Jack of Ravens

14

Church arrived back at the Palace of Glorious Light wet and cold and unable to shake the dark mood that had gripped him since he had looked into the Wish-Post. All he wanted was a hot bath and to be left alone with his thoughts. Instead, he had not even dismounted in the rain-lashed cobbled courtyard when Niamh breezed out of the entrance hall wrapped in a thick cloak. Her face was lost inside the heavy shadows of her hood until the flare of a torch revealed an expression that was more troubled than any Church had seen before.

Yet when she spoke her voice betrayed no flicker of emotion. ‘My brother Lugh is missing.’

‘What’s that got to do with me?’ Church replied wearily. He jumped from the horse into a large puddle.

‘He has disappeared in your world. I can find no trace of him anywhere. That concerns me.’

‘Maybe he just wants to be alone.’

‘You will accompany me to the Fixed Lands and there we will search for my brother.’ She turned on her heel and marched back into the hall. Overhead the thunder boomed and the lightning crackled, and Church had the unmistakable impression of dark forces moving away in the distance.