The Malazan Empire Series: (Night of Knives, Return of the Crimson Guard, Stonewielder, Orb Sceptre Throne, Blood and Bone, Assail) (Novels of the Malazan Empire)

by Ian C. Esslemont

  ‘You were off-balance again.’

  She looked up at the kaleidoscope pattern of his mask, the amused brown eyes behind, and knocked aside his proffered hand. ‘So I noticed. I was leaning forward because I was trying to hit you. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?’ She jumped up to face him.

  ‘Do not sacrifice form for a possible hit. When you lean forward you bring your head closer. Not a good idea.’

  ‘But what if I hit?’

  A wave in the Seguleh hand-talk dismissed the idea. ‘What if you miss?’

  Fine. Be that way. Yusek struck a ready pose, sword before her in both hands, tip held steady angled outwards at a height about level with her nose. At first she’d resisted his insistence that she use a two-handed sword grip, arguing that daggers were quicker. But Sall had been unmoved. He pointed out that most of her opponents would be larger than her and so she would need the added leverage.

  When she’d grudgingly agreed, saying it would help ‘muscle them back’, he’d shaken his head yet again.

  ‘No muscles.’

  ‘What do you mean no muscles? Everyone knows that’s what you do in a fight – you smash the other guy down.’

  ‘No. Do not strain. Do not tense until the last instant. Let the blade fall on its own. Let its weight do the work.’

  It all sounded crazy to her. But she’d seen the lad cut through all the most fearsome, and big, hulking swordsmen she’d known, so fair enough.

  Now, he circled her yet again, studying her stance. He crouched before her, tilting his masked head. ‘You have the same problem I used to have. Your stance is too long – always too eager to rush in, yes?’

  ‘That’s how you finish it. Bring it to them.’

  Sall gave a sad shake of his head. He unwound a leather strip from his sash and knotted it round one of her ankles. ‘What’s this? Tying me up?’ He paused, but only for an instant, then waved her other foot closer. She edged it inward.

  ‘Closer yet.’

  She gritted her teeth but complied. He tied the length of cloth tight, straightened. ‘Very good. This distance will allow you to recover more quickly in either direction. I want you to pace the length of the field in the high angle cut with each step, yes?’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Begin.’

  She stepped, swinging, and almost fell as her extended foot was yanked short. She turned to stare at him, appalled. Was I that unbalanced? He urged her onward.

  Fine. Just dandy. She concentrated on her stride and started again. The shorter stance felt uncomfortable and awkward. But then, she’d been standing however she damned well pleased all this time. No one had ever shown her any technique. She must have all kinds of bad habits.

  The wind was cold but she was sweating now as she paced up and down the length of the dirt practice yard. On the far side of the field the priests were out doing their forms, which Sall explained were some sort of moving meditations. It made no sense to her. She found a rhythm, cutting side to side as she stepped, turning, and cutting again. Her arms burned. Holding an iron bar out from your body all day built up endurance and strength. Now, when she picked up her old fighting dirks, the heaviest she could find, they were like hollow sticks in her hands. And it seemed to her that with the slightest shift of her two-handed grip she could move the tip of the sword even faster than she could weave her daggers.

  Leverage, Sall called that. The sword was a lever, he’d said. A lever for the application or redirection of force. Nothing more mystical than that.

  When the sun set behind the western coastal peaks the air chilled quickly. Yusek dropped down next to Sall, exhausted, her shirt wet with sweat.

  ‘Your determination is commendable.’

  ‘Well, I have a lot of catching up to do, don’t I?’ She nudged him with a shoulder. ‘I could really use a back rub too …’

  But Sall’s attention was on his father Lo, who had spent these last days doing nothing more than watching the various priests at their practice and exercises. Now he had climbed to his feet, his gaze fixed. Sall stood as well.

  Lo began making his way through the kneeling ranks of priests, none of whom moved. Sall edged forward also.

  Of all the lousy timing. ‘What is it?’ Yusek asked, now a touch worried. Gods, not like at Dernan’s! Please no. Sall signed for silence. Silence! It’s always silence with these two. That’s their answer for everything. Don’t they see that silence answers nothing?

