Fire Angels

Chapter 18 Part 2 Progress South

After a long time of riding in the grayness and two more stops to rest and eat, the fog began to lift, revealing a cool crisp evening. Great strands of grey mist still floated in the air but between them I could see the stars in the twilight sky. Soon I could see the darker mass of the Red Mountains away to the West.

The horses began to trot, as glad as the rest of us to be able to see again. I had estimated that we were riding in a small company, but now I saw that there were at least 200 of us. I could not see Shad. He must have been well back. I was near the front. Ahead of me I could make out the upright figure of Lady Julia and near her the slighter figure of Lady Anne. On either side we were flanked by Klementari.

Finally, just as it became really dark, we mounted a rise and there before us the light of many small fires glimmered in the dusk. We had come to the meeting point.

I had meant to seek out Shad and talk to him; I wasn't sure what about. By the time we reached the camp however, I felt too exhausted to have a difficult conversation with Shad though I was more than half aware that this was an excuse

Fortunately I fell into a pit of sleep as soon as my head touched the pillow that night and stayed there until Lady Anne roused me shortly before dawn. I looked for Shad and was both disappointed and relieved when I could not see him anywhere. This was not really surprising. The camp was enormous. There were at least ten times as many people as had travelled with us the day before. Many people had left Lammerquais during the previous day and avoided the mist and throughout the night other groups, who had also been guided through the mist by the Klementari, continued to join us. They were still straggling into the meeting place as our advance party mounted up to ride on to Vernede, where Lady Julia was to lodge for a couple of days in the convent of St Estrella in order to rally what support we could gain from the southerners.

Large carts were also rattling around the camping place that morning. They were driven by elderly Klementari and filled with dozens and dozens of cauldrons. Going to mount up, I passed a gang of children loading one of these carts and saw a familiar face supervising.

It was Beg, as bent and witch-like as ever. I went over and greeted her. She smiled sparingly and greeted me back. Then Causa appeared from behind another cart and embraced me.

"That mist was a marvel," I told them.

"Of course," said Beg, in a tone that indicated that such remarks were too obvious to bother making. She turned away to wave another cart forward.

"How did you do it?" I whispered to Causa. "How did you make such a thick cover for so long?"

"Ah," she twinkled "That would be telling, wouldn't it." She winked at me. "Tell me, do you like our collection of cauldrons?"

Had they mixed that mist up in those cauldrons like smoke?

I was moving forward to see if I could find out anything, when Beg caught me by the elbow.

"I wish to ask you something Enna Sticky Nose," she said. She lent closer. I smelt the sweet oil on her skin. "Do you know the true name of that Demon who troubles you?"

"No I don't. Why do you want it?" I cried, frightened by the question.

Names are important in demon magic. If you knew the name of a demon, you could force him to give you his magic in return for the life force of creatures from this world. More importantly if you had enough power, you could bring him into this world to serve you as a powerful and undetectable magical slave as Norval had used Andre/Bedazzer. Even had I known his true name, I would have thought twice about giving such power into another's hands.

"If we could control it we could order it to leave you and your man alone," she said. She peered into my face with unusually solemn eyes. "Don't be so afraid. That was all I meant. You New People are silly about demons. You must know your enemy to defeat him."