drained by his exertions, and then spent another two in complete silence as he mourned his friend, Shile Cetarn, who had died during the battle. The two had been constant companions, colleagues and magical sparring partners for more than a decade, and without the oversized Cetarn beside him, Endine looked even less substantial.
Isak found it hard to believe this man was one of the finest battle-mages in Narkang. He’d grown used to using physical strength to contain and channel terrifying levels of magic, and he equated that to power, but it wasn’t necessarily so; a mage’s mental control and skill was at least as important as his physical capacity. While Endine was a weak man, he was brilliant and deft, almost the opposite to Isak’s own raw talent.
‘I came to use the mirror,’ he said in a quiet voice. ‘The king ordered me to fetch a man who’s travelling here from Narkang.’
‘Help yourself,’ Isak said. ‘I’ll just sit here if you don’t mind. Is it a magic mirror?’
‘No — well, yes, sort of. Judging by the quality of workmanship it was clearly made using magic, but I’ll be the one performing the spell.’ He scuttled over to the fireplace and after a wary glance back at Isak, reached into the pocket of his robe. It showed signs of careful repair after the battle; he might not be strong enough to wield a sword effectively, but Endine had been in the fort with King Emin as the Menin infantry launched their final frenzied assault, and without his desperate efforts it was very possible there would have been no survivors of that final stand. In the whole Narkang Army, probably only Cetarn had killed more men.
From his robe Endine reverently withdrew a Crystal Skull. It was too large for him to hold comfortably in one hand so he pressed the artefact to his chest while he drew chalk symbols on the edge of the mantelpiece.
‘Snap,’ Isak muttered, and when Endine turned and looked at him with puzzled irritation he held up the bag containing the Skull of Ruling.
‘So you are one of those chosen?’ Mihn said gravely.
Endine stopped working a moment and visibly stiffened. ‘Of course I was chosen,’ he said in a quiet voice. ‘Who else is more qualified? And besides, I refuse to allow that fat oaf Cetarn to have all the glory — I cannot have history remember me as some sort of apprentice of his.’
Isak saw Mihn smile at that. The squabbling pair of mages had fitted into the Brotherhood perfectly; the competition and abuse between them had matched anything Doranei and his fellows came out with, and it had masked the same fierce loyalty and friendship.
‘It will be dangerous,’ Mihn said quietly.
‘I have learned a little of duty in my years, young man,’ Endine snapped, ‘and I’m better able than most to deal with the danger.’
‘Who else has them?’
The Crystal Skulls had been divided up amongst people they could trust — quite apart from the fact that few mages would have the strength to control more than one, the Menin lord had clearly been hunting them all down. King Emin decided it would be far harder for Azaer to steal the greater part if they were not all in one place.
‘Camba Firnin has Protection, since you, Lord Isak, did not want it returned, while Tasseran Holtai has accepted Dreams, which should expand the scope of his scrying skills enormously. Morghien will take Joy with him into Byoran territory — more as a Brotherhood joke, I suspect — while Blood has been entrusted to your General Lahk. Unsurprisingly, Fei Ebarn was given Destruction. Knowledge I hold here, and Elements is to go to the man I summon today.’
Mihn bit back any further questions and left the mage to complete his preparations. Once the thick front edge of the mantelpiece had runic symbols down its length, Endine wrote with a tall, florid script on each side of the mirror before touching the Skull to the glass. Under his breath he started to chant, and Isak found himself holding his breath as the texture of the air started to thicken and the already dim room grew steadily darker.
The Land contracted around him with the growing gloom and Isak found his hand questing down for Hulf’s reassuring warmth as the walls and ceiling started to fade from his perception. There was a tiny sound, on the edge of hearing, but one that made him shiver all the same — it was too close to the far-off wails of the damned in Ghenna for his liking.
‘Damn imagination,’ Mihn muttered, echoing Isak’s thoughts.
