The Raven Collection

‘No, Hirad, I’m not joking.’ Denser pulled his skullcap off his head and rubbed a hand through his close-cropped grey hair. ‘Look, I’m not playing down the threat we face. I’m not pretending the situation isn’t desperate. But you’re expecting Sol, The Unknown Warrior and King of Balaia, might I remind you, to follow you into the Wesman Heartlands and commit suicide to open a gate to somewhere so you can head somewhere else and open a gate back? It’s madness.’

‘It’s the only possible solution,’ said Ilkar.

‘It quite clearly is not,’ said Denser.

‘Your solution will lead to our a

‘Big word, barbarian. Who taught you that one?’

Sol was out of his chair and between them before a blow could be landed. He felt a perverse sense of comfort and satisfaction.

‘That’s what I was thinking about. Real Rookery debate.’ He allowed the smile to leave his face. ‘Now sit down, both of you.’

Denser threw up his hands and sat heavily. ‘It wouldn’t be so bad, Sol, but they are offering you no choice, no alternative. This is blind faith at best. It was never the way we did things.’

‘Oh, you misunderstand,’ said Sol. ‘It was always the way we did things. The Raven’s way was trust even in the face of ridicule. Nothing has changed bar the fact that there is no chance I will survive versus a very slim chance.’

‘But isn’t that it? We always believed that somehow we would escape and survive.’

‘I’m not sure that’s true either,’ said Sol. ‘I had no thought that we would survive the demons. I was certain we’d be trapped there, weren’t you?’

‘But there was always the tiniest chance,’ said Denser.

‘All right, you’ve made your point. Now I want to speak. It is me after all who is being asked to die in this rather inglorious ma

‘Could be Denser,’ said Ilkar, his eyes twinkling. ‘Any man of free will can make the sacrifice.’

Denser scoffed. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Neither did I,’ said Hirad.

‘The thing is, Denser,’ said Sol, begi

‘When we were at our best, it was in pretending that the only option open was in any case the best one and that others would present themselves if needed. But we never had choice, not really. There was never the option to stand aside and let someone else do it because there was no one else. And it is the same now.

‘I am king, you are right. And as king I am responsible for all the people of Balaia. Right now they are being slaughtered, and I don’t see that we can defend against this enemy. That means we have to go elsewhere to live. It’s something you have to learn, Denser. Sometimes you ca

Denser slapped his hands on the table. ‘But you won’t survive, Sol. Win or lose, you’ll already be dead.’

‘But if by my death others live, that is enough. If I can save my wife and sons by this action I will do it in a heartbeat, don’t you see that? Wouldn’t you do the same?’

Denser’s shoulders sagged. ‘Well, yes. But I’d have to believe. Do you believe?’

‘When The Raven assure me that something must be done, I believe them. When that assertion is backed up by Auum, I believe them even more. But when I’ve been to the place where we must go, where we can fight the Garonin if we must, there is no room for doubt in my heart.’

‘Yes. You’ve been there. And come back. Alive. Why not again?’

‘Because the Garonin are not going to take me there again.’ Sol finally sat down again. ‘Denser, if I face the Garonin here again, I will die. If I am to fight them and help my people live, I need to take the chance to even the odds.

‘It just makes perfect sense. In Ulandeneth you can do anything you believe you can, I’m certain of it. And who else to travel with but those in whom I believe the most. The Raven. I wish you’d come but I understand if you feel you can’t. Decision’s made, my dear friend and Lord of the Mount. I will do this thing and we will prevail.

‘Denser. Denser, look at me. Thank you. I respect your objections. Gods drowning, I love you for your caution and your pragmatism. But the time for both has passed. And I need you to support us in what we are about to do. You may be Lord of the Mount now but you are still Raven. In spirit it may be but we need you with us. What say you?’

Denser studied his wine goblet and sucked his bottom lip. When he looked up, he was shaking his head.

‘I ca

‘Can’t?’ said Hirad. ‘Exactly how are you going to stop him?’

Denser said nothing. He sipped at his wine and stared out of the window.

The Raven quartet descended the long spiral stairway in silence. They found nothing to say as they walked across the floor of the tower complex and out into the warm of the morning sun.

‘Fancy a walk, anyone?’ asked Ilkar.

‘Not if it’s like the last one we took,’ said Hirad. ‘How is dear Selik, by the way?’

‘Raging in his cell. We’re wondering whether to put him out of his misery and let another soul take the body.’

‘Pointless now, I should think,’ said Ilkar. ‘No one else is going to make it here now. The void will have taken them all. We just can’t hang on to anything without a body and the dead dimension is utterly destroyed. We can feel it. Let him rot.’

‘I’ll put your opinion to the Circle Seven,’ said Sol. ‘Look, I really need to go and talk to my wife and children. Stop by later, why don’t you? Pick up the pieces of my teeth perhaps.’

‘She’ll understand, Unknown,’ said Hirad.

‘Don’t be stupid, Hirad. She will neither understand nor accept it. And neither should she.’ Sol tried a smile but it didn’t come off. ‘See you later. Don’t drift too far; I know how much it hurts.’

Ilkar, Sirendor and Hirad watched him go before a shrug from the latter and a point towards the eastern quarter of the city sent them on their way. Just beyond the apron outside the gates of the college Ilkar saw, through the passing hubbub of a nervous day on The Thread, three figures detach themselves from the shadows ahead. He touched Hirad’s arm.

‘Seen them,’ said Hirad.

The three old friends carried on walking across the stone of the apron and made their way across The Thread itself. The figures were waiting for them, watching. There was no point avoiding them. And no need. Hirad took his hand from his sword hilt.

‘I thought you’d gone for a lie-down,’ he said.

‘There are more pressing matters,’ said Auum. Ghaal and Miirt stood close behind him. ‘This city is on the verge of tearing itself apart.’

Ilkar felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Not a pleasant experience in this body. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Come.’

Auum didn’t wait to see if they were with him. He spun on his heel and trotted away into a wealthy residential area of Xetesk. Much of it was empty of its usual occupants. All senior mages and administrators had been closeted in the college for many days now. It gave the area an eerie feel.

An angry shout rang out close by. Abruptly, Auum and his Tai broke into a run, leaving the Raven trio trailing in their wake. Ilkar recognised the tenor of the shouting. Violence hung in the air. Breaking out into a square bordered by tall houses and centred by a fenced garden, Ilkar saw a handful of figures in pursuit of something or someone with Auum’s Tai hard on their heels, eating up the distance between them.