‘Slow down, lad, you’ll give yourself gut-ache. When was the last time you ate anything?’

‘Two days,’ Drem mumbled. ‘Three?’

‘I think you need some rest, lad,’ Hildith said, ‘and someone to watch over you.’

‘Aye,’ Ulf agreed. ‘You can stay here, if you like. My lot’ll make some room for you.’

‘No,’ Drem said, putting the bowl of stew down. ‘Thank you,’ he added, remembering his da’s constant expounding on the benefits of good manners. ‘No, I can’t stay,’ Drem said, ‘though I’m grateful for the offer, and the kindness behind it.’ He drew in a deep breath. ‘I have something important to tell you all.’

How do I say this, without sounding insane?

‘The mine at Starstone Lake. It is not what it seems. The missing people; they are there, have been abducted. They’ve been . . . changed.’

Gasps and hissed breath. Someone laughed.

‘What do you mean, lad?’ Ulf said.

‘They’ve been experimented upon. Foul acts of sorcery. Turned into half-men, feral, beast-like.’ He looked Ulf in the eye. ‘And Kadoshim are there.’

Ulf blinked. Sat back, blinked some more, a frown creasing his face. He shook his head.

‘Lad, you’ve lost me.’

‘There are Kadoshim and worse up at that mine. Plain enough for you?’

Ulf smiled gently, shaking his head. He shared a look with Hildith.

‘Drem, there’s no Kadoshim up this way. All that trouble’s down south. That’s why we’re all here. Why so many more have come north this year.’

‘They’re here,’ Drem said, insistent. ‘And they’re killing your townsfolk. Or making them into something new. Into killers themselves.’ He looked into Ulf’s eyes, saw only worry and sympathy mingled. Not even an ounce of belief of fear. Hildith stared at him, a frown creasing her face. Others whispered to one another.

‘I could take a ride out there, if that’d make you feel any better,’ Ulf said.

‘Only if you take every man that can hold a spear with you,’ Drem said.

‘Don’t think that’s going to happen, Drem. I’m only offering to ease your mind a bit. And I’d like to have a nose around that mine.’

Murmurs of agreement at that.

The memory of the cages in the rock face came back to him, of the boats on the lake, men kneeling to the Kadoshim on the pier. He looked at Ulf, saw that he didn’t believe a word of what Drem was telling him.

‘Can we get on with our business?’ a man at the table said, heavily muscled, bald with a grey-braided beard. Drem didn’t recognize him.

‘Hold a moment, Ridav,’ Hildith said.

‘Aye, the lad’s recently lost his da,’ Ulf said.

‘And he has my sympathy,’ Ridav said, ‘but he’s clearly exhausted and delusional. Give him a bed and a jug of mead, and we can get on with our business.’