Part 17 (1/2)

Just as Dandra had said, Fan Adar was quiet compared to the other neighborhoods around. Revelers seemed to avoid the kalashtar district. Fan Adar was dark too. Strangely dark. The everbright lanterns that should have lit the streets had been suppressed. Singe had to strain to see through the shadows. Biish's goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears would have a strategic advantage in the darkness.

But there was no movement in the streets. Except for the wheeling herons, everything seemed peaceful. Singe felt an eerie tension crawl up his spine.

”Maybe we are in time,” whispered Natrac.

”They're there,” As.h.i.+ answered him. Her voice had a raw edge Singe hadn't heard in weeks-the edge of a barbarian of the Shadow Marches. ”Can't you feel it? This is the moment before the hunt begins.”

Rhazala squeaked out a curse. ”Tell me what's going on-”

She didn't finish. From somewhere below, a scream of fright echoed into the night before breaking off. An instant later, the herons dropped, screeching, out of the sky to plummet down into the streets. More shouts rose-more screams. A deep howl that must have been a bugbear or maybe even an ogre was followed by shrieks. Light flashed onto the streets as doors and windows were thrown open, but the light only served to make the shadows seem deeper and the shapes that ran through the street stranger and more wild.

”Rond betch, you see?” shouted As.h.i.+. The skycoach rocked as she turned from side to side. ”They're everywhere! They're trying to panic the kalashtar.”

”That won't help them for long,” Dandra said. ”The kalashtar and the Adaran humans will rally at the Gathering Light and fight back.”

Natrac's face flushed dark. ”But that's what they're expecting! Biish said that kalashtar under attack always cl.u.s.ter together at a central location.”

The mention of the hobgoblin's name made Rhazala flinch. ”Biish?” she choked. ”You're going against Biish? Khaari orces'taat! Keep your gold!” The coach lurched to a halt and began to turn as she pulled at the steering rod.

Natrac twisted around with a roar that rocked Singe back on his seat. ”Hold that rod steady! Kuv dagga, we're going against Biis.h.!.+ This time the Biter has sunk his teeth into something too big for him. If they're still telling stories about Natrac Graywall, you'd better start remembering them because you've got a front row seat for his return!”

Rhazala's mouth fell open in shocked awe. ”Natrac? You're Natrac?” Her eyes flashed and her grip tightened on the steering road. ”My coach is yours!”

For a moment, staring at Natrac was all Singe could do too. He'd seen the half-orc wear many faces, from bl.u.s.tering merchant to desperate fighter, but in the deep rage that colored Natrac's features now he could see for the first time the man who might have earned a warrant-notice from the Sentinel Marshals of House Deneith. ”b.l.o.o.d.y moons, Natrac!” he managed.

Natrac thrust his tusks forward. ”I've had enough of Biish. I may be afraid of Dah'mir, but Host and Six curse me if I'm going to take anything more from that shekot! If he's going to force me to go back to what I was, I'm going all the way.”

”I'm glad you're on our side then.” Singe blew out his breath and thought quickly, trying to a.s.sess the situation. ”If Biish is expecting the kalashtar to rally at the Gathering Light, that's probably where he'll stage the main thrust of his attack. How many people does he have, Natrac?”

”Knowing Biish, more than enough to do the job. And Vennet told Biish he'd have a.s.sistance during the attack.”

”Dah'mir,” Dandra said between her teeth. ”Light of il-Yannah, Dah'mir will dominate the kalashtar while Biish's attack takes down the Adarans.”

Singe narrowed his eyes. ”But he still needs Biish's gang, or he'd have done all this himself. Biish is his vulnerability. Stop the raid and we can stop Dah'mir.”

”That's not much easier,” said Natrac. ”'More than enough people to do the job' is more than us. He's going to have us outnumbered.”

”We've faced worse odds-and unless you have your old gang tucked away in your pocket, we don't have a choice.” Singe glanced at Dandra. ”Which way to the Gathering Light?”

Dandra turned and flung out an arm. ”Rhazala, that way!”

”Moza!” The coach moved, curving smoothly in the direction Dandra had indicated- -a curve that ended in a lurch as Rhazala squealed and yanked at the steering rod to avoid a small skycoach that came swooping down out of the sky and directly at them. Four figures squatted in the other coach and Singe caught the unmistakable gleam of moonlight on drawn steel.

”Biis.h.!.+” Rhazala yelped.

”Bandits!” spat Natrac.

But steel wasn't the only thing that moonlight flashed on. The figures in the other coach wore blue jackets, and the coach itself bore a familiar crest. ”Blademarks!” shouted Singe. ”Rhazala, get us down!”