  Lo stopped near the middle of the assembled priests. He stood before one fellow, salt and pepper hair cut short, features very dark, but calm, eyes downcast. Sall, Yusek noticed, was fairly quivering so tense was he. She also climbed to her feet.

  Then Lo’s blade was out, the tip extending close to the forehead of the kneeling man. The surrounding priests coolly shifted aside, not one saying a word. Great Burn! What was this? What was going on? ‘Sall …’ He signed again for silence, gesturing her aside.

  Lo adjusted his grip on the sword, struck a ready stance, and for the first time Yusek heard words pass through his mask. ‘I challenge you.’

  The kneeling man said nothing. He did not move. He did not even look up.

  Yusek’s breath caught as Lo’s blade flew up and he let go a heart-stopping yell, swinging for the man’s neck. She jerked her head aside; she could not help it. When she opened her eyes Lo stood frozen, his blade pressed against the man’s neck. The man himself appeared to have not flinched one hair’s breadth.

  She and Sall ran up through the motionless priests. The man slowly raised his eyes. In the darkening afternoon light they appeared to carry the depths of the ocean within them. He mouthed one word: No.

  Lo stepped back sheathing his blade. Then he turned and walked away. Sall stood for a time staring down at the kneeling man, then he followed his father. Yusek remained. The priests merely returned to their duties, sweeping the compound, chopping wood, readying the evening meal. While Yusek watched, a bead of blood ran from the cut across the side of the man’s neck.

  Shaken, she retreated to her hut. So that was him? The slayer of the Son of Darkness? How could that be? He looked like nothing to her. No bluster, no show. It was contrary to everything she’d seen among Orbern’s gang, or Dernan’s. Just a man past middle age. Impossible to pick out of a crowd. Yet Lo had somehow managed. Just by watching. Obviously there was much more here than she could see.

  She filled a bowl at the kitchens then sought out Sall. She found him sitting before his room. She sat next to him, tore off a pinch from her flatbread and dipped it into the stew. ‘Now what?’ she asked, chewing.

  He seemed to have been studying his open empty hands on his lap. ‘We leave. No one can be compelled to accept a challenge. My father could now claim Seventh should he choose to do so. I don’t believe he will, however. Not like this.’

  ‘Going to talk to him?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Who? Him of course. Ask him why he’s here. What he’s doing. Maybe you’d learn something.’

  Sall made a gesture of helplessness. ‘There is no need. He has made his position clear.’

  Yusek studied Sall for a time as if attempting to peer past his mask. Then she gave a disgusted grunt. ‘Gods … how you fellows manage is a mystery to me. How do you fucking accomplish anything? Aren’t you the least bit curious?’

  He gave a cutting sign with his hand. ‘If he wanted to speak, he would do so.’

  ‘Oh? He’d just go on like you blabbermouths?’ She stood. ‘Well I’m going to talk to him. Even if you won’t.’

  ‘Yusek …’

  She paused, looking down. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Grunting again, she left. Can’t fucking believe this crap. Should I tuck them in, too? Maybe this wasn’t all so different from the bluster and chest-thumping she’d seen at Orbern’s. Posturing. Maybe it was all just posturing taken so far no one could back down any more – even if they wanted to.

  She wondered. She really wondered.
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br />   The fellow was still kneeling in the same place. Looking west into the darkening mauve and deep blood-red of the fading sunset. Above, blotting out any stars that might’ve been visible, arced the jade curve of the Scimitar.

  She sat next to him, dipped her bread, and tore off a bite with her teeth. ‘So …’ She chewed and swallowed. ‘As good as any place to hide, I suppose.’

  His gaze slid round to her. He let out a long breath. Like I’m the pebble in the shoe, she thought.

  ‘They send you?’

  ‘No they fucking well didn’t send me. You’re the man of the world, right? You should know they wouldn’t do something like that.’

  His mouth quirked up and he let go something that might’ve been a rueful snort. His gaze slid back to the west. ‘Lectured by a child. Serves me right. Well, yes. That was unfair of me. They wouldn’t do something like that. I’m just tired. Tired of it all.’

  ‘Tired of what?’

