‘I do not see what you see, but I feel what you feel and I am ready to do what must be done,’ Dameon said quietly.

‘And I,’ Swallow said, though he was staring at Analivia.

‘My brother’s woman lies beyond that darkness, and I am honour bound and sworn to find her,’ Ahmedri said. He looked at me. ‘Yet your quest is greater than mine, and I will do all I can to help you.’

‘My thanks,’ I said softly. Then I looked around at the others. ‘My thanks to all of you, for your steadfastness, but there is much I have yet to tell you.’

‘I think we will be glad of any tale you can tell us, crossing that,’ Swallow said with bleak humour.

But I was looking at Gavyn, who had walked the whole way since he and Rasial had rejoined us an hour after we had set off from the hollow, and yet showed no sign of tiring. Of course we had not galloped or even cantered, but neither had we rested more than briefly, once leaving the plateau. He was picking a burr from Rasial’s fur, his wheaten hair riffling in a slight breeze that had blown up, and he glanced at the Blacklands with utter indifference, then got on his knees to investigate a hole in the stone. Beside him, Rasial sat gazing east like the rest of us, the breeze stirring the thick ridge of fur along her back.

She turned to me and her silver eyes shone. ‘I am not afraid, ElspethInnle,’ she sent.

‘I smell clean earth and green and growing things,’ Darga suddenly sent.

We decided to go on since according to Darga the wolf spore continued downward towards the clean earth he had scented. The sun had set completely, the moon had risen, and though the sky was full of great hurrying clouds, there were enough gaps that we could simply stop when it was too dark to see, and wait until the moon emerged. We were all weary but the thought of green and growing things and clean earth was enough to spur us on. Certainly none of us wanted to sleep on poisoned ground, however light the taint.

The first part of the descent was neither steep nor difficult, being no more than the matching second half of the slope we had climbed earlier, but at the bottom we had to negotiate fold after fold of stone as if the high peaks either side of us had rucked up a stone rug between them. It would have been tedious to negotiate them, especially since they were so narrow that the travois had to be untied from Sendari and laboriously and carefully carried by Swallow and Ahmedri, but each fold was filled with very sharp loose scree which made it impossible to walk on. In the end it proved easier to travel along one fold then turn and go back along the next.