‘You have magic,’ said Emrin, moving in. ‘Can you not . . . cast your own spell against the magicker?’
‘I have very few spells, Emrin. I have a talent for farsight and once I could move freely between worlds. That power is almost gone. I do not know why. I think it was part of the meld-magic that created me, and the magic is fading. But, no, I cannot fight the Ipsissimus. We must just hope that the Riaj-nor can save us.’
Climbing clumsily to her feet, she took Waylander by the arm. ‘Come, walk with me.’
They moved away from the group. Behind them Keeva started a small fire, and she and Emrin sat quietly beside it, preparing the hares. Niallad stood up and wandered away into the woods.
‘They tortured Matze Chai,’ Ustarte told Waylander. ‘I only saw glimpses of it. He was extraordinarily brave.’
‘Glimpses?’
‘There is a cloak spell over the magicker and his loachai. I cannot see events around them. But I did fasten to the thoughts of Matze Chai.’
‘He is still alive?’ asked Waylander softly.
‘Yes, he lives. There is something else. The loachai then healed Matze, bringing him back from the point of death.’
‘So his master could torture him again?’
‘I don’t think so. It was as if the cloak-spell parted for a heartbeat and I caught just a glimpse of his thoughts – more an echo of his emotions. He was saddened and sickened by the torture. His healing of Matze Chai was a tiny act of rebellion. It is mysterious. I feel there is some fact we have overlooked. Something vital. It is like a nagging thought just below the level of consciousness.’
‘I have the same feeling,’ said Waylander. ‘It has been bothering me ever since the battle with the demons. I saw the magicker ripped apart. But just before that I saw him falter. His spell was working, the mist was receding. Then he seemed to lose all confidence. His voice stammered. The mist swept over him. I watched his arm torn from his body. Yet, moments later, his voice rang out again, and he conquered the demons.’
‘An Ipsissitnus has great power,’ said Ustarte.
‘Then why did he lose it for those few heartbeats? And why did he not have his loachai with him? Surely that goes against what you told me about a magicker and his loachai. The boy is supposed to be Eldicar’s shield.’
The boy was with Keeva and Yu Yu at the time,’ said Ustarte. ‘Perhaps when the demons attacked them Eldicar sensed his peril. That could be why he lost concentration.’
‘It still makes no sense,’ insisted Waylander. ‘He leaves his shield behind, and when the shield is in danger he gets ripped apart? No. If the loachai had been sent against the demons, and his master was threatened, it would be understandable. You told me that the master is the one with the real power, and he directs it through his loachai. Therefore if the master was threatened the link to his servant could be severed, leaving the loachai defenceless. But that was not what happened. It was Eldicar who fought the demons.’
Ustarte considered his words. ‘He cannot be the loachai,’ said Ustarte. ‘You say the boy is around eight years old? No child could summon the power of an Ipsissimus, no matter how gifted. Nor do I believe anyone of that age would radiate such consummate evil.’
‘Beric is a fine boy,’ said Niallad, moving out of the darkness. ‘I like him greatly. There is no evil in him.’
‘I like him too,’ said Waylander, ‘but something is not right here. Eldicar told me he did not summon the demons to my home. I believed him. He spoke of Deresh Karany.’
‘I know this man,’ said Ustarte, her voice cold. ‘He is vile beyond all imaginings. But he is a grown man. I would have sensed it had there been more than one Ipsissimus.” She turned to Niallad. ‘You must pardon my intrusion, but I am reading your thoughts, and I need to see events through your memories. Think back to the night your parents were killed.’
‘I don’t want to do that,’ said Niallad, backing away.