Free Stones of Power 02 - Last Sword of Power by David Gemmell

let me see them, sir.'
    Beyond the alley, the soldier Melvar led the trio to the western edge of Noviomagus. 'You might be able to get work on some of the farms north of here,' he said. 'Otherwise I'd suggest Venta.'
    'Thank you,' said Revelation. 'You have been most kind.'
    'What is happening?' asked Cormac when the officer had gone. 'Who were those warriors?'
    'Wotan's Hunters - and they are seeking Anduine.'
    'Why?'
    'She is his Bride and he wants her.'
    'But he is a god . . . isn't he?'
    'He is a devil, Cormac - and he must not have her. Now let us begone, for the hunt has just begun.'
    'Can you not work more magic?'
    Revelation smiled. 'Yes, but now is not the time. There is a Circle of standing stones near here.
    We must reach them by nightfall and then . . . then you will need more courage than most men possess.'
    'Why?' asked Cormac.
    The demons are gathering,' said Revelation.
*
    The stones formed a Circle some sixty feet across, around the flat-topped crest of a hill eight miles from Noviomagus. Cormac led the weary Anduine to the centre of the hill, where he spread his blanket and sat beside her. The blind girl had borne the journey well, holding close to Cormac who steered her carefully away from jutting tree-roots and rocks.
    Revelation had moved ever further ahead and when the tired youngsters reached the hill he was kneeling by an old alter stone, carefully notching his staff. Cormac approached him, but he waved the boy away, then began to measure the distance from the altar to the first standing stone - a massive grey-black monolith twice as tall as himself. Cormac returned to Anduine, gave her some water and wandered to the other side of the Circle. The huge stones were more jagged here and one of them had fallen, the base cracked like a rotten tooth. Cormac knelt beside it. Carved into the stone was a heart bearing letters in Latin. The boy could not read Latin, but he had seen such inscriptions before. Two lovers had sat here, looking to the future with hope and joy. There were other carvings, some recent, and Cormac wished he could read them.
    'Where is Revelation?' asked Anduine. Cormac rose and, taking her hand, led her to the fallen stone where they sat in the fading sunshine.
    'He is close, marking the ground with chalk and measuring the distance between the stones.'
    'He is creating a spirit fortress,' said Anduine, 'sealing the Circle.' 'Will it keep the demons out?' 'It depends how much magic he holds. When he came to see me in Austrasie his Power-Stone was almost finished.' 'Power-Stone?'
    'They are called Sipstrassi. All the Lords carry them; my grandfather had three.'
    Cormac said nothing but watched as Revelation continued his esoteric work with the chalk, joining an apparently random series of lines, half-circles and six-sided stars.
    'Why are they hunting you?' he asked Anduine. 'There must be other brides less troublesome?'
    She smiled and took his hand. 'You were born in a cave and your life has been very sad. Your great friend was slain and your sorrow is as deep as the sea. You are strong, both in the body and the soul, and there is a small wound - like a gash - on your right arm, where you fell while being chased by the hunters.' Reaching out, she took his right hand, her fingers sliding softly along the skin of his arm until she reached the graze. 'And now,' she said, It is gone.'
    He glanced down. All signs of the tear in the skin had vanished.
    'You too are a sorceress?'
    'And that is why they want me. They killed my father, but Cotta and the Lord Revelation rescued me. They thought I would be safe in Britannia, but there is no safe place. The Gates are open.'
    Revelation joined them, his face streaked with sweat and dust, his grey eyes showing his fatigue.
    "The power of the Stone is used up,' he said. 'Now we wait.'
    'Why has Wotan left the Halls of Asgard?' asked Cormac. 'Is it Ragnorak? Has the end of the world come?'
    Revelation chuckled. 'Three fine questions, Cormac! The most