Druss nodded. Blood was staining his jerkin and beard, but he had cleaned his axe blades.
The dawn sun glinted above the distant mountains and Druss strode to the mouth of the cleft. The Lancers had pulled back in the darkness, and were nowhere in sight.
For another hour the Nadir waited nervously in the rocks, then several of them crept down to the smoking ruins of their camp, gathering what possessions had not been lost to the fires.
Nuang approached Druss and Sieben. ‘Niobe tells me you believe the rocks are safe,’ he said, and Sieben explained once more about volcanic activity. Nuang did not look impressed, his dark flat face expressionless and his eyes wary.
Druss laughed. ‘Given a choice between demons we haven’t seen and Lancers we have, I know what I’d choose.’
Nuang grunted, then cleared his throat and spat, ‘Does your axe kill demons?’
Druss gave a cold smile and hefted Snaga, holding the blades close to Nuang’s face. ‘What it can cut it can kill.’
Nuang gave a broad smile. ‘I think we will walk the Hills of the Damned,’ he said.
‘Never a dull moment with you, Druss,’ muttered Sieben. As Druss clapped him on the shoulder, he glanced down at the blood-smeared hand. ‘Oh, thank you. Just what a blue silk shirt needs, a spot of drying blood!’
‘I’m hungry,’ Druss announced, swinging away with a grin. Taking a handkerchief from the pocket of his leggings Sieben dabbed at the offending mark, then followed the axeman back into the rocks. Niobe brought him food, cold meat and goat’s cheese, and sat beside him as he ate.
‘Is there any water?’ he asked.
‘Not yet. The gajin destroyed all but one of our barrels. Today will be dry and hot. That is a pretty shirt,’ she added, reaching out and stroking the silk, her fingers lingering over the mother-of-pearl buttons at the neck.
‘I had it made in Drenan,’ he told her.
‘Everything is so soft,’ she murmured, stroking her hand down over his woollen leggings, and resting her palm on his thigh. ‘So soft.’
‘Raise your hand any higher and it won’t stay soft,’ he warned her. Glancing up at him she raised one eyebrow, then slid her hand along the inside of his thigh. ‘Ah,’ she said, ‘how true.’
‘Time to be moving, poet!’ called Druss.
‘Your timing is impeccable,’ replied Sieben.
For two hours the convoy moved into the black hills. There was no vegetation here, and walls of dark, volcanic rock reared above them. Silently the group pushed on, the Nadir casting fearful glances around them. Even the children remained quiet. No-one rode, for the footing was treacherous. Towards midday the ground gave way under a pony which fell, its left front leg snapping. It thrashed around until a young Nadir warrior leapt upon it, slicing open its throat; blood gushed to the rocks. The women moved forward, dragging the pony clear of the hole and butchering it. ‘Fresh meat tonight,’ Niobe told Sieben.
The heat was intense now, so strong that Sieben had ceased to sweat and felt his brain was shrivelling to the size of a walnut. By dusk the exhausted party had reached the centre of the hills, and they made camp beneath one of the twin towers. For more than an hour Sieben had been lusting after a drink of water from the one remaining barrel, and he queued with the warriors for a single cup. The taste was beyond nectar.
Later, just before sunset, he wandered away from the camp and climbed the jagged rocks towards the west-facing summit. The climb was not difficult, but it was tiring. Even so Sieben had a need to get away from the others, to find solitude. At the peak he sat down and stared out over the land. White clouds dotted the sky, peaceful and serene, and the setting sun was falling behind them, bathing the distant mountains in golden light. The breeze here was deliciously cool, the view extraordinary. The far mountains lost their colour as the sun sank lower, becoming black silhouettes like storm clouds gathering at the horizon, the sky above them turning mauve, then grey-silver and finally pale gold. The clouds also changed colour, moving from pristine white to coral red in a sea of royal blue. Sieben leaned back against a rock and soaked in the sight. At last the sky dark-ened and the moon appeared, bright and pure. Sieben signed.