'They know we were here,' he said to Duele at his shoulder.
'It was inevitable,' said Duele.
'Unfortunate, nevertheless. Pass the word.'
He crept up to the mouth of the alley and looked over at the college. The effect of the discovery of the guards' bodies was clear. On the cobblestones in front of the college, patrols marched with purpose. Auum watched them long enough to know that the density of men meant that one patrol could always see their comrades ahead. It was the same up on the walls themselves. Lanterns and torches lit the entire length in front of him. Guards moved in pairs, lookouts stared out into the city and archers stood by them, ready and waiting.
He was beginning to back away when the alarm went up. Light bloomed away to the south as a warning fire was lit. Men started running along the walls. Shouts rang around the college. The south gates swung open and a detachment of soldiers trotted out and disappeared into the streets ahead of them. On the cobblestones, the patrols ceased their circular walks and fanned out, heading across the apron, some directly for them.
Auum fell back faster, seeing shapes flitting into the sky from inside the college. Like large birds but without the grace. His eyes tracked them as they flew. Wings like bats, heads like bald monkeys, their calls like diabolical laughter mixed with broken speech. He shivered, turned and trotted back to where the raiding party were waiting.
'They are coming,' he said, hearing Rebraal translate for The Raven. 'We must move. Denser will lead us now.'
There was no debate. Denser, surrounded by his friends, turned and moved quickly but quietly away along the back of the warehouse. Auum signalled Evunn and Duele to hang back, keep any guards from their backs. At the far edge of the squat, low building, Denser paused and The Unknown Warrior checked left and right before leading them across a narrow path and into the passage the other side, along between another two warehouses. The sounds of alarm and search rang out to their left, closing but not too fast.
The second set of warehouses was different in character. Made of stone and slate rather than wood, they soared three times as high and had identical heavy, iron-bound wooden sliding gates facing each other. Denser stopped at a low, flat-roofed building just beyond, attached to the warehouse facing the college walls. Beyond it, the landscape of the district changed, becoming less uniform, studded with chimneyed workshops, dwellings and fenced yards.
Auum breasted through the TaiGethen for a closer look. Denser was standing square in front of a padlocked door set into a featureless wall.
'This is it,' he was saying. Auum looked to Rebraal for confirmation he had understood. 'Give me room. If this goes off, I don't want anyone hurt.'
At a gesture from Rebraal, the TaiGethen and Al-Arynaar fell back a few paces.
'Marack,' said Auum, getting the attention of a cell leader. She was a Tai that Auum respected as much for her strength of mind as her warrior's abilities. Her original cell had been taken from her by the Elfsorrow but still she kept faith with the Gods and her new cell already admired and trusted her. She was an example to them all. 'Take your cell, secure the next crossway. Porrak, your cell behind us. Strengthen mine. Wait for my call. If you have to kill, kill silently.'
He focused his attention on Denser and watched the mage at work, attempting to circumvent what he assumed were magical traps of some kind. He could hear Erienne talking to him and edged closer to Rebraal who began translating.
'It's not a trap,' said Denser. 'The entire door is an illusion and a particularly good one at that. You can touch the padlock if you like but it isn't actually there. It's a piece of shaped rock fused into a sheet of solid metal. Even a good thief can't pick stone. The locks are all set into the door. There are three of them and all are operated by magic. I need to work out if they have changed since I was apprised of their key constructs.'
'Why isn't the illusion just one of flat wall?' asked Erienne.
'Because it has to reflect all the other workshop entrances around here. The people who constructed it maintain this work on the basis that hiding a door in plain sight is part of the art of illusion. It's worked for years.'
'What happens if you don't divine the key constructs?'
'A very loud noise and my death,' replied Denser. 'You should stand aside.'
But none of The Raven moved. Auum smiled inwardly.
'Just describe what you're seeing,' said Erienne. 'I might be able to help you.'
Denser relaxed his body and reached out his hands towards the door, touching various parts of its surface. Auum looked hard for the break between reality and illusion but couldn't see it.
