It was some time before the soldier was quiet enough to speak coherently again. ‘It came after me.’ He lifted his arms over his head as if to protect himself.
‘What did?’
‘I don’t know... I could feel it... full of hatred and evil... but I couldn’t see anything... the ground heaved and lurched underneath it... soil and shrubs were thrown up into the air...’ His eyes looked upwards as if he were still watching the destruction. Then he looked at Haster and seized his arm again. Haster winced at the force of the grip and with a deceptively gentle movement, pulled his arm free. ‘I jumped off my horse... rolled down the hill. My horse... burst... burst... a great shower of... blood and... bits. Terrible sound...’
Haster and Jadric looked at one another over the distraught storyteller. Both o
