"Well, here we all are," said Barl, who looked considerably older to Tak, as though he'd undergone some stressful ordeal since they'd last met. Of course, as the only one of them who lived in the palace with the rak King, he had to be in considerably more danger than any of the others. Tak could hardly imagine what it must be like to be always under the eyes of that dreadful creature, especially now that Gal-Gowan's powers were starting to fail and Barl had had to take on many of his duties.

     "You all know why we're here," the redhead continued. "Tak, you said you had some important information for us. Why don't you start by telling us everything you know."

     Tak nodded and told of his expeditions into the heartlands, his unexpected luck at being hired by a young rak and what he'd learned while living in his mansion. He told them precisely how rak transformation was accomplished and all the benefits it conferred, as well as the sacrifices it required. "The greatest benefit, however, is also the greatest danger," he told them. "Rak transformation requires that the wizard places his soul in a container of his own manufacture. An ark. His soul remains there while his body undergoes the transformation, prevented from being sucked away to the afterlife, and when the transformation is complete the power of the ark forces his soul back into his body, an undead container that would otherwise be incapable of holding a living soul. So long as this ark exists, the rak cannot die. If his body is destroyed, the ark sucks his soul back in and holds it until the body reforms, a few days later. We all remember our last disastrous attempt to kill Khalkedon."

     They winced at the memory. The punishments they'd suffered and the murder of Ehr Laing, who would undoubtedly still be their leader if she were still alive.

     "However," continued Tak, "if that ark is destroyed, the rak is destroyed. Completely and irrevocably. The power that holds his soul in the mortal world is removed and it's sucked away to the afterlife and the judgement of the Gods. I saw it happen, although in my case it was accidental. He rather foolishly startled me while I was holding it and it broke when I dropped it. He literally disintegrated. It was like looking at years of decay taking place in the space of a few seconds. That is how we will destroy Khalkedon. Destroy his ark and we destroy him."

     "You are absolutely certain that Gannlow did not reform?" asked Lan Del-Tora doubtfully.

     "Absolutely," confirmed Tak. "I remained in his mansion for a further year and a half, and I never saw any sign of him. I kept the fragments of his ark and examined them periodically for any sign of activity, but there was none. He died. Believe it."

     "All right," said Enna Mael, fingering her white hair thoughtfully. "How do we find his ark? If it's that important to him, you can bet he's got it well hidden, and protected as well as the absolute ruler of a city can possibly make it."

     "I may be able to help there," said Barl. "I've been exploring the forbidden areas of the palace, carefully, as you can imagine. I've been caught a couple of times..." He fell silent for a moment, wincing at the memory of some terrible punishment, but then he shrugged and continued. "There's one underground tunnel leading from his private chambers, protected better than any other part of the palace. I've seen the door, and I once managed to open it to see the passage leading away, but I've never dared enter it. Something told me that if Khalkedon caught me there, he would simply destroy me without a thought, but I'm willing to bet my life his ark's down there. It's got to be."

     "Sounds plausible," agreed Sheena. "So what's the plan?"

     "Same as before," suggested Talpha-Ja. "Distract those loyal to him, blast him and then find and destroy his ark before he can reform. It took him two days last time. We'll have that long to figure a way past his traps and snares."

     "Sounds good," agreed Sheena, "but with one minor alteration. We kill his loyal wizards. We can't be having to deal with them while we're trying to penetrate Khalkedon's defences. We can take them by surprise. It doesn't even have to be magic. A knife in the back, poison in their food, something like that."

     "But..." stammered Tak uncertainly. "But isn't that murder? I mean, to just kill them..."

     "We'll have to deal with them later if we don't," pointed out Barl. "I don't like it any more than you do, but what choice do we have? You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

     Tak found himself under the penetrating gaze of six pairs of eyes. "No, no of course not," he said. They all relaxed. "No, I'll do my part. I'd like to have Gal-Gowan, if I may. I owe him for his treatment of me when I was a child. My skin still crawls at the memory of what he did to me..."

     "You only had him for a few days every couple of years," pointed out Barl. "I had him every day from the age of nine 'till fifteen. Gal-Gowan's mine." He locked eyes with Tak, warning him silently not to argue with him on this point, and Tak nodded his agreement. "You can take Cuthbert," the redhead added. "If ever there was a monster who needs to die, it's him."

     Tak nodded. Apart from that one time in battle with the army of Varl the Black, his first experience of warfare, he'd only seen the older wizard one other time, when he'd made a brief appearance at one of Khalkedon's victory feasts. It had been celebrating a minor skirmish with the realm of Torsch which, they'd later learned, had only been a diversion, the real issue having been decided some miles away when Cuthbert had led his undead legions through a treacherous mountain pass to attack the enemy's rear command post. What Tak knew about him was largely hearsay and rumour, therefore, but there was no doubt that he was thoroughly evil and that he chose to serve Khalkedon of his own free will, simply because he enjoyed the slaughter and bloodshed of battle.

     The necromantic spells he used to raise the dead back to a kind of horrid quasi life had had a slow but progressive effect upon him, changing the almost handsome man he'd seen upon the Plains of Marebo into something that was now barely human, with a face that looked almost like a bare human skull. He remembered the upset he'd caused upon his unexpected arrival at the victory feast, the gasps of horror as the happily feeding and gossiping wizards had looked up to see him standing in the doorway like the figure of death itself, come to claim someone's soul.

