"What are you?" was all Balfruss managed to say.

"What do you think, Sorcerer?" asked the warrior. He said the title with an odd inflection and it sparked a memory in Balfruss's mind. A memory from their time together during the war when a drunken Vargus had described the Warlock as nothing more than a child playing with fire. He'd also talked about meeting Sorcerers in person when no one had used the title in centuries. At the time Balfruss had put it down to Vargus being drunk and confused, but now as he stared around the banqueting hall, he knew it was something else.

"You're not human either," said Balfruss. Vargus smiled and gestured for him to continue. "You're old. Very old in fact. When we first met you knew about ancient and obscure religions like the Twelve and the Triumvirate."

"Kai shouldn't have brought you here, but now that he has there seems little point in denying it. I cannot tell you everything, so please do not ask for more than I'm willing to share." Vargus waited for Balfruss to agree before he continued. "There are beings in the world, far older than mankind. Older than the Vorga and even the Sull, that live among you. Kai and I are two such beings."

"Are there more like you?" asked Balfruss, and Vargus raised an eyebrow. "Sorry," apologised the Sorcerer. "It's just with so many chairs I guessed there had to be more."

"Yes, there are," confirmed Vargus, "but don't ask anything else."

"I can't help asking questions."

"That's one of the reasons mortals are so dangerous," said Kai, moving around the room until he stood on the other side of the table. "You're always asking why, what and how. Why is the sky blue? What's over that hill? How do we build this thing bigger? That looks dangerous, how do we kill it?"

Balfruss was glad they were both standing where he could keep an eye on them. Part of his mind was screaming at him to run or attack, but there was nowhere to go and he doubted his magic would hurt them. After all, Vargus had died and yet he was alive in this nowhere place. To make matters worse there was also the troubling shadow Balfruss had seen behind Kai and his glowing red eyes.

It was a lot to take in and Balfruss felt light-headed. He was about to suggest sitting down when he noticed both Kai and Vargus stayed away from the chairs. In fact there was a distinct gap between them and the furniture.

"What he means is that's one of the reasons mankind has flourished," said Vargus, frowning at Kai.

"I know what I meant," was all he said.

"By the Maker," hissed Balfruss, and both Vargus and the priest winced.

"Don't say his name," said Kai, glancing at something behind Balfruss. "Especially not here."

The pieces began to slot into place. Balfruss glanced at the massive chair at the head of the table and then back at Vargus. He felt as if the world were spinning and yet he knew nothing had moved. Stumbling he moved to one of the walls and leaned against it, hoping it didn't give way. Pressing his forehead and hands against the stone Balfruss took a moment to collect his thoughts. He tried to speak several times and had to swallow hard before he could manage it.

"Is he out there too?" asked Balfruss, pointing at the huge chair. "Walking around as one of us?"

"Not that it matters," said Vargus, "but yes he is. Right now you need to focus on the fallen city."

"Do you know what has infected Voechenka?" asked Balfruss.

"For all of our knowledge we only have theories. If you could tell me about what you've found we might be able to help." Vargus gestured at himself and Kai, who didn't look very confident.

"The city has been poisoned," said Balfruss, scrubbing a hand over his face as he tried to collect his thoughts. He casually studied his surroundings at the same time, trying to record every detail. "There is no life anywhere. No birds or rats, not even any insects in the earth. Something has drained it all away. I suspect if you planted a seed in the soil nothing would grow."

"Do you know where to find this thing?" asked Vargus, a frown creasing his weathered face.

"Tammy is trying, but it's proving difficult to locate. It's also affecting everyone in the city. It presses on the mind, bringing up dark thoughts and feelings that are normally buried. The longer someone is exposed to it, the worse it becomes. I suspect most people in Voechenka don't even realise why they're so angry or despondent all the time."

"It's another tactic to keep its prey subdued," said Kai, earning a frown from Vargus, but the priest just grinned, showing off sharp teeth that made Balfruss take a step back. "It's also building an army."