'The three locks engage a single WardLock casting that covers the entire doorframe. It's well maintained and skilfully cast. No chance of setting off the traps by accident which I would say was unusually thoughtful if it weren't for the fact that this entrance is meant to be a secret from almost everyone and to stay that way. Each lock has a different construct code linked to an explosive and alarm-ward combination.
'I have to form the three key constructs that temporarily block the lock and alarm mechanisms, so disengaging the WardLock.'
'And these are constructs you have been taught, are they?' asked The Unknown from behind Denser.
'Yes. There is no clue in the lock constructs, which are just flat squares of mana each about the size of my hand. Each square has a keyhole described in it, for aesthetic purposes, I assume, because the key constructs have to cover the entire lock to unlock it, and don't penetrate it as such. All very pretty.'
'So, can you sort it?' Hirad's whisper was gruff. 'Our elven friends are getting nervous about rapidly closing patrolmen and I'm getting old.'
'It'll take as long as it takes,' said Denser. 'I have to assume the key constructs are unchanged. And you have to hope so too or this'll be the briefest raid in the history of Xetesk. Now let me be. Erienne, there's nothing you can do for me except to stand away from any blast area. Please.'
Watching on, Auum felt the unusual desire to be able to see what Denser was seeing. But he could watch the mage's intricate hand and finger movements as they teased mana into the shapes he wanted, the silent mouthing of words as commands augmented the structure formation, and the tiny beads of sweat on his brow as the effort gained momentum. That there was an element he could neither feel nor see that could affect them all so profoundly was a source of eternal discomfort to Auum. For him, it was an omission that Yniss had made when the world was created. He took it as a challenge to be overcome. To be quicker than cast magic. For the TaiGethen, it was the only way.
At the mating call of a motmot, faint and carried on the breeze, Auum turned. Evunn drew fingers across his eyes, pointed down an alley towards the college and held up three fingers.
'Get him to hurry.' Auum told Rebraal. 'We have company.'
He ran to his Tai. The search net was expanding. He could hear men to their left and right now, some carrying lights, some moving without. He edged his head around the corner of the warehouse and saw them coming. Two were soldiers, one a mage by the look of him.
'We don't want blood or noise near here. Not now,' whispered Auum. 'Why didn't you see them earlier?'
The patrol was only about twenty yards distant, approaching with exaggerated care and holding a lantern ahead of them.
'They came from a side path,' said Evunn. 'I am sorry.'
'You cannot know this place like them,' said Auum. 'Porrak, your Tai watch ahead. Bows ready. We will take the mage alive if we can.'
Porrak's cell unslung bows and took a few paces back, fading into the shadows to give Auum's trio room. A sense of deja vu came over Auum, waiting while the glow from the lantern grew as it neared. The Tai were standing perfectly still in the lee of the warehouse. Auum would be happy if the patrol walked right past them but one glance and shout was all it would take to bring the might of Xetesk down on them.
The Xeteskian patrol were not talking. Auum could hear their steps, measured and deliberate, in time with each other. And while he listened, they slowed, as one, on closing to less than ten yards from the crossway. He frowned. This was not a conscript patrol. He hadn't been able to see much of them beyond vague dress; the lantern had obscured their faces. But there was no aura of anxiety, no whispered fear. These were experienced professionals. That they would walk past the alley without at least scanning down it as far as they could see was inconceivable.
Auum held up three fingers. He bent first the middle finger, then those left and right in order. Duele and Evunn knew their targets and he knew they would not wait to attack. The lantern light intensified, spilling into the alley. Auum waved Porrak's cell further back. He tensed his body, plucked his knife from his belt and reversed it in his hand.
The patrol was on them. He could hear the individuals' breathing. One caught a breath, sensing something out of place. They paused. One could be heard inching up the warehouse wall, the others presumably just behind him. The plan changed again. Auum held up a single finger and pointed at himself. Next he gestured Duele and Evunn to follow him in an arc into the passage. Finally, he closed his fist.
