And Jerusalem would have to wait.

He heard his companions settle in their blankets, then sat up.

'You think it advisable that we all sleep?' he asked Batik.

'You are suggesting that I stand watch?'

'Better than waking up dead.'

'I'll not argue with that.'

Shannow closed his eyes once more and fell into a dreamless sleep, waking as Batik crept towards him three hours later.

'I swear you could hear an ant break wind,' said Batik. '""It's all quiet out there.'

Shannow sat up and stretched, then took his place by the door. The night was still and the rain had pa.s.sed. He walked from the palace, scanning deserted buildings which gleamed in the moonlight. In the distance he heard the coughing roar of a hunting lion and the far- off howl of a mountain wolf.

The whisper of leather on stone saw him swivel, his hand sweeping up and pistol c.o.c.ked.

Archer spread his hands in alarm.

'It is only me,' he whispered. 'I couldn't sleep.'

Shannow eased the hammer into place and shook his head. 'You are a fool, Archer. The difference between life and death for you just then was too small to be measured.'

'I apologize,' said Archer, 'though I don't know why. You were in no danger.'

'No, that is not true. I once killed someone who just happened to be behind me at the wrong moment. It is not something I wish to do again. But understand this - had you been a Zealot, that fraction of hesitation would have killed me. And the next time I hear a noise, I might just wonder if it is you being stupid or an enemy coming closer. Then I might die.

You understand that?'

'No need to labour the point, Mr Shannow. I shall never again approach you without warning.'

Shannow sat back on a low wall and sheathed his pistol. He grinned suddenly, his face becoming boyish. 'Forgive me, Archer, that was terribly pompous. I am on edge but it will pa.s.s. How long will it take us to reach the Ark?'

Two days. Three. You can relax there - and I'll show you a library that is not conjured from air.'

'Will it show me the way to Jerusalem?'

'Who knows?' replied Archer. 'I can certainly show you images of the Jerusalem that once was. Then at least you'll know it when you see it - that is, if G.o.d used the same architect.'

A flash of annoyance darkened Shannow's features, but he forced it to pa.s.s. 'I expect that he did, Mr Archer.' His eyes swept the buildings and the land to the south and east.

'You think there are more of them out there?' asked the Guardian.

'Of course. We have been lucky this far. Their arrogance has betrayed them, but I think they will be more careful now.'

'I wish I had not lectured Batik about his Stone. You have no idea how much I miss mine; I feel like a-child in the dark.'

There is a positive side to fear,' said Shannow. 'It sharpens the senses, keeps you alert.'

'I think you rather enjoy the danger.'

'Do not be taken in by appearances. I am not inhuman, as Batik thinks. I too shook after the attack. That's why I read my Bible - to take my mind from the fury and the fear. Now get some sleep, Mr Archer, and be a.s.sured that nothing will disturb your slumber. If you like, you can borrow one of my spare pistols.'

'No, thank you. I don't believe I could ever kill a man.'

'I wish more people felt like you. Good night.'

Soon after dawn the three men saddled their mounts and left the city, heading north-west.

To the east of them a pride of lions was slumbering beneath a gnarled oak. Nearby the carca.s.s of a buffalo was gathering flies. The lions were content and sleepy.

Suddenly the leader, a great beast with a red-gold mane, jerked as if stung. Then he stood and turned towards the west and five other young males rose with him.

In the distance three hors.e.m.e.n were riding slowly towards the mountains.

The six lions padded silently after them.

Abaddon stood on the tower ramparts above his palace and stared out over the city below him, listening to the steady rhythmic pounding of the weapons factory machines and watching the thick black smoke belching from the three mud brick-stacks above it.

Dressed in a black robe embroidered with a golden dragon, Abaddon felt almost at peace here above the nation he had cultivated for so long.

Only one nagging doubt a.s.sailed his peace of mind.

The High Priest, Achnazzar, approached, bowing low.

They have located Shannow, sire, and the renegade Batik. They are travelling with a Guardian,' said the hawknosed priest, his bald head shining with sweat.

'I know this,' said Abaddon.

'Do you wish them all dead?'

'It is necessary.'

'You have said, sire, that we should leave the Guardians be.'

'I know what I have said, Achnazzar.'

'Very well, sire. It will be as you command.'

'It was you, priest, who brought me the first word on Shannow; you said he was a danger.

He was to have been killed in Rivervale, but instead he killed our man there. He was to have died at the camp of Karitas - but no, he led a raid which saw scores of our young men butchered as they slept. And how many Zealots has he slain? No, don't bother me with the arithmetic. But tell me this: if I cannot rely on you to kill one man, how can I rely on you to build me an empire?'

'Lord,' said Achnazzar, falling to his knees, 'you can rely on me to death and beyond. I am your slave.'

'I have many slaves, priest. What I need from you is results.'

'You shall have them, sire. I promise on my life.'

'Indeed you do,' whispered Abaddon.

Achnazzar blanched and backed away from the ferocious gleam in Abaddon's grey eyes. 'It will be done, sire.'

'And we need Donna Taybard on the High Altar on Walpurnacht Eve. Have you re-checked the star charts?'

'I have, sire.'

'And are the results the same?'

