Nira thought back to the vision she had shared with the man when she grabbed him months ago in the tunnels beneath Far East. In it, the Naga ambassador Sycara had told him that the Governor had betrayed Garrett even as she ate his flesh. Hard to keep working for the man after that, I’d think. She’d thought about that vision quite a lot since then; it had been the first indicator that her foresight might not be infallible.
“And your private business takes you to the ass end of the wilderness, does it?” Renna said blandly.
“Matter of fact, it does, Mistress. For as big a mess as you folks leave behind, you sure are damned hard to track down. Half that rich neighborhood up on the hill burned, you know, back in Megalith. No less than four spore hubs exploded in the Low Quarter, and half the neighborhood came loose and drifted downriver. I hear the Coliseum will be closed for repairs for the better part of a year. If I were still in charge of an army, I’d hire your little squad, drop you off in the middle of the enemy force, and just wait for the whole thing to go to shit.”
“We’re flattered you’ve gone to such lengths for a reunion, Mr. Garrett, but it’s rather late, and we seem to have misplaced our campsite.” The Weaver gave him a tight smile.
“About that...” he replied. “Do you know how badly my throat hurts every day? I’m tempted to take off a finger or two just to give you a taste. But I’m not a man that just casually maims and murders people from the word go.”
“I seem to recall otherwise,” Renna said.
“Oh, shut up. You barged into the middle of a secret conference – what were we supposed to do? I’d have been happy to bundle you off with a few threats, but the governor wouldn’t have it, especially not once that Naga bitch showed up. His precious pact,” the former general sneered, spitting in the water. “Lot of good it did. You two royally botched the whole thing. Fighting started back up between Far East and the Naga just a few days after you escaped. Apparently, the snakes decided we couldn’t be trusted. There’s going to be a major offensive in just a couple of weeks, but I decided to retire. I’ve had other things on my mind.”
He pointed at Nira, and her heart skipped a beat. “I saw it, when you touched me. I saw her eating me, and it was happening for real even though it hadn’t happened. You understand?”
She considered playing dumb, but after a moment realized it was likely to just get her tortured. “I saw it,” she said. “It happens when I touch people sometimes.”
“Why?”
“I got caught in the Pure Light,” she said.
She half expected him to laugh, or scoff, or drag her underwater and demand the truth, but he did none of it. “Is it true?” he begged, leaning forward, fist clenched.
There it is. That one question, the same that Renna had demanded at first, was at the heart of it all. It was the reason she’d tried in recent days to hold back from seeing as much as she could of everyone’s future – at least when they knew what she was doing. Otherwise, she’d be answering that question for the rest of her life. “I’ve seen bits and pieces come to pass for others,” she said. “But does knowing a thing change whether it will happen? I don’t know. I mean, you quit the army, right? Maybe it won’t happen the way I saw.”
“But is it true?” he hissed, urgent. He crossed to her, grabbed her by the shoulder. “I have to know.”
She grunted under his painful grip. “It’s not a trick. It’s the Pure Light. I don’t know why; I didn’t want it. But whether or not it happens… yes, it’s true. I’m telling the truth.”
He sagged backward, his grip going slack. He closed his eyes and turned his face up to the sky. He was unshaven and dirty, and Nira suddenly knew that he’d not had a moment’s peace since first she touched him and upended his world.
When his eyes opened again, they were calculating. “Take the boy and go,” he said to Renna. “I’ll leave you alone, and no payback for my throat, but I’m taking the girl.”
“What?” Nira tried to pull back from him, but his fingers tightened like whipvines.
“The girl is valuable to us,” objected Renna.
“I know that,” Garrett replied. “That’s why she’s coming with me.”
“I am not pleased,” Renna said cautiously.
“We could just kill you and take her,” he allowed, “but I’d rather not risk my men any further. I have to pay the Bone Army a ridiculous fee if one dies.”
“You will not take her,” Kest growled, lurking at the fringe of the light.
“Didn’t ask you, boy... Goddess beneath, what’s wrong with your face? What is that?” Lifting his torch, the old soldier peered at him. Embarrassed, Kest turned the right side of his face away from the light. “Is that some work of yours, Weaver?”
Stone-faced, Renna said, “Yes.”
Garrett shook his head in disgust. “Megda was right about you. You don’t know where to stop. That’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen… and I’ve been to war.” He gestured to one of his mercenaries. “Tie the girl up.”
“Don’t!” cried Kest, rushing forward. The canny old soldier brought up the ridge of his hand just as Kest came close and chopped it across his windpipe. The young man dropped, gasping for air.
“Leave it, Kest,” commanded Renna. “We’re letting them take her.”
“No,” he protested, choking.
“No choice,” she said. “We’ll meet back up with the others and be glad we’re not dead.”
Garrett looked around, taking a quick head count. “Where’s the old one, the savage?” He waved to the farthest soldier, beckoning him
