Dreams of Steel

by Glen Cook

  Which meant some of the wounded would die needlessly, often as not victims of their own home remedies. Medical discipline had been something Croaker had started pounding into his men when they were learning to keep in step. And he’d been right.

  I have dealt with a great many soldiers and armies. Infection and disease are deadlier enemies than foreign arms. Determined health discipline had been one of the strengths of the Company before Croaker’s passing.

  Pain. Damn me. It still hurt. I had never grieved over anybody before.

  It was light enough to drive away bats and shadows. “Narayan. Are they fed?” Damn the sickness. “Let’s get them moving.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Get Blade. I’ll explain.”

  He got Blade. I explained. I rode out with the cavalry, leaving Blade to bring the rest. I headed east ten miles, turned into the hills. Crows followed. I was not concerned about crows. They were not reporting to the Shadowmasters.

  Ten miles into the hills I halted. I could see part of the plain. “Dismount. Rest. Keep the noise down. Cold food. Ram, come with me.” I moved forward. “Quiet. There may be pickets.”

  We did not encounter any before I could see the whole panorama.

  There had been changes. When we had come before the hills had been green with farms and orchards. Now they were spotted brown, especially to the south. The canals were not delivering water as they should.

  “Ram, get those two red rumel men, Abda and whatever his name is.”

  He went. I studied the prospect.

  Shadowspinner’s camps and siegeworks surrounded the city. Near the north gate the besiegers had raised an earthen ramp to the top of the wall, no mean achievement. Dejagore squatted atop a high mound, behind walls forty feet high. The ramp had been damaged badly. Men were hauling earth up to repair it.

  Presumably that had been the point of attack the night whatever had happened had happened.

  The besiegers looked ragged. The condition of their camps suggested low morale. Could I take advantage? Had word of yesterday’s misadventure reached the line troops? Knowing that, knowing a large force could hammer them against the anvil of the city, they ought to be ripe for a rout.

  I could not place Shadowspinner. Maybe he was holed up in the remnants of the permanent camp south of the city. It had its own rampart and ditch. If not, he was careful not to stand out. Maybe Mogaba had a habit of picking on him.

  Ram returned with Abda and the other man. I said, “I want to find a way to get down there unseen. Spread out, try to find one. Watch for pickets. If we can get down there we can give them a nasty surprise tonight.”

  They nodded and slipped away. Ram with his customary worried look. He still did not believe I could take care of myself.

  Sometimes I wondered.

  I gave them a head start, then moved westward. I had a surprise for the Shadowmasters-if my limited talent was up to it.

  It took longer than I hoped but it looked workable, “it” being a bat trap that would call and kill like a candle does moths. I’d been thinking about versions since we’d left Taglios. It should work on crows, too, with adjustments.

  Which left only the shadows.

  We had not encountered it but rumors of old, out of the Shadowlands in the days of conquest, said those shadows could be assassins as well as spies. Captains and kings had died too opportunely, with no other explanation. Maybe the deaths of two Shadowmasters had taken that weapon away. Maybe a killing took a combined effort. I hoped so but did not count on it.

  I set the trap working and hurried back to where I had parted with Ram. The others were there waiting. Ram scolded me. I suffered it. I’d grown fond of him in a sisterly way. It had been a long time since anyone had been concerned about me. It felt good.

  When Ram finished, Abda interjected, “We’ve found two routes down. Neither one is ideal. The better one might be used by the horsemen. We cleared the pickets. I sent a few men down in case there’s a changing of the guard.”

  That could be a problem.

  Blade materialized, dogged by Narayan and Sindhu. “You made good time,” I told him.

  He grunted, studied the city. I explained what I wanted to do. “I don’t expect to accomplish much. The point is to harass Shadowspinner, demoralize his men, and let ours inside know there’s an army out here.”

  Blade glanced at the westering sun, grunted again.

