Martuch now surveyed the carnage around the courtyard and said, ‘Everyone must leave, now.’
Audarun clapped her hands once, and called out, ‘Prepare to evacuate.’ She looked at Martuch and Valko, then nodded once in agreement. ‘We have contingency plans. We knew it was likely that the Dark One’s followers or the TeKarana’s agents would discover this sanctuary eventually.’
Those Bloodwitch Sisters who were uninjured hurried to gather up the essentials they needed, while the five who were too injured to help rested wherever fate had placed them. Martuch inclined his head towards diem and Audarun nodded once.
The old warrior swiftly drew his sword and quickly went from one wounded witch to the next, dispatching them in turn with a clean blow. Each witch closed her eyes and stoically waited for her death.
‘Why?’ Pug, asked, appalled.
‘The journey is arduous,’ said Audarun. ‘If we left them behind, the Dark One’s priests could extract knowledge from them, despite their devotion. All of us know this risk; all of us accept death willingly rather than becoming the instrument of betrayal.’
Hirea said, ‘Betrayal, yes. Somewhere in the White we have a traitor, for this attack was too coordinated, too well conceived to be by chance, and it coincides too neatly with the coming invasion of the human realm. The Dark One wishes no energies at his back when he launches his onslaught into the human world.’
Pug looked a Audarun. ‘Can you find the traitor?’
She nodded. ‘We have means, now we understand there is one to find.’ She signalled to a young woman standing a short distance away who came and listened as she gave instructions. The young Bloodwitch nodded once and hurried off. ‘It is done. If the traitor has not fled or been killed in the attack, we shall find him.’
‘Him?’ asked Magnus.
‘The Sisters undergo years of training, young human. No, the traitor must be a male Lesser. No female Lessers abide here.’
Pug nodded as Valko moved to stand at his side. ‘What was that thing?’ he asked.
‘A creature of the Void,’ replied Pug. He glanced around at the slaughter. ‘What happened here?’
Valko said, ‘At dawn a scout reported a party of the TeKarana’s palace guards and some Deathpriests were approaching along a seldom-used trail to the south. Audarun said to remain calm, for such groups have come close from time to time without piercing the illusion that hides this sanctuary.
‘I suggested the Deathknights here should stand ready, anyway.’
‘A wise precaution,’ said Hirea, obviously pleased that his student had shown more patience than the average young Deathknight. Most young Dasati warriors would have been inclined to attack at once, without waiting to see if it was necessary.
Pug said, ‘Obviously, they knew where to look.’
Magnus said, ‘Everything we’ve seen tells us there have been preparations in place for a very long time.’
‘Yes,’ said Audarun. ‘We grew complacent, thinking we had remained hidden for so many years. But it may be simply that we were not enough of a threat to warrant attention until now.’
Martuch returned from dispatching the wounded. ‘You are required for the Great Muster,’ he said to Valko.
‘The Lord of the Camareen must appear in the Great Hall of the Sadharin. I will go with you. Hirea will have to join the Scourge.’
‘No,’ said Valko.
Martuch frowned. ‘No?’
‘It is time.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Hirea.
‘There will never be a time when so many Deathknights – from the societies, from the palace guards, from the temple – will be absent from the city. They will be off-world, on the other side of the portal,’ said Valko. He turned to Pug and Magnus. ‘You have brought the weapon to destroy the Dark One, and I am fated to kill the TeKarana. If more of his men come and find this place deserted he will assume that the Bloodwitches and the White have gone to ground, are hiding in the thickets like so many mothers and children. Instead, we will summon all our forces out of their musters, and marshal inside the precinct of the Great Palace, and when the TeKarana is at his most confident, when his armies have marched off to conquer another world, then we will strike.