The dagger struck him in the stomach, burying itself deep, twisting as it entered. The vibro slid into his chest, striking bone and then slithering between the ribs.
“Valdisa . . .” Gyll began. He could not feel his hands; he heard rather than felt himself drop his weapon. The vibro screamed against stone. Valdisa stared at him and he found that, curiously, she seemed to be crying. He tried to smile to her, but the night was dimming. Gyll could not be sure, but he thought he saw Helgin step from the flitter. He would have spoken, but the ground swirled around him, lumbering, then slammed up at him. Gyll felt cool stone on his cheek. He knew that he should be hearing the grumbling of the flitter’s engines, the keening of the vibros, but the sounds were gone. There was only silence and the chill of the rocks.
Then, nothing at all.
• • •
“Back away!” Helgin snarled. The sting he held was pointed unwaveringly at Valdisa. “Turn the vibro off and toss it gently to one side, and back away from him.”
Valdisa turned to face the Motsognir. Helgin could see the glistening of her eyes; he could also see the blood on her foil. “The body is mine,” she said, her voice steady despite the obvious emotion she was feeling. “It has to be given to the signer of the contract.”
“And I’m telling you to get away from him, or you won’t be killing anyone else in the future. I haven’t got Gyll’s sense of honor, lady, and that’s my friend lying there—I’d love to see you pay for him. Now, move back.”
She hesitated a moment, staring at the dwarf and the weapon he held. Then she switched off her vibro (though Gyll’s still chattered on the ground) and moved away from the body. Helgin came forward, knelt beside Gyll, one hand at the sting’s trigger, the other probing Gyll’s neck for a pulse.
“Damn,” he muttered. “Oh, damn! ”
“He’s dead?”
“What the hell do you think?” Helgin said throatily. The dagger was still in the body, its fuel exhausted. Helgin took the weapon out, threw it down on the stones. He picked up Gyll’s vibro, flicked it off, and put the weapon in his belt. “Help me put the body on the flitter,” he said.
“The body’s mine, Motsognir. You know the code. Go against Hoorka, and we’ll be hunting you.”
“Where? I’m not like Gyll, Thane. I’d sit in Goshawk and laugh at you. And I’ve got the sting.”
“You can’t hold it and the body, too.”
Helgin scowled. He rose to his feet, legs well apart. He lifted the sting, pointed it at her chest. “I can move him myself if I have to, Thane, but I won’t leave you standing there to stab me in the back while I do it. It’s your choice. Frankly, I hope you don’t decide to help me.”
Neither of them moved for long seconds. Then Valdisa sighed. She shrugged. “All right, Motsognir. What’s the difference now, neh? The code’s junk, and there’ll be no more contracts—I’ll be killing those pointed to by Vingi. I’ll help you.” She looked at the body, the nightcloak tangled around it.
As they lifted Gyll’s limp body into the passenger seat of the flitter, she leaned over it, feeling for the pulse. Helgin watched her, impassive. “You don’t trust me, Thane? Did you think I’d lie to you?”
“I’m surprised you’d want the body, Motsognir, that’s all. And it’s my duty to see that Gyll’s dead. The last duty.”
“Gyll was my friend, and friends do what they can for each other. I couldn’t get here quicker, but I’ll take him back to the Oldins.” False dawn touched the eastern sky. Shadows had become more distinct, color had returned to the landscape, the stars had fled.
“He was my lover.”
“You certainly have a touching way of showing your affection.”
Valdisa hissed, a sharp intake of breath. Her hand went to her vibro sheath, found it empty. She stepped back from Helgin, her hand fisted at her side. “Gyll would have done the same to me,” she said.
“Keep telling yourself that. Maybe someday we’ll both believe it.”
Helgin swung into the pilot’s seat. He revved the engines—the rotors whined as a harsh wind sprang up, billowing Valdisa’s nightcloak, ruffling her short hair. Helgin leaned from his seat, bellowing against the roar of the engines, his beard flying. “Thane, I’ll give you a chance you don’t deserve, because he would have done it. You can come with me, go back to the ship. We’ll make a place for you.”
She hesitated only a moment. “No,” she shouted back to him. “I can’t.”
Helgin grunted. “Good.” He reached for the flitter’s controls and wrenched the craft into a quick ascent, circling the meadow as he rose.
Valdisa watched until the flitter was gone behind the hills, until the morning stillness had returned. She stared for a long time at the blood spilled on the stones.
Then, the clouds touched with light, she made her way back to the ruin of Underasgard and her kin.
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