hetan staggered, righted herself. for one terrible moment she simply stood where she was, and then the hobbled lurched into motion.

estaral watched her for a dozen heartbeats-to be certain-and then she spun and ran back towards the camp. she could slip in unseen. yes, she'd cleaned up hetan's face, and then had simply left her, close to the wagons-the bitch was dead behind the eyes, anyone could see that. she fled out on to the plain? ridiculous, but if you want to go look, out where the akrynnai are waiting, go right ahead.

she found shadows between two wagons, squeezed in. figures were moving in and out of firelight. the shouts had stopped. if she avoided the hearths, she could thread her way back to where strahl and the others were camped. she would have to tell him of bakal's death. who would lead the senan tomorrow? it would have to be strahl. he would need to know, so he could ready his mind to command, to the weight of his clan's destiny.

she edged forward.

thirty paces on, they found her. six women led by sekara, with faranda hovering in the background. estaral saw them rushing to close and she drew her knife. she knew what they would do to her; she knew they weren't interested in asking questions, weren't interested in explanations. no, they will do to me what they did to hetan. bakal was gone, her protector was gone. there were, she realized, so many ways to be alone.

they saw her weapon. avid desire lit their eyes-yes, they wanted blood. ' i killed her! ' estaral shrieked. ' bakal was using her-i killed them both! '

she lunged into their midst.

blades flickered. estaral staggered, spun even as she sank to her knees. gleeful faces on all sides. such bright hunger-oh, how alive they feel! she was bleeding out, four, maybe five wounds, heat leaking out from her body.

so stupid. all of it... so stupid. and with that thought she laughed out her last breath.

the massive bank of clouds on the western horizon now filled half the night sky, impenetrable and solid as a wall, building block by block to shut out the stars and the slashes of jade. wind rustled the grasses, pulled from the east as if the storm was drawing breath. yet no flashes lit the clouds, and not once had cafal heard thunder. despite this, his trepidation grew with every glance at the towering blackness.

where was bakal? where was hetan?

the bound grip of the hook-blade was slick in his hand. he had begun to shiver as the temperature plummeted.

he could save her. he was certain of it. he would demand the power from the barghast gods. if they refused him, he vowed he would destroy them. no games, no bargains. i know it was your lust for blood that led to this. and i will make you pay.

cafal dreaded the moment he first saw his sister, this mocking, twisted semblance of the woman he had known all his life. would she even recognize him? of course she would. she would lunge into his arms-an end to the torment, the rebirth of hope. dread, yes, and then he would make it good again, all of it. they would flee west-all the way to lether-

a faint sound behind him. cafal whirled round.

the mace clipped him on his left temple. he reeled to the right, attempted to pivot and slash his weapon into the path of his attacker. a punch in the chest lifted him from his feet. he was twisted in the air, hook-blade flying from his hand, and it seemed the fist on his chest followed him down, driving deeper when he landed on his back. bones grated, splintered.

he saw, uncomprehending, the shaft of the spear, upright as a standard, its head buried in his chest.

shadowy shapes above him. the gauntleted hands gripping the spear now twisted and pushed down hard.

the point thrust through into the earth beneath him.

he struggled to make sense of things, but everything slipped through his nerveless fingers. three, now four shapes looming over him, but not a word was spoken.

they watch me die. i've done the same. why do we do that? why are we so fascinated by this failure?

because, i think, we see how easy it is.

the akrynnai warrior holding the man down with his spear now relaxed. 'he's done,' he said, tugging his weapon loose.

'if he was scouting our camp,' the mace-wielder said, 'why was he facing the wrong way?'

'barghast,' muttered a third man, and the others nodded. there was no sense to these damned savages.

'tomorrow,' said the warrior now cleaning his spear, 'we kill the rest of them.'

she stumbled onward, eyes on the black wall facing her, which seemed to lurch close only to recoil again, as if the world pulsed. the wind pushed her along now, solid as a hand at her back, and the thud of the staff's heel thumped on and on.

when four akrynnai warriors cut across her field of vision, she slowed and then halted, waiting for them to take her. but they didn't. instead, they made warding gestures and quickly vanished into the gloom. after a time, she set out once more, tottering, her breath coming in thick gasps now. the blisters on her hands broke and made the staff slick.