A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 74
"There are others?" Melal glared forward at the activity surrounding the lone buildings. "What do they have to do with this?"
"Nothing, and you have nothing to do with their lives. If you want to reach your destination, you'll be quiet and follow Yetano's rules."
The others cooperated by pulling on the drab brown cloaks, and Melal calmed enough to accept one as well. Not with his old ambivalence, simply biding his time. When he sat on his side of the wagon, he never made contact with the others, only stared into the white clouds overhead.
As they drew closer, Tani extended her senses to observe Smuggler's Rest more carefully. Three buildings huddled together, one of which appeared to be a barn. Beside them, she saw three workers loading a wagon much like their own. On the opposite side, a large number of covered wagons sat in a row, guarded by men in familiar brown cloaks.
Had this been the Chorhan Expanse, they could have seen for leagues around them. Instead, even the drier regions of Portant were warped as if the earth itself was a twisted cloth. Rumpled hills extended in all directions, potentially hiding enemies. Most were covered in dull, short grass, but a few hills rose higher than the others. Some might be large enough to contain caves, but though Tani noted them with concern, she assumed those who worked at Smuggler's Rest had checked them.
The lone outpost did have guards, both rough men with weapons and a number of sein-trained warriors. She noted with bitter amusement that even these outlaws wore strips of metal to indicate their rank, happy to break other laws but not the customs of the Maenhu. Largely Ironsquires and Lesser Ironlords, so a battle would likely not be a threat to their lives.
If they offended their contact, however, it could be a threat to their plan. Tani kept an eye on Melal and resolved to keep her hood close to her face for the duration of their visit to Smuggler's Rest. The name had intrigued her in a morbid way, but now she simply wanted to be away.
For a time, Tani thought that their stop might be quiet. Their guide left to confer with the other smugglers, then returned to tell them that they should wait for a time. A few workers brought them water from a nearby well and told them to stay by the wagons. That should have been simple.
However, her caution made her automatically expand all of her senses around her, and those increasingly told her that something was wrong. Tani smelled mint more strongly than she should have for a few guards. And there was a tickling sensation that felt distinctly wrong, like an insect crawling over her skin. At first it was only a vague disturbance in her sein, but she gradually tracked it to the source.
The row of covered wagons.
If Tani had assumed that it contained warriors and looked away, she might not have noticed. But her gaze lingered, and her enhanced eyes saw into the shadows of one wagon. Red eyes stared back at her. Not only that, when she looked more carefully, she realized that many of the guards around the wagons were mansthein as well.
When Tani climbed out of the wagon, her body felt too heavy. Slaten had stepped a short distance away to stretch his legs and she joined him with a smile on her face. As soon as they faced away from the others, however, she dropped the expression.
"Slaten, there are mansthein here. In the wagons."
His eyes went not to the wagons, but first to Melal. "Do you think he knows?"
"Melal isn't observant enough to notice, but the Hero? The way he is now, I'm concerned that he might feel their presence. And if that happens..."
"I don't suppose you have any idea why they're here?" Not expecting an answer, Slaten surreptitiously cast a glance toward them. "It appears that they want to remain hidden, just as we do. Unless Melal learns of them, they will have nothing to do with us. Could we... simply pass each other by?"
"That might be best, but I..." Tani trailed off as she saw a cloaked figure gesturing to them. The cloak hid their form, and they stood at an angle so that their body was not visible except for dark boots, yet something about their stance cast a familiar hook into her mind.
Slaten noticed as well and they exchanged a glance. In the end, there was really no choice. Even if they were to simply sit and pretend to ignore the message, the figure might well be driven to a more dramatic attempt that would catch Melal's attention. He currently lay in the back of the wagon, staring skyward with a peaceful smile on his face. Tani shivered.
Veron watched them as they left, but said nothing. Tani and Slaten stepped away, and she was briefly afraid the workers would shout at them, but no one interfered until they had reached the figure. When they did, Tani bit back a curse.
