A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 32
"Why are there so many Deathspawn out today?" Gahlun didn't bother with any greetings, not with an old friend like Waalut. "Somebody in town?"
"Meeting of some sort of important types. Trying to negotiate something big."
"Any chance we can make something off of them?"
"Nah, these aren't merchants. Politician types." Waalut finished gnawing the bone that remained from his meat and then wiped off his hands. "They're trying to negotiate some kind of southern campaign to eliminate all the raiders."
Gahlun snorted. "That again? I wonder if they do it just to give them something to do."
"Well, it's got nothing to do with us either way. I assume you're here about the Estronese ore?"
"Actually, it does got something to do with us." Gahlun didn't want to deliver the bad news, but he always thought it was best to rip the scab off quick. "The next merchants found the caravan torn apart, and the raiders just dumped the metal into the mountains. They've written it off."
"Shit." Waalut dropped his head into his hands, but Gahlun frowned.
"Now see here. This sets us back, but there's no need for cursing. A man shouldn't need to curse."
Waalut rolled his eyes, but his irritation didn't last long. "I don't see how you can shrug this off. I made promises about that metal. I was counting on getting a good cut for doing the usual."
"It hurts everybody equally, as I see it. We've just got to find the opportunity here." Gahlun leaned closer and lowered his voice. "We're not the only ones the raiders have hit. Seems like Khenoon was also moving something important and got hornswoggled. As I see it, he'll be willing to pay a pretty penny for foreign goods right now."
"Khenoon? Really?"
"Seems like he was trying to send something along the western routes instead of the eastern. Something to do with new Deathspawn movement in the south, none of my business. I think this could be a real chance for us... but I can't talk to Khenoon myself."
"So you're not just here about the metal." Waalut eyed him carefully. "I assume you have an angle."
"Of course."
"If I get you in to see Khenoon, you cut me in?"
"Even profits, same as always. I need you for more than the introduction."
"Deal." Waalut rose to his feet and stuck out a hand, so Gahlun quickly clasped it. He'd been pretty sure it would work out, but it was still good to know. Despite his words, losing the metal scam had cost him too.
They waited for it to get dark and then wandered out of the tavern like a pair of drunken friends to avoid attention. On the way they talked about all the new nonsense, same as they talked about the weather. It was all politics in the end, way above their heads, except the nobles dropped something less pleasant than rain. Waalut had a more colorful phrase and for once Gahlun let it slide.
As he saw it, they'd never actually get a campaign together against the raiders, just like Revgaad would never actually go to war. Too many people of too many types. Even just walking, he saw too many Portantese people around. Technically they were part of Wahleen now, but they still had family over the border. Same with all the mansthein split up now that the new Deathspawn armies had come in.
Both of them had to hide again when a bunch of young errants went by. Marching around like they owned the place. Waalut went on about how the mansthein were arguing about taking on the local ranks, but Gahlun had never paid attention to all that nonsense. If you had warriors in your business, you were already half-way to a boondoggle.
When they reached the river, they crept along the dank edges to the lower entrance to the wheelhouse. The wheel still turned, and it still moved a grindstone, but that was just for show. Everyone who wasn't someone knew that it was the base of Khenoon, the biggest mansthein boss in Revgaad. With so many soldiers in town, he only had mansthein guards outside, but he worked with anyone who could pay. Except Gahlun hadn't had the pleasure, which was why he needed Waalut to get him in.
"We heard that Khenoon could use a few things," Waalut said. The guard wore his armor errant style, but with his helm propped up on the back of his head. Something was off about his expression.
"Khenoon ain't seeing nobody."
"But it's already dark! This is the best time to do business."
"Not like that. Not nobody." The guard looked around at the others, who looked downright lugubrious, then spoke in a low voice. "You know how Khenoon always talked about wanting to bring his family here?"
"I've heard." Waalut shifted uncomfortably, and though Gahlun kept himself still, he liked it even less.
"Well, he reckoned he could get around human Wahleen by sending his boy along the west. And the raiders just killed him. Didn't ask for a ransom or nothing, just fucking killed him."
"Watch your tongue," Gahlun said. "A boy is dead, no need for that."
The guard stared at him, incredulous. "What's this shit now?"
"Easy." Waalut stepped in between them. "So Khenoon is grieving, as he should. Did he at least get the body?"
"It ain't pretty, but he did. That's what's got him down." The guard slowly shook his head and looked between them. "Khenoon's second wants more of those human spices, if you're looking to offload something. But here... you'd better just keep your distance."
"We appreciate that." Gahlun nodded politely to the guard and started to step away, but the mansthein grabbed his arm.
"Actually, you... maybe you'd better keep your distance too. With all these Deathspawn in town, even the boss is getting pressure not to work with humans. Talk of war and all that shit."
"Careful there."
"Oh, shut it. I'm trying to warn you, be careful."
Gahlun nodded, but didn't believe it for a second. Wahleen and Portant liked to fight over who was bigger, but it never came to anything except among errants. When he was a kid, Gahlun remembered a time when Revgaad had been claimed by Portant and it hadn't changed a thing.