"Why?" asked Balfruss. "What does it want?"

Vargus and Kai exchanged a look and the priest shrugged, leaving the decision up to the warrior.

"Whatever this creature is, I believe it's almost outgrown Voechenka," said Vargus. "The Forsaken are its foot soldiers and I think it's nearly ready for an invasion."

"I felt something when I studied one of them," said Balfruss. "There was a delicate whisper of something. If I could study one for a while, I might be able to find where it's hiding."

Vargus walked towards him and Balfruss had to fight hard to suppress his instincts to run. The warrior smiled as if he understood the conflict and laid a hand on Balfruss's shoulder. "I know all of this is very strange, but trust me when I say that we want the same thing. I fought in the war alongside you because I wanted to save lives. If the Mad King and the Warlock had been unopposed the world would've been a different place. If the poison in Voechenka spreads it will kill thousands, maybe more. That cannot be allowed to happen."

"What do you suggest?"

"Stick to the plan. Try using one of the Forsaken to track down the source and then kill whatever it is, but remember, Kai is there to help." Vargus glanced sideways at the priest, who offered what he assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile. Balfruss had glimpsed what he really was and couldn't easily forget. "Call on him if you need help."

Balfruss wasn't sure that he would ever turn to the priest for help, but he agreed, to placate Vargus. The grizzled warrior smiled and thumped him on the shoulder.

"We were right about you."

Before Balfruss could ask Vargus what he meant, the world around him shuddered. The light changed and Balfruss suddenly found himself back in Kai's room at the winery amid a collection of empty bottles.

The priest looked human enough and his shadow had returned to normal, but now Balfruss could see an inhuman gleam behind his eyes. Moving carefully he backed out of the room but Kai made no attempt to follow. Instead he started looking through the bottles, searching for one that still had some wine left in it.

Balfruss retraced his steps to his room and wedged the door shut. He didn't think it would make any difference but he didn't know what else to do. Sleep had evaded him earlier because of thoughts about Kaine, but now he was afraid to doze in case he saw in full what his mind had glimpsed. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was a massive writhing shadow on the wall and glowing red eyes.

It made him reassess a great many things that had happened during the war. Most of all, he wondered, if Kai was really that creature underneath, what did Vargus truly look like?

CHAPTER 26.

It had been another long and tiring night for Tammy. She'd intended to follow Balfruss's suggestion of getting some sleep, but seeing the locals standing alone had made her hesitate. Normally Zannah was there to lead them, and as much as they hated her, each person in the shelter knew she was an implacable force against the Forsaken. But now the Morrin was out there in the city, trying to find out what the Forsaken were doing at the other camps.

Tammy was about to stay when Alyssa approached and gestured for her to follow a little way along the wall away from the others.

"They need this," Alyssa whispered, so that her voice didn't carry to the others. "Zannah has always been there to protect them. If they're ever going to stand on their own they need to build some confidence."

It made sense. If she stayed they would simply defer to her experience instead of Zannah's.

Back in her room, wrapped in a huge pile of woollen blankets, Tammy drifted in and out of sleep. In her dreams the fight with Grennig at the temple kept coming back to her in snatches, except now it had become even more bloody and violent. Instead of tossing Grennig across the ring she lifted him above her head and then brought him down against her knee, shattering his spine.

Tammy came awake, looking around the tiny room for a distraction to slow her frantic pulse. Eventually the weariness pulled her back under and this time she dreamed she was pinned to the floor, struggling to breathe as her opponent strangled her to death. Except this time it wasn't Grennig, but a heavily tattooed man from the desert kingdoms. In desperation she bit into his neck and ripped it open with her teeth. Hot blood sprayed all over her face, in her eyes and mouth, and she gagged on it.

Tammy came awake again, trying to understand the source of the intense imagery. It had to be this cursed city. It had dredged up a lot of emotions she'd long since shoved into the darkest corners of her mind. With them came memories of real fights that had actually taken place. Years ago she had fought a man from the desert and beaten him, but she hadn't bitten out his throat.