"What are you doing here?" Celivia stared out at them, crimson eyes concerned. For a time there was no answer, and Tani refused to give one, so eventually Slaten responded.
"The plan is to smuggle ourselves into the mine. You?"
"The opposite." Celivia rubbed her forehead with one hand for an unusually long time, leading Tani to wonder if she was ill, but then she returned clear eyes to them. "Kreue is smuggling a group of women to the breeding pits in those wagons. Our plan was to wait for them to leave, then capture them on the way."
"Then both of us want to pass peacefully," Tani said. She looked between the other two sharply, urging them to see the logic. Celivia nodded, but Slaten appeared distracted. "This is a strange coincidence, but it doesn't need to have any meaning. Both of us leave, we go our separate ways, and we do as we've planned."
She saw Celivia reluctantly nod, but when she glanced at Slaten she saw that he was no longer looking at either of them. He spoke as if from a distance. "I do not believe this is simply a coincidence. Not when the Legend is involved. There must be something..."
Though Tani wanted to reject his statement and move away from Celivia, she had to admit he was correct. After all the horrors she had seen the Legend cause, the idea that it would bring them together here was not unreasonable. She ran her eyes over the outpost again, uncertain what she looked for.
Until she saw that Melal was gone.
At first they searched desperately, Tani's heart threatening to burst through her chest. She struggled to regain her balance, but it seemed the world was spinning until she found herself facing the sun. It burned through the bright clouds and suddenly her fear and confusion was replaced with a confidence that was far worse.
"Deathspawn!" The Hero's shout erupted over the outpost, all of it burning brightly. His cloak thrown aside, he marched toward the wagons. One of the guards had lowered his hood to scratch at his scalp and that had been enough for Melal to notice. Though if not that, Tani felt certain that something else would have happened to prevent a peaceful coincidence.
One of the guards was escorting a smaller figure that might have been a mansthein woman. Melal killed the guard in a single stroke and the woman fell to the ground, desperately raising a hand to defend herself. Tani should have started running, yet she found herself frozen as Melal raised his sword.
A dark bulk emerged from one of the wagons and leapt at Melal.
The Catai released an overhand swing with a war hammer that would have crushed a normal man, but Melal caught it with his blade in one hand. He kicked out, catching the surprised Catai in the stomach and sending him tumbling back into the wagon. His weight broke one of the wheels and it tipped, the covered top tearing as mansthein women tumbled out, crimson eyes terrified as they saw the bright red blade.
Because Celivia and Slaten had started running, Tani joined them, but her emotions felt tangled in thick furs. She saw everyone around them running, some smuggler guards drawing weapons while others scrambled in different directions. Some of the mansthein snarled and raised spears while others fled, all of it quiet and distant.
Before the rising chaos around the outpost could crash against itself, the Catai moved first. He leapt back to his feet, a broken fragment of the wagon in one hand and his warhammer in the other. The wood shattered against Melal's blade, but a moment later the hammer struck him in the chest. Melal hurtled back, smashing against the side of the well.
Yet he did not even hit the ground before he pulled himself upright. Eyes bright, Melal pointed his sword toward the wagons and shouted. "Slaughter the Deathspawn!"
Tani thought it was only another platitude until she saw the smugglers begin to move. Some still fled, but many turned on the mansthein they had escorted not so long ago. The Catai attempted to intercept, but Melal caught him and the two exchanged blows at the edge of the growing chaos. That left no one to defend the mansthein women, who only now struggled to their feet before the tide of righteous blades.
Celivia sprinted forward, faster than Tani had known she could move. Her knife cut the throat of one of the smugglers even as her whip curled around the arm of the other and pulled him into the air. But though they could not stand against her, they continued to charge, and alone she could not possibly stop them from slaughtering the defenseless behind her.
Finally Tani's uncertainty faded away, because in the end it was simple: armed and trained warriors intended to slaughter innocents. She ran to join the woman she had once hated.