     He had visibly enjoyed the effect his entry had had on the other guests, and had deliberately taken a seat between Sheena and Gal-Gowan's latest apprentice, taking great delight at their nervousness and discomfort, while Khalkedon, sitting at the head of the table, had chuckled to himself in amusement. The tales of his deeds chilled the souls of even the hardest men, and it was said that he grew worse with every passing year. Cuthbert and Khalkedon had been seen talking together like lifelong friends on many occasions, and it was rumoured that the rak was grooming the man to become a rak himself in the fullness of time. Yes, Tak would have no qualms in killing him. It was simply something that had to be done.

     They spent the next hour or so debating who would be given the task of 'taking out' which evil wizard, with some of them having to kill two because there were more bad guys than good guys. "That leaves the young and the apprentices," said Talpha-Ja. "What do we do about them?"

     "They're thralls, like us," pointed out Barl. "They were forced into service, just as we were. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Chances are, they'd turn against their masters, given the chance."

     "Savla wouldn't," declared Enna Mael. "He's bad, through and through. And Talka Vel's just as bad. They'll sign up willingly, first chance they get, and if they get the merest hint of what we're up to, they'd betray us in a moment."

     "Maybe," agreed Alustra, "but Venn's got a good soul, I'm sure of it. I think we could count on him to help us, if we needed him."

     "We keep the youngsters out of it for the time being," said Barl. "When it's all over, when Khalkedon and the bad adults are dead, then we'll decide what to do with them. We might take the promising ones on as our own apprentices, and the rest can he demagestrated and set up somewhere with a bit of money as compensation. Lan, what about your own apprentice? Do you trust him?"

     "He spends too much time with Bleck for my liking, but he's basically okay. He'll never be the greatest wizard who ever lived, but I think he'll be an honest one."

     "Well, I think we'll keep him out of this as well. All those of you who've got apprentices, find something to keep them good and occupied while we're busy. Agreed?"

     They all agreed, although Sheena insisted that her Kelva was well able to take part. She was progressing nicely, she told them, and was completely loyal to her, to the extent that Khalkedon was keeping a careful eye on her. Barl pointed out that goodness and loyalty were of less use to them than raw power, though, and that the girl should be kept out of it for her own safety. Sheena nodded reluctantly.

     "So," said Talpha-Ja, looking at each of them in turn. "When are we going to do this?"

     "The sooner the better," replied Barl. "How soon can each of you be in the city?"

     "I can go straight there from here," replied Enna Mael.

     "I also," agreed Lan.

     "We don't need to, er, plan things out a little more first, you think?" asked Tak, however.

     "What's there to plan?" demanded Lan. "All that's needed is co-ordination. We must all strike at our designated targets at the same moment, so that none of them has the chance to warn any of the others. Fortunately, most of those Khalkedon trusts all live in the city, so we don't have to seek them out in their far flung homes. Only Cuthbert, who rules over his undead hordes in Darking Forest." He looked at Tak. "You'll need to find an excuse to visit him there."

     "I'll think of something," said Tak confidently. "Just so long as we haven't overlooked anything, that's all. That's why I think we need to wait a little longer, just in case anything occurs to us."

     "Such as what?" asked Lan. "There are so many different ways events can go wrong that we cannot possibly anticipate everything. We could spend a year planning and scheming, and still encounter unexpected problems the moment we make our move. Our greatest enemy is time. The longer we wait, the greater the chance we will be discovered. If we are to succeed, we must move now."

     "He's right," agreed Sheena. "Any unexpected problems we come across we will simple have to solve as we go."

     Tak nodded. "Okay," he said. "I can reach Darking Forest in two days. I have to admit I didn't come here expecting to do battle right away, but I've got everything I need. I'll kill Cuthbert, you can leave him to me."

     "After such a long journey, he'll expect you to stay overnight," said Lan. "Shall we say sunrise of the next day as the time for us all to strike? Sunrise of the fourth day of the month?"

     The others agreed, and one by one they stated their willingness and determination to kill their chosen wizard, or wizards in the case of Lan and Alustra, the two most powerful of them. Lan then held his hand out into the middle of the group. "In case some of us do not survive..." he said.

     Barl nodded, and placed his hand on that of the older man's, followed by each of the others until they were all touching hands in a circle, a symbolic declaration of their commitment to their quest for freedom. "We will be thralls no longer," said Lan firmly. "Before this week is over, I will be free or I will be dead."

     "Freedom or death," they all agreed. Tak felt Sheena's palm growing sweaty on the back of his hand and looked up to see her quivering with nervousness. It wasn't fear of Ennaway, her target wizard, he knew. She'd fought wizards before and would again. It was fear of Khalkedon, of what the rak would do to her if they were unsuccessful. "We're all in this together," he whispered to her. "Seven for one. Remember that."

     She stared up into his eyes. "Seven for one," she agreed, looking better, and the slogan was taken up by the others. "Seven for one. Forever."

     Tak looked around at the others, saw the fear and determination on their faces, and he suddenly knew that they would be successful. There was a strength rising from them, a power that came from their unity, that nothing in the world could possibly overcome. Tak felt the overwhelming certainty that he was participating in the birth of something, something unlike anything else that had ever existed. It gave him a sense of euphoria that he knew would pass as soon as they left this place and went their separate ways, but the memory of it would remain for the rest of his life, however long that was...