Unable to sleep she went down to the lower levels which were abandoned at this hour of night. After drawing water from one of the wells she stripped and had a cold shower. The water sharpened her mind and helped chase away the remnants of the nightmares. By the time she'd dressed and eaten some porridge it was almost dawn.

As she stepped into the courtyard a flurry of light snow was drifting down from the grey sky overhead. It was definitely getting colder every morning and soon the whole city would be covered with a blanket of white. If only it were that easy to transform the city from a ruin full of despair into something new and wonderful.

The people around her tried to pretend that all would be well, but Tammy saw how quickly their smiles slipped away. They all felt it. Time was running out.

Even though it was early the wall was still busy with local defenders. Alyssa was absent but Balfruss was leaning against it and staring out across the city with a mug of tea in one hand. He glanced at her and she saw dark shadows under his eyes from a sleepless night. The Sorcerer had something on his mind as well that had kept him awake. Much to her surprise the yawning defenders were smiling and clearly pleased with themselves about something. They had been here all night then. Peering over the wall into the street she saw a few arrows but no Forsaken anywhere.

"We chased them off," said a woman. "They thought they could scare us or get over the wall, but we showed them."

Tammy said nothing, remembering what the mercenary Graff had said about two Forsaken keeping everyone in the entire base on alert all night.

Alyssa joined them on the wall with a mug of tea as they waited for Zannah to return. As the sky changed to a dull grey overhead the defenders decided their vigil was over. Without any outside help they had defended their home. That was what they would tell themselves but Tammy knew it was only an illusion. If the Forsaken attacked tonight and the locals survived, then their newfound confidence would be real. Half a dozen fresh faces took their place on the wall to keep watch in case they were attacked during the day. It was unlikely but Zannah had always done it and in her absence they would too.

A short time later Zannah came jogging down the street towards them. Alyssa heaved an audible sigh of relief and some of the tension eased from her shoulders. The Morrin climbed up the rope with ease and wasn't remotely out of breath when she reached the top. In fact Tammy thought she looked refreshed, as if time away from the wall or perhaps whatever she'd been doing had invigorated her.

"I've seen the Forsaken," said the Morrin.

"You must be tired," said Alyssa, trying to steer Zannah downstairs.

"That can wait," said Zannah, gently shaking off Alyssa's attempt to look after her. "It's as we expected. We've killed so many that the Forsaken are now outnumbered."

Zannah described what she had seen at the other camps; tactics to delay and distract while the majority of the Forsaken assaulted one base.

"It will have fallen by now. They were determined."

"Blessed Mother watch over them," said Alyssa, placing her right hand over her heart. "Those poor people."

"They're gone," said Zannah, frowning as the plague priest came up the stairs to join them. He smiled amicably but Tammy noticed Balfruss had tensed up and was staring at Kai. "The Forsaken needed more foot soldiers for whatever comes next."

"And now they have them," said Balfruss, resting one hand on the axe at his waist.

"And one less base to worry about," said Tammy, thinking about it strategically. "The Forsaken were splitting their forces six ways, now it's five. How long before they do the same thing and attack another base?"

"How many people were in that base?" Tammy asked Zannah.

"Maybe fifty or sixty."

"And now they could all be Forsaken," said the Guardian.

"The change, the Embrace as they call it," said Zannah. "It seems to take a while. When people were abducted in the past they didn't return for two or three days."

It was a short amount of time to do something. Tammy didn't know what just yet, as they still were no closer to finding where the Forsaken came from. Perron, the old man from Fenne's base, had given her a clue as to what was done to a person when they were Embraced, but she still didn't know where they were hiding.

"I'm hungry," said Zannah, turning towards Alyssa. "Is there any porridge left?"

"Probably."

"Could you check for me?" asked Zannah.

"All right," said Alyssa, giving the Morrin a pointed look.

"I'll be right down," said Zannah, ignoring the unspoken question. Alyssa went down the stairs and before she had even crossed the courtyard Zannah gestured for Tammy and Balfruss to come closer. Kai included himself in the huddle and seemed unperturbed by the Morrin's unwavering stare.

