Her warmth appeared to make Mardiz-sul uncomfortable. “Ah, thank you, sunlady, truly. But nothing’s decided yet. I believe that Captain Fezim asked for fifty men-at-arms, with the implication being that he would be in command.”
Aoth frowned. “That’s right.”
“I mean no insult, but that’s unacceptable. Firestormers expect to be led by one of their own. I can’t ask them to follow a Thayan with a dubious reputation.”
Gaedynn grinned at Aoth. “Imagine if he had meant to insult you.”
Aoth shot him an irritated glance then turned his luminous blue gaze back on the genasi. “I respect your honesty. I trust you’ll respect mine if I talk to you in the same way.”
Mardiz-sul hesitated. “I suppose.”
“Can I assume Yarel-karn is well regarded within the Cabal? The rest of you don’t think of him as incompetent, a simpleton, or anything like that?”
“No!” said Mardiz-sul. “Of course not.” Flame flowed along one of the golden lines on his hand, stopping just short of the ring.
“Well, as Gaedynn mentioned, we helped him and his men. They needed it because he made a mistake no competent professional soldier would make.”
“Anyone can make an error,” Mardiz-sul replied.
“Anyone who lacks training and experience,” said Aoth. “Does that describe you? I ask because I suspect you mean to command the expedition to kill Vairshekellabex, with the three of us tagging along as guides and advisers.”
“I come from a noble family,” the genasi said, glowering. “My forefathers were warriors remembered to this day. Naturally my education encompassed the martial arts.”
“But I’ve got a hunch you’ve never had to apply what you studied,” said Aoth. “Not until the army abandoned the settlers in the hinterlands, and that so bothered you that you felt called to join the firestormers.”
“And as long as we’re talking about training and experience,” said Gaedynn, “let’s not limit the conversation to you and Yarel-karn. I assume the fellows who would accompany us are the firestormers you can gather quickly, the ones here in Airspur as opposed to those already making themselves useful out in the borderlands. Who are they, new recruits? The rawest of the raw and the greenest of the green?”
“You have no right to jeer at us!” said Mardiz-sul. “The Cabal has saved hundreds of lives since it began!”
“I believe it,” said Aoth, his tone conciliatory. “Yarel-karn and his men fought bravely. I’m sure you and the warriors who follow you do the same. My point is simply that you’re not seasoned professionals, and we’re talking about going after a dragon and its servants. To have a fighting chance, you need to let the two fellows who are professionals apply their skills to best advantage. That means letting me command with Gaedynn as my lieutenant.”
“Please,” Cera said. “You referred to Aoth’s ‘dubious reputation.’ But if you’ve heard reports of the war in Threskel, then surely you realize that he and his company were instrumental in Tchazzar’s triumph.”
Mardiz-sul sighed. “I have heard, sunlady. Those reports, and your holy office, are why I take your story seriously. But still, to entrust my command…” He turned back to Aoth. “If you’re so certain it would be suicide to follow me, will you simply tell me where to look for Vairshekellabex? Then we firestormers can go fight him by-”
Gaedynn heard a soft scratching sound. “Shut up,” he said.
Mardiz-sul gaped as if no one had ever spoken to him so rudely. His stunned silence enabled Gaedynn to be sure of what he was hearing.
Wishing he were wearing his brigandine, he sprang up from his chair, slung his quiver over his back, and restrung his bow. Instantly following his lead, Aoth jumped up and grabbed his spear. A greenish glimmer flowed along the razor edges of the head.
Cera took only a heartbeat longer to stand up and grip her gilded mace. She was learning.
Meanwhile, Mardiz-sul gawked at them with all the other diners, tipplers, and servers on the terrace. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Something’s climbing up the outside of the building,” Gaedynn said. “Probably because it isn’t kindly disposed-”
A creature swarmed over the parapet.
Gaedynn had noticed various species of domesticated drakes since coming to Akanul, but this reptile seemed different. Something about it reminded him of the beasts that had fought alongside Alasklerbanbastos’s troops, the diverse but always ferocious creatures called dragonspawn.
Whatever it was, it was even bigger than a griffon, with gray scales that gleamed like metal in the sun. It also had a dragon’s shape, including the batlike wings. Apparently it had flown in low, below its intended victims’ lines of sight, then climbed up the wall in the hope of surprising them.
I’m afraid that didn’t work, Gaedynn thought. He nocked, drew, and released, and the shaft plunged into the dragonspawn’s serpentine neck.
As he’d expected, that first wound wasn’t enough to stop it. Its chest swelled and it cocked its head back, revealing its intention to spit some sort of breath weapon. Gaedynn poised himself to dodge, then noticed Mardiz- sul’s situation. Slow with astonishment, the self-important firestormer was still getting up. Which meant that he almost certainly wouldn’t be able to evade the incoming blast.
It occurred to Gaedynn that it might not be entirely bad if he didn’t. Maybe the next firestormer to come along would be more amenable to reason. But even as the thought flickered through his head, he jumped up onto the table and scrambled across it. He sprang at Mardiz-sul and hurled both the genasi and his seat backward.
He and the firesoul slammed down in a heap, the chair shattering beneath them. At the same instant, the dragonspawn’s head shot forward, and its jaws snapped open.
Whatever streamed out was invisible. But it smashed the table to splinters and the crockery to bits and sent the wreckage flying the length of the terrace.
Gaedynn jumped up off Mardiz-sul, reached for another arrow, and pivoted to put the dragonspawn in front of his bow again. The rooftop was chaos as screaming genasi ran back and forth, either trying to reach the stairs that led down into the inn or simply to put distance between themselves and the beast. Windsouls leaped into the air and flew toward safety.
Gaedynn wished the cursed dragonspawn would fly too because he was having trouble lining up a shot through the frantic crowd. But the beast stayed on its feet and plowed straight through the genasi, brushing them aside like a top knocking over pins on a game board. Maybe the creature was cunning enough to know they were providing it with cover.
Retreating, Gaedynn managed to drive one arrow into its chest despite the living obstacles in the way. Then he had his back against the parapet, and the dragonspawn was closing fast. Curse it, where was Aoth? Gaedynn snatched for one of his enchanted shafts-
Then he happened to look into the dragonspawn’s dull blue, slit-pupil eyes. A shock ran through him, except that, paradoxically, it was a jolt of dullness and lethargy. He still knew that his only chance was to shoot instantly, yet suddenly his thoughts were muddled, and his hands, numb and slow. He couldn’t line up the nock with the string.
The dragonspawn opened its jaws, exposing double rows of jagged fangs. But as it started to reach for him it faltered, then spun around.
The motion revealed Mardiz-sul standing behind it. He’d just cut the dragonspawn’s hindquarters with his sword, distracting it, and the blade was still stuck in the wound. As the creature whirled to retaliate, it yanked the hilt from his grip.
It was the genasi’s turn to make a frantic retreat. He thrust out his arms, and his hands burst into flame and burned like torches, but that didn’t deter the dragonspawn. It lunged after him anyway.
Fortunately, once the creature had averted its gaze, Gaedynn’s half-stupor fell away from him. He drew the arrow back and loosed.
The enchanted shaft hit the reptile at the base of its tail, just to the right of the spot where Mardiz-sul’s lost sword was bouncing around. The arrow stabbed all the way into the gray creature’s body and disappeared. According to Jhesrhi, who’d evaluated its properties, it should burrow relentlessly onward until it reached a vital
