Book 4 - Soldiers Live

Book 4 - Soldiers Live by Glen Cook Page B

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Authors: Glen Cook
Tags: Fiction, Science-Fiction, Fantasy
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of
enlightenment had been taken and its occupants did not yet know.
Most might never find out—assuming the real Shikhandini
successfully completed the real mission given to Tobo by Sleepy and
Sahra. Hard to imagine becoming badly winded by running downhill. I
managed. Those stairs went down forever, much farther than when I
had gone up at a more leisurely pace. I began to develop cramps.
Behind me Sahra and Sleepy kept right on barking and mocking and
pushing like they were not almost as old as me.
    I spent a lot of time wondering what had compelled me to come
along. I was too old for this shit. The Annals did not need to
record every little detail. I could have done this One-Eye’s
way. “They went to Khang Phi and got the knowledge we needed
to fix the shadowgates.”
    Some deep-voiced bell bonged far above. No one had enough breath
to explain but no explanation was needed. An alarm was being
sounded.
    Our fault?
    Who else? Though I could imagine scenarios where the File of
Nine might be guilty of trying to snuff the Company brain
trust.
    It did not matter. I reminded myself that Khang Phi is bereft of
arms. That the monks abhor violence. That they always yield to
strength, then seduce it with reason and wisdom.
    Yes, sometimes it does take a while.
    I did not feel reassured. I spend too much time hanging around
with guys like me.
    The air began to whisper and rustle, like a gentle breeze in a
time of falling leaves. The sound started in the dimness far below.
It rose toward us, met and passed us before I had any real chance
to become afraid. I had a brief impression of passing
two-dimensional, black, transparent forms accompanied by a touch of
cold and a whiff of old mold, then autumn was gone on to adventures
far above.
    At times the stairway passed behind the outer face of Khang Phi.
Windows presented themselves then. Each was filled with an
exquisite view of grey mist. Shapes moved within the greyness,
never defined. They did not need definition for me to know that I
had no interest in making the acquaintance of anything that did not
mind having a thousand feet of wet air beneath its toes.
    Several times I saw Shikhandini drift downward or rise through
the fog. Once she saw me watching, paused, smiled and showed three
slim fingers in a delicate wave.
    The genuine Tobo was not shy any digits.
    What I did not see during our entire descent was even one member
of the Khang Phi community. They all had business elsewhere when we
passed by.
    “How much farther?” I panted, thinking it was a good
thing I had lost all that weight while I was recuperating.
    I got no answer. No one wanted to waste the breath.
    It proved to be much farther than I had hoped. It always is when
you are running away.
    Ten Finger Shikhandini was waiting with the horses and the rest
of our gang when we stumbled out of the unguarded Lower Gate.
Animals and escort were ready to travel. All we had to do was mount
up and go.
    Tobo would sustain the Shiki role till we were home again. The
Children of the Dead did not need to know that he was she.
    Tobo told his mother, “Sri Santaraksita refused to
come.”
    “I didn’t think he would. That’s all right. He
did his part. He’ll be happier here after we’re
gone.”
    Sleepy agreed. “He’s found his paradise.”
    “Excuse me,” I gasped. It had taken me three tries
and a boost from a helpful escort to get myself into the saddle.
“What did we just do?”
    “We committed robbery,” Sleepy told me. “We
went in there pretending we were going to appeal to the File of
Nine yet one more time. We got them all twisted out of shape by
naming some of their names, so they had nothing else on their minds
while we stole the books containing the information we need to get
home safely.”
    “They still don’t know,” Tobo said.
“They’re still looking the other way. But that
won’t last. The doppelgangers I left behind will fall apart
before long. Those things can’t keep their minds

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