John Flanagan: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

'Drop me the rope,' she called. 'I'm coming up.'

'Just a moment.' Alyss stood slowly and moved to the centre of the platform. Stepping with extreme care, she tested its strength, making sure the lashed branches were strong enough to bear her weight. Eventually satisfied, she moved to the edge and kicked the coil of knotted rope off the platform, sending it down through the branches to the waiting princess. Evanlyn clambered up the rope hand over hand, moving with slightly undignified haste. Once she was settled high in the fork of the tree, she pulled the rope up and coiled it again, then found a spot to make herself comfortable – although 'comfortable', on this rough platform, was a relative term.

Alyss grinned at her. 'Worried the Terror might climb up after you?'

Evanlyn regarded her coldly and didn't answer. That was exactly what she was worried about.

Darkness stole through the forest and the two girls sat, cold and uncomfortable, on the platform. The only sound they heard was the snuffling and complaining of the young pig they had tied to a nearby tree. The pig was bait, designed to bring the Terror out of hiding. Once that happened, Alyss hoped to kill the Terror, whatever it was, with the two lightweight spears that lay beside her. She had borrowed them from the Hasanu. It had taken her a while to find weapons light enough for her to handle, but eventually she settled on practice weapons, designed for children. She was a competent hand with the javelin and, of course, Evanlyn had her sling and a supply of heavy, egg-shaped lead shot.

'Bit hard on the pig,' Evanlyn said quietly.

'You can change places with it any time you like,' Alyss told her.

'What do you think it is – the Terror, I mean?'

'Some large predator, as Nimatsu suggested. A bear, perhaps. There are bears in this area. And he did say there's evidence that there were snow tigers here many years ago. Maybe it's one of them.'

'It's never been seen or heard. That doesn't sound like any bear I've ever known,' Evanlyn remarked.

Alyss looked at her sidelong. 'Known many bears?'

Evanlyn had to grin.

'Anyway, one thing I'm sure of,' Alyss continued, 'is that it's not a demon from another world. Now be quiet.'

She gestured for Evanlyn to get some rest while she stood guard. Evanlyn lay down on the uneven, knobbly branches and squirmed around to find the most comfortable spot. She closed her eyes but it took a while for sleep to claim her. Her nerves were tensed to a fine pitch as she listened to the soughing of the light breeze through the trees, the soft flutter of a night-flying bird's wing and the dozen or so unidentifiable sounds of nocturnal animals or insects that drifted among the trees.

She seemed to have been dozing for only a few minutes when Alyss's hand on her arm woke her.

'Anything stirring?' she whispered.

Alyss shook her head and replied in the same lowered tone. 'Nothing. The pig was awake about twenty minutes ago but he went back to sleep.'

They both peered down through the branches, across the clearing to where the pig was tethered. The little animal lay sleeping beside the tree.

'Seems peaceful enough now,' Evanlyn said. 'Maybe he was having a pigmare.' She shuffled towards the edge of the platform, picking up the coiled rope. Alyss caught her by the arm. Even though she still spoke in a whisper, Evanlyn could hear the urgency in her tone.

'What d'you think you're up to?'

Evanlyn blushed, although in the dim light Alyss was unaware of the fact.

'Call of nature,' she said. 'I drank too much from my water bottle when we ate. The pickles made me thirsty.' She grinned sheepishly.

Firmly, Alyss took the coiled rope from her grasp and placed it away from the edge of the platform.

'Put up with it,' she said. 'Neither of us is going down that rope before daylight.'

'Alyss, be reasonable. If the Terror was anywhere in the area, that pig would be squealing and snuffling in terror. I'm sure it's perfectly safe. We haven't heard anything in hours.'

'Neither did the seventeen Hasanu that this creature killed. Three of them were taken from the middle of a camp where others were sleeping, remember? Evanlyn, the only place that's safe is this platform. And I'm not even totally sure about that.'

Evanlyn hesitated. Nimatsu had told them some hair-raising stories about the Terror, that was true. As Alyss pointed out, some of its victims had been taken while surrounded by dozens of sleeping comrades – none of whom ever heard a sound.

'Well…all right,' she said, feigning a reluctance she no longer felt. The idea that the Terror might be somewhere close to them, creeping towards the tree where they perched, set the hairs on the back of her neck on end. But she wasn't about to admit that to Alyss. 'You go to sleep. I'll keep watch.'

Alyss eyed her carefully. 'Don't go sneaking off once I'm asleep,' she warned.

Evanlyn shook her head. 'I won't.'

Alyss lay down, pulling her cloak around her shoulders. She seemed to fall asleep much sooner than Evanlyn had managed. Within a few minutes her breathing was deep and regular, punctuated by occasional soft snorts of complaint as she shifted to ease the discomfort of a badly trimmed knot on the branches below her.

Evanlyn sat, bored and cramped, as the moon arced up and over them, eventually descending and leaving the forest black and silent once more. The bird and animal noises had died away. There was only the wind now. Once, just before dawn, it seemed to gust more strongly than before and Evanlyn sat up a little straighter, peering around nervously. But then she realised it had only been a stray gust and she sank back into her bleary-eyed vigil. She yawned mightily. Her eyelids drooped and she jerked upright, realising that her head had dropped to one side and, for a few seconds, she had been asleep. She shook her head to clear it, breathing deeply, then surveyed the dimly lit ground beneath her. The dark form of the pig was still visible in the snow. There was nothing else to be seen.

Shuffling to the edge of the platform, she peered straight down. But she could see nothing there, either.

She yawned again. There was a thin layer of snow on the branches around her. She scooped some up and rubbed the freezing wetness across her face and eyes. For a few minutes, she was refreshed and alert. Then her eyelids and head sagged again. She forced them open, yawned again and wished she hadn't drunk all that water the night before.

She had never in her life been so grateful to see the dawn. The first grey light stole through the trees and she realised that she could make out details now, instead of just seeing vague outlines. Then she began to make out a red glow from the east, faintly visible through the trunks and upper branches.

Then, without her noticing the exact moment when it happened, a steel grey daylight stole over the forest and the clearing above which they sat. Funny, she thought, how daylight made things seem less threatening.

Alyss stirred, then rolled over and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

'Anything happen?' she asked, although she knew that if it had, Evanlyn would have woken her.

'Nothing. We seemed to have picked the most boring stretch of forest possible. There was nothing but the insects and the birds and even they became bored after a while and went to sleep. I think we're going to have to -'

Evanlyn stopped. Alyss's hand was gripping her forearm tightly – so tightly that it was hurting.

'Look,' the Courier said. 'Look at the pig.'

Evanlyn followed her gaze and felt her blood freeze. The snow around the little animal was stained red. Alyss grabbed the climbing rope and moved to the edge of the platform, preparing to let it drop to the forest floor below them. But she stopped, then hurriedly moved away from the edge.