she remained awake for a while longer, too tired to think, too numb to feel fear.

above the fire, sparks and stars swam without distinction.

dusk the following day, the two travellers reached kraig's landing, to find its three ramshackle buildings surrounded by the tents of an encamped regiment. soldiers were everywhere, and at the dock was tethered an ornate, luxuriously appointed barge above which drifted in the dull wind the king's banner, and directly beneath it on the spar the crest of the ceda.

'there's a cadre here,' buruk said as they strode down the trail towards the camp, which they would have to pass through to reach the hostel and dock.

she nodded. 'and the soldiers are here as escort. there can't have been engagements already, can there?'

he shrugged. 'at sea, maybe. the war is begun, i think.'

seren reached out and halted buruk. 'there, those three.'

the merchant grunted.

the three figures in question had emerged from the rows of tents, the soldiers nearby keeping their distance but fixing their attention on them as they gathered for a moment, about halfway between the two travellers and the camp.

'the one in blue - do you recognize her, acquitor?'

she nodded. nekal bara, trate's resident sorceress, whose power was a near rival to the ceda's own. 'the man on her left, in the black furs, that's arahathan, commander of the cadre in the cold clay battalion. i don't know the third one.'

'enedictal,' buruk said. 'arahathan's counterpart in the snakebelt battalion. we see before us the three most powerful mages of the north. they intend a ritual.'

she set off towards them.

'acquitor! don't!'

ignoring buruk, seren unslung her pack and dropped it to the ground. she had caught the attention of the three mages. visible in the gloom, nekal bara's mocking lift of the eyebrows.

'acquitor seren pedac. the errant smiles upon you indeed.'

'you're going to launch an attack,' seren said. 'you mustn't.'

'we do not take orders from you,' enedictal said in a growl.

'you're going to strike the villages, aren't you?'

'only the ones closest to the borders,' nekal bara said, 'and those are far enough away to permit us a full unveiling - beyond those mountains, yes? if the errant wills it, that's where the edur armies will have already gathered.'

'we shall obliterate the smug bastards,' enedictal said. 'and end this stupid war before it's begun.'

'there are children-'

'too bad.'

without another word the three mages moved to take positions, twenty paces distant from one another. they faced the slope of the trail, the rearing mountains before them.

'no!' seren shouted.

soldiers appeared, surrounding her, expressions dark and angry beneath the rim of their helms. one spoke. 'it's this, woman, or the fields of battle. where people die. make no move. say nothing.'

buruk the pale arrived to stand nearby. 'leave it be, acquitor.'

she glared at him. 'you don't think he'll retaliate? he'll disperse the attack, buruk. you know he will.'

'he may not have the time,' the merchant replied. 'oh, perhaps his own village, but what of the others?'

a flash of light caught her attention and she turned to see that but one mage remained, nekal bara. then seren saw, two hundred paces distant, the figure of enedictal. twisting round, she could make out arahathan, two hundred paces in the opposite direction. more flashes, and the two sorcerors reappeared again, double the distance from nekal bara.

'they're spreading out,' buruk observed. 'this is going to be a big ritual.'

a soldier said, 'the ceda himself is working tonight. through these three here, and the rest of the cadre strung out another league in both directions. four villages will soon be nothing but ashes.'

'this is a mistake,' seren said.

something was building between the motionless sorcerors. blue and green light, ravelled taut, like lightning wound round an invisible rope linking the mages. the glow building like sea foam, a froth that began crackling, spitting drawn-out sparks that whipped like tendrils.

the sound became a hissing roar. the light grew blinding, the tendrils writhing out from the glowing foam. the twisting rope bucked and snapped between the stationary mages, reaching out past the three who were still visible, out beyond the hills to either side.