He looked at the assembled faces. ‘You know what the Swarm is, and you know Arunis dredged the River of Shadows until he found it, and used the power of the Nilstone to bring it forth. Some of you know as well that our hosts have seen it from the mountaintops in recent days. Now I will tell you how it kills — and why.
‘The Swarm was created to patrol the border of death’s kingdom, to stop the dead from spilling out into Agaroth, and attempting to migrate back in the direction of the living lands. Whenever a breach in the border wall appears, the Swarm falls upon any of the dead who pass through it, and drives them back to their proper place. The larger the breach, the stronger the Swarm grows in order to contain it. But in the living world all of this goes awry. Death still attracts the Swarm, and death’s dark energy can still feed it and make it grow. Small or scattered deaths will pass unnoticed: their energy will still leave Alifros in the natural way, along with the spirits of the deceased. But a great catastrophe — a war, a famine, an earthquake — is quite different. The Swarm flies to such horrors, and if they are still unfolding, it drops upon them and makes them complete.’
‘Complete?’ said Big Skip. ‘You mean it kills everyone that hasn’t yet been killed?’
‘Everyone and everything within its compass,’ said Ramachni. ‘Trees, grass, insects, people. And then, like a sated vulture, it rises again into the clouds and moves on.’
‘It has already happened at least once,’ said Thaulinin. ‘Our scouts listened to the fireside grumblings of the enemy. Several times they spoke of a “cloud of death” that had ended the fighting in Karysk, along with most of Bali Adro’s terrible armada.’
‘This Swarm sounds almost like a peacemaker,’ said Corporal Mandric.
‘It could have that effect for a time,’ said Ramachni, ‘if all the warlords in Alifros somehow learned of their peril. But I fear we would not be safe for long. There is no way to be certain, but my guess is that the Swarm only ignores the little deaths because the larger call to it so loudly. If wars ceased, it would begin to harvest death from smaller conflicts, minor plagues. And in time darkness itself will become the killer, as crops and forest die in its shadow.’
‘Watchers above!’ said Bolutu. ‘Surely it will never grow
‘Will it not?’ Ramachni glanced about the table, his eyes settling at last on the bowls of fruit. ‘Consider those grapes, Mr Bolutu: how many would it take to cover the table?’
‘Entirely?’ said Bolutu. ‘That’s hard to guess, Ramachni. Thousands, surely.’
‘Let us say ten thousand. And let us imagine we start with one grape, and double the number each day. Think back to your early arithmetic: how long will it take?’
‘Fourteen days,’ said Neda. There were startled glances, but Neda shrugged. ‘Very simple problem. Only double and double: two, four, eight, sixteen-’
‘And so on,’ said Ramachni. ‘Fortunately even this scale is deceptive: if the table stands for Alifros, the Swarm today is still no larger than a grain of sand. And on many days it will feed on nothing, but merely fly toward the next battle or site of pestilence. We need not measure our time in days, just yet — but we dare not measure it in years. Six months from now, Arunis will have joined the Night Gods, and this world will be a black and lifeless grave.’
There were sighs and looks of horror, as though the mage had stabbed them with his words. Pazel thought of all the quite days in Ularamyth and felt a pang of guilt. He had not wanted to hasten their passing. He had not wanted to think about the Swarm.
‘At the very least, our task is clear,’ said Hercol. ‘We must make haste to Gurishal, and give the Nilstone back to death.’
‘This might be a good moment to tell us
‘Mr Pathkendle is quite correct,’ said Lord Arim, ‘and here is the best answer we have found: it is true that Macadra is watching every sensible path. But there remains one, rather less sensible, that she may have forgotten.’
He rose stiffly from his chair and pointed northwards. High on the crater’s rim, Thasha could just make out the dark triangular doorway in the mountain’s wall.
‘The Nine Peaks Road,’ said Lord Arim, ‘or as we call it, Alet Ithar, the Sky Road. It is a remote and treacherous path, though part of it follows the Royal Highway that linked the halls of the Mountain Kings. Ages have passed since those kingdoms fell. The Highway is lost in many places: bridges have fallen, forests regrown; earthquakes have changed the shape of the peaks. Today only the selk continue to speak of a road at all. Yet with skill and daring one can still pass that way — at least until the deep snows drape the mountains. And that is a third and final reason to hurry: as you can see, the snows have already begun.’
‘The path is certainly treacherous,’ said Ramachni, ‘but it is also a shortcut. By that path, and the wild lowlands beyond, we may come to the Gulf of Ilidron in a mere nine or ten days.’
Ensyl was gazing up at the distant doorway. ‘I thought we were forbidden to learn the way out of the Vale, Lord Arim,’ she said.
Arim nodded. ‘You are indeed. But that door above you does not mark the start of the Nine Peaks: it is but a final shelter and waystation for those leaving Ularamyth. You will climb to that station at midnight tonight, and I will go that far at your side.’
Ramachni looked startled. ‘That is very good of you, my lord, but need you tire yourself?’
Arim smiled. ‘There is power yet in this old selk, Arpathwin: even a spark of that fire we wielded at the Battle of Luhmor, should it come to that. Yes, I must make that climb, for not even you may pass the guardian we keep at that door, without my intercession.’
‘Our plan is not without risk,’ said Thaulinin. ‘Countless travellers have met their deaths in the Nine Peaks. It is even possible that Macadra has set watchers upon the high road after all. If so we must fight and kill them, and let none escape to sound the alarm. We will also, of course, bear the danger of the Nilstone.’
‘That danger at least we have tried to reduce,’ said Hercol. ‘Go ahead, Sunderling: tell us of your work.’
Big Skip nodded. ‘Time was, the Stone was encased in explosive glass, you know, and the glass embedded in the Red Wolf. Not very practical for travelling. Still, we don’t want any accidents — not when one little touch can kill a man. So Bolutu and I got to talking with the selk, and in the end we gave the Stone a new, thick skin of glass. Selk glass, made from sand drawn from the bottom of that dark lake of theirs. It quiets the Stone down, you might say. You can touch it, although it still burns like a potato fresh from the oven. So we’ve fashioned a box for the Nilstone as well, out of solid steel. The top half screws down and locks against the bottom — and nothing short of Rin’s own hammer and tongs will get to it-’ Skip held up a heavy key ‘-without this.’
‘Needless to say,’ added Bolutu, ‘the key and the Nilstone will be carried separately.’
‘Always,’ said Big Skip, ‘and just in case we need to take the Stone out of the box, the selk blacksmiths gave us a a pair of their own gauntlets. I lifted the Stone myself, wearing ’em. It wasn’t pleasant, but it didn’t kill me either.’
‘That is fine work,’ said Hercol, ‘but let us return to the journey itself, now.’
‘I shall be your guide in the mountains,’ said Thaulinin, ‘and if the stars are willing, I will see you all the way to the Ilidron Coves. There we have a secret harbour, a place of last flight, which long ago we prepared against the day when the selk might be forced to flee like hunted game. The world has changed since we hid those vessels; there are no more selk homelands to be reached by sea. And yet one ship remains: the
‘And if the Empire’s warships do not sink us first,’ said Cayer Vispek.
‘Five years ago, escape from Ilidron would have been unthinkable,’ said Lord Arim, ‘but today the door stands open a crack. In the
‘Lord Arim, how can you give us your escape vessel?’ asked Thasha in distress. ‘Even if your homelands are gone, you might need to flee somewhere.’
Lord Arim shook his head. ‘Not over the waves — not that way, ever again. Nor can we go on risking the lives of those who guard the