  He raised his chin to the west, to the sunset and the Scimitar. ‘Choices are being made even as we speak. Important choices that will affect all of us. I refuse to be part of it. I’m tired of being used.’ His voice fell and it seemed to Yusek that he wasn’t talking to her any longer. Perhaps he’d never really been talking to her at all. ‘I did what I thought was right. Damn them all, I don’t even know what the right choice is any more. I don’t even know if one exists. Everything I do is used.’

  ‘If everything you do is used one way or the other then why worry about it? There’s nothing you can do about all that. That’s beyond your control, right?’ The man’s gaze slowly edged back to her. ‘I mean, who cares about them? They can all take a flying leap into the Abyss, right? You can only do what you think is right, yes?’

  One dark brow arched up. ‘That’s one way of looking at things. Maybe you should get some sleep. You’ve got a long day ahead of you tomorrow.’

  Now who’s tucking who in?

  ‘Right.’ She stood. ‘I heard them say you killed the Lord of Moon’s Spawn. But I don’t think that’s right. I mean, he’s an Ascendant, right? Immortal. You can’t just kill someone like that.’ She shrugged. ‘Well, that’s just what I think.’

  The man’s gaze followed her as she crossed the moonlit central field and remained fixed for some time where she disappeared amid the stone huts. Then his eyes slowly swung back to the west, the night sky, and the Scimitar above. He felt it there, in the west. Tugging at him. It was happening again. Another gathering.

  He felt its call because he was close himself. Close, if not already there. But fighting. Refusing. As he told the girl: it was a choice awaiting him. It seemed that no matter which way he turned there it was, inevitable.

  If only he knew which would be for the best. Yet perhaps it wasn’t a question of choice. Perhaps it had always been merely about doing. Perhaps that was the better way of thinking of things.

  He could not be sure and that doubt was a torment. Because he didn’t think much of his choices so far.

  In the morning Yusek stepped out chilled and wrapped in her blanket to see the man still there, still kneeling, the pink and amber sun’s rays painting his back.

  Now that just ain’t human.

  She shuffled to the kitchens for hot tea and a round of fresh bread. She had to jostle elbows and push herself forward just to swipe that much. These boys and girls might be priests and such, she reflected, but they sure weren’t shy when mealtime came around.

  At her hut she packed what few bits and pieces she owned into a roll that she tied off and threw on to her back. Her new sword she belted at her left hip. On the grounds she found Sall and Lo ready to go. The fellow Lo had challenged was there as well.

  Sall greeted her. ‘We are leaving.’

  She couldn’t help looking to the sky. ‘Yeah. I guessed.’

  ‘Where will you head?’ he asked.

  She shrugged, indifferent. ‘I dunno. Mengal, I guess. Thanks for the lessons.’

  He gave a sign she recognized as meant to dismiss the subject. ‘It was nothing. You were a conscientious student. That is all a teacher can ask for.’

  She knew Sall to be her age but sometimes he talked so stiffly, like he was some old guy of thirty or something.

  The fellow Lo had challenged stepped forward. Sall inclined his head to the man and, incredibly, so did Lo.

  So … Lo just indicated that he considers the man higher ranked. Even though the man refused his challenge. He doesn’t want to take the rank that way. Just as Sall said. Hey! I’m starting to understand these crazy people!

  But abbreviated bows only seemed to make the man’s already pained face tighten even more. ‘I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing,’ he growled, his voice hoarse. ‘But when you get to Cant, give my regards to your Second. I’ve heard good things of him.’

  Sall turned his masked face to Lo. Something passed between them. Sall turned back to the man. ‘Slayer of Blacksword, we are not returning to Cant.’

  Something almost like panic seemed to claw at the man’s face. ‘You’re not?’ The lines bracketing his eyes and mouth tightened into an angry suspicion. ‘Tell me where you are headed.’

  ‘We travel to Darujhistan to join our brothers and sisters. The First has called and we have answered.’

  Yusek stared. Darujhistan? They’re going to Darujhistan!

  The man was shaking his head, appalled. ‘All the scheming gods – you mustn’t go there. Don’t you see?’

  ‘See … what?’

  ‘Don’t make yourself a weapon,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Take it from me. Weapons get used.’