"What is it?" asked Balfruss.

"At the last base I visited I was chased by several Forsaken," said Zannah in a whisper. "I killed all of them except one. He's tied up in a building not far from here."

"Why?" asked Tammy.

"Because you were right. We need to know more about them and dead men tell no stories. I will not risk bringing one inside the walls, but you can question him out there. Do not bring him back. Promise me this." Zannah was adamant they swore an oath before she would tell them where to find the Forsaken. She gave them directions and then went in search of something to eat.

"I wouldn't mind stretching my legs," said Kai as Tammy and Balfruss prepared to go over the wall.

Tammy expected the Sorcerer to disagree but instead he just shrugged a shoulder. "He might be useful. He knows more about diseases and infections than anyone."

It wouldn't hurt to have a third set of eyes, and Kai's disturbing insights had proven useful in the past. Even so there was something else going on that Balfruss wasn't telling her. She decided to play along for now and keep an eye on the priest.

They went over the wall and followed Zannah's directions to a building that was in better condition than many others around it. At first glance Tammy thought it was intact but as they came closer she could see cracks running across the facade. All of the windows had been broken and as they stepped inside she saw huge gaping holes in the roof. What had probably once been an elaborate wooden staircase had been stripped for fuel and only a decorative curved railing remained. It was delicate metalwork, which explained how part of it had been fashioned into a temporary prison.

A middle-aged balding man with a broken nose was hanging in a makeshift web of bent metal bars from the staircase. By itself each metal bar wasn't very strong, but Zannah had secured him in several places across his arms and legs so that he couldn't move. Another misshapen bar had been twisted around his neck, forcing the man to keep his chin up to avoid strangling himself. His feet barely touched the floor and every few seconds he had to pull himself upright or risk choking. It looked incredibly painful but Tammy made herself remember this wasn't an ordinary man.

As they came into the room he tilted his head so he could see them, before raising his chin again.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Why have you imprisoned me?"

"I'm asking the questions," said Tammy. "Let's start with your name."

The other two spread out around the room, moving to her left and right so that the Forsaken couldn't watch all of them at once. It was a basic distraction technique she'd used several times while questioning a suspect. It was also one of the many reasons Guardians usually worked in pairs. While the suspect spoke to one of them the other would be looking for the lie.

"Yorris. I was a sculptor before the war."

"And now you're one of the Forsaken."

Yorris tried to shake his head and gagged as the metal pressed into his throat. "Being Embraced is glorious. It's a blessing, not a curse."

On her right Kai was staring at Yorris while on the other side Balfruss had one hand held out towards him. She couldn't feel or see anything but from his look of concentration Tammy knew he was doing something with magic.

"If it's so wonderful then why do you need to abduct people?" she asked.

"Change is always difficult, and being Embraced is a rebirth. Once you've gone through it you'll wonder how you ever lived before." Yorris spoke with the passion of a zealot who was unconcerned by ideas like freedom and choice. It was also clear he thought everyone would inevitably be transformed. The problem was, Tammy didn't know if he had always been easy to persuade, or if being changed had eroded his willpower. How much of the original Yorris remained?

Kai drifted closer, staring hard at Yorris, and in the dim light of the room she thought his eyes had changed colour. A second later she decided it must have been a trick of the light.

"It's not an infection," said Kai, gesturing at the exposed skin on Yorris's face, neck and arms. The dried blood on his face had turned brown, giving him the illusion of a goatee. "I don't think it's a virus either. His blood isn't tainted with anything familiar. It's something else."

"How can you tell?" she asked.

Kai didn't seem to hear but then he answered, almost to himself. "I'd be able to smell it."

The words made Tammy's skin crawl and she saw Balfruss grimace. He definitely knew more than he was saying about the priest.

"Let me go," said Yorris, testing his strength against the restraints. The metal bars around his arms moved a little but there were too many for him to break free.