'Who is it you're watching for?'

'The powerful. I think Siala is deluded, thinking that the White Circle remains a power in the Land. Scree is tearing itself apart, and the people here believe there are six armies outside the walls, all wait¬ing to pick their bones. I'm looking to see who Mistress Ostia has with her, who King Emin has brought with him, and what Raylin are walking the streets of Scree.'

'And what good will that do you?'

'You said yourself events are out of our control,' Isak said, strug¬gling to keep his temper in check when the very air he was breathing felt hot and agitated. He could feel the stifling waves of magic being exuded from somewhere around the theatre, like a scent of rotting flesh, and he could almost feel the pervading miasma of effluent stink, the result of the unnatural heat and the riots, that crawled like a pes¬tilence on his skin. The combination of the two had him constantly on the verge of gagging.

'I just want to know who's going to cause me a problem if I have to fight my way out of here. Why did you come over the wall if you don't believe you can do anything?'

'That we may not win here is no reason to simply submit. Scree is an unimportant city; none of the great powers control it, so there must be another reason why this is happening. There must be more to this spell than what we can see.'

Isak paused. 'Legana said the Menin were searching for a Crystal Skull. Could this be a way to find it?'

'You with your two Skulls have been lured here; why go to so much effort to find only one?' The witch hesitated, a flash of doubt in her eyes. 'I could only see that being worthwhile if it were the Skull of Ruling, the most powerful of them all, so the legend goes.'

Isak nodded, that made sense. Ruling, the last of the Skulls to be forged by Aryn Bwr, had been given to his eldest son and heir, Velere

Nostil, to help him rule after the Great War – Velere's mother, Valije, had foreseen Aryn Bwr's death at the Last Battle. He knew that re¬building after the destruction of the Great War would require genius, and his heir would need help. Neither Valije nor Aryn Bwr had foreseen their son's assassination by Aracnan two years into the war, and no one knew what had happened to the Skull until it reappeared during the Age of Darkness, in the hands of a Litse warlord.

'Mistress Ostia has one also,' Isak added, 'and Legana tells me her brother has arrived in the city, so he will no doubt be carrying his own.'

'There are at least five Crystal Skulls in the city?' The witch sounded aghast. 'That does not bode well. Power attracts power. What do you plan to do?'

'Now? Watch the faces, and once the crowds have left the theatre, burn it down.' Isak broke off and peered at the people waiting outside the theatre. 'What's happening now?' He pointed towards Mistress Ostia's group. Some soldiers had joined her and they could hear urgent voices arguing, some calling over to Mistress Siala's troops. As they watched, a nearby company of Fysthrall soldiers hefted their weapons and started at a trot down a side street. After a little more discussion, Ostia's group followed them, weapons drawn.

'It looks like one of those armies outside has lost patience and attacked the city.'

'It must be the Greengate that's been attacked if it's Ostia who's going to deal with it,' Isak reasoned aloud, 'but who's doing it? The Farlan wouldn't, and I doubt the Knights of the Temples are so driven by their dogma that they've abandoned all reason and attacked when they're so outnumbered by the White Circle armies.'

'The spell on this city promotes chaos and madness; most likely the mer-cenary armies and Raylin have decided they no longer need to take orders from the White Circle.'

'Then we're in more danger than ever before.' He turned to his men. 'Tiniq, can you contact your brother? We need to send a mes¬sage to General Lahk.'

The ranger shook his head as the witch interrupted Isak. 'My com¬panion can do that. What message shall 1 give him?

Isak turned to the witch. 'Will your companion make it through the picket lines alive?'

Ehla smiled. '/ should hope so; he is a Demi-God, a son of Nartis.'

'Well then, tell them to dig in and hold their position. They are not to attack the city until your companion passes on my particular order. When I am ready to break our way out, we will head for Autumn's Arch – Mayel, that's the gate, right?'

The young man flinched at being addressed unexpectedly and nod¬ded hard.

'Good,' Isak continued, 'Autumn's Arch is the least defended, and we'll take them by surprise while Lahk marches in. If the Greengate's being attacked, Autumn's Arch is their only option – the New Barbican in the north is the best defended, the Princess Gate to the east is closest to Siala's palace and has the Dawn Barracks nearby, and going for the Foxport in the south would leave them far too exposed to the mercenary armies stationed there.'

And how will these orders be believed? Fernal is not Farlan; your general may think him nothing but a Raylin employed by the Fysthrall.'

'Tiniq, how do we get your brother to believe the messenger?' Isak asked.

The ranger looked bemused for a moment. 'I suppose, ah, something about our childhood? He has a scar on his knee from stabbing himself, the first time we went hunting.'

Isak couldn't help laughing, remembering when he'd done some¬thing similarly stupid and Carel's expression when he'd had to admit it. He repeated it for the witch's benefit, and she gave a curt nod.

'My Lord,' Jeil interrupted. Blood was seeping through the band¬age Tiniq had wrapped around his forearm. 'If there is fighting at the Greengate, should we not retreat to the house?'

'No,' Isak said firmly, 'I'm sure Zhia will be able to handle them. We're in no greater danger yet. I want this theatre destroyed before the night is out, then we'll make our way back and work out how to avenge Lord Bahl.'

'You're here for vengeance?' the witch asked in a disapproving tone.

'No,' Isak replied grimly, 'but vengeance I'll have all the same.'

The witch gave him a stony look and Isak could feel the reproach in it. 'There's an old saying in Llehden: your greatest desires are always accompanied by your worst fears. What is it you fear, my Lord?'

Isak looked away, unable to answer.

CHAPTER 23

The light of dawn was no more than an icy gleam beneath the reced¬ing clouds when four groups of men appeared at the head of the huge ancient steps leading down to Thotel's Temple Plain. The ground was still soaked after the night's deluge and all around was the rush and clatter of falling water, pouring down from rocky clefts in the cliff, feeding the lake at its southern end where most of the city's water came from.

The two oldest men embraced and shared a questioning look, but the remainder were careful not to catch each other's attention as they assembled at the top of the massive stairway and waited as the western horizon brightened and the clouds parted before the light.

General Dev breathed in the damp scent of the plain. He remem¬bered the last time he'd gone there, the night Lord Chalat had aban¬doned them – or been murdered, he still wasn't entirely sure. Dev had had his skull cracked that night, leaving him bedridden and unable to oppose Lord Charr's insanity which had ensured the Menin victory over them. Whether he would have been able to stop Charr was open for debate, but as Commander of the Ten Thousand, he would have been the only one in a position to try. The enormous guilt he felt was only compounded by his current collaboration with the Menin and, until he found a way out of this impossible position, it would continue to gnaw at his insides.

The fading gloom unveiled an ochre landscape streaked with long trails of rusty red clay and sandy seams. The cliffs surrounding the plain were dotted with straggly plants that clung to tiny ledges, and bats and flying lizards filled the air, returning to the caves in which they roosted. The heart of the plain was dominated by the gigantic pyramidal shape of the Temple of the Sun, where their patron God Tsatach heard the prayers of thousands around the Eternal Flame. Its copper peak was as bright and gleaming as the day the temple had been raised.