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‘Err… perhaps forget we told you that,’ Torj muttered.

‘Un-fucking-likely,’ Kipp said with a grin.

* * *

At long last, evening fell, and the group stopped to make camp in one of the many golden valleys. Wilder watched with a tinge of regret as Thea left with Cal to hunt game in the nearby woods, leaving the rest of them to sort the horses and the fire.

Wilder ventured off to find some thicker logs, but Torj’s heavy footsteps followed.

‘You gonna tell me what in the realms that was about with that creature back there?’ the Bear Slayer demanded, starting to bundle branches in his arms.

‘No,’ Wilder replied gruffly. He was surprised Torj had lasted this long without bringing it up.

‘You don’t think I deserve to know what the fuck is going on?’

‘It’s not about what you deserve.’

Torj muttered a curse. ‘You used to hate it when Talemir did this to you. I assume I don’t need to remind you of that?’

Wilder sighed heavily. ‘No reminder necessary.’

‘So?’

‘So what, Torj?’

‘So tell me. This is not just your burden to bear. I’ve been a Warsword longer than you —’

‘Not by much,’ Wilder snapped.

‘Long enough to know that one man can’t carry the world alone.’

‘I’m not doing this, Torj. Not now.’

‘Then when?’ his fellow Warsword bit back. ‘Because there is a reckoning lying in wait for us, brother.’

‘I know,’ Wilder admitted, reaching for another log and settling it in his arms before turning to Torj. ‘I know what’s waiting for us, better than most. There are things from the past, from my time in Naarva, that make me question what I’ve seen, that make me wonder if I’ve got it all wrong, or if I’ve just scratched the surface of the truth…’

‘Which is?’

‘Beyond treasonous if I’m wrong.’

‘And if you’re right?’

Wilder took a breath and glanced back towards camp, where Wren and Kipp had managed to get the fire roaring, sparks drifting up into the darkening sky. ‘Then the midrealms will never be the same again.’

Torj considered him. ‘So then they will change. Sometimes change is good.’

‘Only time will tell.’

Torj grunted at that before nodding to where Thea and Cal had emerged from the woods, a goat strung up between them. ‘You fucked it up with her already, then?’ he asked, his gaze trained on Thea.

‘Something like that,’ Wilder muttered.

‘Didn’t take long.’

‘No shit.’

Torj scoffed. ‘You gonna fix it?’