Hylas woke up lying on his back. He was battered and bruised all over and his face felt sunburnt and stiff. He couldn’t open his eyes: his eyelids were stuck together.

He was lying in wet bracken. He heard dripping and trickling. An owl hooted. Shards of memory returned. A blinding glare, Telamon brandishing the dagger as lightning blasted him from the peak.

‘Pirra?’ croaked Hylas. ‘Issi! Havoc! Anyone?’

No answer.

Blindly, he rolled on to all fours and began to crawl. He hadn’t gone far when his hand touched cold, dead flesh. He smelt charred skin. His reluctant fingers moved over long braids with tiny discs at the ends. He found Telamon’s lifeless fist clenching a stump of twisted metal: what remained of the dagger of Koronos.

If the Outsider wields the blade, the House of Koronos burns. The Oracle had been fulfilled – but the words of the gods never mean quite what you think. It was Issi who’d wielded the blade, and it was Telamon who’d burned. I am the House of Koronos, he’d screamed – and retribution had come from the sky. Hylas remembered Thestor’s ghost pointing its finger upwards, in warning. The gods had blasted Telamon and the dagger to oblivion. The rule of the Crows was over.

It was what Hylas had fought for, but he felt too numb to take it in.

Something stirred in the bracken, and he heard a large creature moving towards him. Then Havoc was making groany owmp owmp noises and thrusting her whiskery muzzle in his face.

A sob rose in his throat. He flung his arms around her neck and buried his head in her fur. If she hadn’t knocked him out of the path of the lightning, he would be as dead as Telamon.

Someone else was here too, but he couldn’t see them, his eyelids were still stuck together. ‘Who’s there?’ he gasped.

A small cool hand touched his.

‘Pirra?’

An angry hiss, and whoever it was ran off.

‘Issi!’ shouted Hylas. ‘Issi come back!’

After that he must have lost consciousness, because when he woke again, he could feel the heat of the Sun; although he still couldn’t open his eyes.

A bird lit on to a branch, spattering him with raindrops. He caught the faint breeze of Echo’s wings as she flew down to him with an ear-splitting Kyi! Kyi!

He heard an answering cry – then Pirra was crashing through the bracken. ‘Well done, Echo!’ she panted. She was kneeling beside him, laughing and sniffing and giving him little pats on his shoulders and chest. ‘Thank the Goddess you’re alive, we’ve been looking everywhere, we couldn’t find you!’

‘Where’s Issi? Is she all right?’

‘She’s fine, I saw her just now with Havoc. But Hylas, your face – you look as if you’ve got sunburn!’

‘The lightning was so close. I – I can’t open my eyes. What about you?’

‘My ankle’s all swollen, I’m hopping with a stick.’

‘Did you see – Telamon’s here too.’

‘I know,’ she said in an altered voice. ‘Can you sense his ghost?’

‘… No. No, I can’t.’

‘It’s over, Hylas. The gods destroyed the dagger. There’s only what’s left in his fist, the rest was shattered to bits.’

Hylas did not reply. Koronos, Pharax, Telamon … All dead. But he couldn’t feel glad. He was sick of death.

Pirra gave his shoulder another pat. ‘We’ve got to get you down the mountain.’

She helped him to his feet, and at last his eyelids came unstuck and he blinked. He blinked again. He touched his eyelids. They were flaky and dry, but definitely open. He felt hollow inside, as if he was falling from a great height.

‘Can you walk if you lean on me?’ said Pirra.

‘I can walk all right, but … Everything’s black.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Pirra, everything’s black. I can’t see.’

The battle had ended soon after Hylas and Pirra had left.

‘Our luck changed,’ said Periphas, ‘when Pirra told us Koronos was dead. Then Hekabi saw lightning strike Mount Lykas, she shouted it was a sign the gods were against the Crows. Soon afterwards, the battle turned, and Ilarkos and his men realized it was hopeless, and surrendered.’

Shortly after that, Periphas’ scouts had found Hylas and Pirra and helped them down the mountain. Hylas had refused to be taken to the main camp, he’d insisted they pitch their own small camp above it in the hills – because of Havoc, and Issi, who wouldn’t go near warriors, whether they were rebel or Crow.

