rescue. Farkarrez held an eighth dagger ready, smirking at Cyrene as she slowly pulled herself to her feet.
'If this had been combat,' the dead Reakmor said with a grin, 'I would not have hesitated, but this is, after all, only a game.' The knife wavered in his yellowish hand. 'Are you ready?'
'Bastard,' gritted Cyrene.
Farkarrez chuckled at the insult, and his slit throat quivered in delight. 'Good, you're ready.'
The dagger sailed from the Reakmor's bloodless fingers, and Logan decided a direct charge at the living corpse would do no good. Neither would attacking any of his men. Farkarrez already had the Jewel in his possession, and his soldiers had enclosed Logan and Cyrene in their half-circle. Still, they had to wait for Vaugen…
Sweat dribbled down Cyrene's face as she turned the eighth dagger aside, but the ninth blade skimmed her shoulder, filling her right arm with searing pain. She could feel the warm touch of her life fluid as it trickled down her bare skin, and, exhausted, she waited for Farkarrez's final throw.
'Farkarrez!' a sudden voice cried out, and Cyrene opened her eyes in wonder.
Both blonde and animated corpse saw the figure stanced upon the cliff, its feet precariously close to the edge. It took a moment before the weariness and pain lifted the fog from Cyrene's eyes and she recognized the form as Logan. Farkarrez, meanwhile, had fallen silent, his dead eyes once again hinting at the slightest bit of emotion.
Logan gave the cliff before him a quick glance before turning back to the dead Reakmor. 'You don't have everything you came to get,' the young man declared. 'And you never thought to guard our backs-after all, who would try to escape by leaping to their death?' Logan's blue eyes flashed. 'It's my turn to call the shots, Farkarrez, and I say let her go.'
The Reakmor got to his feet, his pale fists clenched at his sides. 'You are a fool, Matthew Logan,' he gargled. 'We have the Jewel.'
A powerful force of terror built itself up inside the young man as he gambled with the corpse. 'You only have the Jewel,' he corrected, 'but your leader wants more. If you don't let Cyrene go, you'll only have half of what you came to collect.'
The terror started to subside as Logan watched the deceased Reakmor stop and think. One of Farkarrez's soldiers took a shambling step toward the young man, and Logan inched nearer to the cliff.
'I swear it!' he yelled. 'I'll jump! Then where will you be?' He chanced a snide smirk. 'Your leader won't like what you've caused.'
A swift hand halted the dead soldier starting toward Logan, and Farkarrez turned his emotionless gaze on Cyrene. There was silence in the Hills as the Reakmor glanced back at Logan.
'You are fortunate you are no use to Vaugen as an animated corpse,' Farkarrez scowled. He waved a yellow-green hand toward Cyrene. 'You heard your lover,' he spat. 'You are free.'
Cyrene remained where she was, staring at the young man and dead Reakmor. Somehow, Logan was important enough to the Reakthi that he had to be kept alive, but did the blonde dare leave? Vaugen himself was coming here! Vaugen! The man who murdered her father! The man Cyrene swore vengeance on! She could have her chance to strike back for her father-or Farkarrez might kill her before the Imperator even got within three leagues of the Hills. She, unlike Logan, was of no importance to the Reakthi.
Hastily, the blonde sprinted through the half-circle of dead soldiers, bundled her provisions in her arms, and hurried down the hillside. She hesitated a moment, giving Logan a swift glance before she raced around a boulder and was lost from sight.
'And none of your men leave this camp tonight,' Logan ordered. 'Not until she's far away.'
Farkarrez ground his chipped teeth. 'As you command,' he grated. 'Now kindly step away from that cliff.'
'Not until tonight,' he retorted, 'when I know Cyrene's safely away.'