  Swan and Mather joined us. I said, “Get some men moving. Abda, explain the routes. Mr. Mather, take charge of the infantry. Sindhu, you take the horsemen. Swan, Blade, Narayan, Ram, come with me. I want to talk.”

  Mather and Sindhu got things moving. We got out of their way. I asked Swan, “Swan, your men brought home the news about the row down here. Run through what you know.”

  He did. I entered questions, did not get half the information I wanted. Not that I expected to.

  Swan said, “Some third party is playing his own game.”

  “Yes.” There were crows nearby. I could not mention names. “The attackers definitely masqueraded as Lifetaker and Widowmaker?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Then those men down there should panic if they see them again. Get the armor, Ram.”

  Narayan prowled restlessly while we talked, putting in nothing, keeping one eye on the city. He said, “They’re starting to move around.”

  “We’ve been discovered?”

  “I don’t think so. They don’t act like they expect trouble.”

  I went and looked. After watching awhile I hazarded a guess. “The news is out. They’re shook. Their officers are trying to keep them busy.”

  “You really going to take a whack?” Swan asked.

  “A little one. Just big enough to let Mogaba know he has friends on the outside.”

  The day was getting on. I passed orders for the men to eat cold and keep moving. Ram showed up with our armor and animals. “Two hours of light. We ought to do something while they can see us.”

  Narayan said, “There’s a group of four, five hundred headed out south, Mistress.”

  I checked. Hard to tell from so far away but they looked more like a labor battalion than armed men on the march. Curious. A similar group was forming north of the city.

  Sindhu appeared. “They got the word about yesterday. They’re bad rattled.”

  I lifted an eyebrow.

  “I got close enough to hear some talk. They’re making a move. Don’t know what it is.”

  Daring, Sindhu. “You didn’t hear where we could find Shadowspinner, did you?”

  “No.”

  I sent everybody off with instructions. Ram and I donned our armor. Ram said nothing the whole time. Usually he had some small talk, thoughtless but comforting.

  “You’re awfully quiet.”

  “Thinking. All what’s happened in just a couple months. Wondering.”

  “What?”

  “If the world really is so black it’s time for the Year of the Skulls.”

  “Oh, Ram.” He was not a fast thinker but an inexorable one, now suffering a crisis of faith brought on by events in the grove but sprouting from seeds that had fallen earlier. He cared again. Kina was losing her hold.

  And damn me, I let Croaker get past my defenses and turn me soft inside, too. I Felt enough now that I could not just use and discard.

  Maybe that soft center was there all the time. Maybe I was like an oyster. Croaker always thought so. Before we hardly knew one another he wrote about me in ways that suggested he thought there was something special inside me.

  Those people down there took him. They destroyed his dreams and hamstrung mine. I did not give a damn about the Year of the Skulls or Kina. I wanted restitution.

  “Ram, stop.” I stepped close, placed a hand on his chest, looked him in the eye. “Don’t worry. Don’t tear your heart out. Believe me when I tell you I’ll try to make everything work out.”

  He did trust me, damn him. A big damn faithful dog look came i
nto his eyes.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  The Prahbrindrah Drah took Smoke’s advice. He reread the old books about the Black Company’s first visit. They told a tale of death and heartbreak but reread as he might he found nothing to indict the Company returned from the north. The more he studied the more he veered from the attitude Smoke wanted him to adopt.

  The Radisha joined him. “You’re going to wear those things out.”

  “No. I don’t have to read any more. Smoke is wrong.”

  “But...”

  “Never mind the woman. I’d bet my life-and I am-that she has no intention of becoming the Daughter of Night. It’s subtle. You have to read this stuff over and over before it sinks in, but there’re signs missing that would be there no matter how hard they tried to hide them. They were exactly what they pretended.”

  “Oh?” the Radisha asked. “Didn’t they mean to return to Khatovar?”

  “Without knowing what it is. Could have been interesting seeing what would have happened if they’d made it.”

  “We still might find out. If anyone can pull down the Shadowmasters that woman can.”

