The leagues passed quickly and soon after highsun Balur led them back to the giants’ road that they had followed virtually all the way from Murias.

‘Dun Cadlas is ten leagues behind us, the bridge into the Darkwood forty leagues ahead,’ Balur said. The road was in better repair now, and there were more travelling upon it. Ahead of them Corban saw shapes fleeing down the embankments and heading for cover as they thundered down the road. No one stayed on the road to challenge them. Frequently Corban looked up at the sky. Every time he found the winged shadow trailing them. He swore under his breath.

Amazingly they encountered no opposition throughout the entire day. As the sun began to merge with the horizon they crested a ridge and Corban saw to the south an ocean of green boughs spreading across the landscape.

The Darkwood. It was still some distance away, most of a day’s ride, the land between dotted with woodland and undulating meadow. To the west Corban saw hills rolling into mountain peaks. We will not make it today.

A black dot appeared on the road ahead, quickly growing larger. Soon individual riders were visible – three of them, and a wolven loping beside them.

Coralen.

She’d found a place for camp that suited Corban’s request and led them to it, a patch of woodland upon the slopes of a gentle hill, a stream curling along its base. The sun painted the sky pink as they saw to their mounts and secured the area.

While all were at their tasks Corban went to see Craf.

‘Now, Craf,’ Corban said, and with a flapping of wings Craf took to the air. It wasn’t elegant, the first time that Craf had become airborne since the death of Fech, but it was flying.

‘Craf won’t fly,’ the crow had said when Corban had sat and begun talking to him.

Higher Craf spiralled now, at the edge of the trees, level with the first boughs, then higher, cresting them and bursting into open skies. He circled there a moment. Corban was sure that the bird was looking back down at them, at him.

Don’t ask him to do this, Brina had said. It’s not fair. He’s old, he’s been through enough.

‘He’s going to come back down,’ Corban said to no one in particular.

Craf didn’t. He winged higher, angled his course to the north.

I don’t want to ask him, Corban had said. But I see no other choice.

Corban put a hand above his eyes and peered into the sky, tracking Craf as he shrank to a black dot.

We are in a foreign land, enemies all about us. Coralen and our scouts have saved our hides a hundred times, but we need eyes in the sky.