‘You heard that?’ Endine said softly. ‘That wasn’t your imagination; the boundaries between worlds are weakened while the Gods are drained. Most normal men wouldn’t hear it, but I suppose you would be rather more sensitive to the other side than most, wouldn’t you?’ He paused and looked back at Mihn. ‘Some sounds you never forget.’
Before Mihn could find a reply Endine had returned to his spell — then the reflection in the mirror moved unexpectedly. Isak blinked, and realised it had become more than just a reflection; the lines of the darkened room had turned into somewhere different entirely, and he could now make out a much larger figure than Endine. Without warning a hand reached forward and pushed through the surface of the mirror, followed swiftly by a man’s head. The man blinked at them, as though checking they were in fact real, before he stepped through onto the mantelpiece and dropped down to the ground.
‘Master Endine,’ he said gravely, offering his hand in a perfunctory way, apparently unsurprised when it was ignored.
The man was no older than forty summers, Isak guessed, with a thin, clipped beard and more jewellery than even most Farlan nobleman would think appropriate. His travelling clothes were expensively cut, and he had rubies dangling from his ears, a fat pearl at his throat, and all sorts of gold rings on his fingers. Both the clasp of his cloak and his belt-buckle were golden dragons with displayed wings and rubies for eyes, while the long dagger on his belt was so ornate Isak could scarcely believe anyone could use it in anger.
‘Are all your servants so insolent?’ the newcomer demanded as Mihn, standing closer than Isak, inspected him with obvious interest. The man’s fingers dropped to the garnet pommel of his knife.
‘Ah, he is no servant, Master Ashain,’ Endine said quickly, stepping in between the two. ‘This is Mihn ab- Ah, well, I forget the rest, but he is a much respected man by the king.’
‘I’m also no servant,’ Isak piped up. Mihn turned and put a hand on the white-eye’s shoulder, hearing the antagonistic tone to his voice, but Isak didn’t take the hint. ‘But I am pretty insolent, so if you’re planning on pulling that knife, stop teasing and fucking well draw the thing.’
To his credit Ashain didn’t take a step back, merely withdrew his hands and delicately brushed his fingers. There was no fear on the man’s face, just astonishment and disdain as he gazed at the scarred white-eye sitting before him. His eyes were cold and grey, with faint crows-feet at the corners and long dark lashes.
‘And you are?’
‘Someone who doesn’t like your face.’
‘As someone appears to have taken a dislike to yours.’
Endine took another step forward. ‘Gentlemen, please! Isak, there’s no need for that; he is not the enemy.’
Now the shock did register on Ashain’s face. ‘Isak? Lord Isak? ’ He looked the white-eye up and down, clearly now registering Isak was bigger than most white-eyes, and so likely to be one of the Chosen. ‘What- How?’
‘My servant here,’ Isak said, pointing at Mihn, ‘you can call him Grave Thief if you like.’
‘Astonishing! Endine, you will take some time later to let me know how it was done?’ Ashain said, suddenly alight with academic curiosity.
‘I shall, as far as I have gleaned the details,’ Endine agreed, ‘but first we have rather more pressing business.’
‘And what would that be? As much as I enjoy mirror-travel when someone else capable is doing the work for a change, I have had to come a long way on horseback beforehand. Your master had better have a good reason for dragging me out this way without warning.’
‘My master, but the king of both of us,’ Endine warned. ‘That you have a personal dispute with him makes no difference; we are his subjects and he requires your service.’
‘My service?’ spluttered Ashain. ‘Has he taken leave of his senses? I’m no mere King’s Man to come running when he clicks his fingers.’
Isak made a face. ‘Sounds like you are now.’
‘Isak is, I’m afraid, essentially correct. He requires your contribution to the war effort. You will be rewarded, but he will not accept no for an answer.’
‘Well, that’s all he’s going to bloody get, king or not!’
Endine raised a hand. ‘Master Ashain, we may have had our disputes, but I respect you as a peer of