The Reakmor released an animallike snarl as he turned away and started retrieving his daggers. Certain Farkarrez was not going to rush him, Logan peered down at the mountains below him. Sparrill was stretched out before him, green and beautiful, yet that insistent buzz of disharmony hung in the clean air. The Sea of Hedelva glittered to the young man's left, and, questing, his eyes scanned the south. Moknay and Thromar were somewhere in that direction, probably heading toward Prifrane. Hopefully, Cyrene could get there in time and tell the two men where he was. He had only won a small skirmish against Farkarrez-the real battle would start when Vaugen arrived…
Matthew Logan stared as shadows splashed themselves across the greenery of Sparrill, reaching out dark tendrils toward the Hills and his perch. The ring of dead soldiers waited silently behind him, their putrid odor spoiling the freshness of the mountains. Farkarrez reclined against a nearby boulder.
'Surely the girl is a safe distance by now,' the Reakmor said. 'Why don't you come away from there?'
Logan tore his eyes away from the encroaching darkness and peered down at his bare feet. 'Give me back my clothes,' he answered.
Farkarrez waved to one of his warriors and the corpse shuffled over to the pile of provisions. As it went to move aside the Jewel, there was a brilliant flare of light and the animated corpse crumpled to the ground, dead once more. Quietly, Logan cursed. If only Farkarrez had been the one to get his clothes, then the other corpses would have been left here leaderless and escape would have been much easier.
Reakmor Farkarrez scrambled to his feet, his dead eyes narrowing. 'You have odd fortune,' he said to Logan. 'I had no idea the Jewel was capable of doing such things. Fortune, however, is also on my side-for I have the Jewel.' He turned to the skeletal thief. 'You, bring him his clothes, and do not touch the Jewel.'
The magically intact skeleton clattered over to the supplies and pulled free the already half-exposed clothing. Obediently, it tossed them in Logan's direction and returned to its place in the half-circle.
Leaving the protective bargaining of his perch, Logan hastily jumped back into his garments. When he finished tugging on his sweat suit, Farkarrez had already stationed two men at the cliff, expressionless eyes and faces staring dumbly at Logan.
'You must not be one for sport,' Farkarrez rasped. 'Why did you make me release the girl? I had such things in store for her.'
Logan felt the warmth of his clothing joined by the heat of rage. 'You're sick!' he spat.
Farkarrez chuckled his hideous chuckle. 'Far from sick,' he quipped. 'I'm dead.'
While the Reakmor's garbled laughter echoed out across the Hills of Sadroia, Logan's experiences of the past few weeks returned. Perhaps there was another way of tricking the dead warrior.
'Why don't you make yourself alive again?' the young man questioned.
Farkarrez's eyes sparked briefly. 'How?'
Logan shrugged, hiding his grin. 'The Jewel is all-powerful, isn't it? It kept that Zackaron guy alive for years- why can't it bring you back?'
The Reakmor laughed harshly. 'I am not stupid,' he declared. 'We just saw what the Jewel did to one of my men. Greed will not overcome my caution concerning that gemstone.'
'But your man wasn't touching the Jewel,' argued Logan. 'It just kind of flared up. It might have been nothing more than an accident.'
'Your suicidal threat technique worked much better,' Farkarrez gloated, smirking in two places. 'Next time, stay with that.'
Logan frowned and turned to the south again. If he wanted to get out of this mess, he'd probably have to wait for Moknay and the others. Hopefully, they'd rescue him before Vaugen got here. If they didn't, Logan wouldn't be here when his friends finally did come for him.
Stars soon flickered into sight as the sky turned black, and Logan lay on his back, staring up at the pinpoints, of light. Farkarrez and his zombies stood motionless about him, and some appeared to be asleep… or at least shut down. There were still far too many to run from, and, even if Logan did escape, he couldn't leave the Jewel to fall into Vaugen's hands. The Jewel! If only it would flare up again and knock out some more men.
The young man paused, gazing at the night sky. It was odd that the soldier had been felled by such a small flare-up of light. During the last disaster, the thief had been burned, but not entirely disintegrated. The corpse toppled as if it had been instantly snuffed out. Why would the Jewel instantly down one of Farkarrez's warriors?
Silently, the young man rose up on one elbow, scanning the corpses guarding him. If only he could get to his
