‘Oh aye, he was one of the first to swear his oath to me. A good man, and he was one of the few that knew about you. Another one murdered by Asroth and Calidus’ schemes.’

All that time, as I grew up in his household, and this God-War was already happening.

‘I dreamed of you, last night,’ Corban said.

‘Of me,’ Meical said.

‘Aye. In the Otherworld.’

‘You know that the Otherworld is no dream,’ Meical said, looking concerned now.

Corban nodded.

‘And what happened, in your dream?’

‘I was in a valley. It was beautiful, not like the Otherworld I remember; this had vast cliffs and waterfalls. You were there. I saw you, flying. You landed upon a high ridge, greeted your kin, and entered a cave.’

Meical frowned. ‘This happened. I returned to the Otherworld last night. It is dangerous, even for me, but I longed for a moment of home, to speak to my kin.’

I can understand that.

‘I wanted to follow you, but I was afraid, so I just, wandered . . .’ Corban tried to remember, but it was all blurred images now.

Meical grabbed his arm, the grip like iron. ‘You must not do it again, do you understand? Asroth is looking for you there. If he finds you . . .’ Meical shook his head.

‘I don’t know how to make it stop.’

‘Then promise me if you find yourself there again, that you will hide, do not move. Asroth’s Kadoshim fly high, like the hawk you caught today. They will see you before you see them. And they are not the only dangers in the Otherworld. There are creatures, rogue spirits that would do you harm if they found you.’

‘Rogue spirits?’

‘Aye. Kin that went their own way, would not side with Ben-Elim or Kadoshim. They took on new forms, a reflection of their spirits. Some have become . . . savage.’ He closed his eyes a moment. When he opened them he gripped Corban’s wrist. ‘Promise me that you will hide.’

‘I promise,’ Corban said.

‘Good,’ Meical muttered, calming a little.

‘How is it that you and Calidus are here? Made flesh?’

Meical looked into his cup, swirled it around. ‘It is part of the prophecy; one Ben-Elim, one Kadoshim. Part of Elyon’s fairness, I suppose. Though Calidus hasn’t entirely embraced that aspect.’ He barked a laugh, then sipped some more mead.

They sat in silence a while, then Meical sat straighter. ‘So what I wanted to say to you is this: I have made mistakes, thinking they were the right thing to do, and been outwitted by my counterpart, more than once. So, perhaps doing something that I consider a mistake will turn out right.’ He smiled at Corban and drank some more mead.

‘I’ll drink to that,’ Corban said and raised his cup.