‘Presumably, Styliann, you have other information you wish us to hear, or is this just a social gathering?’ He smiled, but it died on his face when he saw the Lord of the Mount’s bleak expression.

‘There has been a problem in interdimensional space.’ Styliann’s voice brought total quiet to the Marquee. Breaths half indrawn were stopped. Eyes widened. Styliann looked slowly around the tables. Vuldaroq’s face was red and angry, Heryst looked as if he literally couldn’t take in what he had heard, and Barras drummed his fingers with greater intensity. It was he who spoke.

‘I take it the Wytch Lords’ souls are no longer under your control.’

‘No, they are not.’ Styliann allowed his head to drop to his papers. A ripple of sound ran around the table. ‘And that is why I have called this meeting. Xetesk believes the situation to be very grave.’

‘Styliann, I think the floor is yours,’ said Barras from a dry mouth.

Styliann inclined his head. ‘I’ll be brief. At least sixty thousand Wesmen are armed and united and ready for invasion. Currently they are based in the Heartlands and therefore ten days on average from the Blackthornes, but farming communities less than three days’ ride from Understone Pass are being primed as staging posts. Damage to the mana prison during Dragonene portal opening allowed the Wytch Lords enough mana leakage to gain the strength to break out. We believe them to have returned to Balaia, where they are presumably undergoing reconstitution in Parve. I have a spy travelling to Parve now to assess the situation. As far as I am aware, those are the bare and complete facts. We are facing catastrophe.’

Another pause for consideration followed. Scribbled notes were passed between delegates.

‘A masterly failure for Xetesk and its incumbent Lord of the Mount,’ said Vuldaroq. ‘The mana cage was surely your greatest continuing triumph. Gone now.’

Styliann sighed and shook his head. ‘Is that the sum total of your deliberations, Vuldaroq? We face a threat so severe that I am unsure of our chances of survival, let alone success; and yet your response is to snipe at three centuries of effort that we alone have made on behalf of all the peoples of Balaia. Unfortunately, that includes you.’ He sat down.

‘Let us not forget,’ said Barras, taking up the cudgel, ‘that only Xetesk had the means and the skill to imprison the Wytch Lords. None of us in our Colleges were pushing to help them. I, for one, would like to register my thanks to Xetesk for their unstinting efforts, and indeed their instant reaction in the calling of this meeting. ’

Vuldaroq’s face reddened and he sat back, the cloth once again dabbing his forehead, fuming in the knowledge that he’d misjudged the mood of Julatsa and, as he was about to hear, Lystern too.

‘I add my thanks to those of Barras,’ said Heryst, rising to his feet. ‘We have a critical list of questions to answer. These are they, as far as I can see. Can the Wytch Lords regain their former power and how long will their bodily reconstitution take? Does the Wesmen invasion rely on the Wytch Lords’ reconstitution or will it take place in advance of this? Finally, of course, what is our response and can we expect help from other quarters? The floor is open.’ He resumed his seat.

Styliann coughed. ‘I am slightly embarrassed,’ he said. ‘There is one fact I neglected to mention.’

‘Uh-huh,’ said Vuldaroq, pursing his lips.

‘Naturally, the assumption has been made that the mana cage has been breached recently, and this may well be the case. However, I must point out that the nature and frequency of the spell calculations means that our worst case is that they have been in Parve for three months.’

Another silence, this one angrier.

‘So how long before they have reconstituted?’ asked Heryst.

‘I have no idea,’ said Styliann. ‘Their work is not a speciality of mine.’

‘So they could already be up and walking.’ Heryst’s voice was dread.

‘Steady, Heryst. I think that if they were, we would have heard about it by now.’ Barras held out a hand to calm the Lysternan. ‘Remember, they are merely collections of seared bones. I can’t imagine any reconstitution being quick, can you?’ He smiled.

‘We’ve underestimated the Wytch Lords before,’ said Heryst.

‘And we will not do so again,’ said Styliann. ‘Hence this meeting.’

‘This part of the discussion, at least, is pointless,’ said Vuldaroq brusquely. ‘Because we can only guess at a timetable. We have established a need for urgency and now we should move on to the shape that urgency should take.’

Styliann nodded. ‘But we must still search for the information. I will report my spy’s findings in Parve as soon as I have them. I advise any of you with active cells to see them into the Heartlands and towards the Torn Wastes immediately. We can’t afford to be taken by surprise.’

Murmurs of assent ran around the table. Notes were made.

‘Returning to Heryst’s agenda of questions,’ said Vuldaroq. ‘I also believe his second to be vital but, as yet, unanswerable.’ The obese Dordovan pulled at his nose.

‘Why so?’ asked Styliann.

‘Because the answer will only become apparent when the Wesmen move. Whether it is before or after the reconstitution will give us our answer.’

‘I disagree,’ said Barras. ‘We already have evidence that the Wesmen are acting under Shamen control, and that now points to Wytch Lord influence. We don’t know the extent to which the Lords can dictate events before they are walking. I suspect their influence is great. Styliann’s spy will no doubt confirm this. I think we can expect an invasion attempt before reconstitution is complete. ’

‘Don’t forget that the Wesmen have clearly been massing for some time to develop such a large force,’ said Heryst.

‘Indeed,’ said Barras. ‘And they are not fighting each other so far as we can tell. Not yet. Again, that is surely down to outside influence. But, as Vuldaroq will no doubt point out, we don’t know when they will move. All we can do is plug the gaps to the east, wait, and build as fast as we can.’

‘And so, gentlemen, we reach the key to our meeting,’ said Styliann. ‘We need an army. And we need it now.’

‘Thank the Gods we hate each other so well,’ said Barras, ‘or we’d never have kept up the level of our College Guards.’ There was laughter. ‘How many men can we muster?’ The laughter ceased. ‘Julatsa has perhaps six thousand regular soldiers, half of whom will guard my City. In a month, the reserve can offer maybe another eight thousand.’

‘I have no accurate figures on our troop levels,’ said Vuldaroq. ‘The City Guard numbers in the region of two thousand and the College Guard must be three times that. I can confirm after communion. ’

‘Heryst?’ asked Styliann.

‘Eleven hundred regular soldiers, two hundred horse and no more than two thousand reservists, most of whom are part-time City guardsmen. We don’t have the funds for a retained force any larger,’ he explained.

‘But including the best general in Balaia,’ said Styliann.

Heryst bowed his head in acceptance of the praise. ‘Indeed so.’

‘And you, Styliann,’ said Vuldaroq. ‘I suppose you and your demon spawn are more numerous than the rest of us put together.’

‘No, Vuldaroq,’ said Styliann. ‘Because we built walls to save manpower. The City Guard numbers seven hundred, the College Guard five thousand, and we currently retain a handful less than four hundred Protectors.’

Barras ran the calculations quickly in his head. ‘We are outnumbered three to one even if we include all our reserve forces. What about the KTA?’ Vuldaroq sighed and sniffed.

‘I wish I could say they were mobilising, but the fact is their internecine squabbles drain them of money and keep them turned inwards,’ said Styliann. ‘I have fed all the information I care to to Baron Gresse, and he, at least, takes the threat seriously. The KTA are meeting but I hold no hope of a positive outcome. They make our suspicions about one another seem like playground rumours.’