Chapter 5Both men started violently and spun round. Horld lost his balance as he did so, but Cassraw’s hand on his shoulder stayed his fall and steadied him effortlessly. So heightened were Vredech’s senses by this sudden shock that he took in Cassraw’s entire appearance instantly. He saw the formal black cassock, elegant and well-made, torn and stained beyond repair, with bloody weals showing through several of the larger rents. He noted the grimy face and tousled hair, the scratched and bleeding hands. But, distressing though all this was, to Vredech it appeared to be only the surface manifestation of a far more profound change. For, despite his dark and soiled attire, Cassraw’s presence seemed to cut through the gloom as though a light from some distant place were shining on him, like u
