Nish called Ullii out, cleaned her up with a damp cloth, washed out her basket and asked her where Tiaan was now. Ullii pointed straight up the mountain, but as they drifted by her arm moved.

‘We’d better put it down,’ Nish said urgently. ‘We’ll get no closer than this.’

‘There, ahead.’

It was a long slope stripped down to rock by ice falling from the hanging valley above. On the other side lay a great boulder field, beyond which was a clear space that looked safe, though it was rather small. More rough country extended beyond it. Making an instant decision, Nish pulled the rope to open the valve.

They drifted towards the boulders. ‘Aren’t we going down a bit fast?’ yelled S’lound, who was hanging off the ladder near the stove.

Nish pulled the other rope. Nothing happened. ‘The valve must have frozen open! Come down, quick!’

S’lound stayed where he was, fiddling with the brazier lid. ‘Leave that!’ Nish yelled. ‘It won’t make any difference.’

Nish kept trying the valve to the end. They were dropping too quickly and would smash into the rocks. The ground raced up at them but at the last moment a gust lifted them over the rocks, unfortunately carrying them beyond the clear area as well. They headed towards another cluster of boulders. Nish threw himself at the side of the basket, which swayed in the air, glanced off the side of a boulder, then another, and fell between them, thumping into the ground. S’lound cried out.

Nish was hurled off his feet, cracking his head against the corner of Ullii’s basket. The slack went off the ropes; balloon and brazier seemed to be plunging straight at him. Momentarily he imagined the conflagration but the brazier stopped, resting on the rim of the basket. High above he heard a click that must have been the valve closing, for the balloon and brazier slowly drifted up until the ropes were taut.

The skeet let out shrill cries of rage. Nish picked himself up, bruised but unharmed. The basket was jammed between the boulders. He fixed the rope around a rock. ‘Well, that’s that. Are you all right, Ullii?’

‘Yes,’ she said softly.

Creeping out, goggles and muffs on, she surveyed the scene then slipped under Nish’s arm. He gave her a gentle squeeze.

‘Where is S’lound?’ she said into Nish’s armpit.

They found him around the other side, lying on his back with his head at a strange angle. He was dead. An unlucky landing had broken his neck.

Nish squatted beside him, head bowed. He’d never really come to know the soldier, but S’lound’s company had been pleasant enough these past days. He’d provided a reliable solidity, a cheerful presence.

There was nothing to bury the man with, so they piled stones over him. At least, Nish did. Ullii had no concept of cooperative work. She sat watching while Nish laboured. At the end she picked up a small stone, studied it carefully, turned it around in her hands several times and placed it on the pile above S’lound’s head.

Having done that, she slumped as if she’d done most of the work. Perhaps, for her, placing that small piece had been harder than Nish’s labour. Who knew what went on in that strange, closed-over mind of hers?

‘Let’s eat,’ said Nish, for it was well into the afternoon. ‘Then I suggest we head up after Tiaan. What do you think, Ullii?’ He did not expect much, but there was a mountainload on his shoulders and no one to help him carry it.

‘I don’t think anything.’

Nish sighed. The next few months, until they got back to the manufactory, were going to be harder than he had ever imagined. If they got back at all. He checked Ullii’s pack, filled his purse with the scrutator’s gold that would be needed for the return journey, and settled the sword on his hip. Lifting Ullii’s pack on, he made sure the layers of padding under the straps were spread smoothly. They set off.

After about a hundred paces Ullii said, ‘It hurts!’ and threw the pack on the ground. By the time he’d fixed the straps the sun was low. Clearly they were going nowhere today.

Nish began to fret. Things were very different on foot. They had to find Tiaan quickly, for they could only carry so much food, and most was on his back. What was she doing here anyway? Presumably the lyrinx had brought her here because it was a place of great power. How could he possibly get her away from them? This mission was going to be a bigger failure than the last, he thought gloomily, and they would end up in a lyrinx’s belly.

They camped among the rocks. Ullii, never comfortable out of doors, flung off the coat as soon as they stopped. The jerkin, blouse and spider-silk undershirt followed it. She rubbed at the red marks on her shoulders and the small of her back where the pack had chafed her, though she had only been carrying it for a few minutes.

Nish squatted by the tent roll, pegs in hand. He’d only ever seen her unclothed in a darkened room. Her figure was quite lovely. He could not take his eyes off her. He desired her more than he had wanted anyone in his life.

It was getting dark. He made a fire with bits of twisted shrub, since there were no trees this high. It would not last long, but hopefully long enough to cook their dinner. There was much to do and he had to do it by himself. But at least it kept the other thoughts at bay.

The flames leapt up. Ullii was sitting on a rock, staring at him, or through him into eternity – he could not tell. He wished she would put her shirt back on. The sight of her breasts, the nipples all puckered up with the cold … In suppressing the desire, Nish felt an overwhelming flood of anger at himself, and their predicament, and at her too.

‘Are you going to sit there all night?’ he said irritably. ‘Do I have to do everything for you?’

Ullii reacted as if he had slapped her across the face. Her eyes screwed shut; then she cried out, hunching over and covering her face with her arms. She began rocking back and forth, mewling.

‘Oh, Ullii, I’m sorry,’ he whispered, careful not to alarm her further. After all, she had not asked to come. At his every step she twitched, much as he had done when the whip had been laid across his back months ago.

She hid her face. ‘Don’t beat me!’ she said in the monotone of one who expects to be ignored.

‘Of course I’m not going to beat you, Ullii. Have I ever hurt you?’

She did not answer. He rubbed one hand through his hair and slipped it under her nose. She went still as his forearm touched hers. Neither moved. Ullii gave a gentle sniff. Parting her forearms, she sniffed deeply. She sighed and he could feel the tension flowing out of her.

‘I’m so afraid, Nish.’ She spoke so softly he could barely hear her.

‘Of me?’

‘Not you.’ Her hands pulled his palm against her nose.

‘Then what?’

‘I can see horrible things.’

‘Is Tiaan one of them?’

‘Tiaan is nice. I like her. But in the mountain … It’s too much, Nish. Everything is so bright, I can’t even see her crystal. There’s some great …’

‘Magic?’

‘Some great magic there. It’s not made yet, but already it’s blinding me. It’s awful. It’s going to eat us, Nish.’

‘Is it lyrinx?’

‘I can’t tell. There’s too much light. Everywhere I look it’s as bright as the sun. It hurts my mind. I can’t shut it out.’

‘Can you see anything else?’

She turned around, facing west. ‘Nothing.’ She rotated south and east, the way they had come. ‘Nothing!’ Ullii kept turning, and as she turned due east she cried, ‘Clawers!’ pointing up along the line of the mountains.

‘What, flying? Or in the mountains?’

‘I don’t know. The Art is too strong.’

‘Surely they are flying,’ said Nish, ‘otherwise they would not need to use the Art.’

She turned east–south-east, screamed and doubled over, protecting her face again. ‘No!’ She let out an ungodly shriek and began to rock furiously. The shriek came echoing back at them.