Purdol would wait.
Egel would have it all: the Armour, the army and the nation.
‘He will come if he can, general,’ said Dardalion.
‘Why should he?’
‘Egel is a man of honour.’
‘What does that mean?’ snapped Karnak.
‘I hope that it means Egel will do exactly what you would if you were in his place.’
Karnak laughed, his good humour restored. ‘I do hope not, Dardalion. I am rather counting on him getting here!’
As she slept, Danyal became aware of a voice piercing her dreams, blending with her sleeping thoughts. The awareness grew and she recognised Dardalion; he seemed thinner now and older, bowed down by enormous pressures.
‘Danyal, can you hear me?’
‘Yes,’ she said and smiled wearily.
‘Are you well?
‘I am unhurt, no more than that.’
‘Do you have the Armour still?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Less than a day from the river and the ferry. There is someone with me – a monster creature. He saw Waylander die.’
‘Open your eyes and show me,’ he said and
Danyal sat up. Kai still sat by the fire, his great eye closed, his huge mouth hanging open.
‘There is no evil in him,’ said Dardalion. ‘Now listen to me, Danyal – I am going to try to reach Egel and urge him to send a troop to escort you home. Wait at the ferry until you hear from me.’
‘Where are you?’
‘I am at Dros Purdol, but the situation here is desperate and we are mere days from destruction. There are fewer than six hundred men to hold the fortress and we have barricaded ourselves within the Keep. The food is almost gone and the water is stale.’
‘What can I do?
‘Wait at the ferry. May the Source bless you, Danyal.’
‘And you, priest.’
‘Priest no longer. The war has come to me and I have killed.’
‘We are all sullied, Dardalion.’
‘Yes. But the end is very near – then I shall know.’
‘What will you know?’
‘Whether I was right. I must go now. Wait at the ferry!’
Danyal and Kai found the crossing at dusk the following day. There was no sign of life and the ferry itself was moored on the far side of the river. Danyal unsaddled her horse and Kai carried the bulging pack containing the Armour into a small hut. She prepared a fire and some food, averting her eyes as Kai ate, spooning the oats into his mouth with his fingers.
She slept in a narrow bed while the monster sat, cross-legged before the fire.
Just after dawn she awoke to find herself alone.
After a breakfast of dried fruit she wandered to the river and washed, removing her tunic and wading naked into the waist-deep water by the bank. The current was swift and she had difficulty in keeping her feet. After several minutes she returned to the shore and washed the tunic as best she could, beating it against a rock to dislodge the grit of travel.
Two men rose from the bushes to her left. Rolling to the right she scooped her sword into her hand, hurling aside the scabbard.
‘She’s feisty,’ said the first man, a short stout warrior wearing a brown leather jerkin and carrying a curved dagger. As he grinned at her, she saw he had lost his front two teeth; he was unshaven and dirty, as was his companion – a thickset man with a drooping moustache.
‘Will you look at her!’ said the first man. ‘The body of an angel.’
‘I’m looking,’ said the second, grinning.
‘You geldings never seen a woman before?’ asked Danyal.
‘Geldings? We’ll show you who’s a gelding,’ snarled the gap-toothed warrior.
‘You gutless dung-eater! You’ll show me nothing but your entrails.’
Her sword came up and the men backed away.
‘Take her, Gael!’ ordered Gap-tooth. ‘Take the sword away.’
‘You take it.’
‘You frightened?’
‘No more than you.’
As they argued the immense figure of Kai rose behind them, his hands reaching out. His palms slammed their heads together with a sickening crack and both men slid to the ground. Kai leaned over to grab Gap-tooth’s belt and with a casual flick of his arm he hurled the unconscious man far out into the river. His companion followed and both sank from sight.