At first she fought alongside Celivia, her knives lashing out in quick succession before she drew them back. Because her opponents moved so slowly, she focused on opening wounds on their legs, sending them to the ground alive. Celivia had no such compunctions in the beginning, but it seemed as though she began to strike less fatally.
What mattered was that the two of them fighting together formed a wall of sein that the smugglers could not penetrate. Some of those who passed them instead turned back, now less focused on slaughter than on defeating those who stood in their way.
Though they were not strong, their numbers were enough that Tani found herself pressured, retreating steps taking her back to Celivia's. The smugglers lingered for a heartbeat, not wanting to throw themselves into a futile battle, and Tani used that time to examine the rest of the battlefield.
Melal still fought the Catai, shouting in fury, unaware of anything else. Slaten had been slower than them and instead took up a position guarding one flank. It seemed odd until Tani noticed that there were two mansthein not wearing brown cloaks, men Tani thought she recognized from Celivia's band. One was helping mansthein women into the wagon while the other attached the behemoths to the front.
Then there was no time to watch, because the fighters around them closed in. The smugglers were not fools, to attack one at a time, instead coordinating from opposite sides. But Tani could throw knives rapidly in any direction and Celivia's whip was devastating against such weak opponents, so they rapidly dropped, soon leaving the two of them standing in a circle of bloodied bodies.
"Kaen!" The voice came from near the wagons, which had been filled with mansthein. One of the soldiers stood nearby, shouting back toward Celivia. "What now?"
"East!" Celivia lashed her whip in that direction, surprisingly violently, and Tani realized that she was also struggling against the Hero's influence in her own way. "Don't stop, no matter what happens!"
Before her soldiers could act, one of the women leapt into the bench at the front, whipping the behemoths. They were capable of moving surprisingly quickly under duress, pulling the wagons up the nearest hill. The larger of the two soldiers had been in the front of another of the wagons, but Tani saw two of the women push him off. He hit the ground with a look of shock on his face and the wagons pulled away.
"Dammit." Celivia wiped blood from the corner of her mouth, though Tani hadn't noticed her receive any injury. "They need guides or they probably won't make it..."
"But they'll definitely die if we don't do something about this." Tani pointed to Melal, who had knocked down the Catai and turned.
His eyes followed the wagons, burning with righteous fury. Slaten stood not far away, and he met her gaze, but she realized that he would not be able to act. This skirmish could end in disaster in many ways, the only possible route through pitting them against Melal.
"Escape and hide." Tani cut off the words at Celivia, then turned away. Melal had begun to follow them, but she outpaced him, grabbing his sleeve. "Melal, wait! It's a Deathspawn trick!"
"A trick?" White suns burned at her from under his brow and she flinched back before she drew her mind together again. No matter how she felt about Celivia, she would defend as many people as she could.
"The smugglers turned against us, and unless we stop them, they'll report our plan!" Tani desperately pointed back to their wagons, only then noting what had happened. Laeri gripped her staff in terror, while Veron stood with several bodies around her. "The Deathspawn are fleeing east, but the mine is northwest. We need to keep anyone from telling of what happened or we won't be able to sneak into the mine!"
As she spoke, she saw Celivia rush to help her soldiers rise and begin to retreat with them. But as she moved, she suddenly stumbled, coughing up blood. Slaten rushed to her, catching her before she could fall. He looked back to Tani, pain in his eyes, and she could only nod.
Though Melal seethed at her for terrible epochs, as if it took time for her words to filter through his rage, his grimace gradually faded. "You're right, Tani. All that matters is the seal. To reach the mine, we need to eliminate all witnesses."
Fortunately, the Catai had returned to his feet, dazed but mostly uninjured. When he began to run, Melal let out a cry and gave chase, carrying him away from Slaten and the mansthein, who fled east toward the hill. Tani saw that Celivia was stumbling and wanted to follow them, but realized that she had no choice. Laeri could not stand against the Hero and Veron had chosen not to help.
