Kysumu stared down at the dead face of a man he had loved.

The voice of Lu Fang came from the balcony above. 'Are they dead? Are they gone?'

'They are gone,' said Kysumu, striding from the house.

Two days later Lu Fang had been stabbed to death in a market square.

Now Kysumu looked back and wondered just why he had longed to be a Rajnee. Around him he could hear the coarse, gutter language of the Riaj-nor. What a fool I have been, he thought. Everything I was taught was based on lies. I have wasted my life trying to be as great as the original heroes of legend. And now I find they are part beast, part man, and have no honour in them.

Yu Yu Liang approached, squatting down beside him. 'They will come, you think, the demons?' he asked.

'They will come.'

'You are still sad?'

Kysumu nodded.

'I've been thinking about what you said, Kysumu. I think you are wrong.'

'Wrong?' Kysumu gestured towards the warriors. 'You believe they are great and mystic heroes?'

'I don't know. But I was talking to Song Xiu, and he was saying that the meld affects the body in a number of ways. One of them is that no Riaj-nor can sire children.'

'What is your point, Yu Yu?' snapped Kysumu.

'Whatever you think of them they did defeat the enemy. But once they were all dead – of old age or whatever – who could replace them? Ordinary men did not have the strength or the speed. So the elders had to find special men. Men like you, Kysumu. It is not about a lie. It is not about trickery. It doesn't matter that the original warriors were Joinings. The order of the Rajnee has always been . . . pure. That is why they have inspired our people for centuries. I know I am not putting this well. I am no debater. You were raised to believe in stories about a great warrior people. Well, they are great warriors. They did fight and die for us. You were then taught to believe in the Rajnee code. It is a good code. You do not swear, you do not lie, you do not steal, you do not cheat. You fight for what you believe in, and never give in to evil. What is wrong with that?'

'Nothing is wrong with it, Yu Yu. It just isn't based on truth.'

Yu Yu sighed and pushed himself to his feet. Song Xiu and Ren Tang walked across to join them.

'The gateway is an hour's march from here,' said Song Xiu. 'It will be guarded. One of our scouts picked up the trail of a small group of Kriaz-nor. It is my belief they saw our arrival, and will have communicated it to their masters.'

'There are going to be demons among those ruins,' said Yu Yu. 'They will come in a mist. Big black dogs and white bear creatures and serpents.'

'We have fought them before,' said Ren Tang.

'So have I – and I'm not looking forward to doing it again,' said Yu Yu.

'And you shouldn't,' said Kysumu, his voice gentle. 'You have fulfilled your part in this, Yu Yu. You were chosen to find the Men of Clay and you have done this. But from now on other skills will be required. You should make your way back to the coast.'

'I can't leave now,' said Yu Yu.

'There is nothing more you can do. I do not mean this unkindly, but you are not a swordsman. You are not Rajnee. Many of us – perhaps all of us – will die upon that plain. It is what we were trained for. You have great courage, Yu Yu. But now is the time for other skills to come into play. You understand? I want you to live. I want you to … go home and find a wife. Have a family.'

Yu Yu was quiet. Then he shook his head. 'I may not be a swordsman,' he said, with great dignity, 'but I am the pria-shath. I brought these men to this place. I will lead them to the gateway.'

'Ha!' said Ren Tang. 'I like you, human.' Throwing his arm around Yu Yu's shoulder he kissed his cheek. 'You stay close to me. I'll teach you how to use that demon-sticker.'

'Time to march,' said Song Xiu.

Yu Yu Liang, the Chiatze ditch-digger, led the fighting men of the Riaj-nor down on to the Eiden Plain.

As they reached the ruins a mist began to form ahead of them.

Norda was quite sure she was dreaming. At first she had been frightened, but now she relaxed, wondering where the dream would take her next. She rather hoped it would involve Yu Yu Liang.

The first part of the dream had been very real. Eldicar Manushan had sent for her, and told her that Beric had need of someone to sit with him while Eldicar himself was engaged in other duties. This was no hardship, for Beric was a delightful boy. Norda had been a little surprised to hear that Beric was waiting for her in the North Tower library. It was getting late, and in Norda's experience little boys tended to dislike dark, cold places.

Norda had climbed the circular stair, and been surprised to find four dark-garbed swordsmen in the library room below the tower. She had paused, sudden fear flooding her system. Such. . . creatures as these had been the talk of the palace for days now, with their cat-like eyes and their haughty manner.

The first of them had bowed to her and offered her a sharp-toothed smile. His arm swept out, beckoning her to mount the stairs.

At this point Norda had no idea it was a dream. She climbed the stairs to the tower, and found Beric lounging on a wide couch. He was wearing only a white robe, belted at the waist. The tower room was chilly, a cold breeze whispering from the open balcony. Norda shivered. 'You must be cold,' she said to the boy.

'Yes, Norda,' he said sweetly. She was filled with the urge to hug him, and crossed the room to sit beside him. He snuggled into her. That was when she first realized that she was dreaming. Norda felt light-headed as he moved in close, and awash with feelings of love and contentment. It was really quite exquisite. She gazed down at his beautiful face, and saw that it was swelling at the temples, large blue veins pulsing across the stretching skin of his brow. His eyes grew smaller under heavy brows, the blue changing, becoming tawny gold. He seemed to be smiling, but she saw that, in reality, his lips were being dragged back across his cheeks, as his teeth grew longer and thicker, overlapping each other. His face was but inches from her own, and Norda frowned as it changed. She still felt great love for the boy, even though he was obviously a boy no longer. Norda regretted the cheese and bread she had eaten for supper, and the goblet of red wine with which she had washed it down. Cheese and wine always made her dream. But how odd that Beric should feature. Normally Norda dreamt of more potent men – men like Yu Yu Liang and Emrin. Even the Grey Man had figured in the more erotic dreams.

'You are not so pretty now, Beric,' said Norda, reaching up to stroke the pallid grey skin of his face. Her fingers brushed against his now dark hair. It was more like a pelt.

His own, taloned, hand moved across her shoulder. She glanced down and saw that the skin of his arm was scaled and grey.

Something touched her leg. Norda saw that it was a long, scaled tail, with what seemed to be a claw growing from the base. She laughed.

'What is amusing, my dear?' asked the creature.

'Your tail,' she said. 'Long tails.' Then she laughed again. 'Emrin has a long tail. Yu Yu's tail is shorter and thicker. They don't have claws on them, though. I'll not drink that Lentrian wine again, that's for sure.'

'No, you won't,' said the creature.

The tail slid up over her belly, the claw pricking at the skin.

'That hurts,' said Norda, surprised. 'I've never felt pain in a dream before.'

'You never will again,' said Deresh Karany. The claw ripped into her.

Eldicar Manushan climbed the stairs and tapped lightly at the door. When he entered he gave one glance to the shapeless husk that only moments before had been a vibrant, friendly young woman. The desiccated corpse had been carelessly flung into a corner.