Suth squeezed past and into the chamber. The Korelri Stormguard had already swung shields round and were prepared. Suth engaged one, Fish another. Suth fought extremely carefully: he probed the man’s defences, kept him busy. Openings came but he recognized them as traps meant to draw him out. Facing the Stormguard he quickly understood everyone’s dread — the man was fully the finest swordsman he’d ever faced: fearless, aggressive, and quick, a full-time professional fighter. But the Malazan infantry were trained for crowded shield and sword work. It was their lifeblood. These Korelri appeared to fight as individuals. Suth thought he and his squadmates might have the advantage in these circumstances.
A spear thrust over Suth’s shoulder. The Korelri blocked, but the point continued on, passing through his shield to impale him in the chest and push him back to the wall, where he hung from the haft like an insect. ‘Two can play with pointed sticks!’ Manask exulted, and he brushed his hands together.
Alone, facing outrageous odds, the second Stormguard gave no hint of asking for quarter. He backed against a dirt wall, shield ready. ‘Drop your weapons!’ Suth ordered. The full helm merely slid side to side. Eyes hot for battle glared out of the narrow vision slit.
Damned fanatic. They didn’t have time for this. He, Fish, Corbin and Pyke spread out in an arc before the man. Useless! To prove what? Suth tightened his grip on his longsword, steadied his breathing.
The Stormguard looked past them all, gaping. ‘No!’
A crossbow fired just behind Suth made him flinch. The bolt took the Stormguard in the throat and the man slid down the wall, gagging. Suth turned to see Faro calmly tuck the slim weapon back under his cloak.
‘Let’s get going, shall we?’ Faro said, raising his brows.
Suth nodded, swallowing. Ye gods! Forget this man is with them? Not damned likely.
Manask led them onward, but their pace did not increase. Distant yells, the clash of fighting, and, occasionally, a report of munitions would reach them. They came upon scenes of battle: fallen Stormguard and dead troopers; caves blasted by munitions; tunnels partially collapsed. Suth was shaken to find Len dead, run through by a spear. Len? You too? Somehow I’d imagined it couldn’t happen to you. I’m so sorry. You were a good friend. Looks like maybe Pyke’s finally got things right.
Squeaky knelt over the body for some time while everyone kept a nervous watch. Her final act was to close his eyes — the man’s shoulder bags had already been scavenged.
Soon after that the earth shook, sending them all to the beaten earth floor huddled for cover. Dirt came tumbling down in a wash of dust that blinded and choked. After the shaking passed Suth gingerly eased himself up, wiping his face and coughing. When they had all straightened, beating at their cloaks and clearing their throats, they glared at Squeaky. She glared back, raising her hands.
‘Hey! Don’t look at me. There’s no way we brought that many munitions.’
They continued through the half-collapsed tunnels. Suth couldn’t tell if they were making any headway, but he didn’t challenge Manask as he didn’t think he’d do any better choosing left from right, or which carved chamber to enter. It was a senseless jumbled warren of tunnels to him. Eventually, it seemed they’d been walking, hunched, on the adrenalin knife-edge of fear for far too long, and he called a halt. They chose the best defensible cave they could find, set a watch, and lay down to try to get some rest.
Suth stood his watch with Lane, then had his turn to lie down. Though he was exhausted beyond care, sleep would not come. He couldn’t shake Pyke’s words. How many left now? What of Goss, Wess and Keri? Still alive? These Stormguard are butchering us! This obviously isn’t what Rillish and that priest had in mind. It seemed to him that he’d just closed his eyes when a bellow wrenched him awake. A sword slammed into the dirt where he’d just been lying. A Stormguard stood over him, pulling back the blade for another thrust, and Suth swept a leg, bringing him down. He leapt upon the man, found a gauche scabbard at his side, drew the weapon offhanded, and thrust it home up into an armpit. The Stormguard shuddered, but threw him off and leapt to his feet. He and Suth faced off, crouched, circling. A shape fell upon the Stormguard, Faro leaping, two long daggers flashing, and they collapsed in a tangle. Suth cast a frenzied glare around the darkened cave. Jammed shoulder to shoulder, troopers grappled with Korelri. A Stormguard duelling Lane retreated towards Suth so he stabbed him low in the back then drew his own blade. He saw Fish go down, dragging a Korelri with him. Manask was holding the corpse of one in front of himself, using it as a shield with which to bash another back until Corbin took the Stormguard from the side.
