in a manner servants.‖
Faraday forgot her distaste of a moment earlier and blinked in confusion, unable to take
in all she had witnessed over the past few minutes. ―But are you not the Brothers Ogden and
Veremund? Or are you some kind of magical creatures?‖
―No, we are not Ogden and Veremund as such. Ogden and Veremund were once Brothers
of the Seneschal, it is true. But they died a long time ago when they tried to enter the Silent
Woman Woods. Because any visitors to the Silent Woman Keep would have expected to find
Brothers of the Seneschal in residence, we simply assumed the forms of Ogden and Veremund.
And are we magical creatures?‖ Ogden shrugged a little. ―Perhaps, but we wield very little magic
ourselves, and each of us has slightly different talents.‖
Faraday shuddered and bit her lip. She did not want to hear any more.
―You must hear it, lovely lady,‖ Jack said, his tone firm. ―We are creatures of the
Prophecy and we serve the Prophecy. You are now also bound up in it, and you have no choice
but to let the Prophecy bind you to its will.‖
―No, no,‖ Faraday whispered. ―This is madness!‖ She wanted desperately to get up and
run, but her limbs felt heavy and refused to move for her.
―Listen to us, Faraday.‖ Ogden spoke up again. ―Remember the Prophecy as Timozel told
you this morning. The Destroyer Gorgrael has arisen in the north. Driven by all-consuming
hatred, aided by his powerful magic, he will overrun all of Achar, of Tencendor. The races of
Icarii, Avar and mankind must unite. That is the only way that Gorgrael can be stopped. But only
one man can do it.‖
―Axis,‖ Faraday whispered. ―Oh merciful Artor!‖
―Merciful Artor can do nothing,‖ Yr snapped. ―It was His minions who drove the Icarii
and the Avar from their homeland in the first place.‖ Her tail swept in angry arcs behind her.
―Yr,‖ Veremund remonstrated gently. ―She cannot help her upbringing. Yet she will be
true. She will do her duty.‖
―She must!‖ Yr said, only slightly mollified, still trapped in her hatred of the Seneschal.
Of them all, Yr knew most about the internal machinations of the Seneschal, and the more she
knew the more she loathed the Brotherhood.
Faraday frowned. ―But if the Prophecy is correct, that makes Borneheld the Destroyer,
doesn‘t it? Isn‘t the StarMan the Destroyer‘s brother?‖
―Borneheld and Axis share the same mother, dear one. The Destroyer and Axis share the
same father.‖
Faraday looked at the Sentinels, calmly watching her. ―Then who is his father?‖
Yr‘s lips curled. ―Not even we know that, child. Would that we did. It would make things
so much clearer. We are creatures, servants only, of the Prophecy. Not even we understand all of
its riddles.‖
―Faraday,‖ Jack said gently, ―before we go any further, we must know what the trees told
you. What did you ask them, sweet child, and what did they sing for you?‖
Tears rolled down Faraday‘s face as she remembered the dreadful vision the trees had
shown her. ―I asked them to show me my husband. I was unsure about my marriage to
Borneheld.‖
―And what did they show you, Faraday?‖ Veremund rested a comforting hand on her
shoulder. It gave Faraday strength. Haltingly, she described to them the dreadful images, leaving
nothing out. Her voice grew ragged and distressed as she described the blood dripping through
Axis‘ hair, his hand stretched out—in appeal, she supposed—and the great gout of blood that
soaked her.
―Dear child,‖ Ogden asked carefully, as she finally ground to a halt. ―You asked the trees
to show you your husband. Which man did you see first?‖
Faraday frowned in thought. ―Borneheld,‖ she said finally. ―It was Borneheld. Why?
What does it matter?‖
―Ah,‖ said Veremund and Ogden together, unhelpfully. Yr blinked again and her tail
gave a single twitch.
Jack shifted a little. Even such enchanted creatures as Sentinels apparently got sore