The Xeteskian slid along the wall. Auum waited, hands poised, ready to pounce. His being was centred. He could all but smell the rainforest and every sound came to him as clear as cicadas in the evening. His enemy's leather armour making the barest scratching on the stone. The man's regular breathing, his boot tracing through stiff weed grass.
Three fingers of one gloved hand gripped the edge of the wall, first knuckle showing. Either a mistake or a calculated risk. Whatever, Auum ignored it, holding for the prize which came immediately after. A head began to emerge, eyes straining round, hair covered by a metal and leather helmet.
Auum wagged one finger. Duele and Evunn began to run. The TaiGethen leader took a half pace away from the wall and snapped out his right hand clamping onto the Xeteskian's face. Startled, the man dropped back but he couldn't break Auum's grip. The elf's left hand whipped round, the dagger hilt in his fist hammering into the soldier's temple. He sagged, Auum pulling him forward into his chest.
Duele and Evunn were shades across the lantern light, movement hard to track against the blank walls. Duele hit the mage carrying the lantern. He'd backed away reflexively before gathering himself to try and cast but he never stood a chance. The elf clamped a hand over the lantern handle, jerked the mage off balance and cracked his right fist into his jaw. Evunn had no need of such restraint. He ducked under a flailing fist and jabbed straight-fingered into his enemy's throat, crushing the man's windpipe.
'Get these men away,' hissed Auum.
Porrak's cell ran to help and, two to a body, they trotted back to the raiding party. Denser was still working on the locks, Erienne in close attendance. He was looking calm and in control. Hirad and The Unknown Warrior were standing apart, ready to run to assist. The other elves hadn't moved a muscle. Auum hadn't expected them to.
'Well?' he demanded.
'Nearly there,' assured Rebraal.
'There'll be more. We need in now.'
Denser must have heard him.
'Got it,' he murmured.
There was no sound but the mage straightened and pushed the door open.
'In,' said Auum.
The Raven, led by Denser, moved in first. The Al-Arynaar followed them and finally the TaiGethen, Auum last, making sure all his people were safe. He pushed the door closed behind him, hearing the faint fizz and crackle as the WardLock reset. A LightGlobe was set to hover, illuminating a blank chamber about thirty feet on the longer side and fifteen on the shorter. A door was set into the far wall. The room was empty of any furnishings.
'Tell me again what this is.' Hirad was looking around him, nonplussed.
'Come on, Hirad, mages have not always been the most popular rulers in Xetesk,' said Denser. 'Boltholes were inevitable for the chosen few.'
'Yeah, but you were never in the Circle Seven. How did you find out about it?'
'I was the Dawnthief mage,' said Denser. 'It was felt I should be given the information. My mentors showed me the path and gave me the key constructs. I couldn't tell you if they sought the permission of the rest of the Circle.'
'And how would you get away from here?' asked The Unknown.
'Fly,' said Denser. 'In the event the college was surrounded and archers were positioned around the rooftops, the Circle could have disappeared into the artisans' quarter and away.'
'It's a coward's way out,' said Hirad. 'Fairly typical of Xetesk.'
'Who cares? It gets us in and no one will suspect we'll come this way because not even Dystran thinks The Raven are here, let alone that I'd know the combinations.'
'Good,' said The Unknown. 'Now what about them?'
He walked over to the Xeteskians, Denser following him. The two soldiers had been dumped to one side of the door, Auum having snapped the neck of the one he'd knocked cold. But the mage, under the watchful eyes of Duele and Evunn, was showing signs of coming round.
'Well, well, well,' said Denser. He knelt and shook the mage, slapping his cheeks. 'Wakey, wakey, Arnayl. You need to answer us some questions.'
Arnayl's eyes flickered open and a hand moved to rub his chin while he stretched his mouth. Middle-aged, his light hair was streaked with grey and his square face was lined, eyes red-rimmed. He blinked in the gentle light, frowned while taking in the faces of elves and men around him and started violently when he focused on Denser.
