'I told him that,' said Miriel, seating herself opposite the shaman, 'but he came anyway.'

'She said there would be demons and the undead. Can they be slain with a sword?' asked Angel.

'No,' answered the shaman.

'With bare hands, then?'

'No.'

'How then will Miriel fight them?'

'With her courage and her Talent.'

'Then I shall stand beside her. No one has yet doubted my courage.'

'You are needed here, to man the wall, to stop the human enemy. It would be the worst folly to allow you to enter the Void. It would be a waste.'

'You do not control my life,' roared Angel. 'I am here because of her. If she dies I leave. I care nothing for you lice-infested barbarians. You understand? So if she is in danger – I go with her.'

Kesa Khan's eyes became hooded and wary as he gazed on the towering Drenai. How I hate them, he thought. Their casual arrogance, their monumental condescension. Lifting his eyes he met Angel's pale gaze, and Kesa Khan allowed his hatred to transmit to the warrior. Angel smiled and nodded slowly. Kesa Khan rose. 'As you wish, Hard-to-Kill. You will journey with the woman.'

'Good,' said the gladiator, sitting beside Miriel.

'No,' she said. 'This is not wise. If I am to fight then I cannot look after Angel.'

'I need no looking after!' he protested.

'Be quiet!' she snapped. 'You have no conception of the journey – or the perils, or what is needed even to protect yourself. You will be like a babe in arms. And I will have no time to suckle you!'

He reddened and pushed himself to his feet. Kesa Khan stepped forward. 'No, no!' he said. 'I think you misjudge the situation, Miriel, as did I at first. The Void is a deadly place, but a man with courage is not to be lightly dismissed. I will send you both. And I will arm Hard-to-Kill with weapons he understands.'

'Where will you be?'

'Here. Waiting. But I will be linked to you.'

'But this is where the demons will come, surely?'

'No. They will not be hunting me. Did you not realise? That is why I needed you. They will be seeking out your father. Zhu Chao knows he is a terrible danger to him. He has tried to kill him in this world, and failed. Now he will seek to lure his soul into the Void. He must be protected.'

'He also has no Talent,' said Miriel, fear rising.

'There you are wrong,' whispered Kesa Khan. 'He has the greatest talent of all. He knows how to survive.'

15

Kasai and his men had been hunting for more than three hours when they saw the southerner on the giant red stallion. Kasai reined in his hill pony. It was a fine beast, fourteen hands tall, but the southerner's horse was sixteen hands, maybe more. Kasai's cousin Chulai reined in alongside him. 'Do we kill him?' he asked.

'Wait,' ordered Kasai, studying the approaching rider. The man was dressed in black, a dark fur-lined cloak slung across his shoulders. There was dried blood on his face. The rider saw them and angled his horse towards the waiting group. Kasai saw no sign of fear in the man.

'Fine horse,' said Kasai, as the man pulled back on the reins.

'Better than the man I killed to get him,' said the rider, his dark eyes scanning the group. He seemed amused, which angered Kasai.

'It is a horse worth killing for,' he said pointedly, hand on his sword-hilt.

'True,' agreed the rider. 'But the question you must ask yourself is, whether he is worth dying for.'

'We are five, you are one.'

'Wrong. One and one. You and I. For when the action begins I will kill you within the first heartbeat.' The words were spoken with a quiet certainty that swept over Kasai's confidence like a winter wind.

'You dismiss my brothers so easily?' he said, trying to re-establish the fact that they outnumbered the southerner.

The rider laughed and swung his gaze over the other men. 'I never dismiss any Nadir lightly. I've fought too many in the past. Now it seems you have two choices; you can fight, or we can ride to your camp and eat.'

'Let us kill him,' said Chulai, slipping into the Nadir tongue.

'It will be the last move you make, dung-brain,' said the rider, in perfect Nadir.

Chulai half-drew his sword, but Kasai ordered him back. 'How do you know our tongue?' he enquired.

'Do we eat or fight?' countered the man.

'We eat. We offer you the hospitality of the tent. Now, how do you know our tongue?'

'I have travelled among the Nadir for many years, both as friend and enemy. My name is Waylander, though I have other names among the people of the tents.'

Kasai nodded. 'I have heard of you, Oxskull – you are a mighty warrior. Follow me, and you will have the food you desire.' Kasai wheeled his pony and galloped towards the north. Chulai cast a murderous glance at the Drenai and then followed.

Two hours later they were seated around a burning brazier within a tall, goatskin tent. Waylander was sitting cross-legged upon a rug, Kasai before him. Both men had dined from a communal bowl of curdled cheese and shared a clay goblet of strong spirit.

'What brings you to the steppes, Oxskull?'

'I seek Kesa Khan of the Wolves.'

Kasai nodded. 'His death has been long overdue.'

Waylander chuckled. 'I am not here to kill him, but to help him survive.'

'It cannot be true!'

'I assure you that it is. My daughter and my friends are with him now – or so I hope.'

Kasai was amazed. 'Why? What are the Wolves to you? We still talk of Kesa Khan's magic and the werebeasts he sent to kill you. Why would you help him?'

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' answered Waylander. 'There is a man who serves the Emperor. He is the enemy I wish to see slain.'

'Zhu Chao! May the gods curse his soul until the stars burn out! Aye, a good enemy, that one. But you are too late to help the Wolves. The Gothir have already begun their attack upon the mountain stronghold. There is no way through.'

'I will find a way.'

Kasai nodded and drained the last of the spirit, refilling the goblet from a jug beside him. He offered it to Waylander, who drank sparingly. 'My people are the Tall Spears. We are enemies of the Wolves. Lifelong – and before that. But I do not want to see the Gothir destroy them. I wish to be the man who drives a blade into Anshi Chen. I wish to cut the head from Belash. I wish to drag out the heart of Kesa Khan. Such pleasures are not for some round-eyed, stone-dwelling pig to enjoy.'

'How many men do you have here?'

'Fighting men? Six hundred.'

'Perhaps you should consider aiding the Wolves.'

'Pah! My tongue would turn black and all my ancestors turn their backs upon me when I entered the Vale of Rest. No, I shall not aid them, but I will aid you. I will give you food and, if you wish, a guide. There are other routes into the Mountains.'

'I thank you, Kasai.'

'It is nothing. If you do find Kesa Khan, tell him why I helped you.'

'I'll do that. Tell me, do you dream of the day the Uniter will come?'

'Of course, what Nadir does not?'

'How do you see him?'

'He will be of the Tall Spears, that is certain.'

'And how will he unite the Nadir?'

Kasai smiled. 'Well, first he will obliterate the Wolves, and all other treacherous tribes.'

'Suppose the Uniter is not of the Tall Spears. Suppose he is of the Wolves?'

'Impossible.'

'He'll need to be a rare man,' said Waylander.

'Let's drink to that,' said Kasai, passing the goblet.

Wrapped in his cloak, his head resting on his saddle, Waylander lay on the rug, listening to the night winds howling outside the tent. On the far side of the brazier Kasai was sleeping, his two wives on either side of him, his children close by. Waylander was tired, but sleep would not come. Rolling on to his back he gazed up at the smoke drifting through the hole in the tent roof, watching the wind swirl it away. He could see three stars, high in the night sky. He closed his eyes.