Llandry found Aysun and his team holed up in a hidden building tucked well under the forest canopy a little to the west of the city itself. She went straight to her father and hugged him. She'd never seen him look so tired and grim and grimy; he was barely recognisable. But he softened a little when he saw her.
'Good to see you on your feet, my Llan,' he murmured to her. 'Wish I could keep you out of this altogether.'
Blotting her watering eyes on his shirt, Llan shook her head. 'I should just leave the rest of you to risk yourselves, should I, and hope there's a home to come back to at the end of it? Can't do that, Pa.'
'I know,' he said, patting her back. 'And so does your mother.'
'Where is Ma?'
'Being leadery. Been too much flapping about and panicking going on. Your Ma marched in and took charge.'
She chuckled. That was Ma. She'd sort them out.
Not that there wasn't reason to panic. Llandry pulled out of her father's embrace. 'The truth, Pa. How is it going?'
His face darkened immediately. 'Not well. I don't deny, Llan, if you can help us we need it. What have you brought me? One or two unfamiliar faces here, I notice.'
Llandry introduced Avane and Tren. 'I've brought four draykon allies,' she said to her father. 'That's me, Pense, Ori and Avane.'
'I'd better send out word,' Aysun said. 'Just now, draykon equals enemy. Don't want any of you getting shot down.'
Llandry spent a few minutes with her Pa, describing the appearance of her own draykon form and the other three. A note was dispatched for distribution among the defence. That done, Aysun beckoned Llan's group over to a corner.
'Can't offer anything sensible like table and chairs, but seems to me we ought to compare notes. Here's the situation here.' He recounted everything that had happened in Waeverleyne since the attacks began, up to the development of his new weapon and the disappearance of the attackers. The picture he painted was bleak. The draykoni had decimated the defenders of Waeverleyne. There were too many of them, and they were far too large, too strong, too... airborne.
'And you think they'll be back?' Llan asked when he'd finished.
'Don't doubt it,' he replied. 'No reason for them to stop there. They were winning.'
Eva spoke next, going over everything they knew about Krays's operation and her plans regarding Ana and Griel. Aysun only looked more and more grim.
'You think there's a connection between our attackers and this Krays?' he asked.
Eva spread her hands, but her expression was sombre. 'He's been tangled up in this draykon issue since the beginning. He's still bound up with it somewhere, somehow. We have to face the possibility that there's a direct connection between him and the disappearance of your draykoni.'
Aysun looked sceptical. 'You mean he'd forcibly remove them? How? And why?'
'Krays can dominate the will,' Tren put in, 'but that's a trick that fails when it comes to draykoni. He managed it on Llandry once, but only because she was newly turned at the time and lacked strength. So I doubt he could force them to do anything. But if he found something to offer them?'
'He could bargain,' Llandry said, getting it. 'But what does he have that they'd want?'
'What they want is obvious,' Eva said. 'They want Arvale back, and Everum. Maybe they want all of the Seven. Krays could offer to help them achieve that.'
Nobody answered that horrible thought. With the collective unease growing to palpable levels, Llan felt glad that she was here with her father on one side and Pensould on the other. She inched a little closer to Pense.
'I think that is correct,' Pensould said at last. 'If I may presume to speak for my kind, I do believe that is a deal they would take.'
'But they were winning,' Aysun objected.
'For now. Mostly because you were unprepared. But soon you will not be. Humans won the last war, remember? And that is because you are an ingenious race. Already you have found ways to build better, more effective weapons. And if the other Realms support you? These draykoni are not that numerous. If they hope to take, and also keep at least two of your Seven Realms, they'll need help.'
Aysun gave a curt nod. 'All right. So they would listen to this "Krays". What new horrors are we to expect?'
Llandry exchanged a look with Eva. What possible answer could they give to that?
'Not sure, Pa,' she ventured.
'That's no help, Llan.'
'She's right, though,' Eva said. She gave a brief account of everything they knew about Krays's weird machinery, which was not very much. 'He will have more workshops that we don't know about, building devices of a type we've never seen and probably can't imagine. If Krays is throwing himself behind this war, we won't know what else we're facing until it happens.'
Aysun sighed, looking ten years older. 'Very well.'
'But...' Avane actually spoke, to Llan's surprise. Typically, the older woman was even quieter than she was. 'Why would Krays help the draykoni? Why would he care about their war?'
'Good question,' Eva said slowly. 'I wonder if he does care? He's been weirdly fixated on this cluster of worlds for some time. Maybe he has a reason to want the Realms under draykon control again.'
'Maybe,' Tren said. 'Or maybe it's simpler than that. He's always wanted draykon bone. He wouldn't pass up the chance to have twenty-odd live draykoni within reach. All those bones, hide, teeth.'
'That point has merit,' Pensould said, 'but they would never give those things away, no matter what was offered to them in return.'
'No, but Krays doesn't play fair,' Tren countered. 'He'd find a way to trick them. Or not all of them, but maybe one.'
'Good theory,' Eva said. 'But they'd still have to agree to something he was demanding, in exchange for his help.'
No one had any answer to make to that, so at last Aysun pronounced the meeting at an end. 'I'll pass your information to my wife,' he said, with a nod to Eva.
'And I will keep you informed of our progress,' Eva said in return. 'If I may request the voice-box from Pensould?'
'Oh, yes,' said Pense, fishing the little device out of his pocket. 'You will need it more than we will.'
