To his left the grey mare suddenly reared, dragged her reins loose of the rock and leapt over the wall. The bay gelding followed her lead and the two horses galloped away towards the hills. The huge hounds ignored them.
The voice came again, and he realized it was somehow speaking inside his head.’ Your order has fallen a long way since the Great Battle. My brothers will be pleased to hear of your decline. The mighty Riaj-nor, who once were lions, are now frightened monkeys with bright swords.’
‘You show yourself,’ said Yu Yu, ‘and this monkey will cut your poxy head from your poxy shoulders.’
‘Yow cannot see me? Better and better.’
‘No, but I can see you, creature of darkness,’ came the voice of Kysumu. The little Rajnee stepped up alongside Yu Yu. ‘Cloaked in shadow you stand just out of harm’s way.’ Yu Yu glanced at Kysumu and saw that he was staring towards the eastern wall. He squinted, trying to make out a figure there, but he could see nothing.
The demon hounds began to move. Kysumu had still not drawn his sword.
‘I see there are still lions in this world. But lions can also die.’
The hounds rushed in. Kysumu’s blade flashed left and right. Two of the beasts fell, writhing upon the stones. A third struck Yu Yu, fangs closing upon his shoulder. With a cry of pain Yu Yu rammed his sword deep into the beast’s belly. In its agony the hound opened its jaws, letting out a ferocious howl. Yu Yu tore the blade clear and brought it down upon the hound’s skull. The sword clove through bone and wedged itself. Desperately Yu Yu tried to haul it clear. The last two beasts rushed at him. Kysumu’s sword sliced through the neck of the first, but the second leapt for Yu Yu’s throat.
In that instant a black bolt materialized in the creature’s skull, a second lancing through its neck. The hound fell at Yu Yu’s feet. Freeing his sword Yu Yu swung round to see the Grey Man upon his steeldust gelding, a small crossbow in his hand.
‘Time to go,’ said the Grey Man softly, pointing towards the east.
A thick mist was moving across the ancient city, a wall of fog rolling slowly towards them. The Grey Man swung the gelding and galloped away. Yu Yu and Kysumu followed him. The pain in Yu Yu’s shoulder was intense now, and he could feel blood flowing down his left arm. Even so he ran swiftly.
Far ahead he saw the Grey Man still riding away. ‘A pox on you, bastard!’ he shouted.
Glancing back, he saw that the wall of mist was closer, moving faster than he could run. Kysumu also glanced back. Yu Yu staggered and almost fell. Kysumu dropped back to take his arm. ‘Just a little further,’ said Kysumu.
‘We . . . can’t . . . outrun it.’
Kysumu said nothing, and the two men moved on in the darkness. Yu Yu heard hoofbeats and looked up to see the Grey Man riding back towards them, leading the grey mare and the bay gelding. Kysumu helped Yu Yu into the saddle, then ran to his own mount.
The mist was very close now, and Yu Yu could hear bestial sounds emanating from it.
The grey mare needed no urging and took off at speed, Yu Yu clinging to the saddle pommel. She was panting heavily by the time they reached the slope, but panic gave her greater strength and she fought her way up the steep incline.
A little ahead the Grey Man swung the steeldust, gazing back down towards the plain.
The mist was swirling at the foot of the slope – but not advancing. Yu Yu swayed in the saddle. He felt Kysumu’s hand upon his arm, then passed into darkness.
The tall, blue-garbed surgeon, Mendyr Syn, replaced the poultice on the shoulder of the unconscious man and sighed. ‘I have never seen a wound reacting like this,’ he told Waylander. ‘It is a simple bite, yet the flesh is peeling back rather than sealing itself. It is worse now than when you brought him in.’