has to get out of the way.”
The pep talk helped. A little.
Hecht decided to invest another day in recuperation. He hoped for some sign from Cloven Februaren. None came.
Next morning Hecht got everyone moving as soon as there was light to see.
He squabbled with Madouc. He wanted to be out front. Madouc would not suffer it. The lifeguard carried the day.
Hecht had decided to give in whenever his own desires were not critical to the work at hand. He did not have to be out front, he just wanted to be. Acquiescence now would ease relations and make it easier to overrule Madouc when taking a risk might be useful.
Pella eyed him suspiciously. He asked no questions. Hecht suspected he understood. The boy was quick and smart. Too bad Madouc was just as smart and even quicker.
Progress was slow. The men out front were not eager to find what the travelers from the south had missed. Their Captain-General rotated the point frequently.
The Remayne Pass opened out some. Slopes curved up to either hand, covered with scrub and modest evergreens amongst scattered boulders tumbled from farther up. The peaks caught the rising sun first. Those shifted quickly from orange to a white too brilliant to look at.
A stream rumbled beside the road, carrying frigid meltwater.
The air grew thinner and colder.
Hecht dropped back to the pack train, fell in with Just Plain Joe and Pig Iron. He did not say much. Neither did Joe. Pig Iron kept his own counsel. There was no way Hecht could explain his need for time shared with Joe.
Just Plain Joe was one of his oldest acquaintances this side of the Mother Sea. Pinkus Ghort and Bo Biogna dated from the same time, and Redfearn Bechter from just days later. Only Anna Mozilla went back further than did they.
Joe had no agenda. Joe lived each day as it came. He made life easier for the animals. Hecht could relax with Joe. He didn’t have to explain anything, guess about anything, do any planning, be anything but a guy Joe knew.
Joe was in one of his social moods. Fifteen minutes after Hecht joined him, he asked, “You in a big hurry, Pipe?”
“Always. It isn’t necessary, though. Probably.”
“I keep looking at that river and thinking they ought to be some good trout fishing there. In one of them pools where the water takes a break before it goes charging off again.”
“You want to have a fish fry?”
“Been a while since I had a mess of good cold-water fish. Better than anything they got down in the lowlands.”
“When’s the best time?”
“Afternoon? After the sun warms the water some and there’s bugs out. Early evening is maybe even better since there’s more bugs then.”
“We come to a place that looks good, give a holler. Those men up front need a break.”
“They’re pretty worried, eh?”
“The monster had a bad reputation, back when. I think we’ll have trouble finding it now, though.”
“That wasn’t it the other night? That was rough on the horses.”
“Rough on all of us. No. That was one of those bogon things like the one in the Ownvidian Knot that Principat? Doneto chased off.”
“Uhm.” Joe went back inside himself and relaxed. Maybe half an hour later he emerged to chat briefly about ways to reduce disease amongst the army’s mounts.
A small party northbound had no news about the monster but did report that all Firaldia was holding its breath over Boniface’s health. The Patriarch made good progress for a few days, then suffered grave setbacks. On his good days he pursued his work ferociously. He had made great headway with the Eastern Church. He was close to a modus vivendi that would soothe the factions in the Connec. The ancient peace of those provinces was about to be restored.
If Boniface just had the time.
That alone should have the poisoners swarming, Hecht believed. Too many people, inside the Church and inside Arnhand, had become deeply invested in abuse of the End of Connec. Thieves, all, except for a handful of fanatics.
The column halted. Kait Rhuk and the men up front spread out, getting ready for trouble. Hecht hurried forward. His lifeguards closed in but did not stop him. This needed doing.
“Rhuk. What do we have?”
“Injured man up ahead. Maybe dead.”
Rhuk had the man covered from several angles, no one closer than twenty feet. One falcon was sited so that it could fire at anything coming out of the only cover nearby.
“He’s breathing,” Rhuk said. “I see that now.”
The man lay sprawled among the rocks like he had fallen out of the sky. He was large and wore nothing but a massive growth of washed-out reddish hair. The dense rat’s nest around his head and face contained streaks of gray. He had not been eating well.
“Been in a few scrapes, looks like,” Madouc said. “I’ve never seen so many scars.”
“Missing his right hand, too,” Rhuk said. “Want me to go wake him up?”
“No. Nobody get in the line of fire.”
Everyone eyed the brush up the hillside. Was this man bait?
Hecht said, “I’ve seen this man before. I’m trying to remember where.” The memories came in a rush. He did not want to accept them. “Below the wall of al-Khazen. This was one of the soultaken.” Whose death tussle with Ordnan and the Choosers of the Slain had cursed him with ascension to Instrumentality status.
“Target both falcons on him. Have every hand weapon ready.”
“Sir?”
“That’s our quarry. The man who became the monster.”
That caused a buzz. And brisk preparations.
“Say when, sir,” Rhuk said, slow match in hand.
“Not yet. Only if he does something threatening.” This needed closer examination. He was aware of no instances of this soultaken returning to human form. There must be a reason. “Pella. I have a job for you.”
“Dad?”
“Round up some throwing stones. Chunk them over there. Try not to hit him in the head.”
“All right.”
“Rhuk. The rest of you. No firing without my order.”
Pella threw. He did not miss. The body yonder twitched.
Where was the Ninth Unknown?
The hairy man shuddered. He forced his way up off the rocks. His naked skin bore fresh abrasions, several extensive and evidently painful. He got into a sitting position, shuddered again, rested his hands and chin on his knees.
“What now?” Kait Rhuk asked.
“Wait. Pella. That’s enough.”
The wait was a long one. At last the naked man shuddered, lifted his head, peered round with bleary eyes. He showed his palm weakly, in response to the martial display.
“Don’t anybody relax,” Hecht said. “Don’t take any of this at face value.” He told the naked man, “Speak.”
Hecht could not decipher the answer. He did not move closer. The soultaken had been created specifically to destroy him. It might not be able to abort its mission.
“Captain-General?” Rhuk wanted instructions. Again.
“Wait.”