As he figured it, the Deathspawn were no different. A few liked to talk about how it might come to war, but everybody knew one another too well. They had a system that worked and they stuck to it. The only way it could go bad was if a real idiot came through pulverizing everything.
"I don't like this." Once they were further away from the wheelhouse, Waalut spoke. "Two important shipments through the mountains, two of them destroyed? Like the will of the heavens is out to get us."
"Don't talk superstitious poppycock." Gahlun elbowed his friend in the ribs. "Think about it: those two caravans got ambushed on the opposite sides of the mountains. They've got nothing to do with one another. Just bad luck. If we keep our heads down, we can find good luck again."
"I hope so... you have any contacts for spices?"
"Maybe. It would be toilsome, and... well, after all this, I need to think. Same place tomorrow?"
"Aye. I'll shake my contacts and see if anything falls out."
As Waalut left, Gahlun continued down the dark street. There was no light but starlight out here, and as long as he didn't get his purse cut, he was safe. Errants and Deathspawn didn't come to this part of Revgaad anyway. Gahlun always went to the darkest streets when he needed to think.
The problem was, his friend's comment about the bad luck was getting to him. Those raiders might be stupid, but were they stupid enough to just waste valuable metal and hostages? It reminded him of whenever a new operator came into the city, trying to do things their own way and discombobulating the system. He didn't want to believe that there was anyone who could upset the whole balance between nations, yet he found himself wondering if something wasn't changing...
"Evening." The voice came from a figure in a shadowy alley and Gahlun immediately turned away.
"Not looking to talk."
Vaulting over him in a single leap, the figure cut off his path. A trained warrior, then. Looked mansthein, but in the shadows Gahlun could only see something bright in his mouth. "I think you do want to talk, Gahlun. After I helped you with a certain incident, you owe me a favor."
Gahlun stared and realized that he recognized the mansthein man after all. "Well, shit."
Part 3
Circling Destiny
Chapter 24
-
"Whether or not the humans have a champion with unnatural powers is irrelevant. What matters is that this warrior proposes nothing less than the complete genocide of all mansthein, and convinces other humans to join his cause. If he can successfully unite groups across continents, or even mend the divisions in the Eternal Empire, then they will outnumber us. Can we allow such a thing to come to pass?"
- excerpt from a speech by Senatorios Ulhaliol
-
As Tani ran, the forest melted around her. Trees dropped away into the ground, tearing holes in the earth as they fell into nothingness. No matter how many steps she took, she never seemed able to reach the top of the mountain, which abruptly collapsed inward, inverting into a terrible chasm.
She recognized that she was dreaming, but that wasn't enough to wake her, not this time. Tani clenched her eyes, yet in the dream she could still see everything as she fell. The willful movement helped her focus, gathering her mental techniques around herself. When she saw the pale city beneath her, she refused to submit to its beauty.
Everything finally melted away and a new vision impacted on her mind: a path north, traveling along a river. Exactly where all the other dreams had led her.
"I'm going." Tani muttered the words and realized that she actually said them aloud as she drifted back to wakefulness. She was horribly tangled in the blanket around her and slowly extricated herself. By the time she could stand, she had mostly shed the weight of dreams.
She looked over the two distinct clusters of their camp. The Steelbone warriors lay around one fire, most without blankets because they simply didn't need them. Tani and several other women huddled in a smaller group, some distance away. Though some of those women thought of themselves as Steelbones, Tani couldn't think of them that way.
"You looked like you were having a bad dream." Cabari sat nearby, her arms around her bundle. The other woman gazed at her searchingly, but Tani only smiled and shook her head.
"Just a dream. Do you think we'll leave soon?"
"The warriors were saying that we'd arrive today. If we do, then it sounds like we'll split into two groups." Cabari hugged her bundle tighter. "Do you really think we'll be able to sell these? If we came all this way for nothing, Mohuno might be angry..."
"I'm certain they'll sell. I've never felt anything so soft." Tani sat down and put a reassuring hand on the other woman's arm, but in truth she was trying to convince herself as well. The Steelbones had traveled a long way through dangerous territory to reach this point. Regardless of Mohuno's promise, she knew that it had been difficult to convince his warriors.
If her claims about being able to trade proved false, that might turn opinion against her. Tani knew that she could escape, but the same could not be said for Cabari and the other villagers. Some had acted relieved to move to the Steelbone village, but Tani worried about them. There was so little that she could do for them, she had to hope that trading ombo wool proved their value to the warriors.
"I wish Rubako was here," Cabari whispered. It was the first time in the entire trip that she had mentioned her brother, but her voice held a deep loneliness.
"I understand, Cabari, but he needs to be there to look out for the other villagers."
"But who will look out for him?" As Cabari turned to look at Tani, her eyes held a different sort of concern. "He might try to fight the Steelbones, but if he doesn't... if they accept him, I worry... I don't want him to..."
"That won't happen, because you'll be there for him." Tani shifted closer and gave the best smile she could. "If you can set up trade in ombo wool, maybe you won't be reliant on warriors for everything."
"Not likely." Mohuno's voice from beside them made both women jump. He stood just outside their cluster with his arms folded, eyes locked on her. "No matter the profits, this trip is too dangerous to make normally. I only agreed because we promised to escort you. Speaking of that, come on."