  Sall tilted his head a fraction. His eyes behind the mask appeared troubled, but he answered, ‘It is our duty. Our defining purpose. It makes us Seguleh.’

  The man blinked as if fighting back tears. Every word Sall spoke seemed to strike him like a blow. ‘Gods, you people have backed yourselves up to the very Abyss …’

  Lo moved slightly – a motion Yusek would never have caught before, but she understood it now as a gesture of impatience.

  Sall said: ‘Thank you for your words, Slayer of Blacksword. But we must go.’

  ‘I’m going with you,’ the man said.

  Even masked, Sall’s shock was obvious. He glanced at Lo who answered with a gesture Yusek had seen him use in regard to her very often: the It’s her life sign.

  ‘If you wish,’ Sall said. ‘You are free to travel where you will.’

  ‘Fine.’ He motioned to the hut dwellings. ‘Just let me pack a few things.’

  After the man had gone, Yusek faced Sall. ‘You didn’t tell me you were going to Darujhistan!’ And she couldn’t believe it when the answering shift of his shoulders said, How is this is relevant?

  ‘How come we ain’t shootin’ at ’em?’ Bendan said, chin on his arms as he leaned against the top of the palisade of sharpened logs. He was watching the encircling lines of Rhivi cavalry encamped so close to the hilltop fort he was damned sure he could throw a stone and hit one.

  ‘Short on crossbow bolts and such, ain’t we?’ Hektar said, strangely cheerful. ‘And they know it.’

  ‘How do you know they know it?’ Bendan accused.

  ‘’Cause they’re camped so close – that’s why.’

  Bendan returned to glaring at the tribesmen and women. ‘Well, don’t matter. Not like they need to do anything. I mean, we’re trapped, ain’t we? Got nowhere to go. Encircled. Brilliant piece of planning from these Fists, hey?’

  The sergeant rubbed a hand over his bald nut-brown pate. ‘From the city, aren’t you?’

  ‘Uh-huh. That’s right. Darujhistan.’ He didn’t bother clarifying that really he was from a rubbish heap next to it. ‘Why?’

  ‘Well then, you’d know that if we ain’t going anywhere then neither are these fellows. And that’s all to our advantage, isn’t it? We just have to wait them out. They got herds to mind, families, territory to patrol. And they only go to war a few months out of the year.
My guess is we’re already far past that season, right?’

  Bendan blinked, his mouth open. ‘Yeah. That’s right … damned right.’

  Bone joined them on the catwalk behind the palisade. At least, the fellow was the right height for Bone. The man was smeared head to foot in green-grey clay that was drying and cracking even as they watched. The old saboteur winked at Hektar and cracked a smile. Even his teeth were gummed with the clay.

  ‘You fellers done playing in the mud?’ the sergeant asked.

  ‘Yeah. We’re all done.’

  ‘’Bout time. Now go get cleaned up.’

  The bemired figure straightened to strike a parade-ground formal salute then grinned, his clay-caked cheeks cracking.

  Bendan watched him go. ‘Why’d he have to get so dirty?’

  ‘All that mud keeps you warm at night. Didn’t you know that, lad?’ Hektar wandered off.

  Bendan eyed his retreating back. ‘Yeah – I knew that!’ he called. ‘I know things.’

  That night officers went round all the sergeants, whispering to each to rouse his squad. Outside the tall walls of the palisade the night was bright with blazing campfires that encircled the fort. Bendan’s squad was one of the ones positioned at the base of the palisade where they waited, tensed. Others jammed the catwalk, hunched down behind the sharpened log ends, shields at the ready.

  One fellow signed from atop the catwalk. ‘Here it comes,’ Hektar murmured. He peered up the lines of squads jamming the camp. ‘Ready shields.’

  Bendan gaped at the huge Dal Hon. ‘What? What’s comin’? Ready shields? Why?’

  Then a great roar shook the ground from beyond the palisade wall. A rushing and thrumming and hissing that sounded like a hungry beast lunging for them. The night sky blossomed as bright as day as a ring of fire-arrows arced up above the fort as dense as hail.

  ‘Mother of all the gods!’ was all the time Bendan had before something slammed his shield down on to his head, making him stagger.

  ‘Don’t look up, you damned fool,’ Little snapped.