sandalath watched, wide-eyed, as the two armies surged in a final rush to close. venth was swearing under his breath at her side. he had said earlier that the enemy was an army of borderswords, and the reason for battle was unknown.

the cantering houseblades lifted into a charge, but as they did so the wedge formation unravelled, the centre slowing as the wings swept out, spreading wide. opposite them, half obscured through the ever-thickening dust, the enemy line seemed to waver.

when the houseblades reached them, the line of heavy cavalry was virtually level, the riders only three deep in ranks, and they smashed against a broad swath of the enemy forces. sandalath gasped to see horses flung into the air, legs kicking, while in places the bordersword riders seemed to vanish beneath the hoofs of the warhorses. the roiling dust turned pink above the line of impact. moments later, the entire engagement disappeared into the dust, until only the clanging cacophony of fighting reached them.

she caught the flash of white shields on the left, black shields on the right, but then even those were gone. on the slope below and to her right, she could see captain ivis, still mounted and flanked by poles bearing signal flags - but those flags had not changed since the charge first began. she saw the same flags on angled spires set above the gate towers. there was no evidence of panic, and the signallers stood motionless at their stations.

is this really how it is?

the wedge formation of the heavy cavalry, so inviting to the lighter mounted borderswords, had suddenly ceased to exist, and before they could react to the lightning transformation before them, the two lines of horse-soldiers collided.

directly in front of rint was a houseblade sheathed in leather plates covering chain, his visor lowered and so made into something faceless. he saw the man's lance slide up to plunge through the neck of rint's horse, and as the houseblade released his grip on the weapon he flung up his shield to take rint's stabbing sword. the weapon clanged against copper riveted to wood beneath the black felt, rebounded high. his horse staggered beneath him and then pitched on to one shoulder.

rint sought to pull free, but the animal rolled on to his right leg. wrenching agony announced the tearing loose of his thigh bone from his hip socket. the scream that broke from him tore his throat.

the houseblade had ridden past, but another came up behind him, a woman from the long hair spilling out from under the rim of her helm. her lance drove down, punched into rint just under his left collar bone. the heavy iron blade snapped the bone, its point pushing through to crunch into and then scrape along the underside of his shoulder blade. she tore it free as she rode past.

rint sought to lift his sword to swing at the horse's legs.

instead, a hoof lashed down, landing on his throat. there was an instant of impossible weight, and then it lifted clear, snapping against his jaw as it went.

he stared into the dust-filled sky overhead. somehow, air slipped through the wreckage of his throat and filled his lungs. the pulse in the side of his neck throbbed like a fist under the skin.

that was quick.

dying was within reach, but something held him back. he struggled to order his thoughts, struggled to understand what was keeping him here, lying on the ground in his own blood. he had never felt so cold, so heavy and so weak.

he tried to turn his head, to look for his sister, but nothing worked. he realized then that he could not feel his body, beyond that immense weight pressing down upon him. the sounds of fighting were falling away, or perhaps his hearing was failing.

we are defeated. as easily as that, the borderswords are no more. i want to die now. i want to go away.

he squinted into the sky, and now at last saw the tree - where it had come from, how he could have missed it here on this field, were questions he could not answer, but he saw the summer wind in the branches, rushing through the dusty green leaves. and high on one branch sat his sister, young and fierce, not wanting to come down.

he would have to go up and get her, again. it was always the way and it infuriated him. but he would not show that, since he could hear people laughing, offering up suggestions.

rint stood and began climbing. it was easy. it had always been easy, since this tree was made for climbing. he coughed in the dust, wiped again and again at his eyes, and his chest hurt as it fought for every breath. no matter. she was drawing nearer.

at last he came up beside her, and edged out along the branch. but when he looked over, to berate her for making him have to come up and get her, he saw that feren had vanished, and in her place sat olar ethil.

the witch was horribly burned, her skin peeling off to reveal blistered red meat. she crouched hunched over, rocking, and the eyes she turned upon him glittered as if they still held the flames that had done this to her.