The Bonehunters

by Steven Erikson

  'We can manage,' he replied. 'They're tribal creatures, rats. Besides, we've already scrounged enough food — it's only Y'Ghatan who needs to eat lots, for now. The pups just suckle.'

  'Stop, you're making me sick. There's enough rats in the world already, Bottle. Take the big one, sure, but leave the others for the birds.'

  'She'd never forgive me.'

  ****

  Sitting nearby, Koryk studied the two bickering soldiers a moment longer, then he rose.

  'Don't go far,' Strings said.

  The half-Seti grunted a wordless reply, then headed towards the far, northern end of the flats, where broad, deep pits pockmarked the ground. He arrived at the edge of one and looked down. Long ago, these pits had yielded clay for the potters, back when there had been water close to the surface. When that had dried up, they had proved useful for the disposal of refuse, including the bodies of paupers.

  The pits nearest the city's walls held only bones, bleached heaps, sun-cracked amidst tattered strips of burial cloth.

  He stood above the remains for a moment longer, then descended the crumbling side.

  The soldiers had lost most of the bones affixed to their armour and uniforms. It seemed only fitting, Koryk thought, that these long-dead citizens of Y'Ghatan offer up their own. After all, we crawled through the city's own bones. And we can't even measure what we left behind.

  Knee-deep in bones, he looked round. No shortage of fetishes here. Satisfied, he began collecting.

  ****

  'You look damn near naked without all that armour.'

  Corporal Tarr grimaced. 'I am damn near naked without all my armour, Sergeant.'

  Smiling, Strings looked away, searching until he found Koryk, who was in the process of climbing into the ground. At least, it looked that way from here. Strange, secretive man. Then again, if he wanted to crawl into the earth, that was his business. So long as he showed up for the call to march.

  Cuttle was near the fire, pouring out the last of the tea, a brew concocted from a half-dozen local plants Bottle had identified as palatable, although he'd been a little cagey on toxicity.

  After a moment surveying his squad, the sergeant returned to shaving off his beard, hacking at the foul-smelling, singed hair with his camp knife — the only weapon left to him.

  One of the foundling children had attached herself to him and sat opposite, watching with wide eyes, her round face smeared with ash and two wet, dirty streaks running down from her nose. She had licked her lips raw.

  Strings paused, squinted at her, then raised one eyebrow. 'You need a bath, lass. We'll have to toss you into the first stream we run across.'

  She made a face.

  'Can't be helped,' he went on. 'Malazan soldiers in the Fourteenth are required to maintain a certain level of cleanliness. So far, the captain's been easy about it, but trust me, that won't last...' He trailed off when he saw that she wasn't listening any more. Nor was she looking at him, but at something beyond his left shoulder. Strings twisted round to follow her gaze.

  And saw a rider, and three figures on foot. Coming down from the road that encircled Y'Ghatan. Coming towards them.

  From a short distance to the sergeant's right, he heard Gesler say, 'That's Stormy — I'd recognize that bludgeon walk anywhere. And Kalam and Quick. Don't know the woman on the horse, though...'

  But I do. Strings rose. Walked up the slope to meet them. He heard Gesler behind him, following.

  'Hood take us,' Strings said, studying first Apsalar, then Kalam and Quick Ben, 'half the old squad. All here.'

  Quick Ben was squinting at Fiddler. 'You shaved,' he said. 'Reminds me just how young you are — that beard turned you into an old man.'

  He paused, then added, 'Be nice to have Mallet here with us.'

  'Forget it,' Strings said, 'he's getting fat in Darujhistan and the last thing he'd want to do is see our ugly faces again.' He coughed. 'And I suppose Paran's there, too, feet up and sipping chilled Saltoan wine.'

  'Turned out to be a good captain,' the wizard said after a moment. 'Who'd have thought it, huh?'

  Strings nodded up at the woman on the horse. 'Apsalar. So where's Crokus Younghand?'

  She shrugged. 'He goes by the name of Cutter, now, Fiddler.'

  Oh.

  'In any case,' she continued, 'we parted ways some time ago.'

  Stormy stepped closer to Gesler. 'We lost him?' he asked.

  Gesler looked away, then nodded.

  'What happened?'

  Strings spoke in answer: 'Truth saved all our skins, Stormy. He did what we couldn't do, when it needed to be done. And not a word of complaint. Anyway, he gave up his life for us. I wish it could have been otherwise...' He shook his head. 'I know, it's hard when they're so young.'

