Neither of the men moved or squeaked.
“That’s right. It’s not allowed.” The dog shook its head, throwing off droplets of blood. “Murderer, you crusty old sorcerer, what will you give me to save these people?”
I decided to accommodate the hound for a bit. Maybe it would get distracted and I could kill it or hurt it. Hell, it would probably have to fall down and break three legs for me to touch it. “Dog . . . should I call you something else?”
“No, Dog is just fine.”
I shrugged. “Dog, I sure as shark bait don’t intend to give up anything of my own. After all, I didn’t invite you here. You had best bargain with the people of this town and allow them to save themselves.”
Dog giggled, and my neck hair stood up. “That is wise. I have heard that the Murderer is wise! Doesn’t everyone think the Murderer is wise?” It gazed around at the crowd, but nobody spoke. Dog shouted, “The squalid creatures in this unhygienic habitation shall pay me to secure their survival. However, the Murderer will bargain on their behalf.”
I stepped back. “That is a foolish idea, and I will not do it!” I didn’t intend to get even more caught up in this, whatever the hell this was.
Paul didn’t speak, but he shook his head so hard that his long hair whipped almost straight out from his skull.
Dog swung around to stare at an old woman at the front of the crowd. She coughed, bent over, and fell onto her face, limp. Three people knelt to turn her on her back, and they murmured as they poked and listened. I ignored them, since I had no doubt she was dead.
Dog grinned. “Do you want to see how many I can do at once? While defecating?”
I held up my hand as I gazed around at the terrified people scrambling back. “Wait! I need to talk to Paul here without you making his heart fly out of his mouth or something.”
The dog sat on its haunches. “Go ahead, if you just have to.”
I stepped close to Paul and muttered, “What can you pay?”
“You piece of filth!”
“Yes, you’re my hero too. What can you pay? Think in terms of things you can give up, things you can do, or things you can agree to have done to you.”
Paul sneered at me, but his face dropped as he gazed at the dead woman. “We can pay some gold, I suppose.”
I turned to Dog. “If you spare all their lives, they will give you all the gold in town.”
“Wait—” Paul whuffed as I elbowed him in the stomach.
Dog walked in a circle. “That’s disappointing. You’re hardly showing any imagination at all. I can already get all the gold I want.”
“Come on, look at who’s involved in this deal.” I jerked my head at Paul and then gestured around at the crowd, now over a hundred people slightly more curious than terrified. Halla had shown up behind me at some point, holding a spear longer than she was tall.
“I see what you mean,” Dog said. “But I won’t give them all back in exchange for mere gold—the gods would laugh. I’ll give up everyone except the youngest person in each house. Those I shall be forced to destroy.” Dog giggled again and frisked like a puppy.
I leaned toward Paul again. “What else have you got?”
He scowled. “What do you mean? Build it a kennel or something?”
“Good idea.” I turned to Dog. “To save all the youngest people in each house, this town will build a temple to the god or goddess of your choice. A big one.” If Dog was touchy about the gods laughing at it, maybe sucking up to the gods a little would please it.
“I like that! Not enough to give back everybody, of course, but I do admire the idea.” Dog paced around the square, forcing people back. “I’ll let the young people living between here and the river survive. I’ll still destroy the youngest in all the other houses. Oh, oh, build the temple right here! In fact, knock down a few of these appalling structures around us so you can build a bigger temple. Lutigan . . . yes, a Temple of Lutigan!”
I put on the greatest fake smile I could manage. None of the gods liked me, but Lutigan hated me more than any of the others. I turned to Paul and murmured, “What else?”
He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “You can’t think of anything? Do you want me to think of something for you?”
Paul’s eyes got wide. “No! Um, we’ll stop the . . . we’ll turn away travelers for a month.”
That would hurt any town on the Empire Road. “Dog, these fine people will tell travelers to go to hell for the next month, if it will save everybody who’s left.”
“Maybe . . . it doesn’t exactly make my crotch tingle.” Dog stared around at the crowd. “All right, I feel generous. I won’t kill the youngest ones living between the river and that big road. I’ll just take them away with me. That’s a lot better than death!”
“Let’s not settle on taking anybody away just yet,” I said. “To clarify, we’re bargaining over two batches of young people now. You’re talking about taking away the ones between the river and the road but not killing them. What about the ones south of the road?”
“I’ll take them away too.”
I decided to chip away at his position. “For the current offer of ‘telling all travelers to screw themselves,’ you could take away just half of the young people living south of the road.”
“Done!”
I closed my eyes when I realized what I’d said. I couldn’t take it back, and I didn’t want to see. I heard the screaming, though.
After