That had been three days ago – and still Hylas couldn’t see. This morning, a boy had arrived from the main camp, bringing Jinx, and a summons to the High Chieftain’s tent.

Hylas rode, with Pirra on foot, holding Jinx’s bridle. Hylas hated that, he hated being helpless and blind. Last night, he’d overheard Pirra asking Hekabi if the Lady of Fire had taken his sight in return for sparing his life. He’d wondered that too, but the fact that Pirra hadn’t mentioned it to his face made it even worse.

‘I can still ride, you know,’ he told her between his teeth.

‘I know, but you can’t see what’s coming –’

‘There’s no need to treat me like a child!’

‘Fine,’ she snapped. ‘Next time I see you heading for a low branch, I’ll just let it knock you off, shall I?’

He didn’t reply. After Hekabi’s eye-baths and Havoc’s assiduous licking, he could just about distinguish night from day, but faces remained a total blur.

‘You’ve got to be patient,’ said Pirra.

‘You try it,’ he flung back.

These days, they bickered constantly; it helped keep the fear at bay. Not even Hekabi knew if he would ever see clearly again.

And then what? he thought as Jinx picked his way down the hill. If I can’t see, I can’t hunt. I’ll be no use to anyone …

He told himself he had much to be thankful for. They’d all survived, and thanks to Hekabi, Akastos was recovering from his wounds. But somehow, Hylas couldn’t feel it. He was jumpy and irritable. He couldn’t talk to Pirra, couldn’t tell her he had nightmares every night, flashes from the battle and Telamon screaming as the lightning struck …

Even finding Issi again wasn’t the joyous reunion he’d longed for, because he couldn’t see her – and she couldn’t speak. ‘It happens sometimes,’ Hekabi had said. ‘It might be years before she speaks – if she ever does.’ Hylas had tried to talk to his sister, but it was hopeless when he couldn’t see her face. She spent much of her time in the hills with Havoc, and seemed ill at ease with Pirra.

‘Maybe she thinks I’m in the way,’ Pirra suggested. ‘That I’ve sort of – taken her place?’

But Issi was his sister, how could that be?

They’d reached Akastos’ tent. Hylas asked Pirra if she was coming in too, but she was still cross with him, and stomped off to water Jinx.

Inside, he made out the blurred figures of what he guessed was Akastos, reclining on a cot, with Hekabi kneeling beside him. To Hylas’ astonishment, they were laughing so hard that Hekabi was rocking back and forth and Akastos was clutching his bandaged side.

They welcomed Hylas, but he sensed the current between them and felt out of place. ‘I’ll come back later,’ he said curtly.

‘No, Flea, you’ll stay,’ said Akastos with a smile in his voice.

Hylas heard Hekabi rise to her feet. ‘Don’t talk too long,’ she told Akastos softly. ‘You need to rest.’ As she passed Hylas, he felt her cool hand at his temple. ‘Your visions,’ she said. ‘They’ve gone.’

He nodded. ‘I realized when I couldn’t sense Telamon’s ghost. I think maybe the lightning blasted them away.’

‘Maybe.’ She too had a smile in her voice. ‘And lions are sacred to the Lady of Fire: perhaps Havoc licked them away.’

When she was gone, Hylas groped towards Akastos’ cot and sat cross-legged beside it. He felt awkward, it was the first time they’d been together since the battle. ‘How do you feel?’ he asked.

‘Sore,’ Akastos said drily. ‘You?’

‘The same.’

Then Akastos asked what Hylas had been dreading: he wanted to know what had happened on the battlefield after he’d passed out. Haltingly, Hylas told him, about the Angry Ones dropping from the sky, and the ghost of Akastos’ brother licking the blood of vengeance from its lips.

‘What did he look like?’ said Akastos with a catch in his voice.

‘Like you, but younger. And he – he was missing his little finger.’

‘Ah. So it really was him.’ He was silent for a while. ‘Strange,’ he murmured. ‘When you’ve wanted something for years and you finally get it, it’s hard to take in.’

‘I know,’ said Hylas with feeling. He was thinking of Issi.

‘It’s a long way from the Island of the Fin People, isn’t it, Flea? When I talked you down from that woodpile.’

‘You didn’t – you tricked me down.’

