farther.” He spoke encouragement to Ekhaas and Tenquis, but he knew in his gut that he was really talking to himself. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the scene above as Chetiin bounced and danced, making a target of himself.
And the construct took the bait. It struck like a snake, whipping its entire body forward. Tentacles stabbed at Chetiin. The old goblin tumbled over one, whirled past another, ducked under a third, and spun back to face the construct-just as a fourth tentacle lanced directly at him. Geth’s breath caught.
The tentacle chipped and skittered against stone. Chetiin was simply… gone.
A heartbeat later, he burst out of the shadows at the base of the ruined wall and came racing down the hill. Silence fell on the night. Stomach churning, Geth looked back up at the ruin.
The construct filled the gap, staring down at them, its tentacles calmed to a sluggish, almost inaudible writhing. Then, with an inhuman abruptness, it turned and slithered away as if it knew it couldn’t reach them and that they were therefore unworthy of its attention.
Geth eased Tooth to the ground, then sank down into a squat himself. It took a long moment before he could do anything but suck in great gulps of the hot night air. Finally he looked up Chetiin. “How-?” he asked.
“A secret of the shaarat’khesh,” Chetiin said. For the first time Geth could remember, Chetiin sounded winded. “Although that isn’t exactly the way it’s normally used.”
A shadow broke away from the dark line of the jungle’s edge and came trotting toward them across the barren hill. Marrow gave a soft, excited yip. Chetiin smiled. “The varags are running!” he said. “It sounds like whatever rage they worked up to come back and try to ambush us didn’t survive actually getting a look at the construct. I don’t think they’ll be coming near the ruins again any time soon.”
“Thank the sorcerer-kings,” groaned Tenquis.
Geth took another deep breath, then stood up. Or tried to. The muscles in his legs spasmed as he rose, and he almost fell over before he found Tenquis’s shoulder for support. His arms and hands were trembling too-but then again, they’d all risen early that morning, hiked through jungle, fought and fled from the varags, then fled again from the construct of Suud Anshaar. It was small wonder he was trembling and exhausted. And it was probably a good thing the varags had run away. He couldn’t have managed more than a dozen strokes with Wrath before the sword fell from his hands.
“Geth?” asked Ekhaas.
“I’ll be fine,” he said. He glanced around at the others. They all looked as tired as he felt, even Marrow. His lips twitched and he smiled, then laughed. Tenquis turned to stare at him.
“Have you snapped?” he asked.
Geth shook his head, pushed away from the tiefling, and wiped at his eyes with hands that were sticky with blood and dust. “Before we went into the ruins, I asked Tooth if he’d want to sleep here.” He nodded toward the jungle. “Let’s get under cover, then find a place to rest. Even if that construct starts wailing again, I’m going to sleep like the dead.”
The heat of sunlight on his face drew Geth slowly back toward wakefulness in the little clearing they’d found in the jungle. Vague memories of dreams clung to him-skeletal black serpents that chased after him while notched disks rolled across the night sky in place of moons. He shook the memories off, rising into a place of calm and well- being, where Ekhaas sang lullabies that shook buildings to ruins, Chetiin rode Marrow through shadows, and Tooth swung his grinders with both hands. They’d escaped Suud Anshaar. The varags had fled. It was good. He tried to will himself back down into sleep.
“Geth.”
Sleep evaded him. Tenquis was there, mouthing words that Geth couldn’t quite hear. Geth tried to answer, but his words wouldn’t come out either.
“Geth, wake up.”
Tenquis slid away. A shadow passed between Geth and the sun. Something cold burned across his throat. Adolan’s collar? No, it was too thin. Too sharp. He felt a sickening sensation of danger.
Any sense of calm vanished. His eyes opened wide to sunlight filtered through the canopy of the jungle. Instantly a hand pressed against his forehead. “Move,” said a rich, calm voice from somewhere above his head, “and you’ll cut your own throat.”
Sudden waking blurred his thoughts. He knew that voice, but it was so utterly out of place that he couldn’t identify it. He knew it was telling the truth, though. The cold at his throat was the edge of a knife. Geth forced his body to lie still and rolled his eyes back as far as he could to try and see who held him.
Midian Mit Davandi leaned into his field of vision. “Good morning,” he said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
14 Vult
There was no immediate response from Geth. “I hope you slept well,” Midian added. “It looks like you had an eventful night.”
“What are you doing here?” the shifter growled.
“Lhesh Tariic sends his greetings,” Midian told him with a smile. “And before you say anything else, shift your eyes to your right.”
Geth looked-and his eyes widened slightly as he saw Makka with his trident poised over Ekhaas’s chest. The hobgoblin’s eyes were also open and hard. Midian had made a point of waking her first with a very specific warning. Any hint of a song and Makka would push his weapon home.
Two of their quarry neutralized and with them a third. Geth looked up and found Chetiin on his feet, waiting. The old goblin’s face was blank. His hands were loose at his sides, but Midian didn’t doubt that they could produce hidden blades in an instant. He knew he didn’t have to warn Chetiin that whichever of his friends he tried to save, the other one would die-he and the shaarat’khesh elder were too much alike. That made Chetiin the most dangerous of the group.
“There’s rope beside Tenquis,” Midian told Chetiin. “Wake him up and have him bind you. Then have him muzzle and bind the worg. Make sure it doesn’t resist him.”
Chetiin’s eyes narrowed. “Her name is Marrow.”
“How precious,” said Midian. “Rope.”
So many weeks of racing after their prey, and it was over surprisingly quickly. Midian almost felt a little disappointed. Tenquis’s face blazed with hatred, but he was quick to bind Chetiin and his worg, then Geth and Ekhaas. The bugbear hunter that the group had hired as a guide proved a little more difficult if only because Tenquis seemed confused on how to tie up someone who had only one arm.
“Feet together, then just tie his good arm to his side,” Midian advised.
“Leave Tooth alone, Midian,” Geth said. “Let him go.”
“Please, I’m no monster.” Midian went over to inspect the knots as Tenquis tied them. He bent down to touch the hunter’s head. His skin was hot, and of all the group he was the only one who had actually resisted waking. Midian stood up. “He’s not getting out of here on his own. Letting him go, that would just be cruel. What happened to him?”
“Nothing that isn’t going to happen to you!” snarled Geth.
The butt of Makka’s trident cracked across the shifter’s skull, knocking him back onto the ground. Makka glared at Midian. “I don’t like this,” he said. “We should just start killing them. Tariic wants them dead.”
“If we were in Volaar Draal, they’d already be dead,” said Midian. “But I think Tariic would also like to know why his enemies traveled across Darguun to risk their lives in a ruin in the middle of the Khraal.” He sheathed his knife and checked the bonds of the others as well, then turned back to Tenquis, still standing beside Tooth. “Strip off their weapons and any pouches. Bring me their packs.”
The tiefling raised his head defiantly. “If you’re just going to kill us, why should I?”
There was a reason Midian had chosen to leave him free. “Do you remember having your tail flayed and cut apart while you watched, Tenquis?” Midian asked him. “Tariic’s torturer wasn’t the only one capable of doing that. You only need one hand for what I ask. Don’t make me ask you again.”
