And I thought my time with Nathair was hard. What kind of a world are we living in?

‘If it was true, not a dream, or a hallucination, I mean, how did you escape from him?’ Cywen asked.

‘Meical and a host of the Ben-Elim smashed their way in and saved me. I saw Meical as he truly is. He’s got wings.’

‘Strange and terrifying times we live in,’ Brina said. She reached out and squeezed Corban’s hand. He smiled at her.

‘Yes, they are,’ Corban agreed.

‘But you still have a decision to make,’ Brina said.

‘I know, but I was hoping for some advice. There are times when I feel I am going mad with it all.’ He rubbed his temples. ‘So. Advise me. Please.’

‘That I’ll happily do,’ Brina said. ‘The way I see it, there are good reasons to go to both places. Ardan because, we hope, Edana is there, with warriors about her. Combine them with this warband that is gathered behind you, we could make a considerable force. And Rhin must be stretched thin, ruling four realms so suddenly. It could be a good opportunity to take Ardan back.’

She paused, running a bony finger through Craf’s feathers. ‘And Ardan is our home – it would be nice to be back there. Familiar and comforting.’

‘Aye, it would,’ Corban murmured.

‘And it’s closer. Much closer than Drassil.’

‘Aye, it is.’

‘As for going to Drassil. Meical says you should go there. He is Ben-Elim, he should be listened to. Also, this prophecy says you should go. I am usually suspicious of fate and divine control, but in this case, you should listen. And one of the Seven Treasures is there. We will need them all if victory against Asroth is to become vaguely possible, so we should go and get it.’

That’s a better assessment than I could have made. When Brina says it like that, it seems that we should go to Drassil.

‘So there you have it, Corban, the fors and againsts of both choices. The question is, which one will you choose?’

‘My head tells me to choose Drassil,’ Corban said. ‘For all of the reasons that you state. Mostly because Meical tells me to, and, as you say, he is Ben-Elim, so he should know. But my heart whispers to me of my oath to Edana. I can’t get her out of my mind.’

There was a loud crack. Coralen was sitting with two halves of a stick in her hands. She was glaring at it. They all stared at her. After a few heartbeats she must have felt their eyes, for she looked at them. With a snort of disgust she threw the two halves of the stick into the stream, then rose and stalked away.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Corban asked.

Brina laughed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

FIDELE