Yu Yu bellowed a battle cry and gave chase. Kysumu's left hand snaked out, grabbing the collar of Yu Yu's wolfskin jerkin, yanking him back. Yu Yu's legs shot into the air and he landed heavily.

'Stay with me,' said Kysumu calmly.

'You could have just asked me!' grumbled Yu Yu, rubbing furiously at his bruised backside.

Kysumu backed away to the centre of the camp. The guards and bearers had all gathered here, and were gazing fearfully at the mist, and listening in silent horror to the strange sounds, clicking and tapping just out of vision.

The mist swirled up. Kysumu cut his sword into it. Blue lightning flashed once more, and weird howls of pain could be heard from within the fog.

Yu Yu appeared alongside him. 'What is this?' asked Yu Yu, swinging his sword.

Kysumu ignored him. Two of the horses screamed and went down. 'Stay here! Keep the mist back,' said Kysumu, turning and running across the clearing. The mist parted before him. Something moved to his left. Kysumu dived to his right, rolling and coming to his feet in one smooth motion. A long taloned arm slashed down towards his face. Kysumu swayed back, and sent the glittering sword straight through the limb. There was a howl of agony, and – for a heartbeat only – Kysumu saw a ghastly face, with huge protruding red eyes and wickedly curved fangs. Then it was gone, back into the mist.

The sky began to lighten, the mist flowing back towards the trees.

Within moments the sun shone above the mountains, and the clearing was calm. Two of the horses were dead, their bellies ripped open. Of the missing sentry there was no sign.

As sunlight bathed the scene Kysumu's sword ceased to shine, fading back to silver steel.

On the ground at his feet the taloned arm continued to writhe. Then, as sunlight touched it, the skin blistered and turned black, peeling away from grey bone. Smoke rose from it, the stench filling the air.

Kysumu walked back across the clearing. Yu Yu Liang joined him.

'Whatever they were,' said Yu Yu happily, 'they were no match for two Rajnee.'

Matze Chai opened the flap of his tent and stepped out into the open. 'What is the meaning of this noise?' he asked.

'We were attacked,' said Kysumu quietly. 'One man is dead and we lost two horses.'

'Attacked? The robbers came back?'

'No, not robbers,' Kysumu told him. 'I think we should move from here. And swiftly.'

'As you wish, Rajnee.' Matze Chai leaned forward and peered at Yu Yu Liang. 'And who is this – this person?'

'I am Yu Yu Liang. And I helped fight the demons.' Yu Yu raised his sword and puffed out his chest. 'When the demons came we leapt and cut—' he began excitedly.

'Stop!' said Matze Chai, raising a slender hand. Yu Yu fell silent. 'Stand still and say nothing.' Matze Chai turned his attention to Kysumu. 'You and I will continue this conversation in my palanquin once we are on our way.' Casting a malevolent glance at Yu Yu the merchant disappeared back inside his tent. Kysumu walked away.

Yu Yu ran after him. 'I didn't know these swords could shine like that.'

'Neither did I.'

'Oh. I thought you could explain it to me. We make a good team, though, hey?'

Kysumu wondered briefly if he had committed some great sin in a former life, and Yu Yu was a punishment for it. He glanced up into the taller man's bearded face, then walked away without a word.

'Good team,' he heard Yu Yu say.

Walking back across the camp Kysumu could find no trace of the severed arm, but on the edge of the woods he found many tracks of three-toed taloned feet. Liu, the young captain of the guard, approached him. The man's eyes were frightened and he cast nervous glances into the woods. 'I heard your pupil say they were demons.'

'He is not my pupil.'

'Ah, forgive me, sir. But you think they were demons?'

'I have never before seen a demon,' said Kysumu softly. 'But we can discuss it once we are on the road and away from these woods.'

'Yes, sir. Whatever they were it was fortunate that your – your friend was on hand to aid us with his shining sword.'

'He is not my friend,' said Kysumu. 'But, yes, it was fortunate.'

Matze Chai sat in his palanquin, the silk curtains drawn shut. 'You think they were demons?' he asked the little swordsman.

'I can think of no alternative. I cut the limb from one and it burned in the sunlight as if in a furnace.'

'I have not heard of demons in this part of the world but, then, my knowledge of Kydor is limited. My client said nothing of them when he invited me here.' Matze Chai fell silent. He had once used a sorcerer to summon a demon and kill a business rival. The rival had been found the following morning with his heart torn out. Matze Chai had never really known whether the supernatural was genuinely involved, or whether the sorcerer had merely hired a killer. The sorcerer himself had been impaled two years later, following an attempted coup against the Gothir emperor. It was said that a horned demon had appeared within the palace and killed several guards. Could it be, he wondered, that one of Matze's many enemies had hired a magicker to send the creatures in the mist to kill him? He dismissed the thought almost immediately. The murdered sentry had been at the far end of the camp, furthest from his tent, as had the butchered horses. Surely a spell aimed at Matze Chai himself would have focused upon the tent where he lay? A random incident, then, but a disquieting one. 'Liu tells me that your sword shone like the brightest moonlight. I have not heard of this before. Are the swords of the Rajnee magical?'

'I had not thought them to be,' said Kysumu.

'Can you think of an explanation?'

'The rituals of the Rajnee are ancient. Each sword is blessed with one hundred and forty-four incantations. The iron ore is blessed before smelting, the steel is blessed, the armourer-priest tempers it with his own blood after three days of fasting and prayer. Finally it is laid upon the temple altar at Riashon, and all the monks join together in that most holy of places to give the sword its name and its final blessing. The swords of the Rajnee are unique. No one knows the origins of many of the incantations, and some are spoken in a language no longer understood, even by the priests who utter them.'

Matze Chai sat silently as Kysumu spoke. It was the longest speech he had heard from the normally laconic swordsman. 'I am not an expert in military matters,' said Matze Chai, 'but it seems to me that the swords of the Rajnee must have been created originally for a purpose other than merely battling enemy swordsmen. Why else would they display such mystical properties when demons are close?'

'I agree,' said Kysumu. 'It is a matter I must ponder upon.'

'While you do so, might you explain the appearance of the loud oaf in the foul-smelling wolfskin?' asked Matze Chai.

'He is a ditch-digger,' answered the Rajnee, his face expressionless.

'We were aided by a ditch-digger?'

Kysumu nodded. 'With a stolen Rajnee sword.'

Matze Chai looked into the swordsman's face. 'How was it that you happened upon him?'

'He was one of the robbers who attacked us. I went to their camp. The rest ran away, but he stood his ground.'

'Why was it that you did not slay him?'

'Because of the sword."

'You feared it?' asked Matze Chai, his surprise making him momentarily forget his manners.

Kysumu seemed untroubled by the remark. 'No, I did not fear it. When a Rajnee dies his sword dies with him. It shivers and cracks, the blade shattering. The sword is linked to the soul of the bearer, and travels with him to the world beyond.'

'Then perhaps he stole it from a living Rajnee who still hunts for it.'

'No. Yu Yu did not lie when he said he took it from the body of a dead Rajnee. I would have known. I believe the sword chose him. It also led him to this land and, ultimately, to our campsite.'