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saw the firefly glint of lanterns far below. Curtains of rain swept past. He
saw a pale line of rope, looped around a jutting block of stone on the outside
wall and vanishing down the flank of the fortress.
Setting his teeth, Eldareth gripped the rope, swung out of the gap and began
to descend hand over hand, his feet braced against the wall and his arms
straining. The wind buffeted him. For several minutes he moved in pitch
darkness. At first he was aware that the two Zampherai were descending the
wall unaided alongside him, but he couldn't hear or see them and he felt
utterly alone, in a void. Eldareth began to sweat, despite the cold.
'Keep going,' whispered Orque. They're waiting for you. As soon as you are on
the ground, go!'
'What about you two?'
'We're in no danger. We'll vanish into rock, into the deep places of the
earth.'
Faint lights began to sway around him, and he suddenly felt the ground beneath
his feet. With relief he stood up and released the rope from his sore palms.
'Eldareth, it's us!' said ElruTs voice. The Shaelahyr was waiting there in the
shadow of the fortress, with Nefri and Gany; Jthery and Tanthe were behind
him, already on horseback. Their faces shone white and anxious in the
lantern-light.
Rain lashed down; the fortress stood bleak above them. High in the wall,
Eldareth saw light swaying dimly in the hole he had just left; the guards knew
he was gone. He put his foot in Gany's stirrup and swung into the saddle,
shocked at how weak he'd become during his incarceration. But he felt the
Torith
Mir wind cutting into his lungs, searing away the inertia and doom that had
gripped him. Gods, there was surely more to his life than an age-old guilt.
Perhaps the Zampherai had been right, the collected anguish
of the cell had affected him.
'I'm ready. said Eldareth. 'Lead on.'
Even as the party began to move off, a troop of mounted guards appeared round
the corner of the fortress, clearly visible since they carried a small forest
of lanterns. They were a hundred yards away but they saw Eldareth's party at
once. A shout went up.
'Halt! You're under arrest!'
'Run!' cried Eldareth. 'Put these lanterns out, just throw them down!'
Hurriedly, Tanthe and Jthery obeyed; then their horses were plunging into
darkness, across the street that wound round the fortress, down a steep wooded
slope, crossing the street again where it snaked around on itself, and then a
grassy slope that led out into the open countryside. The horses ran wildly,
hardly able to see where they were placing their hooves, stumbling and
righting themselves and galloping on.
Arrows rained around them, but none met its mark. Redbird, the swiftest, ran
in the lead and they were making good ground; then the mare suddenly propped
to a violent halt, nearly pitching Tanthe over her head. 'Shit!' Tanthe
gasped, clinging on and managing to right herself. The other horses milled to
a halt beside her.
'What is it?' Eldareth panted.
'The lake,' said Jthery.
They were on a slick, grassy bank that tilted down into a swathe of reeds;
beyond lay a black stretch of water, sluggish and stagnant. A fork of
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lightning flickered, illuminating the scene starkly for a second or two.
Against the background patter of rain, the water uttered sounds, glop, sloop,
as if something were moving about in it.
'Oh, fuck,' Tanthe breathed. 'It's a good job Redbird can see better than I
can. I nearly went straight into that.'
'Which way now?' said Eldareth.
Elrill looked side to side, listening. To the left,' he said.
They turned in that direction, but at once they saw the lanterns of guards
heading towards them.
'Other way!'
They wheeled round, heading to their right along the edge of the lake; but
within moments, they saw another party from the fortress closing on them. At
least twenty armed men were coming from both directions, and their only escape
route was blocked by the lake.
'This is hopeless,' said Tanthe. 'We'll have to go through the lake itself.
Swim for it.'
'No,' Jthery said sharply. 'There are green wolves in there.'
'What? How d'you know?'
1... I can sense them. Too dangerous.'
'We might just get past the guards before they cut us off,' said Eldareth,
booting Gany's sides. 'If not, we shall have to stand and fight.'
He felt alive again, with the breath rasping through his throat, his lungs
burning and back aching. He felt alive. Gods, how much better to be cut down
trying to escape than to die passively like a slaughtered pig.
The horses ran flat out, but they were not going to outrun the guards, who had
already reached the edge of the lake. Now the guards were fanning out, and the
other group were riding hard behind them to cut off any hope of retreat.
Eldareth's party came to a sharp, skidding halt.
Throw down your weapons!' yelled the guards' leader, a squat dark-haired
woman. 'Give yourselves up or we'll cut you down where you stand!'
Jthery whispered, 'Stall them for five minutes. That's all I need.'
Eldareth had no idea what he meant; but when he glanced at Jthery, the young
man's eyes were shining like eerie torch-beams. Eldareth rode Gany in front of
him, half-shielding him from view, and in the same moment he came alongside
Redbird, seized Tanthe and put his sword across her throat. Taken by surprise,
she gasped convincingly.
'Who is under arrest here?' Eldareth barked.
The leader looked taken aback by his action. 'All of you,' she said.
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