Soldiers Live (Glittering Stone) by Glen Cook Page B

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 ofarms. 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 on business.”
    “Quit jawing and ride, then,” Sleepy grumbled. I swear. The woman was Annalist for fifteen years. She ought to have a better appreciation of the Annalist’s needs.
    The mist surrounded us and seemed to move with us, unnaturally dense. Tobo’s work, probably. Shapes moved out there but did not come too close. Until I looked back.
    Khang Phi had vanished already. It might be a thousand miles away or might never