Like ash we fall

Chapter three

Tyrin wasn't entirely sure his mouth was properly closed, but he'd managed to school his expression by the time Shadow had hauled up a tall Nightcrawler. Andreas, Seth and Livia had all come to greet the new arrival, and she surveyed them all with dark eyes. Shadow made a sweeping motion with her hand.

"These are my new recruits," She said with a slanted smile. Exhaustion deepened the circles beneath her eyes. "And this is Zaina, my spymaster."

Zaina merely reached for Shadow's face with ink-stained fingers. "Every time I see you, you've gotten another one."

Shadow knocked her hand away before it touched the notched shell of her ear. "Ash arrows got the best of us." She motioned to the lounge area and Zaina obediently followed. Tyrin waited until she had passed him, taking note of the papery scent surrounding her. Physically, she didn't look a threat. But he knew better than to assume anything in this world.

He took up position behind Shadow, like a sentinel on guard. Not that she needed guarding from them. The silky feathers on her back brushed his knuckles as he leaned against the couch. Zaina's eyes bobbed over them and he stiffened for a second, before they moved to Livia.

"I heard they put the blood of my kind in you." The spymaster's voice was so soft he almost didn't catch it.

Livia's pulse hammered in her throat, and Tyrin watched Zaina's eyes drop to the pounding of blood. Shadow stepped in before either female could initiate further conversation.

"What news do you bring?"

Zaina's teeth, when she smiled, were all sharpened to points. "Monsters are just people, Livia Agrippa. We are not so terrible as the world can make us out to be." Finally, once she had taken her seat, she faced Shadow. Her face went still. "Ilystari will be hard pressed to win this one."

Shadow placed her forearms on her knees and leaned forward. Tyrin didn't flinch. It was no news to him – he'd seen the reports. He knew from experience.

Zaina continued. "Ra'venna is on the brink of civil war. Their loyalties are split. Angora is powerful, and many there believe it's their best chance of surviving the next few centuries." She drew forth a map and spread it over the coffee table. "Angora's main force is split between northern Aste'ra and the Saggita mountain range to the east of Lepus city. There's a rumoured training camp close to the mountain's base. We haven't been able to get spies in or out of the surrounding forest. The number of soldiers isn't clear, but expect hundreds of thousands." She pointed it out on the map before drawing her finger northward. "They also have a force in Angora herself, clustered near the Realm Arch. The capital now acts as a base camp, and beasts have been spotted there the likes of which have not been seen before."

Tyrin tried to ignore the shiver that creeped up the base of his spine. He'd heard the rumours – of course he had. That creatures of myth and nightmare walked the land again. That legends began to stir and wake.

Zerech remains neutral, but from what I've gathered, they can be tipped either way. Both Ilystari and Angora have soldiers there." Zaina's finger stilled on the stained parchment. She caught Shadow's eyes for a tense few moments. The latter nodded, and Zaina resumed speaking. "Beyond Aexon city, to the east, lies the Greydon mountain range. Beyond that, a force of three hundred thousand men train and sleep. Those sanskita – the black orbs you came across – are there in their thousands. They not only sense magic, but weaken it, too."

Seth's skin had steadily been draining of colour, but now it was almost translucent. Andreas had his hands over his face as if to shield himself form the spy master's words. Tyrin leaned over Shadow's shoulder.