Yasal ceased his circling finally, clicking the back of his tongue. The rattling echoed in his cheeks. Sha-Kaan flicked his wings in acknowledgement, returning to horizontal flight.

‘Let us fly, Great Kaan,’ said Yasal. ‘You have my attention.’

‘I am grateful to you.’ Sha-Kaan took up station beside Yasal and followed him in a lazy glide. ‘Your decision demonstrates maturity.’

‘From you that is a compliment,’ said Yasal. ‘But don’t mistake maturity for conciliation. There is none.’

‘Just listen to me,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘I am tired of your threats.’

The two dragons’ eyes met across the narrow gulf between them. Yasal’s burned with an anger Sha-Kaan recognised in himself as a younger dragon.

‘Speak.’

‘Yasal, I am not here to surrender, I am not here to challenge you. I have travelled alone as a demonstration of my veracity. You may always have hated the Kaan and despised me in particular. That is natural. All broods desire dominion and one day we will assuredly return to that state.’

‘ “One day”? What is wrong with today?’

‘Because today that battle is rendered pointless.’

‘One of my escort mentioned something similar. Explain.’

‘The Arakhe have taken Balaia,’ said Sha-Kaan.

‘Surely a cause for celebration.’

‘You know what that means.’

‘Yes, Sha-Kaan. That your melde will soon be shattered, that the Kaan will dwindle. That I need not spill one more drop of Naik blood to beat you. Merely bide my time.’

Sha-Kaan feathered his tongue in humour. ‘All these things are true. But can you fly a little further?’

‘Where else do I need to travel? I will have achieved the Naik’s destiny. I will rule Beshara unopposed.’

‘Idiot youngster,’ snapped Sha-Kaan. ‘Think.’

‘About what? You have promised me victory.’

Sha-Kaan sampled Yasal-Naik’s tone, smelled the odours of his body, faint in the wind. He was sure he was being toyed with but the Naik’s bearing suggested interested neutrality.

‘Should the Balaian dimension fall, the Arakhe will have everything they want. Doorways to this dimension, the dead, and thence to everywhere. Your melde, every brood’s melde. You have heard the prophecies and the warnings. They are as much Naik lore as they are Kaan or Gost or Veret. They have to be stopped now.’

‘You have controlled your melde dimension poorly,’ said Yasal.

Sha-Kaan spat fire in sudden anger.

‘Skies curse you, Yasal, I wonder why I haven’t stayed at home to watch you die.’

‘Because, old Kaan, you need the strength of my brood; or at least to know that your lands are safe while you sort out the problems you say have afflicted your melde. You deny your lack of attention caused what you say we now face?’

‘You know the birthing cycle of the Kaan. Your attacks over my skies were not random events, after all. You know what happens around the time of our birthings. So, it appears, do the Arakhe. What they did, to use a human phrase, was give mages enough rope to hang themselves with, then sit and wait until we were not guarding Balaia’s fabric. Mages ripped the fabric and we were not there. The Arakhe were.’

‘You should have controlled your subjects more effectively.’

Sha-Kaan let the comment ride for a while. He wasn’t being goaded now. There was a gulf in the understanding between the two broods. It was as fundamental as their hatred for one another. After a long pause, he responded.

‘That is why you will never be the dominant brood.’

‘How so?’

‘Because you do not understand the relationship between your vitality and the independence of the minds in your melde dimension. ’

‘You’ve lost me.’

‘I expect so.’

‘Dragons rule dimensional space. We take what we need,’ said Yasal.

‘I agree with the latter statement. I take issue with the former purely because if you don’t help me now, it will soon no longer be true.’

‘So you say.’

‘Kill me and find out for yourself,’ said Sha-Kaan.

It was a challenge but he knew Yasal could not afford to take him up on it. The Naik gave something approximating a laugh.

‘You intrigue me, Great Kaan. And I respect the risk you have taken travelling here alone. Foolhardy but still . . . Tell me exactly what it is you want the Naik to do. Agree a truce perhaps.’

‘You and every brood,’ said Sha-Kaan. ‘And I am afraid a truce on its own will not be enough. The invasion of Balaia is far more advanced than you realise.’

‘Accepted. State your plea.’

Sha-Kaan told him and watched all that arrogance and humour fall from his scent, his eyes and his attitude on the glide. He saw genuine uncertainty and abrupt realisation. When he had finished speaking, Sha-Kaan waited as he knew he must. Yasal’s wings were twitching slightly, the skin around his eyes pinched.

‘Land with me,’ he said eventually. ‘I would take food and water. And so should you.’

Hirad landed hard on his backside and laughter rang out across the deck again. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked round at Denser.

‘Fancy a swim, Xetesk-man?’

‘Sorry, Hirad,’ said Denser, plainly nothing of the kind.

‘You should try having him as your practice demon,’ said the barbarian. ‘See how far you get.’

In front of him, Auum reached out a hand. Hirad pulled himself to his feet.

‘You saw my move,’ said Auum.

It was as close to a compliment as the TaiGethen leader ever came.

‘Seeing is one thing, reacting is another,’ said Hirad, the elvish easy on his tongue.

‘You are faster than the rest.’

‘That is small comfort.’

‘What’s he saying?’ asked Denser.

‘That you should take a turn and he’d wipe that smile off your face,’ said Hirad.

‘All right, enough,’ said The Unknown. ‘It doesn’t matter that Auum is faster than any demon, he’s found a flaw in the tactics. We’ve left a gap in the defence and it means we can’t make the space between us big enough for Denser to cast.’

‘How much does that matter?’ asked Hirad. ‘Assuming our souls really are safe.’

‘Just because a demon can’t take your soul doesn’t mean it can’t rip your arms off while I’m helpless to cast,’ said Denser.

‘Good point. So what do we do?’ asked Hirad.

The Unknown looked at Darrick. ‘Any ideas?’

‘I have,’ said Rebraal.

He along with Auum’s Tai and four former Protectors had been playing the part of demons, unarmed but carrying thick wooden crate lids to deflect The Raven’s blades - scabbarded though they were.

‘And?’

‘It has nothing to do with your tactics. The pushing roll is fine. The line defence is effective enough and tricky to pierce. The problem is there aren’t enough of you to repel eight of us.’

‘There is more, though,’ said Darrick. ‘The nature of what you are trying to have us achieve leaves us vulnerable. We aren’t going for killing thrusts, we’re going for weighted blows to drive them back. Swords aren’t balanced for that and our follow-throughs leave us exposed as Auum is so good at demonstrating.’

The Unknown nodded. ‘Agreed, I was wondering about our weapons. Should be relatively easy to accommodate. Blackthorne should have maces enough for us. Rebraal’s point, though, is more difficult, I fear.’

‘No it isn’t,’ said Rebraal. ‘Some of us will have to come with you.’

‘That won’t work,’ said Hirad. ‘We’ve already agreed we need you in Julatsa and Ark and his people in Xetesk. We have to have people in place to motivate and who know what is going on.’

‘And what is the point of that if you are overwhelmed by demons before you can achieve what you must?’ Rebraal shrugged.

‘You are only six,’ said Auum in halting, heavily accented Balaian. ‘Two mages, four warriors. It is too few.’

The Raven looked at each other. Thraun inscrutable as always, The Unknown calmly weighing up all he was hearing, and Darrick nodding. Hirad knew the elves were right. And it wasn’t as if The Raven hadn’t fought with others countless times before. Gods burning, they’d spent ten years fighting in mercenary lines. But this felt different. It was admitting before they really began that they weren’t up to the task. It left an unpleasant taste.