He shifted his feet impatiently, so Tani only grabbed the weapons she wasn't wearing and followed. Though she felt slightly uncomfortable to leave without her supplies, she could trust Cabari and the others to bring them. As for Mohuno... her trust for him was a stunted thing, but it existed. They had been traveling together for days, after all, and he had shown no failings beyond those she already knew.
"We need to scout ahead," he told her as they left the camp. "I think everyone can reach the camp today, but we should check on it first. Other clans do raid here sometimes."
She accepted that logic, but didn't have time to say anything before he abruptly leapt forward. Mohuno grinned back over his shoulder, challenge evident in every quirk of his face. Despite herself, Tani began to run after him.
The gentle hills and valleys melted away as they raced ahead. Though Mohuno's raw speed was superior to hers, propelled by those obscenely strong muscles, she had an edge when it came to agility. When they ran through trees or over crags, she started to pass him, but whenever they had a straight path or a place to leap, he pulled ahead of her. She might have grown familiar with moving through the mountains, but he had been born in them.
Tani found herself looking over at Mohuno more than she wanted. In their time together, he remained consistently frustrating. He could see further ahead than the other men in his clan, and in some ways he could even be flexible. Yet in the end, just when she thought he might actually change, he would simply laugh off her arguments and continue onward.
Before she could finish sorting through her thoughts, they arrived. After they passed one final rise, they found themselves looking over a river and the trading camp beside it. Beyond, she could see only desolate sands, and at once Tani understood why all trade through the Sotunn Desert went over one of the two rivers: trying to take any other route would mean crossing a wasteland devoid of water.
"I haven't been here in a long time." Mohuno stared down, not at the desert, but at the camp below. "It's larger than before. Some of the merchants might be coming here, since the Deathspawn control the eastern river."
"Is there any danger of them here?"
"No, the Deathspawn lurk mostly in Wahleen. Here, the threat is errants from Espal or Portant. There's... no rush to go down. Take it in."
She wasn't sure if he knew that she wanted time or not, but she accepted it. From their height, it was difficult to make out details of the people across the sprawling camp, but she had improved since she'd set into the mountains from the south. Tani took a deep breath, drawing on the feeling of looking across an endless plain or from a soaring peak, then focused her sein on her eyes.
Many of the people in the camp had dark hair and light skin, like the raiding clans, but she suspected they were only local villagers. Her attention was instead drawn to the unfamiliar. Most strikingly, she saw a great many warriors wearing full suits of metal, covering even more of their bodies than Coran armor. Aside from them, she saw merchants in finely crafted clothes of green and purple, both men and women with garments wrapped around their neck and shoulders against the cold.
To her knowledge, Tani was the first Nelee to travel north of the Sotunn Mountains. When the Nelee explored, they mostly traveled south to the far-off land of Tur-Nol. Other Rhen had gone north - it was well-known that the West Wind had trained in the north - but they were not part of her tribe or her life. For her purposes, she was breaking new ground.
"Are we going to explore the camp?" she asked after some time. To her surprise, Mohuno merely turned to her with a grin.
"We've already seen that there are only a few errants. That's all we needed to do, and the others will catch up. Eventually." He stepped closer to her, again so they were almost touching. "The important thing is that no one is looking for us. Anything we do now, no one will know."
"So no one will know that I think you're insufferable."
"I don't know, you've suffered me for a long time. I think you want to suffer a little more." Mohuno reached down and brushed a lock of hair away from her face, not touching her skin. Her breath caught and Tani hung in the balance.
She actually considered it. Since Mohuno would never follow her into the desert, she would likely never see him again. Infuriating as he could be, the frustration that bubbled between them might lead to something enjoyable. Even if he was inconsiderate, she might be able to find some relief and then leave the memories behind.
Eventually she punched him lightly in the stomach. "You probably think I'll be so entranced by your prowess that you'll be able to convince me to return with you."
"Maybe." Mohuno rubbed his stomach, but the way his eyes danced, she could see that it had only interested him further. "Perhaps it will go the other way. I won't be able to live without you, and I'll follow you off on your mad journey. Don't you think it's worth the chance?"
"You are ridiculous." Tani turned away to hide the smile on her face, though she didn't second-guess her decision. The woman she had once been might have taken the chance, but now she thought too much about the uncontrolled violence she had seen in him. No, it would only bring up dark memories.
"I will weep over this every night, but so be it." Mohuno turned away with an exaggerated sigh and instead stared below. "Will I at least get to meet this Hero who has you so entranced?"
"Hopefully." She had no reason to believe it except one: this was not the first time she had seen the river. It had visited her every night in her dreams. If she had summoned all her willpower, she might have been able to reject the dreams and sever herself from this Legend.
Instead, she walked down toward the camp in hopes of finding the Hero.
~ ~ ~
Legendary destiny or not, Tani soon came to accept that it was not to be. She began to wonder if the others had yet to arrive, even worried that something might have happened to them. Eventually she spoke with a few merchants who had seen a group that she was sure was Melal and the Bloodskins: getting on a ship and heading north along the river. So she had no choice but to follow.