So instead she rushed after Melal, catching up quickly but then pretending to struggle with the hills. Ahead of them, the Catai continued to barrel forward with raw speed, keeping ahead of Melal no matter how much he screamed about slaughtering all Deathspawn. Eventually he came to a halt, glowering after the disappearing Catai.
"We've driven him east." Melal stared for some time, then turned back toward the outpost. "We cannot afford to be distracted by him, either. Now we need to take the wagons and travel to the mine as quickly as possible, before the Deathspawn can learn of this battle."
Regardless of the logic, Tani felt a rush of relief as she realized that Melal would not be attacking any more innocents that day. When they returned, there was no sign of Celivia or Slaten, and the only remaining mansthein were dead. The carnage seemed to satisfy Melal and the sunlight no longer beat against her quite so brutally.
Yet the other sight that greeted them was Veron stabbing through the back of one of the smugglers. The man groaned and struggled, but a second stab through his neck ended the sounds in a wet gurgle.
"I've eliminated the traitors, Hero." Veron rose and rested her still bloody sword against her shoulder. Melal gave her a respectful nod.
"You fight on the side of justice, Veron. Join me as we prepare for our journey."
As they turned away, Veron winked at Tani. For a moment it seemed incomprehensible, then she could only wish for anything but the dawning comprehension. The remaining smugglers might have been driven mad by Melal or they might have regained their minds, but either could reveal what had happened. In killing the wounded, Veron had only been ensuring the success of Tani's plan.
Her small mercy had been none at all.
Chapter 55
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"Some say that I see into the future, yet this is not true. It is also not seeing into the past, except in a bitter sense. Rather, I see deeper into the world itself. Fate is a growing [translation uncertain] stretching skyward. Roots grow deep and cohere in a [translation uncertain] blue."
- excerpt from First of the Sages
-
As their group stumbled away, Slaten realized that he was leading three mansthein. Celivia leaned against him, coughing too violently into one hand to make any decisions. Her soldiers were both driven to the brink by the Hero and he counted himself lucky that they hadn't fallen into a rage.
Yet that meant he was in charge, even though he had no idea what was happening or what they should do. He wasn't suited to this, and he longed for Veron or someone else to join them and take over. But they didn't, and if he did nothing the Hero would kill all the mansthein, and potentially him as well.
"Are there more of you?" His question didn't seem to register, and he wondered if his Futhik was inadequate, then the shorter of the two soldiers shook his head.
"Celivia only took the two of us."
"Then who are they?" Slaten gestured at the mansthein ahead of them, some fallen with injuries and others stumbling away from the outpost. The larger of the two with him cursed.
"Must be the wagon guards. Some that didn't go crazy ran."
"Take those you can. When we reach safety, tie them up until we can... ask questions. Don't do a thing until when we recover."
"If we recover." The shorter mansthein looked over his shoulder. "That... that thing is going to kill us if it can. What do we do?"
"We hide in those... we hide there and do what we can for Celivia." Slaten wasn't sure where the decisions were coming from, and if he thought about them too carefully, he was afraid he'd be paralyzed by indecision. "Do both of you know what's wrong with her?"
"I don't. I was afraid she was poisoned, but..."
"Doesn't matter. Just collect the others and get them out of sight before the Hero follows us."
Impossibly, it worked. They stumbled over a smaller hill and then reached a small clump of trees around one of the larger hills. The two soldiers herded the guards in front of them, shouting and sometimes kicking, but the guards appeared to be in shock and didn't resist. When Slaten looked backward, he didn't see the Hero pursuing them and could only hope that Tani had contained or redirected him somehow.
The distance between them was troublingly small, but he wasn't sure how far he could take Celivia. She was no longer coughing, but she clung to his arm. Her grip wasn't weak, it was actually more painful than it had been at first, her fingernails biting into his skin. When he tried to match her gaze, she murmured something deliriously.
