He smiled broadly and took a deep breath of the bracing air. 'I like it up here.'

'Well, I don't. I know this sounds daft but I'm sure I'm being watched.'

Darni considered this. 'Maybe we should ditch the last of that meat. We might have some wolves on our tail, I suppose. There are a lot of animals and birds up here, haven't you seen them? Aren't you Forest Folk supposed to be sensitive to animals?'

I shrugged. 'I've no idea. I don't tend to notice dogs unless they're biting my leg. All I know is I've got crawlers running up and down my spine.'

'Sure you didn't bring them with you from Hanchet?'

It was all very well for him to joke but I was serious. I went to help Shiv when we stopped to eat, trimming the meat while he lit the fire. Wizards do save you a lot on tinder and flint.

'Do you have to look for something specific when you're scrying, like you did with Halice?' I asked casually. 'Or can you just have a general look around?'

Shiv nodded. 'Why do you ask?'

'This may sound stupid but I can't shake the feeling we're being watched. Darni thinks I'm just getting the creeps from the local wildlife but I don't think that's it.'

'You're sure?'

'Certain.' I realised just how certain as I spoke, and Shiv heard it in my voice.

'That's good enough for me. I'll check back along our trail if you like.'

He took out his oils and worked his spells and we all gathered round to look into the fascinating images he drew out of the water. He found the herdsmen we had met and we watched as they forded a stream, tiny horns nodding as the cattle plunged through the water.

'All right, let's work backwards,' Shiv breathed.

The image sped along and I wondered if this is how the land looks to a bird, a tapestry of green and brown, laced with glinting waters, dotted with the darker green of trees and spotted with the last flowers of summer. My stomach lurched as the ground fell away down a valley.

We saw a few deer racing across the plain with lithe grey shapes in pursuit, their passage startling a bevy of fowl into the air. A raven was picking at the remains of a wild horse come to grief in a gully but, other than that, we saw no signs of life. Shiv brought the image back to us.

'Nothing you wouldn't expect to see,' Darni said as the picture showed four figures, bent heads together while the horses grazed. I blinked as the image dissolved in a dizzying spiral.

'I looked all around, not just on our trail,' Shiv agreed. 'There's nothing out there.'

I shook my head. 'I must be imagining it,' I said reluctantly.

'We'll try to find better cover when we camp,' Geris said comfortingly but I saw a gleam in his eye. Oh well, I thought, nothing works like good sex to give you a decent night's sleep, not an unpleasant prospect. I winked at him and stifled a smile when I caught Darni's expression.

'I know a place we can use.' Darni pushed on the pace and by late afternoon I realised he was heading for an earthwork that rose out of the grassland ahead like a small, flat-topped hill.

'Isn't that an Eldritch ring?' I gaped at him. 'Is that where you're planning to camp?'

'That's right.' His eyes challenged me. 'What's the matter? Frightened that shadow-blue men will step out of a rainbow and shoot you full of little green arrows?'

'They're copper, you know, Eldritch arrows,' Geris piped up. 'All their metalwork was.'

His flow of inconsequential information covered the fact that I was at a loss for words and I was able to keep a level face as we found the way through the ramparts of turf and made our camp.

After all, the Eldritch kin are just tales for children and, while those with their feet still in cow dung might believe in them, we more sophisticated city types are above such things. That's what I kept telling myself anyway, sounding about as convincing as a huckster selling baldness cures.

'They were real people, you know,' Geris said helpfully as we unpacked and I had just about got myself persuaded that I really should ignore such childish worries.

'What, little grey men who can step into shadows?' I managed a shaky laugh.

'No,' he said seriously. 'But people lived here and in places like this. One mentor took his students to dig up a ring near Borleat. They found a man buried in a boat with treasure all around him.'

'You're joking!' I frowned. 'That's a long way from navigable water. You can't get barges any higher than Tresig, can you?'

'Maybe they used to be able to. There are dry wharves nearby, aren't there?'

Shiv came over at this point. 'It's nearly Equinox.' He pointed at the last faint sickle of the greater moon. 'Is it anyone's birth festival?'

Geris shook his head. 'I'm a For-Winter baby.'

'Darni and I are Aft-Autumn.' Shiv shrugged. 'Oh well, I expect we can come up with something to drink to.'

'Er, well, it's my birth-festival actually. I was born in Aft-Summer.' I felt a little shy about admitting it for some daft reason.

'Not much chance of celebrating out here.' Geris looked really worried which both touched and concerned me. 'It won't be much of a festival for you.'

'Oh well, we'll—'

Shiv's plan was lost in a shattering scream from one of the horses and for one heart-stopping moment I really believed the Eldritch kin had woken.

'Backs to the fire!' Darni's bellow brought us back to reality and I saw men cresting the rampart, drawn swords glinting in the firelight. Their helms and mail chinked as they ran and their studded boots thudded into the soft earth. None of them spoke but they moved with a unity of purpose more chilling than any battle cry. The effect was slightly spoiled when some of them slipped on the slope, now slick with dew, but thank Saedrin, it gave us a breath to collect our wits and to realise we were badly outnumbered.

I fumbled in my belt pouch for my darts and stepped back to get distance for throwing. I felt heat on the backs of my legs; I didn't have much room before I would be treading in the embers.

'Kiss Saedrin's arse,' Darni snarled as he stepped out to meet the first attackers. Their air of confidence was terrifying and the first swept up his hand to bring his sword down into Darni's head. I watched the attacker's hand rise, and then carry on rising as Darni took it off at the wrist with an explosive strike. His mate was momentarily distracted by a faceful of blood and his troubles ended with Darni's short sword in his guts. When a third went down to a boot in the stones, the attack lost a little of its impetus and we were able to form a defensive circle before they hit us.

Swords met in a flurry of sparks, slash, parry, feint, lunge, hack. Darni's sword flashed in the light of the flames until he managed to reach in over a guard and rip into his opponent's throat. Blood sprayed across him, but he simply blinked it clear and kicked the bubbling corpse aside.

The dancing shadows from the firelight were confusing my aim. I threw a dart and for one gut-wrenching second, it looked as if the victim was unaffected. He staggered forward then sank to his knees clawing at his arm, dying in seconds with a choking cough. What a relief; the poison hadn't lost its strength after all.

My darts took out a couple more but I was soon running low. Darni was fighting like one of Poldrion's own demons and I kept him between me and our attackers. I glanced over my shoulder to check we weren't being encircled and saw Shiv and Geris were back to back with us. Geris had the reflexes and speed for swordwork but was making a slow job of finishing off his opponent. Even I saw a chance which he had just failed to follow through. The vicious face attacking him knew it too, and teeth shone in a triumphant sneer. Too many years fencing like a gentleman, whereas Darni had been killing for real; blood was running down the sleeve of Geris' off arm and I realised he was used to fighting with a shield.