The scene and the atmosphere were idyllic but Hirad couldn’t forget why they were here. A handful of dragons sat on the ground outside, massive hulking bodies resting part in the river or on the flat rock, heads sweeping lazily to grab Flamegrass or the carcasses their Vestare brought them. They all ignored the arrival of the strangers completely. Most, he presumed, were flying around the rip, injured in melde-corridors or cavorting in the skies overhead. Sha-Kaan, he was sure, was inside Wingspread and he thought it curious the Great Kaan had not come out to greet them. But, as always, he would have his reasons.

‘Hirad,’ said Ilkar. ‘Before you speak to Sha-Kaan—’

‘Yes, our chances,’ agreed Hirad.

‘Or lack of them,’ said Ilkar. ‘And don’t bridle like that, I’m only being realistic. You need to know exactly how far we’ve got.’

Hirad tore at a piece of meat with his teeth, washing the food down with the pale green, sweet fruit juice.

‘You aren’t going to tell me anything good, are you?’

‘It’s not quite that bad,’ said Ilkar. ‘It’s just there are so many unknowables and guesses we’re having to make. But let me start at the beginning. Unknown, you ought to listen to this.’

‘I am,’ came the reply. ‘Thraun?’ The shapechanger moved closer to Ilkar. He had a cup in his hand but hadn’t taken any food.

‘The theory is relatively simple but, without definite parameters, the power of any spell we cast is going to be a guess. Educated, but a guess. What we have to do, and the four of us are strong enough to do it from beneath the rip, is form a mana lattice that binds with the edges of the rip. This is all based on Septern’s spells designed to border rips and contain them.’

‘So you’re going to effectively border this rip,’ said The Unknown.

‘Absolutely,’ said Ilkar. ‘And then we have to draw it closed. Now that would be reasonably easy if we only had one end to contend with but we don’t; we have a corridor and another end all of the same massive size. You all right with this so far, Hirad?’

‘Anything I don’t get I’ll ask The Unknown to explain when you’ve gone,’ he said.

‘Gone where?’ asked Ilkar.

‘Gone where you can’t hear me complaining how complicated you make things,’ said Hirad, smiling as Ilkar’s ears pricked.

‘Fine,’ said the elf mage. ‘Now, returning to reality for a moment, we’re sure that Septern must have opened and closed dimensional corridors and there is theory that discusses the weave, if you like, that is required to close a hole in interdimensional space. What we believe we have to do is set up what is best described as a mana shuttle which, anchored at this end of the rip by the border we create, flies down the corridor, looping through its sides to come out the other end and effectively pull the sides together, closing the rip and corridor on both sides.’

‘Can that be done?’ The Unknown took fruit from a platter offered to him and smiled his thanks at the woman serving. ‘I have to say, Ilkar, it sounds very far-fetched.’

Ilkar sighed. ‘It is. Look, we don’t know if we can do it, yet. The lore theory is there in Septern’s texts, Styliann and Denser are trying to link it to some Xeteskian dimensional theory and we do have a spell that will close a gateway.’

‘But it’s the shuttle bit, isn’t it?’ said Hirad.

‘Yes,’ said Ilkar. ‘It’s certainly an extension of the mana lattice we’ll make to contain the rip on this side but at the moment we’re guessing and that’s very dangerous.’

‘I don’t want to worry you but we don’t have the time for you to do anything else,’ said Hirad. ‘We have to cast this thing in the next day or so or it’ll be too late for the Kaan and you know what that means for Balaia.’

‘I am aware, Hirad, but we did always say it would be difficult.’ Ilkar’s eyes narrowed a little and his ears reddened. ‘Developing new spells isn’t easy, you know.’

The Unknown held up his hands for calm. ‘And bickering isn’t going to help. Now, am I missing something or can’t you cast the lattice that borders the rip this side, pull it closed, if that isn’t too simplistic, and then go back to Balaia and do the same in Parve?’

Ilkar raised his eyebrows and smiled. ‘Lovely idea but we had to discount it. Even assuming we’d make it back to Parve from the Manse, it wouldn’t work. The power in interdimensional space is too great and you have to remember that the corridor would still be there, just with no second opening. We have to close the corridor too and the lattice is inherently unstable and wouldn’t survive to give us the time to reach Parve. That’s why we had to come here. We have to close the rip against the flow of the way it was made.’

‘So sum up our chances in a way I can understand,’ said Hirad, his plate still full but his appetite fading fast.

‘If Denser and Styliann can’t find any help in Xeteskian dimensional theory, we have next to no chance because we’ll have no idea of the forces operating beyond the rip. If they do, we’re still making a best guess at a mana construct brand-new to us all and will have no clear idea if it’ll work until it either does or doesn’t. It’ll require all our combined strength to cast from the ground anyway.’ He paused and looked at Hirad solemnly. ‘There is less chance of this succeeding than there was of defeating the Wytch Lords.’

‘Sha-Kaan isn’t going to like that,’ said Hirad.

‘Well, he’ll just have to live with it.’

‘Or die with it,’ returned Hirad, and he got to his feet, dusted down his trousers and leather and set off to Wingspread.

‘Who’d be a Dragonene, eh Unknown?’ Ilkar tried to smile.

‘Who’d be any of us, Ilkar,’ he replied. ‘Who’d be any of us.’

Chapter 32

They attack.

The thought pulsed around the Protectors in the dawn light. The Wesmen were advancing, their dogs and archers before them. This was no charge and Aeb questioned the tactic with his brethren.

Dogs in the vanguard, archers to weaken us, army to follow up.

As one, the Protectors brought their weapons to the ready, each masked man unsheathing double handed sword and battle axe.

We are enough to shield effectively. Aeb drove the idea around them. Concentration is everything. We are one. Fight as one.

We are one, fight as one. The mantra echoed around their minds bringing them the strength of the Soul Tank and the belief in their invincibility. They were ready.

From all sides, arrows flew and the dogs were unleashed. Their howls were drowned by the roars of the Wesmen. Think shield. They thought and the arrows bounced. The Wesmen roars faltered but the dogs drove on. Huge beasts, the size of newborn foals, their mouths thick with teeth, saliva dripping as they came. Another flight of arrows; no more than five pierced the shield and no Protectors fell. The dogs hit them.

They had counted seventy Destranas, all hungry for the kill but all fighting on their own. Those at the front of the charge leapt for neck, thigh or stomach but the Protectors saw every angle of attack. Aeb struck down with his axe at the skull of a dog that leapt at the brother next to him. Two more blades thudded into the beast’s neck and back. It died with a whimper.

Aeb, blade left lower quarter.

Aeb struck without looking, feeling his sword bite into a Destrana midriff. The thought had come as he sensed the animal, it was merely direction but it was all he needed. He pulled his axe clear to hammer it through the jaw of a third dog while his sword still skewered the terrified, crying animal on the ground to his left.

Around the circle the orders flew and the blades and axes followed them. Seventy dogs was too few by at least three hundred and those that didn’t run to hide behind the legs of their masters died without landing paw or fang on a single brother. Too slow, too obvious, too individual. It was why animals would never beat Protectors.