In that instant of fevered rush it was over — though to Suth it seemed to have happened in a half-lit sort of slow-motion. Dust drifted now in the dead air and he stood still, panting. He, Manask, Faro and Corbin alone stood. Of the Korelri attackers who had seemed everywhere, Suth counted a mere five. Five! Gods below! Still, they were lucky to be alive at all.
Peering around, he saw Squeaky slouched up against a wall. She’d been gut-stabbed. He knelt at her side; she lived still, but had lost a lot of blood. Her breaths came shallow and quick, like a child’s. ‘He took it,’ she told him.
‘Quiet.’
‘No. He took it. That prick, Pyke.’
‘What?’ He straightened, cast a quick glance around the cave: no Pyke, alive or dead. ‘Where is he?’
‘Who?’ Faro asked.
‘Pyke, the bastard. Who was he on watch with?’
‘Was with me,’ Fish said from the floor, breathing through clenched teeth.
Suth knelt next to Corbin, who was staunching the wound in the man’s side. ‘What happened?’
The man gave a weak shrug. ‘He took one side. I took th’ other. Later, I looked over an’ he was gone. Run off. Them Korelri charged in.’
Suth sat back stunned. Deserted! Takes the munitions and runs off. Leaves them unguarded. A blinding white fury made him dizzy. Why didn’t I kill him? All those chances. And now this! He went to his bedroll: he’d been sleeping in his hauberk and now he pulled on the rest of his gear.
‘What’s the plan?’ Corbin asked.
‘I’m gonna find and kill the fucker.’
Corbin spat aside, nodding. ‘Sounds like a plan.’
‘Not the mission,’ Faro warned from where he squatted cleaning his knives.
‘To Hood with the mission! This is personal!’
The scout — Hood take it, a Claw — stood. He brushed dust from a sleeve. ‘Can’t let it get personal. Doesn’t do. I can’t go that way.’
‘Fine. Manask?’
The giant picked up a spear. ‘He can’t have gotten far.’
‘Corbin?’
The trooper squeezed Fish’s shoulder. ‘Let me kit up.’
‘Good.’ He went to Squeaky. ‘Take it easy now. We’ll be back. Just
…’ The woman was staring, head sunk. Suth brushed a hand down her eyes to close them. He stood. ‘Let’s go.’
In the hall, Suth nodded farewell to Faro, who answered the nod — very slightly — then padded off silently to disappear into the gloom. Suth watched him go, thinking that of all of them, that bastard would win through.
There wasn’t much of a spoor to follow. It was night-dark. Corbin carried their lamp. The Korelri had tramped all through the tunnel, but Suth walked ahead to do the tracking — somehow he’d lost faith in the giant’s skills. It seemed to him they’d been doing nothing more than wandering randomly yesterday. Some tunnels bore a distinct slope and he calculated that Pyke would follow the slope downward, hoping to reach a way out. So it was they retraced some of their way, keeping to the tunnels, always downward.
Distantly, the reports of renewed fighting reached them as reverberations and muted roaring echoed down the tunnels and they would freeze, listening. But it was very far off now. Ahead, down a side tunnel, a bright golden glow spilled out of an opening. Suth edged up to take a quick look. He recoiled immediately. What he’d glimpsed inside made his shoulders slump.
‘Come!’ a voice called, inviting. ‘You are looking for someone, yes?’
Suth leaned his head back against the curved tunnel wall, took a fortifying breath, and stepped in. Corbin and Manask followed. It was the largest of the chambers they’d yet seen. Some sort of rough temple complete with pillars of living stone. Candles and lamps lit the room. Across its centre, in two rows, waited ten Korelri Stormguard. The one at centre front was holding Pyke by the scruff of his neck.
‘This is yours perhaps?’
