of the wagon,” said Tali. “I went to help her… but she broke her neck.”
A triumphant cry echoed across the yard.
Kaark! Kaark!
The chancellor jerked his head at the first guard. “Shoot the damn thing, Regg.”
Regg grabbed his bow, darted to the edge of the ride-way and looked up, but shook his head. “It’s too high, well out of range.”
“What’s it doing?”
“Flying away, waggling its wings – looks like it’s giving us the finger.”
The chancellor slumped onto a bench, breathing hard. His eyes met Tali’s.
“It’s a gauntling, a kind of flying shifter.
A spy
, Tali. A key purpose of this trip was to get you here without the enemy knowing. Why did you think I kept you disguised and indoors the whole time?”
“I assumed it was to torment and punish me.”
“Aaarrgh!” he roared, tearing at his scanty hair. “And now it’s all been for nothing. It won’t take the gauntling long to fly back to Caulderon. By midnight, Lyf will know you’re here.”
CHAPTER 5
Rix shuddered. Why had he painted that dreadful mural? Was it symbolic – the despised Pale and the disgraced former nobleman collectively destroying their country? Or did it mean nothing at all?
He could feel Glynnie’s gaze on him. No, on his dead hand. Her mouth was open, her eyes huge. He scowled and she lowered her head. A creeping flush passed up her cheeks.
“Why didn’t you leave it up on the roof?” Rix said quietly. “Why did you have to interfere?”
Her reply was barely audible. “You done so much for us. I wanted to help you…”
“But you didn’t know what you were doing!” he cried.
Benn whimpered and scrunched himself in the corner. For once, Glynnie ignored him. “You… you could have told me to stop.”
“I didn’t know you were planning to reattach it. I had my eyes closed. I couldn’t bear to look at the damn, dead thing.”
He raised his lifeless right hand, wanting to be rid of it. Should he hack it off? Rix did not have the courage for such a bloody, final act. And, if he admitted it, he could not abandon hope that whatever had withdrawn the life from it might restore it again.
“Sorry, Lord,” whispered Glynnie, falling to her knees before him. “I’m just a stupid maidservant. Beat me black and blue; I deserve it… but please don’t take it out on Benn. Please don’t abandon us now.”
He wanted to, but he could not abandon a young woman and a child, for any reason. Without him they had no hope. With him, maimed and useless though he was, they had a tiny chance.
“I’m not going to beat anyone —”
Somewhere behind and above them a beast howled, an eerie sound that echoed down the tunnels. It was followed by a frantic scratching, panting and yelping. Rix imagined a shifter’s bloodstained claws tearing at the lid of a coffin, trying to get at the dead meat inside.
“They’ve sniffed us out,” whispered Glynnie. “We’ll never get away now. Lord, please don’t leave us.”
“I’m not going to leave you. Get Benn up.”
Instinctively, Rix reached for Maloch, but his dead hand could not grip the hilt. He drew it left-handed and held it up. The blade, which had a bluish tint, was made from the immensely strong metal titane, the secret of whose forging had long been lost. The very tip of the sword had no point, for it had been melted by magery in the battle with Lyf. Rix would have to grind a new tip – assuming his sharpening stone could grind titane.
He checked the passage outside the vault. There was no sign of a light, but neither the Cythonians nor their shifters needed light to travel underground. The enemy could feel their way, and their shifters could smell it out.
He sniffed and caught a faint, rank odour, like a jackal shifter, yet more dog-like. Whatever kind of shifter it was, a pack of them would have the advantage down here. Rix had defended Glynnie and Benn from jackal shifters a few days back and never wanted to do so again. Had Tobry not eaten
A triumphant cry echoed across the yard.
Kaark! Kaark!
The chancellor jerked his head at the first guard. “Shoot the damn thing, Regg.”
Regg grabbed his bow, darted to the edge of the ride-way and looked up, but shook his head. “It’s too high, well out of range.”
“What’s it doing?”
“Flying away, waggling its wings – looks like it’s giving us the finger.”
The chancellor slumped onto a bench, breathing hard. His eyes met Tali’s.
“It’s a gauntling, a kind of flying shifter.
A spy
, Tali. A key purpose of this trip was to get you here without the enemy knowing. Why did you think I kept you disguised and indoors the whole time?”
“I assumed it was to torment and punish me.”
“Aaarrgh!” he roared, tearing at his scanty hair. “And now it’s all been for nothing. It won’t take the gauntling long to fly back to Caulderon. By midnight, Lyf will know you’re here.”
CHAPTER 5
Rix shuddered. Why had he painted that dreadful mural? Was it symbolic – the despised Pale and the disgraced former nobleman collectively destroying their country? Or did it mean nothing at all?
He could feel Glynnie’s gaze on him. No, on his dead hand. Her mouth was open, her eyes huge. He scowled and she lowered her head. A creeping flush passed up her cheeks.
“Why didn’t you leave it up on the roof?” Rix said quietly. “Why did you have to interfere?”
Her reply was barely audible. “You done so much for us. I wanted to help you…”
“But you didn’t know what you were doing!” he cried.
Benn whimpered and scrunched himself in the corner. For once, Glynnie ignored him. “You… you could have told me to stop.”
“I didn’t know you were planning to reattach it. I had my eyes closed. I couldn’t bear to look at the damn, dead thing.”
He raised his lifeless right hand, wanting to be rid of it. Should he hack it off? Rix did not have the courage for such a bloody, final act. And, if he admitted it, he could not abandon hope that whatever had withdrawn the life from it might restore it again.
“Sorry, Lord,” whispered Glynnie, falling to her knees before him. “I’m just a stupid maidservant. Beat me black and blue; I deserve it… but please don’t take it out on Benn. Please don’t abandon us now.”
He wanted to, but he could not abandon a young woman and a child, for any reason. Without him they had no hope. With him, maimed and useless though he was, they had a tiny chance.
“I’m not going to beat anyone —”
Somewhere behind and above them a beast howled, an eerie sound that echoed down the tunnels. It was followed by a frantic scratching, panting and yelping. Rix imagined a shifter’s bloodstained claws tearing at the lid of a coffin, trying to get at the dead meat inside.
“They’ve sniffed us out,” whispered Glynnie. “We’ll never get away now. Lord, please don’t leave us.”
“I’m not going to leave you. Get Benn up.”
Instinctively, Rix reached for Maloch, but his dead hand could not grip the hilt. He drew it left-handed and held it up. The blade, which had a bluish tint, was made from the immensely strong metal titane, the secret of whose forging had long been lost. The very tip of the sword had no point, for it had been melted by magery in the battle with Lyf. Rix would have to grind a new tip – assuming his sharpening stone could grind titane.
He checked the passage outside the vault. There was no sign of a light, but neither the Cythonians nor their shifters needed light to travel underground. The enemy could feel their way, and their shifters could smell it out.
He sniffed and caught a faint, rank odour, like a jackal shifter, yet more dog-like. Whatever kind of shifter it was, a pack of them would have the advantage down here. Rix had defended Glynnie and Benn from jackal shifters a few days back and never wanted to do so again. Had Tobry not eaten
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