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Back A Night of Flames
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

Runolf grunted, and I took that for agreement. Leading the way now, I threaded my way past several buildings. A dog began barking far-off and we halted. Someone shouted and the dog fell silent.

“We are running out of time,” grumbled Runolf.

He was right. The sky was noticeably lighter, though the dawn was still some way off. We hurried on as quickly as we could without abandoning caution completely. But we could both sense it now. It was only a matter of time before we were seen and then all would be lost.

At last, breath ragged with tension, we reached the long southern wall of the hall. Slowly, with as much stealth as we could muster, we slid along towards the corner where we knew the guard stood. I used my hands to feel my way along the rough wall. At one point my fingers brushed against something smooth and strangely pliant. I drew my hand back, unsure what I had touched, but it was just one of the windows I had noticed before. It was covered in a thin membrane, some kind of stretched hide. Its touch reminded me of vellum.

I drew in a deep breath and pulled my sword silently from its fur-lined scabbard. It stuck for a moment, but the blade came free easily enough with a tug. Runolf raised his axe, the metal blade dully gleaming in the wolf-pelt grey light. His eyes glimmered and he offered me a nod to show that he was ready.

At that precise moment, a cockerel crowed loudly to the west, its harsh call tearing at the calm of the night. There was nothing for it now. Soon the settlement would be awake. As if the bird’s cry had been our signal, we slipped around the corner of the hall and rushed towards the guard.