of bone, but the wicked barbed point was hammered metal.
Country people hunted with arrows and bows, he had heard, and
you saw arrows in the market. But not arrows like this.
He snapped it between his hands and let the pieces fall, then
hurried down the tunnel after Dace. 'Where's Jugs?'
'Up front ag'in with the sojer.' Dace sounded as though he was
still some distance ahead.
'Well, by Hierax! They almost got her the first time.'
'They very nearly killed _me_.' Incus's voice floated back through
the darkness. 'Have you forgotten _that?_'
'No,' Auk told him, 'only it don't bother me as much.'
'No care,' Oreb confirmed from Auk's shoulder.
Incus giggled. 'Nor do _you_ bother _me_, Auk. When I sent Corporal
Hammerstone ahead of us, my _first_ thought was that you would
have to accompany him. Then I realized that there was no harm in
_your_ lagging behind. Hammerstone's task is not to _nurse you_, but to
protect _me_ from your _brutal_ treatment.'
'And thresh me out whenever you decide I need it.'
'Indeed. Oh, _indeed_. But _mercy_ and _forbearance_ are much dearer
to the _immortal gods_ than sacrifice, Auk. If you wish to stay where
you are, _I_ will not seek to prevent you. Neither will my tall friend,
who is, as we have seen, so much stronger than _yourself_.'
'Chenille ain't stronger than me, not even now. I doubt she's
much stronger than you.'
'But she possesses the best _weapon_. She insisted for _that_ reason.
For my own part, _I_ was glad to have her _and_ her weapon near the
_redoubtable_ corporal, and remote from _yourself_.'
Auk kicked himself mentally for having failed to realize that the
launcher Chenille carried would flatten Hammerstone as effectively
as any slug gun. Bitterly he mumbled, 'Always thinking, ain't you.'
'You refuse to call me _Patera_, Auk? Even _now_, you refuse me my
title of respect?'
Auk felt weak and dizzy, afraid for Chenille and even for himself;
but he managed to say, 'It's supposed to mean you're my father, like
Maytera meant this teacher I used to have was my mother. Anytime
you start acting like a father, I'll call you that.'
Incus giggled again. 'We _fathers_ are expected to curb the violent
behavior of our offspring, and to teach them--I _do_ hope you'll
excuse a trifling bit of vulgarity--to teach them to wipe their _dirty,
snotty little noses_.'
Auk drew his hanger; it felt unaccustomedly heavy in his hand,
but the weight and the cold, hard metal of the hilt were reassuring.
Hoarsely, Oreb advised, 'No, no!'
Incus, having heard the hiss of the blade as it cleared the
scabbard, called, '_Corporal!_'
Hammerstone's voice came from a distance, echoing through the
tunnel. 'Right here, Patera. I started dropping back as soon as I
heard you and him talking.'
'Hammerstone has no _light_, I fear. He tells me he lost it when he
was _shot_. But he can see in the dark better than _we_, Auk. Better
than _any_ biological person, in fact.'
Auk, who could see nothing in the pitch blackness, said, 'I got
eyes like a cat.'
'_Do_ you really. What have I in my _hand_, in that case?'
'My needler.' Auk sniffed; there was a faint stench, as though
someone were cooking with rancid fat.
'You're guessing.' Hammerstone sounded closer. 'You can't see
Patera's needler 'cause he's not holding it. You can't see my slug
gun either, but I see you and I got it aimed at you. Try to stick
Patera with that thing, and I'll shoot you. Put it up or I'll take it
away from you and bust it.'
Faintly, Auk heard the big soldier's rapid steps. He was running,
or at least trotting.
'Bird see,' the night chough muttered in Auk's ear.
'You don't have to do that,' Auk told Hammerstone. 'I'm putting
it up.' To Oreb he whispered, 'Where is he?'
'Come back.'
'Yeah, I know. Is he as close as that shaggy butcher?'
'Near men. Men wait.'
Auk called, 'Hammerstone! Stop. Watch out!'
The running steps halted. 'This better be good.'
'How many men, bird?'
'Many.' The night chough's bill clacked nervously. 'Gods too.
Bad gods!'
'Hammerstone, listen up! You can't see much better'n Patera. I
know that.'
'Spit oil!'
'Only I can. Between you and him, there's a bunch of culls,
waiting quiet up against the wall. They got--'
The sound that filled the tunnel was half snarl and half howl. It
was followed by a boom from Hammerstone's slug gun, and the ring
of a hard blow on metal.
'Hit head,' Oreb explained, and elaborated, 'Iron man.'
Hammerstone fired twice in quick succession, the echoing thunder
succeeded by a series of hard, flat reports and the tortured
shriekings of ricocheting needles.
'Get down!' Auk reached for a place where he thought Dace
might be, but his hand met only air.
A scream. Auk shouted, 'I'm coming, Jugs!' and found that he
was running already, sprinting sightless through darkness thicker
than the darkest night, his hanger blade probing the blackness
before him like a beggar's white stick.
Oreb flapped overhead. 'Man here!'
Auk slashed wildly again and again, half crouched, still advancing,
his left hand groping frantically for the knife in his boot. His
blade struck something hard that was not the wall, then bit deep into
flesh. Someone who was not Chenille yelped with pain and surprise.
Hammerstone's slug gun boomed, close enough that the flash lit
the vicinity like lightning: a naked skeletal figure reeled backward