  “Maybe.” The prince smiled. “Peaceful as it’s been, I’m tempted to ride south myself. There’s no one left here to bother me.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  “What?”

  “People being scared of you. It won’t last. Better win their respect before their fear wears off.”

  “Just once I’d like to go off and do something because I want to do it, not because it will strengthen the office.”

  That sparked an exchange halfway between argument and discussion. Smoke arrived in its midst. He stepped into the room, stopped, stared stupidly.

  They stared back. The Radisha demanded, “Where the hell have you been?”

  The prince silenced her with a touch. “What’s happened, Smoke? You look awful.”

  Smoke was stunned. His thoughts oozed too slowly. This was the last thing he expected, walking right into those two. He needed time to get hold of himself.

  He opened his mouth.

  Longshadow flashed behind his eyes. The terror and pain closed in. He could not tell them. He could do nothing but carry out his orders. And pray.

  “Where the hell have you been?” the Radisha demanded again. “Do you have any idea what’s happened while you’ve been off fooling around?”

  She was angry. Good. That would distract her some. “No.”

  She told him.

  He was dismayed. “She murdered them? All of them?” It was a chance to press his point with passion but he did not have the strength or will. He just wanted to lie down and sleep all night for the first time since... since...

  “All of them that counted for anything. Right now she could do anything she pleased with Taglios. If she was here.”

  “She isn’t?” Longshadow had not kept him posted. “Where is she?”

  “By now she may be in Dejagore.”

  Slowly, slowly, he milked the Radisha of news. A lot had happened. Perhaps Longshadow had told him none of this because he did not know himself. Which might place the situation beyond reclamation.

  Who broke up Shadowspinner’s attack on Dejagore?

  The prince never said a word. He just sat there looking sleepy. An awful sign. The prince was most dangerous when he seemed indifferent.

  He was not going to pull it off.

  He did not want to. But if he failed... The face of the Shadowmaster burned in his brain. Terror unmanned him. He gobbled, “We have to do something. We have to control her before she devours this whole nation....” The Prahbrindrah had opened his eyes. There was no sympathy in them.

  “I took your advice, Smoke. I reread those old books six times. They’ve convinced me.”

  The wizard nearly collapsed with joy.

  “They’ve convinced me you’re full of shit. This Company has nothing to do with that. I’m on her side.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  I scattered the spell that baffled shadows, though it was not yet dark. It would be dark before we finished.

  The horsemen were in place. The Shadowlanders did not appear suspicious. They were up to whatever with those work parties. Both had vanished into the hills, taking a thousand men out of my way.

  What temper possessed Shadowspinner? Not a good one, surely. Having four thousand men nipped off an undermanned siege force had to stick in his craw.

  Blade had spread enough infantrymen around to cover the cavalry withdrawal. I told Ram, “It’s time.”

  He nodded. He did not have much to say now.

  I urged my stallion onto an outcrop from which we would be visible all over the plain. He followed. I hoped he would do nothing clumsy. Falling off your horse takes something away from high drama.

  I drew my sword. It blossomed fire.

  Trumpets sounded. The horsemen broke cover.

  The Shadar element were very nearly veterans now. Blade had them in shape. I was pleased by their performance.

  Chaos broke its chains down below.

  It seemed the Shadowlanders would never get together. I feared I would have another unexpected victory on my hands. It was full dark before I lowered my sword and the trumpets sounded recall. The Shadowlanders did not pursue my horsemen.

  Blade showed up quickly. “What now?”

  “The message has been delivered. Maybe we should back off.” A gangrenous glow formed inside the walled camp beside the city. “Before that gets here.” I cancelled the spells illuminating Ram and myself, dismounted, led the way out of there.

  I stumbled into Sindhu, who had come from Narayan with the question Blade had asked. I told him, “I want Narayan and your friends to join me. Evacuate the cavalry. The infantry should come out behind them. We’ll take tomorrow off.”