  There were tears now, running down the huge man's sun­burnt face. Saying nothing, he walked past them all, down onto the slope towards the encamped Malazans. Gesler watched, then followed.

  No-one spoke.

  'I had a feeling,' Quick Ben said after a time. 'You made it out of Y'Ghatan — but the Fourteenth's marched already.'

  Fiddler nodded. 'They had to. Plague's coming from the east. Besides, it must've seemed impossible — anyone trapped in the city surviving the firestorm.'

  'How did you pull it off?' Kalam demanded.

  'We're about to march,' Fiddler said as Faradan Sort appeared, clambering onto the road. 'I'll tell you along the way. And Quick, I've got a mage in my squad I want you to meet — he saved us all.'

  'What do you want me to do?' the wizard asked. 'Shake his hand?'

  'Not unless you want to get bit.' Hah, look at his face. That was worth it.

  ****

  The bridge was made of black stones, each one roughly carved yet perfectly fitted. Wide enough to accommodate two wagons side by side, although there were no barriers flanking the span and the edges looked worn, crumbly, enough to make Paran uneasy. Especially since there was nothing beneath the bridge. Nothing at all. Grey mists in a depthless sea below. Grey mists swallowing the bridge itself twenty paces distant; grey mists refuting the sky overhead.

  A realm half-born, dead in still-birth, the air was cold, clammy, smelling of tidal pools. Paran drew his cloak tighter about his shoulders. 'Well,' he muttered, 'it's pretty much how I saw it.'

  The ghostly form of Hedge, standing at the very edge of the massive bridge, slowly turned. 'You've been here before, Captain?'

  'Visions,' he replied. 'That's all. We need to cross this—'

  'Aye,' the sapper said. 'Into a long forgotten world. Does it belong to Hood? Hard to say.' The ghost's hooded eyes seemed to shift, fixing on Ganath. 'You should've changed your mind, Jaghut.'

  Paran glanced over at her. Impossible to read her expression, but there was a stiffness to her stance, a certain febrility to the hands she lifted to draw up the hood of the cape she had conjured.

  'Yes,' she said. 'I should have.'

  'This is older than the Holds, isn't it?' Paran asked her. 'And you recognize it, don't you, Ganath?'

  'Yes, in answer to both your questions. This place belongs to the Jaghut — to our own myths. This is our vision of the underworld, Master of the Deck. Verdith'anath, the Bridge of Death. You must find another path, Ganoes Paran, to find those whom you seek.'

  He shook his head. 'No, this is the one, I'm afraid.'

  'It cannot be.'

  'Why?'

  She did not reply.

  Paran hesitated, then said, 'This is the place in my visions. Where I have to begin. But... well, those dreams never proceeded from here — I could not see what lay ahead, on this bridge. So, I had this, what you see before us, and the knowledge that only a ghost could guide me across.' He studied the mists engulfing the stone path. 'There's two ways of seeing it, I eventually concluded.'

  'Of seeing what?' Ganath asked.

  'Well, the paucity of those visions, and my hunches on how to proceed. I could discard all else and attempt to appease them with precision, never onc
e straying — for fear that it would prove disastrous. Or, I could see all those uncertainties as opportunities, and so allow my imagination fullest rein.'

  Hedge made a motion something like spitting, although nothing left his mouth. 'I take it you chose the latter, Captain.'

  Paran nodded, then faced the Jaghut again. 'In your myths, Ganath, who or what guards this bridge?'

  She shook her head. 'This place lies beneath the ground beneath Hood's feet. He may well know of this realm, but would not presume to claim dominance over it... or its inhabitants. This is a primal place, Master of the Deck, as are those forces that call it home. It is a conceit to believe that death has but a single manifestation. As with all things, layer settles upon layer, and in time the deepest, darkest ones become forgotten — yet they have shaped all that lies above.' She seemed to study Paran for a moment, then said, 'You carry an otataral sword.'

  'Reluctantly,' he admitted. 'Most of the time I keep it buried by the back wall of Coll's estate, in Darujhistan. I am surprised you sensed it — the scabbard is made of iron and bronze and that negates its effect.'

  The Jaghut shrugged. 'The barrier is imperfect. The denizens in this realm — if the myths hold truth and they always do — prefer brute force over sorcery. The sword will be just a sword.'

