A black rider sat outside the gate of Beryl. He threw a blazing spear to the east. Toadkiller Dog turned. He found the trail quickly.

So. The old doom had been forced to take the long road, around the sea. He loped on, gaining two miles for each three he ran. He swam the River Bigotes and the Hyclades and streaked across the seventy silvery miles of lifeless, mirror-flat salt desert called the Rani Poor. He raced between the countless burial mounds of Barbara to reach the forgotten highways of Laba Larada. He circled the haunted ruins of Khun, pa.s.sed the pyramids of Katch, which still stood sentinel over the Canyons of the Undead. Warily, he circled the remnants of the temple city of Marsha the Devastator, where the air still shimmered with the cries of sacrificies whose hearts had been torn out on the altars of an aloof and disdainful G.o.ddess.

The trail grew warmer by the hour.

He came into the province of Karsus, past outposts of the empire where auxiliaries recruited from the Grain tribes guarded the frontier against the depredations of their own kind more ferociously and faithfully than did the imperial legions. A black rider armed with a spear of fire watched him race across the Plain of Dano-Patha, where a hundred armies had contested the right of pa.s.sage north or south or east and where some legends said the Last Battle of Time would be fought between Light and Darkness.

The Mountains of Sinjian lay beyond, and in their savage defiles he found evidence that the Limper was again being tormented and delayed, again with vicious traps narrowly escaped.

The spoor was heavy and hot and had the taint of newly opened graves.

He came out onto a prominence overlooking the Straits of Angine, where the fresh waters flowed down from the Kiril Lakes to meld with the salty waters of the Sea of Torments. His vantage was not far from that narrowest part of the strait that seafarers called h.e.l.l's Gate and overland travelers had dubbed Heaven's Bridge.

h.e.l.l was in session down there.

The Limper was on the south sh.o.r.e and wanted to cross over. But on the north sh.o.r.e someone demurred.

Toadkiller Dog settled on his belly, rested his chin on his forepaws, and watched. This was not the place to reveal himself. Maybe at the Tower, if the Limper turned west and sought a vengeance there.

As though they sensed his arrival, those who held the north sh.o.r.e closed up shop and hauled out. The Limper hurled glamorous violences after them. The distance was too great to do them any harm.

The Limper went across immediately. He encountered traps immediately. Toadkiller Dog decided he would hazard a more difficult crossing. After dark.

There was no need to hurry now. He had the quarry in sight. He could bide his time.

He might range ahead and lie in wait. Or he might stalk the enemies of his enemy in order to discover the nature of their game.

L.

We got a break. Raven came rolling in where I was reading a book I borrowed from the guy who owned the place where we was staying. "We got a break. Come on, Case."

I put the book aside, got up. "What's happening?"

"I'll tell you on the way." He stuck his head in the next room, yelled and invoked Darling till one of the Torques joined us. We hit the street. He started talking. "One of those little characters from the Plain hit paydirt. He overheard a man telling his cronies about an incident that almost has to involve the men who stole the spike."

I told him, "Slow down. You're getting the soldiers interested." And he was. He was that eager to get at this first a.s.signment from Darling. "What did the guy say?"

"He and two others were hired to s.n.a.t.c.h a man and then help question him. Which they did. But someone came along and broke it up. This fellow was the only one who got away. We're going to round him up and let him walk us through his adventure."

Right.

It might be the best lead we'd get but it didn't look that great to me. "This guy is shooting his mouth off about what happened to him we're going to have to get in line to talk to him."

"We heard first. Almost direct. We're ahead of the pack. But that's why I'm in a hurry."

I noticed he was hardly limping. "Your hip finally starting to do right?"

"All this sitting around. Nothing else to do but get healthy."

"Speaking of which. I went out for a beer this afternoon. I heard talk there's cholera down near South Gate."

We walked in silence a while. Then the Torque-I still didn't know any of their real front names-said, "That'll tear it, won't it? Get a cholera outbreak going and the pot will boil over, sure."

Raven grunted.

Maybe this wasn't just our best break but our only one. Maybe we had to make it count.

We went into a place with the dumb name Barnacles. Raven looked around. "There's our man. Right where he's supposed to be." His voice had got hard as jasper. He had changed while we walked, turned into a critter like the Raven that had ridden with the Black Company.

Our man was alone. He was drunk. Fortune was smiling today. Raven told us, "You guys have a beer and keep an eye out. I'll talk to him."

We did, and he did. I don't know what he said but I never got a chance to get even with Torque by having him buy the second round. Raven got up. So did our man. In a minute we were all in the street. It was almost dark out now. Our new friend was not full of small talk. He did not seem pleased to be with us.

Raven told us, "Smiley here figured getting fifty obols for showing us around was a lot better than the alternative."

Smiley took us to an alley. "This is where we grabbed the guy."

Raven had asked questions while we walked. "And you didn't know anything about the guy? Like where he was coming from or where he was headed?"

"I told you. This Abel set it up and gave it to Shorts. Shorts just hired me and Tanker to back him up when he grabbed this guy with only one hand that was supposed to come through here. Maybe Shorts knew what was going on. I didn't."

"Convenient."

"Yeah. The more I think about it the more I figure the only reason they had me and Tanker hang around after we got the guy down to the cellar was they planned on us never leaving if they got what they wanted."

"You're probably right. That's the way those kind work."

"And you guys don't?"

"Not when we get cooperation. Show us that cellar."

I was glum. Our big strike looked like it was turning into a pocket of fool's gold. The guys who could give us answers had checked out.

Raven thought we might get something out of a look at the bodies. I was willing to bet all we would get was gagged. "s.h.i.t, this is desolate," I said as we was getting close. "How much farther?"

