‘How?’ Ryadd demanded. ‘It’s not even possible.’
‘He will seek help.’
‘Who?’
‘Seren Pedac,’ Silchas replied. ‘Her old profession makes her a good choice.’
‘Her child must have been born by now.’
‘Yes. A child she knows she must protect. When Udinaas comes to her, she will see how her need and his can be resolved together. She will guide the Imass to a hidden place, and in that place she too will hide, with her child. Protected by Onrack, protected by the Imass.’
‘Why can’t we be just left alone?’ Ryadd heard the anguish in his own voice and closed his eyes against the outside glare.
‘Ryadd Eleis, there is a kind of fish, living in rivers, that when in small numbers — two or perhaps three — is peaceful enough. But when the school grows, when a certain threshold is reached, these fish go mad. They tear things apart. They can devour the life in a river for a league’s length, and only when their bellies start bursting do they finally scatter.’
‘What has that to do with anything?’ Ryadd turned to glare at Silchas Ruin.
The Tiste Andii sighed. ‘When the gate of Starvald Demelain opens, the Eleint will come through in vast numbers. Most will be young, by themselves little threat, but among them there will be the last of the Ancients. Leviathans of appalling power — but they are incomplete. They will arrive hunting their kin. Ryadd, if you and I had remained, seeking to oppose the opening of that gate, we would lose our minds. We would in mindless desire join the Storm of the Eleint. We would follow the Ancients — have you never wondered why, in all the realms but Starvald Demelain itself, one will never find more than five or six dragons in one place? Even that many demands the mastery of at least one Ancient. Indeed, to be safe, Eleint tend to travel in threes.’ Silchas Ruin walked up to stand beside Ryadd, and stared out at the vista. ‘We are the blood of chaos, Ryadd Eleis, and when too many of us gather in one place,
‘Then,’ Ryadd whispered, ‘the Eleint are coming, and there’s no stopping them.’
‘What you say is true. But here you are safe.’
‘Me? What of you?’
Silchas Ruin’s hand found the grip of his scabbarded sword. ‘I must leave you now, I think. I did not plan it, and I am not pleased at the thought of abandoning you-’
‘And all that we spoke of before was a lie,’ cut in Ryadd. ‘Our perilous mission — all of it, a lie.’
‘Your father understood. I promised him that I would save you, and I have done so.’
‘Why did you bother?’
‘Because you are dangerous enough alone, Ryadd. In a Storm … no, I could not risk that.’
‘Then you intend to fight them after all!’
‘I will defend my freedom, Ryadd-’
‘What makes you think you can? With what you said of the Ancients-’
‘Because I
Ryadd stared at the tall, white-skinned warrior. ‘Could you compel me, Silchas Ruin?’
‘I have no desire to even so much as attempt it, Ryadd. Chaos seduces — you have felt it. And soon you may witness the fullest expression of that curse. But I have learned to resist the seduction.’ He smiled suddenly, and in an ironic tone added, ‘We Tiste Andii are skilled at denying ourselves. We have had a long time to get it right, after all.’
Ryadd drew his furs close about himself. His breath plumed in the bitter cold. He concentrated a moment, was answered by a billowing of the hearth’s flames behind him. Heat roiled past.
Silchas glanced back at the sudden inferno. ‘You are indeed your mother’s son, Ryadd.’
He shrugged. ‘I was tired of being chilled.’ He then looked across at Silchas. ‘Was she an Ancient Eleint?’
‘The first few generations of Soletaken count among the Ancients, yes. T’iam’s blood was at its purest then, but that purity is short-lived.’
‘Are there others like you, Silchas? In this world?’
‘Ancients?’ He hesitated, and then nodded. ‘A few.’
‘When the Storm arrives, what will they do?’
‘I don’t know. But we who were not trapped within Starvald Demelain all share our desire for independence, for our freedom.’
‘So they will fight, like you.’
‘Perhaps.’
‘Then why can I not fight beside you?’
‘If I must defend you while defending myself — well, it is likely that I would fail on both counts.’
‘But I am Menandore’s son-’
‘And formidable, yes, but you lack control. An Ancient will see you — will see all that you are — and it will take you, tearing out your mind and enslaving what remains.’
‘If you did the same — to me — imagine how powerful you would then be, Silchas.’
‘Now you know why dragons so often betray one another in the heat of battle. It is our fear that makes us strike at our allies — before they can strike at us. Even in the Storm, the Ancients will trust not one of their equals, and each will possess scores of lesser slaves, as protection against betrayal.’
‘It seems a terrible way to live.’
‘You don’t understand. It is not simply that we are the blood of chaos, it is that we are
‘The Storm will unleash all that? On this world?’
Silchas Ruin nodded.
‘But who can stop them?’
‘My other swords are beside your pallet, Ryadd Eleis. They are honourable weapons, if somewhat irritating on occasion.’
‘
‘We’ll see.’
‘How long must I wait here?’
Silchas Ruin met his eyes with a steady, reptilian stare. ‘Until the moment you realize that it’s time to leave. Be well, Ryadd. Perhaps we will meet again. When next you see your father, do tell him I did what I promised.’ He hesitated, and then added, ‘Tell him, too, that with Kettle, I believe now that I acted … hastily. And for that I am sorry.’
‘Is it Olar Ethil?’
Silchas Ruin frowned. ‘What?’
‘Is she the one you’re going to kill, Silchas Ruin?’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘For what she said.’
‘She spoke the truth, Ryadd.’
‘She hurt you. On purpose.’
He shrugged. ‘What of it? Only words, Ryadd. Only words.’
The Tiste Andii leaned forward then, over the cliff’s edge, and slipped out of sight. A moment later he lifted back into view, a bone-white dragon, white as the snow below, where his winged shadow slipped in pursuit.
Ryadd stood a moment longer, and then turned away from the cave mouth. The fire blazed until the swords started singing in the heat.
‘
