Vasin lifted his own spear to get their attention. There was a brief flip of nerves in his stomach as he drew breath to speak, and then they were gone, and the words, as always, were there.

‘The Wild has been especially cruel to House Ruby of late. So many hunts, so close together. In all my lifecycles I have never seen the like. We often talk of bravery and courage,’ he glanced towards Quasim as he said this, ‘but we rarely talk of fear or pain or loss. House Ruby has suffered and it has bled. It has suffered and bled to hold back the Wild. It has suffered and bled so that our lives might be that bit safer. It has suffered and bled for Opal, Peridot, Sapphire, Spinel, Tanzanite, and Jet.

‘Once when I came here, and I was in danger, Lady Anuja answered my call. When my wings failed, she was there to catch me, and you,’ he swept his spear across the crowd, ‘you were there to catch her.

‘House Ruby has never failed its friends, and I promise you that we will not fail you today. It is our turn to suffer and bleed for you.’ He paused for a moment to feel the thudding of the drums. All were playing now, the energy building, thrumming through the castle floor, making the crystal in their wings hum softly. ‘Now, tell me, in the name of Lady Anuja, she who speaks with House Ruby’s voice: who leads this hunt?’

‘Vasin, of the Sapphire Everlasting, leads this hunt,’ came the chorused reply.

‘And who hunts with him?’

‘I, Quasim, of the Peridot Everlasting.’

‘I, Lakshin, of the Opal Everlasting.’

‘And who hunts with us?’

‘We do!’ called the amassed hunters.

‘And who sings us on our way?’

The crowd roared at them, and he felt the pressure of their combined voice pressing on his wings, threatening to lift him off his Sky-legs. He took a deep breath, and shouted back at them, inviting Quasim and Lakshin and the hunters to join in. ‘I said who sings us on our way? Who sings us? Who?’

‘Who?’ chanted the hunters.

And then they began to run, the bellow of the crowd chasing behind.

The courtyard was long and narrow, funnelling them towards the main gates. Unlike his own castle there was no bridge here, and the arch opened out into empty air.

Drum beats kept them all in step, their Sky-legs bending with each stride before flinging them forward, the chorus at their backs flinging them forward, the very air pulsing with the power of it.

In his own hunts he would drop down and the strength of his people would hold him. Here, they were propelled, getting faster and faster, until the running became flying, through the archway, over the edge, hurled from the castle like a flight of winged arrows.