"About a block..."

"Hold it!" Raven said. "Quiet!"

I listened. I didn't hear nothing. But my eyes were good at night. By looking slightly to the side of them I could make out some guys. Three of them carrying a fourth. They were headed somewhere in a big hurry.

I told Raven. He asked, "You know this area?"

"Only vaguely."

"Try to get ahead of them. They won't be able to move too fast if they're carrying a body. We'll run them down from behind."

Smiley said, "I'll do a fade now."

Raven replied, "You'll come with us and tell us if you recognize any faces."

Smiley started cursing.

I took off. I figured it was a waste of time but I'd give it a shot. Five minutes and I'd be lost and they'd be long gone.

I went about three hundred yards and found myself on open ground. It looked like the area where we had landed, seen from a different direction. I couldn't see anyone in the open. Figuring they'd been to my left when I started and I'd paralleled them, I moved to my left, along the face of the ruins still standing.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Just like I expected. Where were the others? I worried. I thought about yelling but decided not to. I didn't want to look silly.

I thought I was paying attention but I guess I wasn't.

Somebody stepped out of nowhere and kicked me in the noogies. A perfect shot. The pain exploded through me. I bent over and puked and didn't care about anything else in the world.

He hit me in the back of the head. I went down, rooted up a little pavement with my chin. Somebody got onto me and forced me to lay out flat, facedown. He was not gentle. I wiggled a couple fingers by way of fighting back. He was not impressed.

He twisted one arm up behind me till I thought it was going to break, then whispered in my ear, "I don't want you tromping around in my life, boy. You hear?"

I did not answer.

He twisted my arm a little more. I let out a yell, proving I was getting my wind back faster than I thought.

"You hear me, boy?"

"Yeah."

"Next time I even see you or one of your buddies they're going to be picking up pieces all over Oar. You understand?"

"Yeah."

"You tell that slit she don't mind her own business she's going to be up to her t.w.a.t in grays. You listening?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He hit me on the head again. I don't know why-maybe because my skull is as thick as my old man used to tell me it was-he didn't put me all the way out. I lay there powerless but aware as he drew a knife across my left cheek. Then he got up and went away and my only companions were pain, nausea, and humiliation.

After a while I got my feet under me and stumbled off to find Raven. I hadn't been whipped up on so bad since I was a kid. The slash burned like h.e.l.l but wasn't as bad as I'd feared.

I actually found them pretty easy, considering. Only took me about fifteen minutes. There was a little light now from a big fire burning down south. Later I found out they were getting rid of the bodies of the first hundred people to die from the cholera. The twins must have antic.i.p.ated epidemics. They'd had the engineers save all the sc.r.a.p lumber from the demolished buildings.

I stumbled over Raven is how I found him.

He was out cold. He had a slash just like mine.

The Torque was about ten feet away and just starting to twitch and make noises. He had been cut, too.

So had Smiley. Twice. The second cut was about four inches below the first, ran from ear to ear, and was the last wound he'd ever suffer.

They'd done a number on us, all right.

Raven hadn't gotten him a swift kick but a good whack on the head. He was still rocky as we reported. His hands shook badly as he tried to sign to Darling: "One man, I think. Took us by surprise." He was embarra.s.sed.

I don't think I ever saw him embarra.s.sed like that before. But he never got took like that before, either.

I was embarra.s.sed when my turn came because I had to report every word the man had said. I was afraid I was going to have to explain a couple of them.

She surprised me for the hundredth time by not being as ignorant as I expected.

Silent touched his cheek, signed, "Queen's Bridge."

Darling nodded.

I had to ask.

Silent signed, "When we fought the Nightstalkers at Queen's Bridge they took eighteen prisoners. They marked them all on the left cheek and turned them loose."

"What the h.e.l.l? Could the soldiers themselves have the spike? Is that why they haven't had any luck finding it? Is the brigadier playing some game of her own?" I did it in sign. You get into the habit when you're around Darling long.

She looked at me weird for a few seconds, then signed, "We have to get out of here now. Soldiers-not Nightstalkers-are going to come any minute."

I saw it then.

Somebody was a mad genius, a wizard at thinking on his feet. In the minutes he'd had us at his mercy he'd put together a plan that could hurl Oar into a whirlpool of chaos and violence.

He had spared us only to spark a greater bloodletting.

The twins' soldiers would grab us, with the marks on us, and eliminate the White Rose menace. Word would get out. A significant portion of the population would start raising h.e.l.l. Meantime, the twins would take our testimony on the rack and find cause to suspect the Nightstalkers and their commander. There was no love lost there now and there was no way the Nightstalkers were going to let their brigadier be arrested or even relieved of her command.

The Nightstalkers were outnumbered by the other gray regiments but they were the better, tougher soldiers and they would win in any confrontation, unless the twins themselves intervened directly.

b.l.o.o.d.y-minded genius. Who could keep his or her mind on the silver spike with all that s.h.i.t going on?

While I was thinking, Darling was flinging orders left and right. She sent all the little Plain creatures out to scout around and see who was in the neighborhood and to watch for soldiers. She sent the Torque brothers off to warn our Rebel friends. Bomanz and Silent she sent to the area where we got bushwhacked to see if they, with their talents, could pick up anything.

She looked from me to Raven and back again, deciding who should be their guide.

She picked Raven.

Before they could all work up a good scowl for me-I think Silent was pleased that he would not be leaving her alone with Raven-one of the Plain creatures zipped in to report the area clear except for an antiquated wino pa.s.sed out on the wooden sidewalk half a block away.

Darling signed, "Let us go now."

We all went.

The wave of raids and arrests started less than an hour later.