escape. It ate across the floor, finding ample fuel. Darrick, joined by the others, kicked a makeshift firebreak while behind them Thraun prowled, growling nervously.
'How strong are the walls d'you reckon?' asked Hirad. 'You know, just in case.'
'Not strong enough,' said The Unknown.
Smoke fled across the underside of the roof, choking the timbers
and carrying sparks to the hayloft. Already, flames threatened the thatch high above them.
'We don't have a lot of time,' said Darrick.
'Patience,' said The Unknown, coughing.
'Raven!' came a voice. 'Surrender immediately or we'll burn you where you hide. You have—' He made a choking sound. Hirad fancied he heard a dry thud.
'Auum,' said Hirad. The panther roared into the teeth of another spell detonation. Men shouted. There were running feet.
'Hirad, shoulder at the edge of the flame, we'll break through there. Roll and split outside. Don't give them a target.' The Unknown sheathed his sword. 'Raven with me!'
Hirad and The Unknown sprinted for the fire's edge which was advancing along the wall at frightening speed, its heat drawing sweat from their brows. The warriors launched themselves on the last pace, shoulders connecting with scorching timbers. The impact of their combined weight on weakened wood was predictable and they punched through to fresh air in a shower of sparks and splinters.
Both men rolled on the packed earth, drawing swords as they regained their feet and running at angles towards the enemy. Thraun howled and charged. Darrick moved up in their wake. From the left, the TaiGethen and Rebraal advanced carefully behind accurate bowfire that skipped off a HardShield but kept its caster concentrating hard. The ClawBound were sprinting in a wide arc to reach the back of the Dordovans, their horses beginning to panic and split.
Already, one of their number lay with a shaft through his throat. Others circled and ran to defensive positions. Mages, one still on horseback, were either casting or held shields in place. The Raven's betrayers were backing off north. Hirad noted them and was just wondering if Denser and Erienne were with The Raven when the Xeteskian announced that he was.
Two focused columns of HellFire speared down from the clear sky. Rich blue and targeted at two standing mages, they struck with unstoppable power. A shield flared briefly orange and collapsed. Beneath it the two victims vaporised, not even having the time to scream.
'Let's take them, Raven!' yelled Hirad, changing the angle of his
run to strike the centre of the demoralised and confused Dordovan force.
Thraun was past him on the next heartbeat, leaping to take the remaining mage from his horse. Blood fountained into the air and his horse bolted.
'They're open!' shouted The Unknown. 'Keep firing!'
Arrows flew. Two men were struck. From behind, the Claw-Bound elf strode in and buried his fingers deep into the face of a terrified conscript. His panther was by his side.
Half the remaining Dordovans turned to run and found themselves facing The Raven. Hirad was in no mood for games. The man in front of him recognised him and had all but resigned himself to death before Hirad struck. He raised a guard. Hirad stepped inside it, blocked away the sword arm with his left and buried his blade deep into the Dordovan's gut, driving up under the rib cage. Blood exploded from his mouth, spattering Hirad's face. The barbarian dragged the blade clear, turned to find his next opponent and crashed a fist into his face above his sword guard. The soldier staggered back. Hirad paced after him, punched him again, square on the chin. The soldier's sword dropped from nerveless fingers. Hirad growled and sliced out his throat.
Darrick had already downed two men who mistakenly thought him the easier target, while beside them one hapless soldier had met the full force of The Unknown's sword and had been all but divided in two at the midriff. The sword had caught in his splintered ribs. The Unknown struggled to drag it clear, another soldier closing on him, looking to carve himself a piece of history.
'Your right, Unknown,' called Hirad, blocking away a quick attack from one of a duo he faced.
The Unknown swung round, straight-punched the soldier on the nose with his right fist, paced in and butted him hard. The man stumbled backwards and The Unknown finished him, driving his blade deep into his gut.
Hirad pushed away his closest attacker and backed off a pace, smiling.
'Shame for you,' he said. 'Because you'll never know what hit you.'
In front of him, the soldiers hesitated. And Auum's Tai hit them
with a speed that made Hirad gasp. Duele kicked head-high, snapping the neck of one man, Auum and Evunn scything into the legs and chest of the other. Hirad looked about him. It was over. The one remaining impostor leaped onto the back of a horse and kicked it into frenzied action. His limbs flailed as he urged it desperately towards a gallop.
'Not this time,' said Hirad. 'Thraun!'
The wolf looked up from the throat of a victim, blood covering his muzzle.
'The rider!' Hirad pointed. 'Quickly. Betrayer!'
Thraun barked once and set off, die panther quickly at his side. The impostor looked over his shoulder and screamed at his terrified mount for more speed. But instead of that, all he got was a stutter and a half-turn on the gallop. Thraun closed the distance quickly, nipping at die animal's heels. It kicked out and bucked and in the same instant the panther leaped high and bore the impostor from his saddle. Fangs ripped and tore.
Hirad looked away. Straight into the eyes of one of the village betrayers. '
'You,' he breathed and began to advance.
All five of them were in a group twenty yards from the fighting, all set to run.
'Reckon you can outrun the wolf or the panther, boy?' snarled Hirad at one, a youth of no more than sixteen, freckled and ginger-haired. Urine coursed down his legs. 'Don't you move a fucking muscle.'
The villagers froze, caught between the advancing barbarian and the knowledge of the two wild animals behind them.
'Hirad,' warned The Unknown. 'Don't you do it.'
'Do what?' asked Hirad, not breaking stride.
'You know what I'm talking about.'
'Damn you, Unknown, you know me better than that.' He dropped his sword to the ground, unbuckled his sword belt and dropped that too, complete with its sheathed daggers. He stopped and turned, arms outstretched. 'All right now?'
'Still hardly a fair contest,' said The Unknown.
'There isn't going to be a contest.'
Hirad marched up to the five men. They all looked so small
though at least two were bigger than he was. Strong farmers and farmers' sons. But where it mattered, they had no strength at all.
T don't know,' said Hirad. 'I really don't.'
He stood close to them, looking from one to another in turn, seeing scared eyes beneath shamed brows. He could barely control the fury coursing through his body. The Unknown had been right to make sure he was disarmed.
T would cut you all down and piss on your rotting corpses but it would be a waste of my edge and my water.'
He saw them cower and it gave him no pleasure. He struggled to understand what they had been prepared to do. These were ordinary Balaians. His people. The people he had been fighting for ever since the discovery of Dawn thief more than six years ago.
Hirad pointed at one, a broad-shouldered man with a thick thatch of unruly brown hair and a long nose.
'I drank with you last night. We bought each other ale. Exchanged names. And you.' He jabbed the freckled youth's chest, forcing him to back up a pace. 'You pestered me all night for stories.'
He shook his head sadly.
'And I told you everything you wanted to hear and every bit of it was true. And did you count the number of times The Raven stood against the enemy and saved your lives? We'd never met you and still we wanted you to live.