'Thank you,' said Eva with a smile. 'And off we go. We have an appointment in Draetre.'
It suddenly occurred to Llandry that she had no idea when she would see Eva or Tren again. Or even if she would see them again. They were going after Krays, and he was dangerous. On impulse, she ran to Eva and hugged her.
'We'll be careful,' Eva whispered, returning the embrace. 'But you must be, too. Keep our friends safe.'
'I'll try,' Llandry said, stepping back. She eyed Tren, thought about it, but... no. She really wasn't on hugging terms with him.
The two of them joined hands, and Eva shut her eyes. They faded out, and vanished.
Llan turned back to her father and her friends. 'All right, Pa. What's our first assignment?'
He turned a grim look on her. 'Find the enemy.'
Poor, broken Waeverleyne. Flying over it broke Llandry's heart. What had been a flourishing, vibrant, colourful forest-city only a few days ago was now perilously close to qualifying as a ruin.
The tall, proud glissenwol trees were decimated. Many of them had lost all or part of their caps; some had lost most of their trunks, too. The remains stabbed the air like accusing fingers, creaking in the wind.
The buildings of Waeverleyne had not survived the destruction of their host trees. Debris littered the forest floor, chunks of wood and stone and glass lying where the draykoni had dropped them. In her draykon form, Llandry could too well imagine the ease with which the attackers had caused all this damage. She would only have to swoop a little, rip her claws through the wooden walls of the buildings still standing, and her strength and momentum would pull them to pieces. It would be horrifyingly easy.
The destruction wasn't even confined to the city. The forest around it had burned in large patches, the trees and vegetation twisted and blackened. Aysun had said this wasn't even directly the fault of the draykoni; it had come about as a result of the exploding missiles they'd hurled at the enemy on the first day. Most had missed and ignited the forest instead. They'd stopped using them now, but the damage was already considerable.
A roar of fury tore from her throat, which she instantly regretted. Those who had survived the conflict had heard more than enough of that lately. But she couldn't help it. She wanted the enemy here, right now, where she could get at them. They deserved to be torn to shreds for what they'd done.
Minchu, came Pensould's silent voice. Save that for later.
She might have objected, but he was right; and besides, she could feel the anger in him. When the time came, he'd be right behind her.
She only hoped Ori would be all right. This was his home, too, and the fury was rolling off him in waves.
Onward, she told them all. There'd been talk of the four of them splitting up; their search for the draykoni would be completed much faster that way. But what if they were wrong about what had become of the enemy? Their suspicions about Krays might only be their paranoia talking, and if any one of the four ran into the whole pack of twenty or more aggressive draykoni alone, they were done for.
So they were sticking together. It would be a long and tiring journey, but by the end of it they'd know for sure whether or not the enemy were gone from this cluster of worlds.
***
'No,' said Limbane, with depressing conviction. 'I will not have any more Lokants, partial Lokants or humans brought into my Library. What if they talk to Krays? Do you know how much damage could be done?'
'They won't talk,' Eva said, trying to sound confident. Limbane's unshakeable refusal was proving hard to overcome.
'Oh? You know that for a fact, do you?' His manner was usually more on the mild side, but Eva had learned he was capable of being very, very difficult. His lined face was creased in a frown, his blue eyes hard.
'I am pretty sure,' Eva replied, and then went (yet again) through all the arguments that had eventually convinced Tren. She could only hope, fervently, that she could talk Limbane round, because otherwise she had no idea what to do with Ana and Griel. 'Come on, Limbane. We need their information.'
He waved them away. 'That doesn't mean you have to bring them here. Interrogate them somewhere else.'
'Like where?'
He shrugged. 'Anywhere that isn't here.'
'They'll want proof, you know.'
He gave her an unfriendly stare.
'I mean, I told them Krays has enemies among the Lokants but they don't have to believe me. I need to give them something solid.'
'The way you're telling it, they're dying to get even with him. They're practically begging to help us.'
She sighed. 'Not exactly, but they're willing - or they will be. They're also afraid of him, however. I don't think they'll risk it unless they know for sure they have help.'
His stubborn expression did not change.
'This is the only real lead we have,' she said quietly. 'If I can't bring them here, I'm going to have to take you to them.'
He let out a long, annoyed sigh. 'It hasn't occurred to you that this may be a trap, I suppose?'
She blinked. 'A trap for who?'
'For me.'
'I find it hard to believe he'd go to such lengths.'
'To draw me out? Of course he would. He's been trying for years.'
'All right,' she said, trying to be patient. 'Then it would be safer for me to bring them here. You can stay behind your wards, and we'll make sure they don't roam while they're here. Yes?'
'No.'
Her patience evaporated. 'Then I don't know what to suggest. You wanted our assistance, Limbane. You brought us here, you trained me. If you've got a better idea, share it.'
He said nothing.
'Then this is what we have. Help us out, please.'
'All right,' he growled. 'They're to be under constant supervision while they are within my Library, and I want them out as soon as possible.'
'Why don't you handle the supervision?' she said tightly. 'Then you can be sure it's up to your standards.'
'Oh, I will.' He walked off without another word.
Eva watched him go, still fuming. The man was impossible, and his paranoia about Krays bordered on absurd. Would he really set such an elaborate trap, just for one man? No matter that it was Limbane, it seemed unlikely.
But she'd got what she needed. No need to tell him just yet that Ana and Griel wouldn't be leaving his Library right away. And certainly no need to tell him that when they did, she'd be going with them.
All in good time.