'Yes, sire. Even more promising, in fact.'

There must be no error with her - she must not be harmed in any way until that night. The power contained in her must be harnessed for the h.e.l.lborn.'

'It will be, sire.'

'So far I have heard many promises.'

The army is sweeping south and there is little resistance.'

'You hesitated on the word "little",' noted Abaddon.

'It seems that twenty of our men were ambushed near the Yeager mountains. But a punitive force has been despatched to deal with the attackers.'

'Who were they?'

'A Brigand named Daniel Cade. But he is not a problem, sire, I a.s.sure you.'

'Find out all you can about the man. He intrigues me.'

Daniel Cade looked down at the gathering of men and women on the mountainside below him. At the last count there were six hundred and seventy refugees, including eighty-four children. Cade had brushed back his hair and cleaned his black frock-coat with the wide leather lapels. Leaning on a handsomely carved stick, he cast his eyes over the crowd. He could see suspicion on many faces, blank open hatred on others.

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

'You all know me,' he said, his voice deep, clear and resonant in the mountain air. 'Daniel Cade. Cade the Brigand. Cade the Killer. Cade the Thief. Many of you have cause to hate me. And I don't blame you I have been an evil man.'

'You still are, Cade,' shouted a voice from the crowd. 'So get on with it! What do you want from us?'

'Nothing. I want you to be safe.'

'What is it going to cost us?' asked another man.

'Nothing. Let me speak, and then I will answer all your questions. Ten days ago, something happened to change my life. I was on that mountain yonder, just short of the snow-Line, when a voice came to me out of the sky and a bright light struck my eyes, blinding me.

"Cade," it said, "you are an evil man, and you deserve death."'

'It was d.a.m.ned right about that!' came the shout.

'Indeed it was,' agreed Cade. 'I don't mind admitting that I lay there on that mountain begging for life. I knew it was G.o.d talking to me, and I knew I was done for. All the evil deeds came flooding back to me and I wept for the trouble I'd caused. But then he says to me, "Cade, the hour has come for your redemption. My people, whom you've sore beset, have come upon tribulation. And a people of the Devil have come to the borders like angry locusts."

'"I can't do nothing, G.o.d," I said. "I can't fight armies."

Then he says, "I took the people of Israel from out of Egypt against the power of the Pharaoh. I took Joshua and gave him the Promised Land. I took David and gave him Goliath. To you I will give the h.e.l.lborn."

' "I can't do it," I said. "Take my life. End it here."

'But he refused. "Save my lambs," he told me. "Bring them here to the Yeager mountains.

Suffer the little ones to come unto safety."

'And then the blindness lifted from my eyes, and I said to him, "But all these people hate me. They'll kill me."

'And he said, "They hate you with good reason. When I have led you to conquer the h.e.l.lborn, you will make amends to all the people you have made to suffer."

'I stood up then and I asked him how we could beat the h.e.l.lborn. And his voice came down - and I'll never forget it to my dying day - and said, "With their own weapons ye shall strike them down." And he told me that there was a convoy of wagons to the north, and I sent Gambion and forty men. And they captured that convoy and brought it here. And do you know what it contains? Rifles and pistols and bullets and powder. Two hundred weapons!

'And they are yours. For nothing. I ask nothing - only that you allow me to obey my G.o.d and lead you against the sp.a.w.n of Satan.'

Cade waved Gambion forward and the huge man shuffled to the front of the crowd carrying several rifles. These he pa.s.sed to the men in the front line.

A young farmer Cade recognized, but could not name, took a rifle and asked Gambion how to c.o.c.k it. The bearded Brigand showed him and the farmer swung the rifle on Cade, his eyes burning with anger.

'Give me one good reason, Cade, why I shouldn't kill you? And don't bother with talk of G.o.d, because I ain't a believer.'

'There's no reason, brother,' said Cade. 'I am a man who deserves death and I'll not complain.'

For several seconds Cade ceased to breathe., but he stood his ground. The man handed the rifle to Gambion. 'I don't know about you, Cade, but it seems to me that any man so unafraid of dying ought to be sincere. But if you ain't . . .'

Trust in the Lord, brother. You'll have no reason to doubt my sincerity. And here's the proof: The Lord came to me yesterday and said: "Three hundred riders are bearing down on your mountains, Cade, but I will deliver them into your hands." How many of you will come with me to destroy the Devil's people?'

The air came alive with waving arms and a roaring cry echoed in the mountains.

Cade limped away to where Lisa sat with a canteen of water. She wiped his face with a towel and was surprised to see the sweat on his features.

'You look like you've been through h.e.l.l,' she said, kissing his cheek.

'You don't know the half of it. When that boy pointed the rifle, I thought it was all over. But I got them, Lisa. By G.o.d, I got them!'

'I wish you hadn't lied about G.o.d,' said Lisa. 'It frightens me.'

There's nothing to be frightened of, girl. Who's to say? Maybe G.o.d did come to me. Maybe it was his idea that I should tackle the h.e.l.lborn. And even if it wasn't, I'm sure he won't mind me smiting the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds hip and thigh. Where's the harm?'

'It mocks him, Daniel.'

'I didn't know you were a believer.'

'Well, I am, and don't you mock me.'