Akastos chuckled. ‘So I did!’

Belatedly, Hylas realized that he was speaking with the High Chieftain of Mycenae. ‘What will you do now?’ he asked.

‘Rebuild. Restore order to Akea. Do my best to heal the wounds of the past.’

From what Hylas had heard, he’d already started. The rains had quenched the fire at Lapithos before the main grain stores were destroyed, and Akastos had ordered food to be distributed to the peasants. He’d also earned the respect of the surviving Crows by forbidding reprisals against them, and decreeing honourable rites for their dead. Telamon’s body had been burnt, and at Hylas’ request, the ashes had been placed beside his father in the tomb of his Ancestors. The ashes of Koronos and Pharax had been given no rites, and merely scattered on the wind.

As for the dagger, Hekabi had gathered all the fragments she could find, and cast them into rivers and streams, to be washed down to the Sea and lost for ever.

‘There’s a lot to do,’ Akastos said quietly. ‘Soon, I’ll return to Mycenae. Periphas will stay here and rule Lykonia.’

‘That’s good,’ said Hylas. ‘He’ll make a fine leader.’

Akastos paused. ‘So will you. I want you to take Messenia.’

‘What?’

‘The chieftaincy. You saved my life on the battlefield, Hylas, I don’t forget. And I want a chieftain I can trust.’

‘You can’t have a blind chieftain,’ growled Hylas.

‘I meant, if you get your sight back.’

Hylas scowled. ‘Not even then,’ he said harshly. ‘If I ruled, I’d have to fight. That’s what rulers do.’

‘Sometimes.’

‘How can you bear it?’ Hylas burst out. ‘Every night I’m back in the battle! I’ve just killed a man, I can feel the drag on my sword as I pull it out of his flesh … And I see Telamon …’ His voice cracked. ‘He used to be my friend, and I tricked him into getting struck by lightning!’

‘That’s war, Hylas,’ Akastos said in a hard voice.

‘Well I want no part of it!’

‘No one does! But sometimes you have to fight to defend what’s yours!’

Hylas glowered. He felt the High Chieftain’s strong hand on his shoulder. ‘I know how it is,’ said Akastos. ‘You can’t get the bad things out of your mind, and they’re cutting you off from Pirra and your sister. But they’ll fade, Hylas. I promise.’ Then he said in a brisker tone: ‘So tell me, what can I do for you? There must be something you want.’

Hylas thought. ‘Um – yes. Actually, two things.’

Akastos laughed and cuffed him round the head. ‘Ah, Flea! You haven’t changed that much, after all!’

Echo swooped past Pirra, then plunged into a flock of rock-doves, scattering them for fun. Pirra laughed. Hylas didn’t notice. He was limping beside her, scowling at the ground.

It was four days since he’d had his talk with Akastos. His sight was nearly restored: yesterday, he’d even downed a squirrel with his slingshot; but he remained unhappy and withdrawn.

Pirra wanted the old Hylas back. She wanted … She kept thinking about that moment before he’d left her on the trail to ride after Telamon, when she’d kissed him and he’d kissed her back. She would quite like to do it again.

I suppose it’ll be down to me as usual, she thought as they climbed the hill towards camp. I’ll just have to say something.

She was mustering her courage to begin when Issi appeared between the trees with Havoc, and the moment was lost.

‘Issi!’ called Hylas. But Issi had spotted Pirra. She hesitated, as if trying to pluck up the courage to join them. Then she melted back into the forest.

‘What’s the matter with her?’ exclaimed Hylas.

‘I told you,’ said Pirra in exasperation, ‘she still feels left out. She’ll come round in time.’

‘But why would she feel left out?’

She flung up her arms. ‘Well, because all the time she was hiding out in Messenia, we were together!’ She reddened. ‘I mean, not together exactly, but –’

‘But I’m her brother! What does she think, that I’ll abandon her?’

‘Of course not! It’s just – a lot for her to get used to. I mean, me being, um, with you. Maybe you need to reassure her.’

‘How?’

Pirra looked at him. She heaved a sigh. Until things were sorted out between him and Issi, there was no point talking to him about anything else, he wouldn’t take it in.

When they reached their camp, she threw down her waterskin and put her hands on her hips. ‘I’ve had an idea. I think it might help you with Issi.’

