'With the blood loss,' Hayrith said, eyes narrowing, 'she probably won't survive it.'
'Maybe. For now, just sit with her. Hold her damned hand and talk, and-'
'Yes, yes, witch, you ain't the only one round here who knows about all that.'
'Good. So get going.'
'You've just been waiting for this, haven't ya?'
'Be quiet, you udderless cow.'
'Queen Nulliss, High Priestess of Bitchiness!'
'Blacksmith,' Nulliss growled, 'hit her with that axe, will you?'
Hissing, Hayrith scurried off.
'Help me,' Nulliss said to him, 'we've got to lift him now.'
It seemed a pointless task, but he did as she asked, and was surprised to hear her pronounce that the young man still lived after they'd set him on the blanket.
As Nulliss and the others carried him away, Barathol strode back to the dismembered corpse of the old, tattooed man. And crouched at his side. It would be an unpleasant task, but it was possible that Barathol could learn something of him from his possessions. He rolled the body over, then halted, staring down into those lifeless eyes. A cat's eyes. He looked with renewed interest at the pattern of tattoos, then slowly sat back.
And only then noticed all the dead flies. Covering the ground on all sides, more flies than he had ever seen before. Barathol straightened, walked back to the dead demon.
Staring down thoughtfully, until distant motion and the sound of horse hoofs snared his attention. Behind him, villagers had returned to retrieve the pregnant woman.
And now he watched as the rider rode directly towards him.
On a lathered horse the colour of sun-bleached bone. Wearing dustsheathed armour lacquered white. The man's face pale beneath the rim of his helm, drawn with grief. Reining in, he slipped down from the saddle and, ignoring Barathol, staggered over to the demon, where he fell to his knees.
'Who – who did this?' he asked.
'T'lan Imass. Five of them. A broken lot, even as T'lan Imass go. An ambush.' Barathol pointed towards the body of the tattooed man. 'They were after him, I think. A priest, from a cult devoted to the First Hero Treach.'
'Treach is now a god.'
To that, Barathol simply grunted. He looked back at the ramshackle hovels of the hamlet he had come to think of as home. 'There were two others. Both still alive, although one will not last much longer. The other is pregnant and even now gives birth-'
The man stared up at him. 'Two? No, there should have been three. A girl…'
Barathol frowned. 'I'd thought the priest was their target – they were thorough with him – but now I see that they struck him down because he posed the greatest threat. They must have come for the girl – for she is not here.'
The man rose. He matched Barathol in height, if not breadth. 'Perhaps she fled… into the hills.'
'It's possible. Although,' he added, pointing at a dead horse nearby, 'I'd wondered at that extra mount, saddled like the others. Cut down on the trail.'
'Ah, yes. I see.'
'Who are you?' Barathol asked. 'And what was this missing girl to you?'
Shock was still writ deep into the lines of his face, and he blinked at the questions, then nodded. 'I am named L'oric. The child was… was for the Queen of Dreams. I was coming to collect her – and my familiar.' He looked down once more at the demon, and anguish tugged at his features yet again.
'Fortune has abandoned you, then,' Barathol said. A thought occurred to him. 'L'oric, have you any skill in healing?'
'What?'
'You are one of Sha'ik's High Mages, after all-'
L'oric looked away, as if stung. 'Sha'ik is dead. The rebellion is crushed.'
Barathol shrugged.
'Yes,' L'oric said, 'I can call upon Denul, if required.'
'Is the life of that girl all that concerns you?' He gestured down at the demon. 'You can do nothing for your familiar – what of their companions? The young man will die – if he has not already done so.
Will you stand here, dwelling only on what you have lost?'
A flash of anger. 'I advise caution,' L'oric said in a low voice. 'You were once a soldier – that much is obvious – yet here you have hidden yourself away like a coward, whilst the rest of Seven Cities rose up, dreaming of freedom. I will not be chastised by one such as you.'
Barathol's dark eyes studied L'oric a moment longer, then he turned away and began walking towards the buildings. 'Someone will come,' he said over his shoulder, 'to dress the dead for burial.'
Nulliss had chosen the old hostelry to deposit her charges. A cot was dragged out from one of the rooms for the woman, whilst the eviscerated youth was laid out on the communal dining table. A cookpot filled with water steamed above the hearth, and Filiad was using a prod to retrieve soaked strips of cloth and carry them over to where the Semk woman worked.
She had drawn out the intestines once more but seemed to be ignoring that pulsing mass for the moment, both of her hands deep in the cavity of his gut. 'Flies!' she hissed as Barathol entered. 'This damned hole is filled with dead flies!'
'You will not save him,' Barathol said, walking to the bar counter and setting down his axe on the battered, dusty surface, the weapon making a heavy clunking sound on the wood. He began removing his gauntlets, glancing over at Hayrith. 'Has she given birth?' he asked.
'Aye. A girl.' Hayrith was washing her hands in a basin, but she nodded towards a small bundled shape lying on the woman's chest. '
Already suckling. I'd thought things were gone bad, blacksmith. Bad.
The baby came out blue. Only the cord weren't knotted and weren't round its neck.'
'So why was it blue?'
'Was? Still is. Napan father, I'd say.'
'And the mother's fate?'
'She'll live. I didn't need Nulliss. I know how to clean and sear a wound. Why, I followed the Falah'd of Hissar's Holy Army, seen plenty a battlefields in my day. Cleaned plenty a wounds, too.' She flung water from her hands, then dried them on her grubby tunic. 'She'll have fever, of course, but if she survives that, she'll be fine.'
'Hayrith!' called out Nulliss. 'Get over here and rinse out these rags! Then toss 'em back in the boiling water – gods below, I'm losing him – his heart, it's fading.'
The door swung open. Heads turned to stare at L'oric, who slowly stepped inside.
'Who in Hood's name is that?' Hayrith asked.
Barathol unstrapped his helm as he said, 'High Mage L'oric, a refugee from the Apocalypse.'
Hayrith cackled. 'Well, ain't he found the right place! Welcome, L' oric! Grab yourself a tankard a dust an' a plate of ashes an' join us!
Fenar, stop staring and go find Chaur an' Urdan – there's horse meat out there needs butchering – we don't want none a them wolves in the hills comin' down an' gettin' it first.'
Barathol watched as L'oric strode over to where Nulliss knelt above the youth on the table. She was pushing in rags then pulling them out again – there was far too much blood – no wonder the heart was fading.
'Move aside,' L'oric said to her. 'I do not command High Denul, but at the very least I can clean and seal the wound, and expunge the risk of infection.'
'He's lost too much blood,' Nulliss hissed.
'Perhaps,' L'oric conceded, 'but let us at least give his heart a chance to recover.'
Nulliss backed away. 'As you like,' she snapped. 'I can do no more for him.'
Barathol went behind the bar, crouched opposite a panel of wood, which he rapped hard. It fell away, revealing
