‘You and Haut, was it?’

‘You saw! I had the acorn, not him, right? Yes, the two of us!’

The tree was now as tall as Arathan, but twisted, nightmarish, bleeding sap from swollen fissures in its trunk, its branches shivering incessantly. ‘That’s an angry god,’ he said.

‘Doesn’t matter. It’s not going anywhere.’

‘Are you sure? I’d say it was fighting to get out, and whatever is trying to hold it down is in trouble. What I want to know is, what made you throw it into the yard?’

‘I don’t know. It just felt right.’

One of the larger branches split with a sharp crack. Arathan took Korya by the shoulder and pulled her with him as he crossed the threshold. Once clear he shut the door. The latch settled into place.

The darkness slowly faded.

‘Why did you do that?’ Korya asked. ‘Now we’re stuck in here.’

‘I doubt it,’ he replied. ‘See, the lock is a simple one: just lift it clear and the door opens.’

‘Fine, but who opened it the first time?’

* * *

Haut found Hood at the meagre hearth with its illusionary fire, the cold flames flickering in the gloom. Squatting down opposite, he spoke in a low tone. ‘We have a problem.’

‘I know.’

‘We pretty much killed that Azath House, and what’s left has been dying for centuries. Whatever that elder spirit was, it’s a powerful bastard, too powerful for that old yard.’

‘Nine of our kin fed that yard,’ Hood muttered, his hands hovering above the flames. ‘None made it back out, no matter what we did to that house.’

‘That was long ago, Hood, when it still had some spine.’

‘Your thoughts?’

‘Summon a Builder.’

Hood bared his tusks in a bitter grin. ‘You test my temper, captain.’

‘Then what do you suggest?’

‘The Seregahl.’

Haut squinted across at Hood. ‘Not company you’d willingly keep, then.’

‘Sheer arrogance has gifted them godly status. They grate. They pall. They earn endless derision from the other Toblakai, and fierce enmity from the Thelomen. Worse yet, they have forgotten the art of bathing.’

‘Set them a challenge, will you?’

‘The best outcome is they succeed even as they fail. I imagine our nine lost kin will oblige me in welcoming them to the yard.’

‘And the dying house?’

‘Summon your Builder if necessary, Haut. I doubt it’ll rush here, eager as a pup.’

Haut continued staring at Hood for a few moments longer, and then with a sigh he straightened. ‘She’s a precipitous child, I’ll grant you. Yet—’

‘Her instincts were sound.’

‘Just so,’ Haut said, nodding.

‘Send the Seregahl to me, then,’ Hood said. ‘They deem themselves worthy of my vanguard? Empty words. I will see them tested.’

‘In the Azath yard?’

‘In the Azath yard.’

‘Hood, you will be the death of us all.’

Hood barked a laugh. ‘I will indeed, Haut. Do you now hesitate?’

‘I need to find her a minder.’