or withdrawing so far I can get nothing from him. Not even a pace in the right direction.’
‘He’s a serious risk, isn’t he?’ said Katyett, lowering her voice too.
Up ahead, Takaar and Pelyn were talking. Pelyn was clearly ill at ease. Auum touched Katyett’s arm and gestured they fall back a little way. Katyett had not realised she was trembling all over.
‘Takaar could win us this fight or he could bring disaster down on us. But he has all his old strengths in there somewhere. I pity the rogue Ynissul who mistakes his oddness for weakness. His combat skills are undiminished.’
‘Had a fight, did you?’
‘He tried to kill me. Serrin stopped him. Serrin is safe, by the way. I’ll tell you about him later.’
‘As you wish. Listen to me. Things have been getting much worse here. The rogue Ynissul are not what you need to worry about. Takaar has guessed it but not the scale.’
‘I’m listening.’
Katyett related the recent history of Ysundeneth, watching the dismay deepen on Auum’s face.
He was silent for a while. ‘It’s after some big use of this magic that he’s most vulnerable. That’s what worries me if the mages start making a lot of castings.’
Katyett frowned. ‘How can that be? He’s never been anywhere near any of it, has he? Certainly not near Ysundeneth.’
‘He’s different from us,’ said Auum.
‘I can see that,’ said Katyett, surprised at the bitterness in her tone.
‘No, I don’t meant that. He feels everything that happens to a greater or lesser extent. It’s to do with the energy lines he found here. He picks up on changes and violence in the earth’s energy. Like the Apposans and Orrans say they do. But more. What you told me about the playhouse and the warehouse? All makes sense. He felt those things happen as if they were personal attacks.
‘There’s something inside him waking up and he says we all have it. I think it causes half of the problems in his head. If he was still truly feeling the guilt and remorse of the Tul-Kenerit, do you think he’d really still be alive? I don’t.’
Katyett couldn’t find a reply. Not long after, they walked back into the camp. The eyes of every Ynissul civilian and warrior were on them, as were those of the Al-Arynaar. The more astute paid particular attention to Auum and the hooded newcomer. TaiGethen were signalling to each other across the camp. Some began to move towards the corner of the covered area where Katyett had set up what passed for a command centre.
‘Merrat. There are Ynissul out there who need to prepare their people for reclamation. Help them but do it quickly. We need to plan.’
The answer to Takaar’s question was in view from the camp. About a mile to the south and high in the sky. Katyett shuddered again. It still wasn’t an easy sight to ingest. She saw Pelyn point towards the mage. Takaar stopped just beneath the covered area and stared out. Katyett began to hurry when she saw him stretch out his arms and to run when he started to make motions like he was reeling in a rope.
Takaar’s movements were so theatrical and dramatic that those nearest to him who could see him began to laugh, assuming a joke. But then his hood fell back and the effort on his face and the fury in his eyes stilled some of the laughter. And those with long memories, those who had escaped from Hausolis, began to wonder who it was in their midst. Some were putting the pieces together.
‘Tual’s balls,’ snapped Katyett. ‘Pelyn, get him away from the crowd.’
Word was spreading faster than wind over long grass. People were standing, pointing, beginning to move. TaiGethen, at a signal from Katyett, got in the way. They formed a cordon, moving swiftly through their charges and obscuring Takaar from sight. Katyett stood square in front of him.
‘Is this your idea of a subtle entrance? What are you doing?’
Takaar had dropped his arms to his sides but his eyes were alight with passion.
‘I can see what tethers him to the earth. It’s like a net of energy and he sits atop it. It’s what keeps him in the sky at the same time. It is so clear I can touch it. But I can’t drag him down. Some other power stops me.’
Katyett glanced at Auum, who raised his eyebrows.
‘What can you see?’ she asked Takaar.
‘Colour and energy. The shape of the wings that balance him. It is beautiful.’
‘But you can’t break it. Can’t make him fall.’
Takaar shook his head.
‘Shame,’ said Katyett. ‘And a shame that you’ve stirred up so much attention. I think your cover might be blown.’
Takaar looked out past the cordon of TaiGethen at the sea of faces pushing towards them. His name was being bounced around. Questions were being asked. Katyett sensed confusion and aggression.
‘What do we do, announce him?’ asked Grafyrre. ‘This isn’t going to die down and we need to organise ourselves.’
‘Let me talk to them,’ said Takaar.
His eyes were bright and fierce, just like at the Tul-Kenerit before…
Katyett paused. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked.
Takaar shook his head. ‘No. But it’ll irritate him if I stand up and speak to those I betrayed. He doesn’t think I possess the courage.’
Katyett found herself looking at Auum for encouragement again. The young TaiGethen shrugged and cocked his head to the side. Why not? It was as good a reason as any on this strangest of days. Katyett dispersed the TaiGethen back into the crowd to spread word of an announcement.
It was quickly done and almost every face was turned to the small party, expecting Katyett to speak. But it was not she who stepped forward. It was the most famous of them all. An ula from the pages of history.
Chapter 36
Do not follow me. Believe in me and then follow your heart. ‘Ynissul of Ysundeneth. Al-Arynaar of the threads of elves. TaiGethen, my brothers and sisters. Among you are those who have heard of me but not seen me. There are those who have seen me but do not know me. And there are those who fought by me and thought never to see me again. I failed you all as I failed the elven race.
‘I am Takaar.’
Katyett had always felt that the phrase ‘heart in mouth’ was melodramatic and ridiculous. No longer. Her pulse thudded so hard in the back of her throat it was painful. The lump could not be swallowed and she thought to choke at every breath. She felt giddy and leant on Grafyrre for support, muttering prayer after prayer that this would not all go horribly wrong. Not for her sake. For him. Takaar. She found that she wanted him to be accepted. To be heard. Understood. Respected even. But not ridiculed. Not that, she prayed to Yniss. Anything but that.
If Takaar had expected adulation or abhorrence at his unveiling, he was disappointed. There was a murmur through the crowd but nothing more. Takaar let it subside. Standing a pace behind him, Auum turned to Katyett and nodded his confidence. Takaar continued.
‘I am not here to ask for forgiveness or to seek redemption. Those things are rightly denied me. The blood of every elf of every thread who died when I fled the walls of the Tul-Kenerit is on my hands. Through ten years of exile it has not scrubbed away. It will remain there for ever. As it should.
‘So I am standing here not as a general or a leader but as an ordinary ula asking for your help in the fight to rid our country of men, to restore the harmony of the elves and to return us all to the lives we love. I wonder if you’ll listen to me.’
Out in the crowd many nodded their heads. A few said ‘Yes’ and fewer still applauded, demanding more. Takaar inclined his head deferentially.
‘Thank you.’ He pointed up at the mage. ‘Up there, against all nature and Yniss himself, the eyes of man search for us. Beneath the canopy, they seek us. And in the city thousands of men of violence await the word to attack. Just as they await the word to slaughter helpless elves imprisoned in their own homes.
‘Inevitably, they will find this hiding place and then they will send out their mages with their castings and they