'What the f-'
'No time for that,' said Denser. 'There are things we must know.'
'Where am I?'
'Somewhere you never believed existed,' said Denser, smiling. 'Now, what's the current mage and college-guard strength inside the walls?'
'Find out,' said Arnayl. 'You'll get nothing from me.'
He tried to raise himself on his elbows but Denser shoved him back, his head cracking on the packed ground. He grunted.
'Let me remind you of your position.' Denser's tone hardened.
'There are more than twenty people in here. All of them would be happy to end your life. All of them have lost precious things because of Xetesk's actions and your life is forfeit, as is anyone's who stands in our way. Now I might be able to persuade them to let you live but you've got to help me out. Right now.'
'I will not betray my college,' said Arnayl. 'You cannot ask that of me.'
'The more we know, the fewer Xeteskians will die,' said Denser. 'But we are going in and we will get what we came for. You can help us save your fellow mages or you can die, knowing many will join you. Answer me.'
Arnayl stared back, closing his mouth deliberately. The sound of a sword being drawn echoed thinly in the small chamber. The point of that sword pressed against Arnayl's throat. Hirad spoke.
'Your people triggered Elfsorrow. You would have presided over genocide. Thousands died, including my friend Ilkar. Because of you-'
'I had nothing to do with that decision.'
'You are Xeteskian, sworn to your college. You are to blame.' The swordpoint drew blood. 'Don't think I won't kill you in cold blood.'
'Please.' Arnayl's voice was choked and the colour had drained from his face. He spread his palms in supplication.
'Tell Denser what he wants to know. And don't try to cast. You aren't quick enough to beat me.'
Arnayl swallowed and closed his eyes. 'I can't tell you anything. Surely you understand.'
'I understand,' said Hirad.
He drove the point of his blade through Arnayl's throat. Blood fountained into the air. The mage juddered and died. Denser shot upright, jumping away from the mess.
'Gods, Hirad, what are you doing?'
'He would have told us nothing,' said the barbarian, dragging his blade clear and wiping it on Arnayl's cloak.
Auum nodded. 'He is right.'
But there was something in Hirad's eyes that wasn't right. Like he'd lost his focus. Denser had seen it too. So had The Unknown.
'Hirad, what is it?' asked Denser.
Hirad was shaking. He fought to steady his arm to sheathe his sword and when he turned his face back, there were tears standing in his eyes.
'I could have saved him,' he said. 'And now all I can do is avenge him.'
'No one could have done that,' said The Unknown. 'Ilkar said it himself. When he contracted Elfsorrow he was already dead.'
'No!' shouted Hirad. 'All that time we wasted. We let Yron escape into Xetesk and lost days. Days. And being here and listening to that bastard just makes it so real. I could have ridden after him. Gone round the Protectors and caught him, made him give us the thumb fragment. I stopped.' He turned away from them. 'I stopped. And he died.'
'It wasn't like that,' said Denser. 'You aren't counting right. Even supposing we'd caught Yron, Ilkar would still have caught the disease and died on the voyage.'
But Hirad was shaking his head. 'We could have made it to Calaius,' he said, voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. 'Back to the rainforest. We would have found a way.'
Rebraal walked over to him, the eyes of every elf and The Raven on him.
'We must all take some responsibility,' he said carefully. 'I could have stopped them at the temple but I didn't. The TaiGethen and ClawBound could have found him in the forest but they didn't, not soon enough. We can't go back and correct what has gone but we can shape the future, make Ilkar's death mean what it should - the start of the return to balance in magic. And for that we need the Aryn Hiil and our other writings. We need that strength to go to Julatsa with the confidence to succeed.
'Don't lose it in here. We need you.'
Hirad breathed deep. He managed the briefest of smiles in Rebraal's direction. 'I'm sorry.' He took them all in now. 'All of you. This is very difficult.'