”Don't move your coach!” A voice as familiar as the Blademarks crest rolled above the sounds of chaos that came from Fan Adar-but the voice didn't come from the coach ahead of them. Singe twisted around. A second coach carrying more blue-jacketed mercenaries had come into position behind them. Crouched in the front of the coach, a wand in his grasp, was Mithas d'Deneith. ”Don't move your coach, don't move yourselves, don't try to cast any spells-and don't try to use any psionics, kalashtar. At the first sign that anything is amiss, we will bring you down!”

”One of the men in the other coach has a wand too!” said Dandra. Rhazala gave another little yelp of dismay and tried to shrink down.

Anger burst inside Singe, and he stood up. ”Mithas, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What are you doing?”

”You know what I'm doing, Singe. I've been waiting for you to come back. When I realized you were hanging around with kalashtar, I knew you wouldn't be away from Overlook for long.” The sorcerer's voice was thick with anger. As his coach drifted closer, Singe got a better look at his face and the faces of the three men who rode with him. Mithas's face was still patched with the burst blood vessels inflicted by Moon's-Virikhad's-psionic attack in the fight below Nevchaned's home. Singe was fairly certain he recognized the other mercenaries from the earlier fight as well. They looked just as angry as Mithas.

He ground his teeth together. ”Have you seen what's going on down below?”

”No one's paying me to worry about goblins and kalashtar. There's only one thing I want.” Mithas nodded at As.h.i.+. ”Hand over the marked woman, and I'll let you go down and play with the cog-puppies and dreamers.”

From the corner of his eye, Singe saw both As.h.i.+ and Dandra stiffen. Even Rhazala poked her head up to glare at Mithas. The sorcerer raised with his wand threateningly. ”I said don't move!”

”You're a worthless idiot,” Singe growled at him. ”Dol Arrah's honor, Robrand was right to kick you out of the Frostbrand. Let us go, Mithas. We need to get down to the street. What's happening here is so much bigger than your greed that you couldn't understand it if you tried!”

Mithas's face darkened even more. Singe thought he saw a trickle of fresh blood break through the sorcerer's skin. ”You're not in a position to talk back, Singe!” Mithas said. ”I underestimated you before, and I think you underestimate how much I want that foundling and her mark. I don't know where you found her, but when I bring her to the lords of Deneith the reward I'll receive will be bigger than You can understand.” He leveled his wand at Singe's chest ... then let it drop to point at the hull of the skycoach under his feet. ”I could shatter that coach with a wave of this wand. Surrender her to me, or you'll be meeting the street fast and hard.”

Singe glared at him. ”Do that and you'll drop all of us.”

Mithas gave him a cold smile and raised his other hand. It, too, held a wand. ”Levitation,” he said. ”I can hold her up while the rest of you fall. Like it or not, she's coming with me.”

”I have a name!”

As.h.i.+ stood abruptly, moving with a lethal grace that barely rocked the coach. She glanced at Singe for an instant and the wizard was startled to see that her face was pale and taut, then she turned to face Mithas.

”I am As.h.i.+,” she said, ”daughter of Ner, granddaughter of Kagan who bore this sword.” She drew her weapon with a swift motion that made Singe catch his breath and Mithas jerk both his wands toward her. ”An honor blade of the Sentinel Marshals.” She stared past the sword at Mithas. ”I am no one's to surrender. I go with no one I do not choose to go with. Threaten my friends again, and my blade will find honor in taking your head off of your shoulders.”

Mithas seemed genuinely startled at As.h.i.+'s blunt p.r.o.nouncement, and Singe couldn't keep his lips from curving into a smile. Who had the sorcerer underestimated now? Standing tall and proud, untouchable in her savage dignity, As.h.i.+ spun her sword around and slid it deftly back into her scabbard.

She met Mithas's eyes boldly. ”But I will go with you,” she said.

CHAPTER.

18.

Singe's sense of triumph twisted into shock. ”What?”

His voice wasn't the only one raised. ”As.h.i.+, no!” Dandra cried out at the same time Natrac said, ”Host and Six, are you insane!” Rhazala's face brightened and she called, ”Moza, chib! Save us!” Mithas's smile came back to his face in a grin that made Singe feel sick.

At the same moment, the Thronehold spectacle began. Singe was dimly aware of ringing bells and blaring horns, a joyful call that spread across Sharn and climbed until it rang in the dark sky. It was joined by flashes of light high overhead. Two dozen or more spellcasters and dragonmarked would be working together to cast illusions into the night, their individual efforts combining to create vast panoramas and enormous phantasmal effigies. The wave of awed gasps as the entire city drew breath in amazement was audible even above the bells and horns.

It mingled with the sounds of violence that rose from Fan Adar. A deep voice cursed in Goblin, then a higher human or kalashtar voice wailed in pain. Singe couldn't look up. His eyes were on As.h.i.+. His ears rang with the shock of her declaration.

She would go with Mithas?

But As.h.i.+ wasn't finished. ”There's a price!” she shouted at Mithas over the noise. ”I go with you for a price.”