Erienne was desperate to interrupt but even more so not to disrupt his train of thought, such as it was. She wasn’t sure anything he was saying was relevant; she was just glad to hear him talk.

‘The thing is, we all have our life’s work and our life’s dream. I’ve discovered that the trick is never to achieve that dream.’ He looked away over the water.

‘You have lost me there,’ said Erienne. ‘Why would you chase after things you didn’t actually want to achieve?’

‘What do you do when you’ve achieved your life’s ultimate challenge?’ countered Denser.

For a moment, Erienne had no response. ‘There must always be something,’ she said.

‘That’s what I thought. But what when there isn’t anything as big as what you’ve just done?’

‘I—’ she began, thinking she understood. For a heartbeat, the pieces began to fall into place. But she found they didn’t fit. ‘How can you have nothing?’ she asked. ‘We’re here because we have to close that rip, because no one else can. How can that not be important enough to you?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘If we fail, you’ll die. We all will.’

‘But death no longer holds any fear for me. I have cast Dawnthief, I have achieved something I thought unattainable. The one thing I could go on dreaming about because I knew I would never succeed. But I have succeeded and now I am empty. If I died now, I would die complete.’

Now she slapped him. Hard across the cheek, the sound ringing out on the still night air. The Raven would be on them shortly but she didn’t care. Every frustration, every cold look he’d given her and every little slight in his manner boiled out of her. It made her feel no better.

‘Then do it for someone else. What about me? What about your child?’ Her tears began to flow. ‘Selfish bastard.’

He caught her arm. ‘I cast Dawnthief to save everyone.’

‘You did it for yourself,’ she snarled, sudden contempt flowing through her veins. ‘You have just made that very clear.’ She jerked her arm free. ‘I’m just surprised you didn’t go full force. I mean, why not perform the ultimate act of selfishness and take us all with you? At least that way you wouldn’t have to be so damned self-pitying now.’ She made to go but his words stopped her dead.

‘I nearly did. But I couldn’t because I love you.’

She turned, knowing she should slap him again for daring to toy with her emotions that way. But something in his tone stayed her hand.

‘That is an extraordinary statement,’ she said coldly.

‘But true.’

‘Well, you’ve had a strange way of showing it since.’

Denser looked up at her, his eyes glinting in the dim light. ‘I can’t be all that you need right now. If I’m honest, I do feel that I’ve made a huge sacrifice. Not just for you but for The Raven. But when it came to it, I couldn’t betray the faith you had shown in me. All of you. And much as Dawnthief tried to beguile me into taking the world with me, I couldn’t do it.’ He let his gaze drop back to the grass. ‘It’s funny. I never thought I’d live to see the spell cast but, when casting, my desperation that you should live overcame the terrible desire to see my life’s work completed.’

Erienne sat next to him and placed an arm around his neck, stroking his face where she had slapped it.

‘And now you have the chance to carry on a new life’s work, my love,’ she whispered. ‘You’ve spent all your life learning to destroy but, you and me, we’ve created something. You can make sure it isn’t allowed to die.’ She realised he was shaking. Whether it was chill or emotion she didn’t know for a while but when he turned to her he took her hands in his, and his face was wet with tears.

‘It’s what I want more than anything but inside I feel cheated. Don’t you see? Everything in my life has been peripheral to that damned spell ever since I can remember. It was drummed into me so hard there was no room for anything else. But now it’s gone and I have no centre, no core to keep me wanting to live through trouble and come out the other side.’ He brushed a hand across her cheek. ‘I know how hard that must sound for you and I know it’s wrong to feel that way but I do. What if I can never feel the way I did before? What if I can’t want something else as much as I wanted Dawnthief?’

‘You will, love. Trust me. All you have to do is try.’ She kissed his mouth gently, letting her tongue caress his lips. He forced her mouth open, his kiss becoming urgent, his hands suddenly at her back, pressing her to him. She warmed to his touch, wanting him but instead she pushed him away.

‘It’s not quite that easy,’ she said, feeling the heat in her face and the flutter of her heart. Their faces were close and he was smiling that genuine smile she had loved the first time she saw it but feared she’d seen for the last time.

‘But all this was put here for us. A soft patch of grass, the sound of the river and a hint of moonlight. It would be rude to pass it by.’

‘You ignore me for days and now this?’

‘Got to start somewhere.’ He moved a hand to caress her breast. She wanted to pull away but couldn’t find the will. And as she let herself be lain on her back, his kisses smothering her in repeated sensual blooms, she thought she heard footsteps creeping back towards the camp.

Sha-Kaan rested a while. Tiring of Flamegrass, he devoured the carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat. It took the edge off his hunger.

He contemplated his conversation with Hirad Coldheart, impressed at the human’s strength but unsure of the wisdom of his decision nonetheless. If it didn’t work, he knew he could move on but the thought of Hirad Coldheart’s inevitable death in that circumstance gave him no comfort. He had gambled and that was not something he did lightly.

And now he had to act. He crushed and swallowed the last of the bones, followed them with a bale of Flamegrass and shifted out of Wingspread, a command to attend flashing from his mind to a Kaan of whom he had need.

Sha-Kaan materialised in the river and drank long from its cool flow. Above him, the mist parted and a large young Kaan dropped into the Broodland, wings braking his descent, feet seeking purchase a little clumsily on an area of flat, pitted rock, his talons goring it deeply.

The Great Kaan picked his head from the river and rose up, his neck forming the formal ‘s’, his torso upright, the duller yellow scales of his belly exposed, front legs flat, his wings twitching for balance. He gazed at the young Kaan who mirrored his bearing but whose head was bowed in respect.

Elu-Kaan reminded him of himself at the same age - strong, large, confident in his abilities, yet nervous in the presence of his elders.

‘Skies greet you, Elu-Kaan,’ he said.

‘I am honoured by your call, Great Kaan,’ Elu responded.

‘I have work for you. Your Dragonene is, I understand, a mage residing in the Balaian city of Julatsa?’

‘Yes, Great Kaan, though I have not taken contact for several cycles. I have been fortunate in battle.’ His head bowed further, though his mind was as proud as it should be.

‘Fortune, it was not. Skill is your saviour.’ Sha felt a surge of pride from the youngster at his compliment. ‘But now I need you to travel interdimensional space to speak with your Dragonene, if you are able. The mages have protected their College with an energy derived from the dimension of the Arakhe. I fear that the gateway will be feeding power to the Arakhe and I cannot allow them ungoverned access to Balaia. Find out whether your portal can penetrate it but do not risk your life. There is risk in what I ask. Withdraw the moment you feel them press; they are a difficult enemy.’

‘I will begin at once.’ The young Kaan raised his head to assure Sha-Kaan of his intent.

‘Elu,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘I must have an answer when the orb darkens the Skies.’