At the same moment, the assembled Birdkin screeched and dived from their perches, swooping downwards. They converged above Sa-at’s head, crashing into one another to become a tangle of dark shapes, blotting out the suns entirely.

Sa-at couldn’t see anything any more, but he felt the feathers brush his face and talons press at his shoulders, taking his weight, shifting him so that he was sitting rather than hanging.

‘Murderkind,’ he whispered.

‘Murderkind?’ asked Crunch, with a tinge of panic.

‘Murderkind,’ echoed the trees a third time, and then it was true.

‘I too have come to hear a song,’ said Murderkind, ‘a secret song not squeezed or screamed; a telling, an understanding, a promise delivered.’ The demon’s voice came from all around them, issued from the throat of every Birdkin. ‘You should not be alone Red Brotherless. You should not be harming that which is under my protection.’

Sa-at felt the buffeting of wings in the dark, and heard the movement of many beaks and many claws. Finger by finger, Crunch’s hand was removed from his ankle.

‘You should not be joining my enemies and walking my domain. You should not be here, Red Brotherless.’

It sounded like Crunch was trying to reply, but it was muffled, as if something were reaching deep into his throat.

‘Red Brotherless, you should not be.’

There was more flapping, more strange gagging sounds, and then Crunch was moving away, moving up. His legs kicked as they went past Sa-at and into the canopy above. There was a glimpse of a foot, thick and twitching, the toes extended, as if trying to grasp a branch, then it too was whisked away. No longer close. Not above nor below.

Gone.

I am glad, very glad, that Murderkind is my friend and not my enemy, thought Sa-at.

He told Murderkind what he knew about the Corpseman, its plans and its vulnerabilities, leaving nothing out. Better to not feel special than to break a promise.

When he was done, the chorus of Birdkin cawed in a self-satisfied fashion. ‘You have done well, bound friend. Much understanding, you have given, and an enemy to feast upon.’

Sa-at beamed. Murderkind was happy with him and the Red Brothers were gone! He felt lighter. And hungry. ‘I’m hungry,’ he said.

‘I will share my bounty with you, bound friend.’

‘Thank you.’ The thought of food was comforting and he decided to try really hard not to eat it all. I must save some for the others. ‘I have a friend who can’t walk. Could you help me move him?’

‘Not that one. And beware who you call friend.’

‘I will.’

‘Then rest with me, and this stout-rooted ally. Be fed,’ said Murderkind, and meat, raw and rich was brought from the shadows. ‘Be calmed.’ Sa-at’s heart settled dutifully. ‘Be still.’

He slept.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

‘Is everything to your satisfaction, my lady?’