Cheyenne frowned at her friend, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. “We can’t just walk away and let them keep bringing this over.”
“We can’t stop them either, Cheyenne.”
“Bullshit. There have to be thousands of O’gúleesh on this side who would stand up to fight this. I’m pretty sure those born Earthside wouldn’t want a foreign monarch shipping weapons and machine parts into our world. That’s part of why the FRoE’s around, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.” Maleshi shrugged and stared at Corian and Persh’al, still arguing on the other side of the clearing. Lumil and Byrd stalked back and forth in front of the O’gúl soldiers, their magic at the ready as they kept an eye out for any idiot stupid enough to make a move. “But this portal can’t possibly be the only one popping up around the world on its own. And I have a feeling it won’t be the only one spilling the in-between out on this side.”
“But this one’s right here.” Cheyenne stared at the Nightstalker as Maleshi made her way toward the arguing O’gúleesh. “We make a stand at this one because we know about this one. Hey, don’t walk away from me.”
Maleshi whirled, her silver eyes glinting fiercely. “I’ve always loved your spirit, kid. You’re a lot like me, and I seriously appreciate your dedication to acting in the moment, based on what you know right now. But today, while we’re here, I wouldn’t repeat the mistake of telling me what to do.”
The halfling swallowed. “I’m not one of your soldiers, Mattie.”
“But I’m the one calling the shots, so let me take care of it until we know more and can put together another plan.” That feral grin spread across the Nightstalker ex-general’s face again before she shot Cheyenne a devious wink. “And relax, huh? There’s more than one way to skewer a drow.”
Chapter Eighty-One
“We need to figure out where they were planning to take this shipment.” Maleshi, Corian, Persh’al, and Cheyenne huddled in the center of the clearing while the goblins kept up their patrol over their O’gúleesh prisoners.
“And which asshole figured out how to make all this crap work over here,” Persh’al added. “Put me in a room with whoever it is, and I’ll have every single piece of information stripped from his brain. Only need half an hour.”
Corian shot the troll a warning look. “One step at a time, friend.”
“Yeah, but it’s the one step ahead that gets me excited.”
“Don’t get too excited just yet.” Maleshi glanced over her shoulder at the tied-up magicals who served the Crown. “I don’t think we’ll get anything out of them.”
“We should try anyway.” Corian cocked his head with a dangerously playful smirk when the ex-general raised an eyebrow. “I used to trust your judgment implicitly, General, but we’re both four hundred years out of practice with that one.”
Maleshi hissed out a laugh. “At the very least, it might be just as fun as tying them all up in the first place.”
“Nah. I like this part better.” The Nightstalkers exchanged vicious knowing glances before splitting away from the huddle and taking off toward opposite sides of the clearing.
Cheyenne stepped after Maleshi toward the far side of the clearing with the weapons crates, but Persh’al stopped her with a loud clearing of his throat.
“I’d sit this one out if I were you, kid.”
“Are you telling me whatever those two are about to do is worse than that shitshow of a fight you and I barely had time to join?”
The troll cocked his head with a one-armed shrug, the tips of his gelled orange mohawk dropping unnervingly close to the halfling’s face. “Yeah.” He nodded at the closest group of loyalist prisoners. “For them.”
“Time for interrogations, huh?” Cheyenne folded her arms and turned to see Corian squat, his fur-tufted fist clutching the front of a sneering goblin’s uniform shirt.
“You gonna have a problem with that?”
“Not really. I’ve seen it before.”
Persh’al jerked his chin with a curious smirk. “And you were the one asking the questions, weren’t you?”
The halfling shrugged and didn’t say anything else. Durg’s the only one who told me something useful.
A low chuckle rose from the troll as he shook his head. “I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.”
“Why? ‘Cause I’m too cheery to interrogate anyone?”
Persh’al snorted. “’Cause you’re too much like him.”
She grimaced and glanced across the clearing at Maleshi, who shoved a snarling orc onto his side before looming over him and grabbing his shirt with both hands. “We can stop talking about how much I have in common with a guy I don’t even know.”
“I’d say it’s a pretty good time to get to know him, wouldn’t you? Especially after all this.” The troll gestured across the clearing, flinching when Corian sent his fist hurtling into the goblin’s ribs.
Cheyenne watched the Nightstalkers working their interrogation techniques on either side of the clearing. “They’re doing this for him, aren’t they?”
“That’s part of it.” Persh’al sniggered. “Kinda funny, though. L’zar’s in that joke of a prison right now to keep you safe, and it’s the only thing keeping the Crown from coming after him.”
The halfling raised an eyebrow. “After everything I’ve seen in the last few days, I’m not sure Chateau D’rahl could stand up to something like this. Or to magicals like Corian and Maleshi, if they really wanted to get to him.”
“Of course not. That’s the thing, though, kid. The Crown wants L’zar out of the way, and for now, he’s doing all the heavy lifting for her. These forces won’t lift a finger to go after him while he’s locking