  I needed the rest. I felt drained all the time. All I wanted to do was lie down and sleep. I had been going on will power for so long I feared I would collapse at a critical moment.

  There had been no time to filter all the infantry down the slope. Once it had become apparent that was impossible I had sent the majority back to make camp. I longed to be there now. But the night was not yet done.

  The valley glowed as though a cancerous green moon was rising there. The green grew brighter. “Down!” I snapped, and hit the dirt.

  A ball of ugly light crashed into the eminence from which I had observed the fighting. Earth and vegetation melted. Smoke filled the air. Fires started but burned out quickly. My companions were awed.

  I was pleased. Shadowspinner had missed by two hundred yards. He did not know where I was. His bats were flying to my kill trap and his shadows were confused. Sometimes little tricks can be as useful as ones like Spinner’s fireball.

  “Let’s move out,” I said. “He’ll need time to ready another shot. Take advantage of it. Ram, let’s get out of the way and out of these costumes. They’re too damned cumbersome.”

  We did that. Horsemen moved past, talking softly, wearily, in good spirits. They had made a big mess out there. They were pleased with themselves.

  Narayan’s friends gathered, one now, one then. By the time the infantry started out, there were eighty of them. “Mainly men of my band,” he explained. “They came to Ghoja in answer to my summons. What do you plan now?”

  “Down.” Shadowspinner was pasting the hills with random sorceries, hurling his darts blind. From beside Narayan, with stones grinding into my belly and breasts, I murmured, “We’re going to infiltrate their camp and try for the Shadowmaster.”

  I could not see his face. Just as well, probably. The idea did not thrill him. “But...”

  “Never have a better chance. Longshadow knows everything that happens as soon as it happens. His resources haven’t been tapped. He sees Shadowspinner in bad trouble, he’ll do something.” Send the Howler, probably. “We’d better get what we can while we can get it.”

  He did not want to try. Damn him. If he refused, his Stranglers
would, too.

  But he had sewn himself into a sack. I was his Daughter of Night. For his own sake he dared not argue. He grunted, whispered, “I don’t like it. If it has to be done, please don’t you go. The risk is too great.”

  “I have to. I’m the messiah, remember? It’s still that time when I have to win support by demonstration.”

  I did not want to go. I just wanted to lie down and sleep. But my role demanded I play it totally.

  He selected twenty-five men whose abilities he knew. The rest he dismissed. They joined the soldiers headed for camp. Lucky bastards.

  “Sindhu. Take four men and scout ahead. As carefully as you can. Don’t take anybody out without checking. Unless you have to.” He chose the men to accompany Sindhu. We followed in a tighter crowd, with flankers out. Narayan knew his small-unit tactics.

  Shadows fluttered around us, still blind to our presence. But I did not trust their blindness. Had I been Shadowspinner I would have had them pretend.

  Chaos still reigned. Spinner kept pounding the hills. Maybe his shadows did not know where we were, only that we had not all departed.

  Sindhu drifted back from the point. “Ground’s wet ahead.”

  That made no sense. It had been dry before sundown. It had not rained. “Water?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Strange.” But no way to see what it meant before morning. “Be careful.” He went forward again. We resumed moving. Soon I was in water an inch deep. The earth beneath was not waterlogged.

  The reason for part of the confusion became apparent. The Shadowlanders were trying to stay away from the hills. When they got too close to the city archers sniped at them. But the disorder was sorting itself out.

  Sindhu had to eliminate several sentries.

  Shadowspinner stopped hammering the hills. Narayan guessed, “His shadows were watching his sentries.”

  Not so. Their confusion was caused by my proximity. It would envelop the sentries. But maybe he sensed our approach some other way. I sent word to Sindhu to run for it the instant he thought we were walking into something.

  I was a hundred yards from the old walled camp. Sindhu was at its shattered gate. He thought the way was clear. We might actually get our shot at Shadowspinner.