Hannah bounced uncomfortably in Katetheuna’s arms. Her ankles, wrists and mouth were on fire where they were still tied by the Shulites’ cords. Seething in her guts was a mixture of fear and fury. How could Katetheuna, Hotzeh and Chloe have allowed this to happen to her? If Larakia and the One True King were so powerful, how had she been captured by Shulites during her dreamtravel? Why had this happened to her and not to Chloe or anyone else?

It was totally unfair.

She had regained consciousness at some point while lying in a strange house where she had been placed on the floor. She had opened her eyes to be greeted by a vision of soldiers in black metal, a man and a woman fighting with her companions and a group of young boys. Now she was being carried by Katehtheuna as she, Hotzeh, Chloe and the boys ran through the grey streets of some city she had never been in before, which she assumed was Ubal. One of the boys she found quite good looking, but Chloe seemed to have already started flirting with him—not that she knew what she was doing of course. Poor, pathetic, innocent Chloe.

Ouch! Katetheuna had to jump over a crack in the paving of the road and Hannah bumped in her arms as she came back down. She was desperate to be rid of these cords which were causing her no end of irritation. Why hadn’t Katetheuna and Hotzeh taken them off her yet? She didn’t care if they were being pursued by the Shulite soldiers. Katetheuna should have freed her as soon as she’d found her. She would be a lot more useful to everyone if she was upright and able to use her limbs.

Just at that moment Katetheuna stopped. They had come to a large, rectangular area paved with white stone where five different rivers met with five different bridges arching over each of them to make a pentagon of paved stones. Hannah heard Katetheuna say “This is the city square. We will stand against them here.”

Hannah felt cold stone underneath her as she was laid on the ground again.

“We don’t have much time,” Katetheuna said. “Chloe, may I please borrow your sword? I have mislaid mine.”

Katetheuna took Chloe’s sword from her, extended the enchanted metal blade and very carefully slid it under Hannah’s cords to cut them off one by one. First her feet, then her hands, then her mouth. The cords made a little shrieking noise and Hannah suddenly realised that they were not cords at all, but snakes. Thin black snakes that the Shulites had fastened around her body, biting themselves on the ends of their own tales to form a constricting grip on her. They writhed around for a moment with more shrieks where they fell on the ground and then dissolved in a puff of black smoke that stank of sulphur. What strange powers these Shulites had.

“At last!” said Hannah, standing up and rubbing her throbbing ankles and wrists. “Thank you! What took you so long?”

“I’m so glad you’re OK,” Chloe said as she embraced her. Hannah hugged her back, but not straight away.

“It is good to have you back, Hannah,” said Katetheuna. “I am sorry not to have freed you sooner—I needed to catch a spare moment. And we do not have many more of those. The legionaries of Shul are still pursuing us. Here they come now.”

The Shulites came into the square. Seeing that their quarry had stopped to face them again, they slowed to a walk and paced menacingly over until they were a few metres away. Some of the younger boys fled, running away over the bridges. The Shulites didn’t seem to to care. Some of the boys stayed to watch but kept at what they thought was a safe distance, as if transfixed by something horrible, like bystanders staring at the scene of a car crash.

“Form up,” said Hotzeh. “Ready your weapons, those of you who have them.” He raised his staff. Hannah took out her shield and extended it from the bronze stud in the middle. It was a bit smaller than usual. Katetheuna handed Chloe’s sword back to her and stood beside Hotzeh, her hands clenched into fists.

The Shulite with the low, commanding voice, clearly their leader, spoke to them. He wore spiked black armour with a horned helmet, and seemed to be nursing a wound in his shoulder.

“You have eluded us once this night, Larakians. You will not be so fortunate on this occasion.”

“You can attack us a thousand times,” said Katetheuna, “and we will thwart you until the thousand-and-first, Commander of Shul. After the night comes the dawn. You can have no victory over us.”

“Ah, but this time is different.” The man—if that’s what he really was—smiled a big smile, baring pointed teeth framed by thin black lips below his helmet. “This time we have a far more valuable prisoner.”

A far more valuable prisoner? What did he mean by that? thought Hannah. Wasn’t she valuable to Katetheuna and Hotzeh as well?

The commander made a gesture and one of the soldiers pushed forward a boy who was now bound by the same snakes as Hannah had been, only he had the use of his feet and an extra snake around his waist by which the soldier held onto him. He looked miserable. He had messy brown hair and his clothes were dirty and dishevelled.

“Er,” said the boy, “if anyone could give me a hand here, I wouldn’t complain.”

“To’phoro!” said one of the boys who had remained, the one called Jake whom Hannah thought was good looking. “That’s him! That’s our gang leader!”

“Ah, your leader is he?” said Khillairkos. “Good ruler material, perhaps? That will make slitting his throat all the more enjoyable an experience.”

“Leave the children out of this!” said Katetheuna.

“What do you want, Khilliarkos?” said Hotzeh. Hannah was surprised that he knew the Commander’s name.

“It’s very simple. I want you to round up all the rest of these boys and hand them over to me, or I will kill this one very painfully. I know that one of them is your precious so-called ‘heir’.”

“You also know that we can’t do that, Khilliarkos,” said Katetheuna. “We will not willingly hand over innocent lives to you. They are not ours to give. These boys are their own masters.”

Khilliarkos called her bluff, if that’s what it was. “Fine,” he said. “Then I will kill this one.”

The Commander of Shul lifted a sword up to strike the boy called To’phoro whom he grasped by the hair in his other hand. It was Katetheuna’s own white sword, which not so long ago had been embedded in his own shoulder, now dripping with black blood.

Hannah watched as Katetheuna, Hotzeh and Chloe all cried out and moved towards him to try to stop him. He was going to do it. He was going to murder the boy. None of them were close enough to get to him in time.

None of them, except for the boy called Jake. The Shulites had been keeping their eyes on the Larakians and had not paid attention to Jake edging closer and closer to them.

The sword came down to take off To’phoro’s head. Just before it made contact with his neck, Jake dived into To’phoro and pushed him out of the way. To’phoro yelped with pain as he was wrenched out of Khilliarkos’ grip, a few of his hairs remaining in the man’s hand. The blade missed him by an inch.

Instead, it caught Jake, gashing him across the face.

Jake landed flat on the floor, unmoving. Everyone froze for a moment to take in what had happened. Hannah thought that Khillairkos had killed him. Then Jake staggered up, clutching his face and shouting with shock. The sword had made a deep cut on the side of his right cheek which was bleeding profusely.

A deep cut on the side of his right cheek.