‘What is it?’ he said.

She told him. And for the first time since the battle, he broke into a grin.

‘I told you, it’s a surprise,’ said Hylas for the tenth time as they were making their way through the marshes.

Issi drew a frog in the mud, then made a huge arc with her arms.

He laughed. ‘No, it’s not a giant frog.’

Issi scowled and kicked him in the shin. Tell me!

‘No!’ He made a grab at her, but she dodged and went splashing ahead with Havoc. Hylas felt a pang of love and apprehension. This had better work.

Over his shoulder, he gave Pirra a rueful smile. She’d offered to stay behind in Lykonia so that he could be alone with Issi, but he’d said no, Issi had to get used to her. Pirra had flushed with pleasure. He’d wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her; but he had to make things right with Issi first.

The Marsh Dwellers had greeted them with respectful bows and a basket of fish for Havoc, and their pudgy faces had lit up when they’d seen Issi. Hylas had asked if they’d really never suspected that the Outsider ‘boy’ they’d sheltered might be a girl, but they’d shaken their heads. ‘Why would we?’ they’d said with startling simplicity. ‘She wore the brown headband, so we took her for a boy.’

By the time they reached the Sea, Issi was bursting with impatience. This had better work, thought Hylas again.

Havoc bounded into the shallows. Hylas lifted Issi and flung her in. She surfaced, spluttering with laughter, and he dived in after her. Pirra sat on a rock and watched.

Hylas came up shaking the water from his hair. ‘Time to show you why I brought you,’ he told Issi. ‘It’s something incredibly special which I know you’ll love.’

Treading water, she splashed him impatiently.

‘Just wait!’ He gave a piercing whistle and smacked the waves with the flat of his hand. They waited. Please, please come, prayed Hylas. Help me as you’ve helped so often before.

Havoc shot out of the shallows and stood on the shore, staring seawards. A moment later, out in the bay, something flashed.

Issi gasped. Hylas began to smile.

Spirit leapt clear of the Sea in a great shining arc, then smacked down in a shower of spray and sped towards them. On her rock, Pirra put her fist to her forehead and bowed. Spirit was her friend, but he was also a creature sacred to the Goddess.

The dolphin brushed against Hylas, who stroked his flank. Thank you, Spirit, he told his friend silently. Issi was looking on round-eyed.

‘Don’t touch his blow-hole,’ Hylas warned. ‘And be careful not to scratch.’ He was about to go on, but Spirit slid past Issi upside-down, and she trailed her fingers lightly over his belly. Hylas moved back to give them space. The dolphin swam past Issi again, the right way up – and without being told, she took hold of his fin with both hands and he was off, pulling her after him while she lay at full stretch, flying over the waves and grinning from ear to ear.

She spent all afternoon playing with Spirit, and in the end, Hylas had to haul her bodily out of the Sea. As they started on the return journey, Havoc – who’d gone off when the dolphin had appeared – came and rubbed against Hylas, as if to claim him, now that he was back on land.

Pirra walked some distance behind, so that he and Issi could be alone. ‘Issi,’ he began awkwardly. ‘You know that I never stopped trying to find you. You do know that, don’t you?’

Issi nodded, but she kept her eyes on the ground.

‘And you mustn’t ever think that because Pirra is with me, you’ll be – left out. That’s just not how it is. You’re my sister.’ He cleared his throat. ‘You’re – part of me.’

Scowling, Issi chewed a reed stem. She was as embarrassed as he. ‘And whenever you want,’ he went on hurriedly, ‘we can come down to the Sea and visit Spirit, just you and me. Yes?’

Issi thought about that. Then she clawed the air with both hands, made a snarly face and gave a silent roar.

Hylas blinked. Then he broke into a grin. ‘Of course, Havoc can come too!’

Issi nodded. She turned and gave Pirra a small, tentative smile over her shoulder: And you can come as well. Then she put her hand in Hylas’ and grinned up at him. And for the first time since he’d first caught sight of her on the Ancestor Peak, he truly felt that he had found his sister again.

They’d been back in their little camp for a day, and Hylas knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. Issi was snuggled against Havoc, fast asleep; so he could be alone with Pirra.

