have distressed the captain,
the ship pivoted against the berth wall while the foresail filled with wind enough to drive it away from shore. The airborne mages circled high as the Elm got underway.
'How many can you count, Ilkar?' asked The Unknown. The Raven had stopped again, unwilling to join the battle in front of them, which raged just to the side of the Lakehome Inn, from where patrons were streaming back towards the centre of Arlen.
'Ten, maybe more,' said Ilkar. 'It's hard to be certain.'
There was another flash, FlameOrbs spattered down into the centre of the uncertain Lysternan cavalry, scattering horses and riders. HotRain fell away to the east and, despite the wet, smoke and steam were already rising from the soaking roof of the fish market. The pungent smell of burning fish offal and oil washed across the dock on the wind.
A detachment of Dordovan cavalry broke from the back of the fighting, punching through the Lysternans and riding up the left-hand side of the inn in the direction of Centenary Square.
'That's a bluff,' said Darrick. 'They'll be coming back to the other end of the docks.'
'We need more muscle if we're going to take the other ship,' said The Unknown.
'Any ideas?' asked Hirad.
'Yes. Darrick, get to the ship, see if there's anything you can do. Denser, go with him. Ilkar, Hirad, with me. We're going to get some Protectors.'
'And that's why you make the plans, is it?' said Denser.
'Just do it.' The Unknown turned to Hirad. 'Let's go.'
Running in, Hirad could see the battle unfold before him. The Lysternans were in a state of leaderless near-panic. The loss of Darrick had been a catastrophic blow and though the stand-in commander, a man Hirad recognised as Izack, barked order after order, it was clear they didn't know whether to run or fight. As a result, the unit was disintegrating and only spell shields kept them from disaster. If the Protectors reached them, it would be a massacre.
Beyond the milling Lysternan cavalry, the Dordovans had organised a tight defence across the narrow battlefront that existed between the fish market, the burning warehouse and the harbour's edge. After the initial surge, Dordovan mages had forced the Protectors back
with a series of ForceCones and others would be shielding the cavalry from missile and spell attack.
Inevitably, the Protectors sought another route and they could be seen streaming away into the town to circle back while the Dordo-vans set up similar blocks to the east of the fish market and around the Lakehome Inn.
Meanwhile, Xeteskian attack mages had turned their attention to the boundary buildings. The first fall of HotRain had hit the market roof accidentally, but now Hirad watched FlameOrbs crashing again and again on to the timber and slate roof. They boiled off the rain and set drying wood alight, flames licking into the night from ten or more places along the market's length.
'Into the town,' yelled The Unknown, and he took them up the right of the Lakehome Inn, away from the immediate din. Hirad could see the pack spooking horses as they nipped in and out of the Lysternans, Thraun pausing to stare at the disappearing Ocean Elm before running back into the mass.
In front of The Raven trio as they left the docks, a throng was approaching them, a mounted man at its head. Arlen.
'Oh, that's a mistake,' said The Unknown.
He ducked into an alley that ran past the rear of the inn but too late to escape attention. Several men slowed and looked in, choosing to make the Raven their first targets. The Unknown and Hirad stood side by side, the big man's blade tapping on the cobbles, metronomic.
'Don't do it,' The Unknown warned the men, not Arlen guardsmen but townsmen high on alcohol and adrenalin.
'The Earl wants your type out of here,' slurred one.
'We can't do that right now,' said Hirad. 'just move on, or better still go home. It isn't safe here.'
'This is our town,' said another behind the front pair. 'We say what goes, not you.' A murmur of assent was followed by a concerted move forward.
Hirad could count six, all big but none of them natural swordsmen. He regretted what was about to happen. The Unknown's sword still tapped its beat, the barbarian switched his grip twice for effect, but the aggressors were too far gone to notice the skill it demanded.
Behind them, Ilkar sighed.
'What is it?' Hirad didn't look round.
'I-' The elf broke off momentarily. 'Gods. Just grab the two in front of you now. It's all you can do.'
The Raven never questioned Ilkar. Whatever he felt, it had to be big. Far too quickly for the men in front to react effectively. Hirad and The Unknown Warrior reached out and grabbed the collars of the men before them, hauling each off balance and dragging them under the shield, their blades flailing uselessly. Hirad jabbed the pommel of his sword into the jaw of his opponent to quiet him but his struggle was short-lived.
HellFire smashed into the inn, the columns of superheated flame seeking the souls of the living. But there were many columns and few still inside the building. And even as the fire gorged itself on souls and wood, blasting every window outwards in a spray of glass shivers, those loose columns sought and found the nearest victims to their cast destination.
Flame raged over Ilkar's spell shield, turning Hirad's world into a dome of sheet orange, white and yellow while the Arlen townsmen screamed in terror. But beyond, the cries were of death as the HellFire plunged into defenceless bodies, seared flesh spattering the walls, burning corpses flying like dolls about the alley and beyond in the street.
At The Raven's side, the Lakehome Inn was ablaze, flame gouting from empty window frames and rents in the slate roof.
'Ilkar?' asked The Unknown.
'Yes. Go, go!'
The Unknown shook the man in his grasp.
'Go back to your homes and look to your families. This is too big for you.' He thrust the man away, Hirad doing likewise, the two stumbling off through the carnage.
'Raven! Raven with me!'
Chapter 25
Thraun knew where she was and he called the pack to him, though he knew they were scared enough to flee. They ran through the prey, howling and nipping as they went, sending the scared animals jumping and turning against the wishes of their masters. The pack dodged the sharps in the hands of the humans easily, darting between the legs of the prey and beneath their sweating bodies.
But again, there would be no feasting. Because the air smelled bad and the flame around them made it worse. The answer to it was the woman with the mist around her soul, whom Thraun knew and had seen with the infant before his meeting with man-packbrother. She was on the floating land that moved with the wind and it was her name man-packbrother had spoken. Thraun could not reproduce the sound but inside he understood, and knew he had brought the pack close to the answers they sought.
Tet this close, they were to be cheated. At the edge of the land, there was a gap too large to leap and with every beat of his heart, it grew larger. The wind blew hard and strong and drove the floating land far from his grasp. He howled and barked for it to return, turning around and around in his frustration, but the wind only blew harder, the rain stinging his eyes and nose and soaking his fur. And more of the great white leaves blossomed on the trees of the floating land to catch the wind and the woman disappeared into the night.
He howled another time, called the pack to him and fled away, looking again for man-packbrother.
The Raven had no time to help Arlen. The Earl and his men had run into something way beyond their capacity to control. A glance down the street behind them showed the Ocean Elm deploying more sail as she
