Fall of Light (The Kharkanas Trilogy 2)

‘Nature will prove itself superior to our every conceit.’

Raest nodded, his eyes shining in the firelight. ‘Humility. Seek it within yourself, be as sceptical of your own superiority as your intellect is sceptical of the superiority of things other than itself. Turn your critical faculties inward, with ruthless diligence, and by that you will understand the true meaning of courage. It is the kind of courage that sees you end up on your knees, but with the will to rise once more, to begin it all over again.’

‘You describe an unending journey, Raest, of a nature which would test a soul to its very core.’

‘I describe a life lived well, Hanako. I describe a life of worth.’ Then he flung the stick on to the flames. ‘But my words are not for the young, alas. Even so, they may echo into future years, and rebound when the time is propitious. Thus, I offer them to you, Hanako.’

‘For your gift this night,’ Hanako said, ‘I thank you.’

‘A gift you barely comprehend.’

The Thel Akai heard the wryness in the Jaghut’s tone, stealing the sting from the words. ‘Just so, Raest.’

‘The Dog-Runners speak with rare vision,’ Raest said, ‘when they say that in the flames of the hearth, we can see both

our rise and our fall.’

‘And the ashes in the morning to come?’

The Jaghut’s twisted mouth fashioned a bitter grin. ‘Those ashes … yes, well. There are none to see them, just as none of us can do aught but remember heat yet remain doomed to feel no warmth from the memory, so we know but cannot know what it was like to be born, nor what it will be like to die. Ashes … they will tell you that something has burned, but what is the shape of that thing? For those who burned but faintly, some form remains, enough with which to guess. But for those who burned fiercely, ah, as you say, nothing but a heap of ashes, swiftly scattered on the wind.’

‘Is there no hope for legacy, Raest?’

‘By all means hope, Hanako. Indeed, aspire. But what the future will read from what you leave behind is beyond your power to control. And if that is not humbling, then nothing is.’

‘And yet,’ said Hanako, ‘I travel to find an army that seeks death, to wage a war that cannot be won. In my heart, I yearn for failure, and dream of glory.’

‘And no doubt you will find it,’ Raest replied.

‘Tell me of the Azathanai.’

‘Squalid wretches every one of them. Look not to the Azathanai for guidance.’

‘How did you walk across the bottom of the lake, carrying your armour?’

‘How? A few steps, amidst clouds of silt, and then back to the surface, and then down again, for a few more strides. It was dull work, I tell you. There is a forest down there, making a tangle of everything. And hearthstones in rings, like pocks, making treacherous holes. Tree stumps and overly curious fish. Biting eels. I’ve had better days.’ With that, Raest rose. ‘Sleep beckons.’

But Hanako was not yet finished with this unexpected guest. ‘Raest, can you heal Erelan Kreed?’

The Jaghut paused, and then said, ‘No. As I said, the blood will either kill him or it won’t. But what I can offer is a warning. The kin of the slain dragon will know your friend by the scent of that Draconic blood. Some will seek to resume old arguments.’

Hanako stared at Raest. ‘They will hunt us?’

The Jaghut shrugged. ‘You have lively days ahead of you, Thel Akai.’

* * *

With dawn’s light creeping around the sides of the mountain to the east, Garelko, the eldest of Lasa Rook’s husbands, walked up to the side of the dragon’s carcass and gave it a kick. Rank gases hissed out from somewhere below. Coughing, he staggered back.

From the makeshift hut the three Thel Akai had built for the night just past, up beyond the high-water mark, Ravast laughed. Crouched in the entranceway, he watched as Garelko then waded into the water to approach the carcass from that side.

‘Aai!’ Garelko cried as he looked down. ‘The water seethes with ravenous crayfish!’

Tathenal appeared from further up the strand, dragging another uprooted tree. Upon hearing Garelko’s cry, he paused and looked up. ‘You haunt that poor beast like a wolf its kill. Leave off that which you cannot claim, unless by stink alone you would assert kinship.’

‘Wait!’ said Garelko, peering down. ‘What glimmer is this I see? Ah, nothing but the picked bones of Tathenal’s curiosity. ‘Twas but the tiniest bird, if one can judge said bones. Do you still hear the snicker of pincers in your ears, O brother of fate? Why, they must have set upon you in the night.’

‘What truths then does the dead beast yield?’ Tathenal asked.