He found her by the stream a short distance from camp, combing her hair. She threw him a wary look, but didn’t speak.

You’ve got to ask her now, he told himself fiercely. Just say, will you be my girl?

But he was so nervous that instead he blurted out: ‘This morning I made an offering to the Lady of the Wild Things.’

She blinked. ‘What did you ask for?’

‘Um – it was for Telamon.’

‘Telamon? He would have killed you!’

‘I know, but … He was my friend once. I want his spirit to be at peace.’

‘And that’s what matters to you, is it?’ she said crossly. ‘Someone who used to be a friend, and became a deadly enemy?’

‘No, I mean … Look, I didn’t come to talk about Telamon.’

‘Glad to hear it!’ Her cheeks were flushed, her hair a black cloud around her shoulders. She caught him looking at her, and her flush deepened.

There was an awkward silence. Just ask her, Hylas told himself.

The silence lengthened. Pirra blew out a long breath and rose to her feet. Without so much as a glance at him, she tied back her hair with a twist of grass and stalked towards camp.

Grinding his teeth, Hylas started after her. That was when the gods gave him another chance. He spotted a boy coming towards him, bringing a gift from the High Chieftain: Jinx and a beautiful grey mare.

‘Ah, that’s good!’ cried Hylas. Then to Pirra: ‘Pirra, come back!’

‘Why? What for?’

‘You take the mare, I’ll take Jinx! Come on, we’re going for a walk!’

‘Where?’

‘I’ll tell you when we get there, it’s not far!’

The light was turning golden and the shadows were lengthening as they led the horses uphill towards a meadow dotted with olive trees.

Hylas’ elation drained smartly away, and with every step, his nervousness grew. ‘I didn’t tell you before,’ he said to Pirra, ‘but Akastos offered me the chieftaincy of Messenia. I – I turned it down.’

To his surprise, she nodded. ‘Yes, I told him you would.’

‘How did you know?’

‘Well – I know you.’

He shot her a glance. ‘And you don’t – mind?’

‘No, why should I?’

‘I – we – would have been rich.’

‘I’ve been rich. It didn’t make me happy.’

They walked on a bit further. Then he said, ‘Akastos asked me what I wanted, and I said, two things.’

‘Oh?’

‘First, I said I wanted to set Jinx free, with a mare to keep him company.’

Pirra pressed her lips together and nodded. ‘That’s good. He ought to have a mate.’

He shot her another glance. ‘Yes, I think so too. It’s good to – to have a mate.’

‘Yes,’ she replied evenly.

They reached the meadow, and Hylas slipped off the mare’s bridle. She trotted a few steps, then put down her head and grazed.

Hylas stroked Jinx’s bony nose for the last time. ‘Goodbye, Jinx,’ he said softly. ‘Enjoy your freedom.’ He took off the bridle. Jinx nuzzled his neck, then ambled towards the mare, who’d stopped grazing and was watching him intently. They touched noses. The mare cantered off across the meadow. Jinx flicked up his tail and cantered after her.

‘What was the second thing you asked for?’ said Pirra, keeping her eyes on the horses.

‘I asked him to give me somewhere in the mountains, where there are no peasants and no warriors, so that – so that Havoc can come too. And Issi.’

Pirra nodded. Her colour was high. He could see a pulse beating in her throat.

Havoc appeared out of nowhere and rubbed against his thigh. She cast an indifferent eye on the horses, having recently made a kill, then ambled over to Issi, who’d come to see what was happening. Clearly sensing that she shouldn’t butt in, Issi climbed an olive tree, where she sat, swinging her legs, discreetly looking the other way.

Echo swept past, her wingbeats lifting tendrils of Pirra’s black hair, then soared skywards with a joyful shriek.

Hylas took a deep breath. ‘Will you come and live with me in the mountains?’ he said to Pirra in a rush. ‘I mean – as my girl?’

At last, she turned and looked up at him. Her dark eyes were shining, her lips curved in the beginnings of a smile.

He was about to pull her into his arms, but Havoc nosed between them, nearly knocking them over. In her tree, Issi clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle her giggles.

‘Oh, Havoc!’ muttered Hylas, pushing the lioness out of the way.

Pirra gave a little spurt of laughter. ‘Of course I will,’ she said.