Crowe saw Gabriella and Erak emerge from the church.
'So, did you get much intelligent conversation out of your pet gobbo?' he asked.
'Not much,' Gabriella said dryly.
'Now there's a shocker.' Crowe snorted. 'Let me guess: he snarled a lot, talked about killing everybody in town and eating your mum and dad, that kind of thing?'
'That's about the size of it. He said… He said humans had stolen their home, at a… a Glass Mountain.'
To Gabriella's surprise, Crowe blanched. She had never seen him display anything so resembling a weakness. His mouth moved silently for a moment, then he managed to say: 'A glass mountain?'
'Yes. It sounds ridiculous, but he seemed to believe it.'
'Gobboes will believe anything…' He sounded distant. He added an 'a bit like you God-botherers,' but it was obvious that his heart wasn't in it. 'Protect,' he murmured to himself.
'Crowe?'
It felt as if something very small and very heavy had sunk from his stomach into some bottomless pit and he could feel himself teetering on the edge of it. The scarring on his shoulders, left arm and neck tingled and ached more than they had since… Well, since he rowed into Vosburg's coastal suburb of Dellendorf two years ago.
A mountain of glass…
Crowe heard a voice, distant but clear. It was a voice he hadn't heard in a long time, but he recognised its sibilant clarity. 'Protect,' it said. 'Protect.'
A flash of pain exploded in Crowe's cheek and he looked up at Gabriella. She had her hand raised to slap him again. 'You all right?'
'Yes. Why did you hit me?'
'You didn't respond the first five times I asked if you were all right. You just stared.'
He forced a grin. 'Well, you are a pretty girl.'
'No…' She looked at him curiously 'You weren't staring at me. I can tell the difference.'
'Then what was I staring at?'
'Nothing. Nothing I could see, anyway.' She gave him that curious look again. 'Does 'Freedom' mean anything to you?'
He shrugged. 'My freedom means everything to me, why?'
'Never mind, it's nothing.'
Another day passed and there was, thankfully, no second goblin attack. The arrival of twenty Knights of the Swords, and a hundred mercenaries of various companies, summoned by Kannis' messengers, had eased the burden of rebuilding the town and the last few goblins nested at the foot of the escarpment were being hunted down.
For all that, Erak Brand couldn't shake the goblin's words from his head. He and Gabriella still had their bed in the cloister cell and when the pair had finally been relieved by the arriving Knights, they had made love. The past few days' events were hardly arousing, but it was somehow natural to counter the nearness of death with the ultimate expression of life.
Afterwards, they had slept as if dead to the world. Erak's dreams had been filled with goblins and fire and he had woken rested, but sweating. Gabriella rested beside him, totally at peace. If she was dreaming of death and destruction, it didn't show.
When she woke, she let out a long breath, as if having to get used to the idea of being in the world again. As they rose and dressed, Erak couldn't help but speak his mind. 'If things are coming out of World's Ridge then what else could be behind them? What else might have been driven out?'
'Things like goblins are just animals, Erak. They die under the sword, just like anything else.'
'If you say so.'
'I do say so. What I want to do is go to the archive at Andon to research this further. I'm sure I've heard the phrase 'glass mountain' before, in an old story that my mother used to tell me.'
'So you want to go and ask her at the archive?'
'If the story is a historical one and the goblin was right, then that Glass Mountain of storytime is a real place, and is the same place Kell refers to as Freedom. And if we can find it, we can find him.'
'And the archive?'
'May have maps, or at least a description of a route to the place.'
Erak looked at her, admiring her beauty, but also troubled by a further thought. 'If the story's historical and the goblin was right, then we're going to be seeing a lot more of them soon as well.'
Preceptor DeBarres arrived a few hours later, by which time the Knights who had already arrived had taken over a floor of the market square inn as headquarters. A large marquee had been erected across half the square as well, as quarters and mess hall for the mercenaries.
Gabriella saw DeBarres greet Kannis warmly and was faintly surprised; it was obvious that the pair knew each other already. After talking for a few minutes, the Preceptor of the Order came into the church in search of Gabriella and Erak.
The vestry served as a private meeting room, where they could sit and discuss matters.
'I'm glad to see you're both well,' DeBarres began. 'When I heard about the goblins…'
'They're dealt with. At least I hope they are. There's been some suggestion from one — a deathbed confession — that others are coming.'
'Others?'
'It implied that this is some kind of mass migration,' Erak said.
'They're going around Fayence. It has a large army…'
'The largest in Pontaine at the moment,' DeBarres agreed. 'Lord Aristide won't be sparing any effort to keep his city out of the line of fire. You can bet he'll have the strongest magical defences as well. Now, about Enlightened One Stoll…'
'He disappeared a prisoner from under our noses and betrayed our plans to the man who ran the Golden Huntress.' Gabriella took a deep breath, unsure how she would feel about this. Scarra had been one thing — an apostate, a heretic, a conspirator to assassination. Kurt Stoll was none of those things. He was just a parish priest. Apostasy, or weakness and mistake? She wasn't sure and sadly conceded that it didn't matter. The laws were clear and the people of this town deserved a real Enlightened One who would really lift them. 'He has fallen, Preceptor. Fallen from the Faith. That's why we asked for a Confessor.'
'Hasn't one arrived?'
Erak nodded. 'I saw him an hour ago. He will begin Stoll's cleansing in the morning
'Which leaves this parish without an Enlightened One in the meantime.' DeBarres drew a vellum envelope from inside his robes. 'This is an authorisation from Urbicarian Cabbert to invest one of you as Enlightened One for Solnos.'
'One of us?' Gabriella exclaimed.
'I'll take it,' Erak said quietly.
She looked at him, astonished. 'You? You never wanted to be a parish priest before!'
'Neither do you,' he said. The lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled. 'And if I take it, you won't have to.' Gabriella couldn't think of a single thing to say. Her heart, tired as it was, swelled with love and pride in him. 'Besides, we've taken the Pledge. Perhaps at least one of us should have a permanent home to which we can both return.'
She couldn't disagree with that part of it. 'Thank you.'
'Truth to tell, I've served the Lord in every other way; perhaps it's time I brought good news to people. Punishing sins is fine, but rewarding faith must have its moments.'
'It does,' DeBarres said, handing Erak the envelope. Gabriella rose and hurried out into the plaza. She looked up and saw Kerberos looming above her. She drew strength from the symbol of it, appealing to the Lord of All for the strength to at least decide whether she should cry, celebrate, or be furious with someone.
Erak followed her out quickly. 'Gabe!' He took her hands in his. 'I always wanted to serve the Lord of All,
