Tomas said, ‘Without any aspect of their realm here, it may take them some time to rediscover a way back here.’
‘Who?’ asked Miranda. ‘What were those creatures?’
Tomas halted. ‘Whatever else may be occurring with your mad magician,’ he said to Miranda, ‘or with the coming war with the Dasati,’ he said to everyone, ‘nothing is as dangerous as what we have just encountered.’
‘What were those creatures?’ Miranda repeated, this time her tone more emphatic.
‘Children of the Void. When Jim first told me of them, I did not realize what manner of creature was here. I thought a lesser spectre or a wraith, perhaps even a lesser manifestation of the dark agents. But those beings were Dreadlings, minor Dread, but Dread nevertheless. The things they ride have no name I know, though the Valheru called them ‘dreadmounts’. The flying creatures are also nameless, but like hawks and falcons, they are raptors who flush "game" for the Dread.’
‘The elves called them Void-darters,’ said Kaspar.
‘As good a name as any,’ said Tomas. ‘They are dangerous, but nothing like those they serve, the Dread.’
‘What are the Dread?’ asked Jommy as Tomas turned and ran down the hillside.
‘Beings so alien they make the Dasati seem like brothers to humanity. They are drinkers of life and stealers of souls, and they have somehow found their way into our realm.’
Hurrying to keep up with the human-turned-Dragon Lord, Kaspar shouted, ‘Could this be part of the Dasati plot?’
‘No!’ answered Tomas emphatically. ‘This is something far more dire.’ He stopped and turned to Miranda. ‘Whoever you have whom you trust, magician or priest, call a convocation of the most powerful, and I will come to you in three days. I must return to Elvandar and speak with the oldest spellweavers and lorekeepers. Castdanur had no idea who these creatures were and that shows how far the anoredhel have fallen. They have elders, but no Lorekeepers.’ He shook his head in frustration. ‘I must also speak with the Quor.’
‘Who are the Quor?’ demanded Kaspar and Miranda at almost the same instant.
Tomas kept walking as he spoke. ‘They are the heart of Midkemia, beings ancient and benign. Even the Valheru left them untroubled, for they knew the Quor were linked inexplicably to the very centre of all life here. Should they perish, it is said in legend that the world would perish with them.’
They stopped and looked at one another.
‘Those creatures we just destroyed are… youngsters. They were no more than children out on a picnic, playing,’ Tomas continued.
Miranda’s face went pale. ‘I couldn’t kill them, Tomas. I could only incapacitate them.’
‘It is impossible to kill that which is not alive. They are children of the void, and no living creature can understand them. Of all the foes the Valheru faced, mightiest of them all were the Dread. We invaded their realm and many of the Valheru fell. We returned, keeping them at bay, and told ourselves how mighty we were.
‘Pug and I faced a Dreadmaster when we searched for Macros, many years ago. We bested it by guile and power, and it took two of us. As far as I know, this sword,’ he patted the pommel of his weapon, ‘is the only thing on this world that can destroy one at a touch. There may be other artefacts of which I am ignorant which can also harm them; this is why we must convene and speak with every artificer and priest we can trust.
‘If the Dread have found a way into this world…’ He stopped and pointed up the mountain. ‘Those children may have blundered into our realm without understanding what they had found. But had their lords and masters found that passage, this entire continent would soon be in ashes. The princes of the Dread are beings of vast power, perhaps as great as that of the gods, and if they have a hand in any of this…’ He took a deep breath. ‘I wish Pug were here.’
Miranda said, ‘I wish that every day.’
Tomas resumed walking. ‘I will call Ryath and get quickly to Elvandar, then return with spellweavers. We must speak to the Quor and investigate that site you just destroyed, Miranda. If there is still some weakness in the fabric of the universe up there that brings us closer to the Void, we must know about it. Explain this to Castdanur, Kaspar.’ He leaped high onto a boulder, a jump no human could duplicate and held his hand aloft. ‘Ryath! I summon thee!’
Within a minute a thunderous explosion above them signalled the arrival of the dragon. ‘I come, Dragon Rider.’
‘I need your assistance, once more, old friend,’ said Tomas to the giant red dragon. ‘Our world stands in peril and we must seek to save it.’
Tomas didn’t wait for the dragon to land, but leaped from the boulder onto its back. The dragon turned and with a single snap of its massive wings shot up into the sky, leaving the four humans staring in awe.