On the raised mound where the soldiers had camped, DeBarres lowered his spyglass. He raised his hand and waved it in a circle over his head. 'Two riders are heading this way. Let's go and meet them.'
He lowered his helm and galloped on to the field, nineteen other Knights fanning out behind him.
The ground passed under Gabriella's horse with terrific speed, but she barely felt the bumpiness of the ride. It was as if the horse was gliding through clouds already. With no helm, she could feel the wind in her hair and it was exquisite. If this was to be her last living sensation, it was a good one.
She didn't even realise she was whooping with delight.
She waved at the oncoming Knights, gesturing northeast, and angling her mount that way.
Crowe felt much the same. So he would die here. It was as good a time as any. He was vaguely aware of his hand raising a pole with a white sheet tied to it, but he didn't really believe a helmeted Knight would even notice the sheet until it was too late.
He didn't realise he was screaming like a banshee either.
DeBarres lowered his lance, ready to drive it through the leading rider's chest. It was only a matter of seconds now… Something white flickered out the corner of his eye, and he realised it was a surplice just like the one he himself was wearing. It was a surplice of the Faith, of the Order of the Swords of Dawn.
Then he recognised the shock of copper hair and shouted.
'It's DeZantez!'
Hoping he wasn't too late, he let go his lance and made the signal to abort the charge.
The slipstream of the armoured Knights passing within inches of his side almost pulled Crowe from his mount. He looked across to see Gabriella standing in her stirrups, beckoning to one of the Knights.
He wheeled his horse around and moved to join Gabriella as the Knight approached. The other Knights were circling uncertainly and she was able to encourage them to continue moving slightly further north and east, towards the valley's steep wall.
The one to whom Gabriella had beckoned pulled off his helm and Crowe recognised DeBarres' pitted face.
'What took you so bloody long?' DeBarres yelled, astounded.
'Hunting Kell,' Gabriella called back. 'He's dead and so are his friends.'
'I hope you've got a lot of quills ready,' DeBarres grinned. 'I'll want a full report and any intelligence you found in there.'
'Preceptor!' Another Knight shouted. He pointed westward. 'They're getting away!'
It was true. Men, women and children, both mounted and on foot, were swarming out of the gatehouse and running west. Some mercenaries were emerging from the Faith camp, but they were too far from the gatehouse to have a chance of intercepting the fleeing people.
'Gabriella?' DeBarres asked.
'Prisoners,' she explained. 'Slaves and victims of Kell and the Brotherhood.'
DeBarres looked around one more time, then signalled to his men, who formed up around Gabriella and Crowe.
'Let's go, then!'
They galloped out across the field, heading for the Order's encampment and Crowe could already feel a familiar sensation. He could hear it too; the air itself buzzing. Everyone looked up at the sky. The heavens were parting.
'What the hell is that?' DeBarres roared.
'Hell is right,' Crowe shouted over the din.
'Not hell,' Gabriella shouted. 'Heaven! Can't you hear it?'
Gabriella dismounted and fell to her knees in awe. She was only the first as they all followed.
The air was not just humming but singing, a high pitched trill that rose and rose. On the neighbouring peaks the snow was evaporating and rising up with the mountain's song.
Travis Crowe was on his knees too, just as awe-struck. Much as he despised the Faith and the Brotherhood, he had no doubt that this was the Lord Of All at work. It wouldn't make him waste his time going to what some other bloke or woman thought was a holy event, but it was beautiful to watch.
The mountain was glowing; light flared from the heart of it and the white crystal surface brightened like the dawn.
A maw seemed to open in the face of Kerberos, and suddenly cleansing light, far brighter and purer than mere whiteness, punched a hole through the skies over the peaks surrounding Freedom Point.
A shockwave of explosive sound blasted out across the slopes. Men and women all clutched at their ears and some even fell. It was as if all the souls in the clouds of Kerberos had loosed a war-cry to turn the bones of every still-living soldier to jelly.
'What is that?' one of Kesar's attendants yelled over the explosive din.
'Magic!'
'No sorcerer is that powerful!'
'The Lord of All is!'
Across the terraces, grass and flowers exploded into flame and disappeared in the wink of an eye. The dry stone walls began to glow a deep red and the stones themselves began to melt together. Tents and yurts vanished, instantly reaching their materials' flashpoint. The city that the people had brought with them was cleansed as if it had never sullied the mountain with its presence.
The rock faces of Freedom Point itself began to shift, not in a landslide, but in a bizarre, slow churn. The blazing white rock flowed smoothly, like butter. Inside, every piece of furnishing, and every corpse in the palace complex flashed into light and vanished. Superheated air burned pure gold, swimming through every tunnel and every corridor, sealing them tightly.
Then the icy white fire blazed out in all directions.
And then it was just as suddenly gone.
Gabriella had never seen anything so beautiful.
The peak of Freedom Point was still glowing, a pure copper tone, the shade of Gabriella's hair. 'The Lord of All,' she whispered.
'The Lord came and touched the world.' She wished that Erak could have seen this.
It was wonderful and everything she had done, everything that had happened at Freedom Point, right now was absolutely worth it. She wouldn't have changed any of it for the world.
Beside her, Crowe was on his knees, shaking.
'Bloody hell,' he kept mumbling, over and over. 'Bloody hell.'
Gabriella was right about one thing, he decided. That was God touching the world. Just reaching out like it was no effort at all to reach from one world to the next. Or, more accurately, from the next world to this one.
It was the Lord Of All, right there in front of his eyes; no doubts, no questions. He had seen the Lord at the Isle of the Star too; he just hadn't known what he was seeing. It had been too big, too fabulous, for his brain to take in.
He also saw that the Lord paid no heed to either the Faith or the Brotherhood. He threw back his head and laughed. All those petty people insisting that the Lord wanted things done their way, and here the Lord had come and not given a monkey's toss who was doing things which way. It was perfect. It was wonderful. It was as if the Lord of All had shown him that just to prove that he was right not to trust either faith.
He rose and held Gabriella. She didn't pull away. 'It was the Lord of All,' he said.
'It was.' She managed a smile. 'You believe now?'