  'Well, I wasn't planning on using it, anyway.'

  'So,' Hedge said, 'we just start on our way, across this bridge, and see what comes for us? Captain, I may be a sapper, and a dead one at that, but even I don't think that's a good idea.'

  'Of course not,' Paran said. 'I have planned for some­thing else.' He drew out from his pack a small object, spoked and circular, which he then tossed on the ground. 'Shouldn't be long,' he said. 'They were told to stay close.'

  A moment later sounds came through the mists behind them, the thunder of hoofs, the heavy clatter of massive wheels. A train of horses appeared, heads tossing, froth-flecked and wild-eyed, and behind them a six-wheeled carriage. Guards were clinging to various ornate projections on the carriage's flanks, some of them strapped in place by leather harnesses. Their weapons were out, and they glared fiercely into the mists on all sides.

  The driver leaned back on the reins, voicing a weird cry. Hoofs stamping, the train reared back, slewing the huge carriage round to a stone-snapping, skidding halt.

  The guards unhitched themselves and swarmed off, establishing a perimeter with crossbows out and cocked. On the bench the driver set the brake, looped the reins about the handle, then pulled out a flask and downed its contents in seven successive swallows. Belched, re-stoppered the flask, pocketed it, then clambered down the carriage side. He unlatched the side door even as Paran caught movement through its barred window.

  The man pushing his way through was huge, dressed in sodden silks, his pudgy hands and round face sheathed in sweat.

  Paran spoke: 'You must be Karpolan Demesand. I am Ganoes Paran. Thank you for arriving so quickly. Knowing the reputation of the Trygalle Trade Guild, of course, I am not at all surprised.'

  'Nor should you be!' the huge man replied with a broad smile that revealed gold-capped, diamond-studded teeth. The smile slowly faded as his gaze found the bridge. 'Oh dear.' He gestured to two of the nearest guards, both Pardu women, both badly scarred. 'Nisstar, Artara, to the edge of the mists on that bridge, if you please. Examine the edges carefully — without a retaining wall we face a treacherous path indeed.' The small, bright eyes fixed on Paran once more. 'Master of the Deck, forgive me, I am fraught with exhaustion! Oh, how this dread land taxes poor old Karpolan Demesand! After this, we shall hasten our return to our most cherished native continent of Genabackis! Naught but tragedy haunts Seven Cities — see how I have lost weight! The stress! The misery! The bad food!' He snapped his fingers and a servant emerged from the carriage behind him, somehow managing to balance a tray crowded with goblets and a crystal decanter in one hand while navigating his egress with the other. 'Gather, my friends! Not you, damned shareholders! Keep a watch out, fools! There are things out there and you know what happens when things arrive! Nay, I spoke to my guests! Ganoes Paran, Master of the Deck, his ghostly companion and the Jaghut sorceress — join me, fretful three, in this one peaceable toast... before the mayhem begins!'

  'Thanks for the invitation,' Hedge said, 'but since I'm a ghost—'

  'Not at all,' Karpolan Demesand cut in, 'know that in close proximity to my contrivance here, you are not cursed insubstantial — not at all! So,' he passed a goblet to the sapper, 'drink, my friend! And revel once more in the delicious sensation of taste, not to mention alcohol!'

  'If you say so,' Hedge said, accepting the goblet. He swallowed a mouthful, and his hazy expression somehow brightened. 'Gods below! You've done it now, merchant! I think I'll end up haunting this carriage for all time!'

  'Alas, my friend, the effect wears off, eventually. Else we face an impossible burden, as you might imagine! Now you, Jaghut, please, the significance of the myriad flavours in this wine shall not be lost on you, I'm sure.' Beaming, he handed her a goblet.

  She drank, then bared her tusks in what Paran took to be a smile. 'Bik'trara — ice flowers — you must have crossed a Jaghut glacier some time in the past, to have harvested such rare plants.'

  'Indeed, my dear! Jaghut glaciers, and much more besides, I assure you! To explain, the Trygalle Trade Guild travels the warrens — a claim no other merchants in this world dare make. Accordingly, we are very expensive.' He gave Paran a broad wink. 'Very, as the Master of the Deck well knows. Speaking of which, I trust you have your pay­ment with you?'

  Paran nodded.

  Karpolan proffered the third goblet to Paran. 'I note you have brought your horse, Master of the Deck. Do you intend to ride alongside us, then?'

