'Which is what? That you can beat The Raven?'
'No, my apparently blind double. That we are The Raven.'
A ripple ran around the villagers close enough to hear and spread quickly to those who could not. The crowd, now more than forty, bunched and moved forward a pace. But the men, women and children still kept a respectful distance.
Hirad watched the impostors stare at them, trying to gauge if The Unknown could be telling the truth.
'Look hard,' growled Hirad. 'Believe.'
The leader snorted, straightened in his saddle. 'Look at you,' he said. 'Just six. One a woman. No elf. And you,' he pointed at The Unknown Warrior. 'A little old aren't you? And if you had heard the stories, you would have a two-handed blade. A pale imitation. It's been fun. Now it's time you left before we run you down.'
'But that's the trouble with stories, isn't it?' said The Unknown, his face a mask, while Hirad felt his own burning with renewed anger. 'They don't take account of the passage of time. We have not fought in line for six years and in the troubles that have followed, even we have lost friends.'
'There is no elf because Ilkar is dead,' said Hirad, staring down the elven mage. 'No one lives on his name. No one.'
'All right, Hirad,' said The Unknown. 'So you see the problem we have. We cannot let you simply walk away. You have taken our name
and used it for profit. And that is not the worst of it. You have betrayed what The Raven stand for and believe in. We were mercenaries, not parasites.'
'And you expect these people to believe that you, not we, are The Raven?'
'I don't much care who they think we are,' said The Unknown. 'All they need to know is that you are not The Raven.'
His voice was pitched to carry to the villagers. Hirad heard the mutterings of conversation. The impostors' heads all turned, their anxiety rising.
'You surely don't believe them, do you?' demanded the leader.
Unexpectedly, Ferran stepped from the small crowd.
'We pay you to keep our village free of undesirables,' he said. 'If they are such, do your jobs. Get rid of them.'
His words were greeted with assent from those around him.
Hirad grinned. 'Yeah, Hirad,' he said. 'Take me on. Run me out of the village.' He spat on the ground in front of him, enjoying the tension that grew in the space between them.
'I'll tell you what's going to happen,' said The Unknown. 'You're going to give back every coin you have taken from this village. You'll also leave them your horses because you are walking away from here. Your return will be to your graves.'
'Not a chance,' said the leader, tone dismissive but fear edging into his expression. He was eyeing The Unknown ever more closely, the doubt eating at him.
'Your alternative,' said The Unknown, 'is not to leave here at all. Mind you, since you're The Raven, that threat won't impress you much, will it?'
Hirad saw the band wavering. He knew why. In front of them was unshakeable belief born of fifteen years of winning. The Raven, standing quite still, did not and would not flinch. Their adversaries, even with the advantage of being mounted, were losing the battle of wills. It was what separated The Raven from everybody else. Always had.
'There is only one Raven, and you aren't it,' said Hirad.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The Unknown's blade struck the ground in front of him.
'No time to debate,' he said. 'Get off your horses now.'
'Boss?'
There it was, the firstvocal crack in the facade. The impostors' leader scowled. Then he swallowed and looked back at The Unknown, hesitant.
'You're out of time,' said The Unknown. 'Dismount.'
Tap. Tap. Tap.
'Go,' snapped the leader.
He kicked the flanks of his horse. Startled, the animal sprang forward. The Unknown reacted instantly, diving forward and left. Hirad mirrored him right, both men rolling to their haunches. The Unknown was confronted by a wall of horseflesh on the move. Two others had followed their boss and were right on top of Thraun and Darrick. Hirad surged to his feet and grabbed at the arm of the mounted man in front of him. He pulled hard.
'Mage casting,' warned Darrick.
'Shield down,' said Denser. And in the next instant, 'Got him.'
Men tugged hard on reins, horses reared and whinnied, dust was kicked into the air. Swords flashed in the dying light. Thraun roared. Metal clashed. A single arrow flew. There was a shout of pain.
Hirad kept on pulling, unsaddling the man. His horse turned sharply, its head butting Hirad, sending him stumbling. The man scrambled to his feet to face his smiling double.
'So, Hirad,' he said, beckoning him on. 'Let's see if you measure up to the real thing.'
The man lunged forwards, thrusting to Hirad's open side. The barbarian switched his blade between his hands, blocked the attack aside and drove an uppercut into his enemy's exposed chest.
'Didn't think so.'
Hirad left him to bleed to death and turned back to The Raven, slapping the riderless horse away. From the back of the group, the elf had detached and was spurring his horse towards the gathered villagers.
'Oh no you don't,' breathed Hirad and set off after him.
The mage cast, his ForceCone meeting Erienne's implacable shield. Denser's focused Orb drove him from his horse to die screaming in flame on the dry earth. Thraun and Darrick had stopped the fledgling charge of two of the group, and, like The
Unknown, had hands on reins or bridles, keeping themselves out of strike range in front of their enemies' horses.
The last rider broke and galloped away to the north of the village and open ground, abandoning his comrades to their fates. The Unknown beckoned the leader down and waited while he drew his sword. Beside him, Darrick and Thraun killed effordessly.
'Are you who you say you are?' asked the leader.
The Unknown nodded, his sword tapping again. 'At least you will have faced me.'
The leader brought his sword to ready. The Unknown ceased his tapping, made nonsense of his double's ponderous defence and skewered his heart. 'But not for long.'
Hirad sprinted through the crowd and after the elf. 'Get back here, you bastard. Face me! Face Ilkar!'
He would never catch him but he ran on anyway, hoping for a slip, anything. A shadow moved against the buildings at the end of the village and leapt unerringly. The riderless horse galloped on a little way before losing momentum. On the ground behind it, Hirad saw Auum's single thrust. He stopped running, smiled and walked back to The Raven.
'What about the other one?' asked Hirad.
'Leaving one to tell the tale can't hurt.'
He stooped and cleaned his blade on an impostor's clothing, sheathing it and walking towards the villagers. Hirad glanced around. So easy. So effortless.
'Not much of a security force, I wouldn't have thought,' he said to Darrick.
The General, one hand pressed against his opposite shoulder, tried to smile.
'No. Can you help me with this?'
He lifted his hand. The arrow had struck him just under the collarbone. Darrick had snapped off the shaft to leave a couple of inches remaining.
'That was careless,' said Hirad.
'Denser let his shield down,' said Darrick. 'No blame intended.'
'Indeed I did,' said Denser, coming to his side. 'The least I can do is sort you out. Hirad, why don't you talk to our new friends or something?'