  'I think so. Is that a problem?'

  'Hard to say — we do not yet know what we shall encounter on this fell bridge. In any case, you must ride close, unless you mean to assert your own protection — in which case, why hire us at all?'

  'No, your protection I shall need, I'm sure,' Paran said. 'And yes, that is why I contracted with your guild in Darujhistan.' He sipped at the wine, and found his head swimming. 'Although,' he added, eyeing the golden liquid, 'if I drink any more of this, I might have trouble staying in the saddle.'

  'You must strap yourself tightly, Ganoes Paran. In the stirrups, and to the saddle. Trust me in this, such a journey is best managed drunk — or filled with the fumes of durhang. Or both. Now, I must begin preparations —although I have never before visited this warren, I am beginning to suspect we will be sorely tested on this dread bridge.'

  'If you are amenable,' Ganath said, 'I would ride with you within.'

  'Delightful, and I suggest you ready yourself to access your warren, Jaghut, should the need arise.'

  Paran watched as the two climbed back into the carriage, then he turned to regard Hedge.

  The sapper finished the wine in his goblet and set it back down on the tray, which was being held still by the servant — an old man with red-rimmed eyes and grey hair that looked singed at its ends. 'How many of these journeys have you made?' Hedge asked him.

  'More'n I can count, sir.'

  'I take it Karpolan Demesand is a High Mage.'

  'That he be, sir. An' for that, us shareholders bless 'im every day.'

  'No doubt,' Hedge said, then turned to Paran. 'If you ain't gonna drink that, Captain, put it down. You and me need to talk.'

  Paran risked another mouthful then replaced the goblet, following as, with a gesture, Hedge set off towards the foot of the bridge.

  'Something on your ghostly mind, sapper?'

  'Plenty, Captain, but first things first. You know, when I tossed that cusser back in Coral, I figured that was it. Hood knows, I didn't have a choice, so I'd do the same thing if I had to do it over again. Anyway —' he paused, then said, 'for a time there was, well, just darkness. The occasional flicker of something like light, something like awareness.' He shook his head. 'It was like, well,' he met Paran
's eyes, 'like I had nowhere to go. My soul, I mean. Nowhere at all. And trust me on this, that ain't a good feeling.'

  'But then you did,' Paran said. 'Have somewhere to go, I mean.'

  Hedge nodded, eyes once more on the mists engulfing the way ahead. 'Heard voices, at first. Then... old friends, coming outa the dark. Faces I knew, and sure, like I said, friends. But some who weren't. You got to understand, Captain, before your time, a lot of Bridgeburners were plain bastards. When a soldier goes through what we went through, in Raraku, at Black Dog, you come out one of two kinds of people. Either you're damned humbled, or you start believing the Empress worships what slides outa your ass, and not just the Empress, but everyone else besides. Now, I never had time for those bastards when I was alive — now I'm looking at spending an eternity with 'em.'

  Paran was silent for a moment, thoughtful, then he said, 'Go on.'

  'Us Bridgeburners, we got work ahead of us, and some of us don't like it. I mean, we're dead, right? And sure, it's good helping friends who are still alive, and maybe helping all of humanity if it comes to that and I'm sorry to say, it will come to that. Still, you end up with questions, questions that can't be answered.'

  'Such as?'

  The sapper's expression twisted. 'Damn, sounds awful, but... what's in it for us? We find ourselves in an army of the dead in a damned sea where there used to be desert. We're all done with our wars, the fighting's over, and now it looks like we're having to march — and it's a long march, longer than you'd think possible. But it's our road, now, isn't it?'

  'And where does it lead, Hedge?'

  He shook his head again. 'What's it mean to die? What's it mean to ascend? It's not like we're gonna gather ten thousand worshippers among the living, is it? I mean, the only thing us dead soldiers got in common is that none of us was good enough or lucky enough to survive the fight. We're a host of failures.' He barked a laugh. 'I better remember that one for the bastards. Just to get under their skins.'

  Paran glanced back at the carriage. Still no activity there, although the servant had disappeared back inside. He sighed. 'Ascendants, Hedge. Not an easy role to explain — in fact, I've yet to find a worthwhile explanation for what ascendancy is — among all the scholarly tracts I've pored through in Darujhistan's libraries and archives. So, I've had to come up with my own theory.' '