"But?"

"I'm scared."

"You make that sound shameful."

"I haven't been this frightened since my first time."

"This isn't your ordinary victim. The stakes are higher than you're used to."

"I know. And knowing wakens doubts of my ability, of my worthiness... even of my G.o.ddess." He seemed ashamed to admit that, too. "She is the greatest Deceiver of all, Mistress. It amuses her sometimes to mislead her own. And, while this is a great and necessary deed, even I, who was never a priest, notice that the omens have not been favorable."

"Oh?" I had noticed no omens, good or bad.

"The crows, Mistress. They haven't been with us tonight."

I had not noticed. I had grown that accustomed to them. I a.s.sumed they were there whether I saw them or not. He was right. There were no crows anywhere.

That meant something. Probably something important. I could not imagine their master allowing me freedom from observation for even a minute. And their absence was not my doing. And I doubted it was Shadowspinner's.

"I hadn't noticed, Narayan. That's interesting. Personally, it's the best omen I've seen in months."

He frowned at me.

"Worry not, my friend. You're Narayan, the living legend. The saint-to-be. You'll do fine." I shifted from cant to standard Taglian. "Blade. Swan. Ready?"

"Lead on, my lovely," Swan said. "I'll follow you anywhere." The more stressed he became the more flip he was.

I looked them over, Blade, Swan, Ram, Narayan, the two arm-holders. Seven of us. As Swan had observed, the obligatory number for a company on quest. A totally mixed bag. By his own standards each was a good person. By the standards of others everyone, excepting Swan, was a villain.

"Let's go, then." Before I grew too philosophical.

We did not have to talk about it. We had rehea.r.s.ed farther away. There would be no chatter to alert Shadowspinner.

It was a slovenly encampment. It screamed demoralization. But for Spinner my ragbag army could have beaten those Shadowlanders. And they knew it. They were waiting for the hammer to fall.

We pa.s.sed within yards of pickets who sat facing a fire and grumbling. Their language resembled Taglian. I could understand them when they were not excited.

They were demoralized, all right. They were discussing men they knew who had deserted. There seemed to be a lot of those and plenty of sentiment for following their example.

Narayan had the point. He trusted no one else to find his way. He came sliding into the hollow where we waited. In a whisper that did not carry three feet he told me, "There are prisoners in a pen to the left, there. Taglian. Several hundred."

I turned that over in my mind. How could I use them? There was potential for a diversion there. But I did not need one. "Did you talk to them?"

"No. They might have given us away."

"Yes. We'll stick to the mission."

Narayan went ahead. He found us another lurking place. I began to sense Shadowspinner's nearness. He did not radiate much energy for a power of his magnitude. Till then I had been sure only that he was in the camp. "Over there."

"The big tent?" Narayan asked.

"I think."

We moved closer. I saw that Shadowspinner felt no need for guards. Maybe he thought he was his own best guard. Maybe he did not want anyone that close while he was asleep.

We crouched in a pool of darkness, a dozen feet from the tent. One fire burned on its far side. No light came from within. I eased my blade out of its scabbard. "Blade, Swan, Ram, be ready to cover us if something goes wrong." h.e.l.l. If anything went wrong we were dead. And we all knew it.

"Mistress!" Ram protested. His voice threatened to rise.

"Stay put, Ram. And don't give me an argument."

We'd had the argument already. He did not give up. I moved forward. Narayan and his arm-holders drifted with me. So did the smell of fear.

I paused two feet from the tent, drew my blade down the canvas. It cut without a whisper. An arm-holder widened the slash enough for Narayan to slip through. The other followed, I went next, then the first arm-holder.

It was dark in there. Narayan held us in place with a touch. He was a patient hunter. More so than I could have been in his place, knowing the moon was about to rise and rape away the darkness. Its fore-glow had been visible as we'd approached the tent.

Narayan started moving, slowly, certainly, disturbing nothing. His arm-holders were as good as he. I could not hear their breathing.

I had to rely on extraordinary senses to keep from stumbling over things. I felt the Shadowmaster's presence but could not pin it down.

Narayan seemed to know where to go.

There had to be hangings ahead. No light from the fire outside reached us. How I wished for some light.

Light I got, unexpectedly. Just enough light to unveil the awful truth.

Shadowspinner was off to our left, seated in the lotus position, watching us through a grim beast mask. "Welcome," he said. His voice was like a snake's hiss. It was feeble. It barely carried. "I've been waiting."

So the shadows had not been fooled after all.

He guessed my thoughts. "Not the shadows, Dorotea Senjak. I know how you think. Soon I shall know all that is inside your head. You arrogant b.i.t.c.h! You thought you could take me with three unarmed men and a sword?"

I said nothing. There was nothing to say. Narayan started to move. I gestured slightly, a Strangler's signal. He froze. There was a chance if Shadowspinner truly believed these men unarmed.

Then I spoke. "If you think you know me, then you don't know me at all." I wanted him closer. I wanted him where Narayan could reach him. "Dark Mother, Mother Kina, listen! Thy Daughter calls. My Mother, attend me."

He did not move. He hit me with something invisible that knocked me back ten feet and tore a groan out of me.

The discipline shown by Narayan and his arm-holders astonished me. They did not rush Shadowspinner. They did not come to me and separate themselves farther from their target. They moved only slightly, so they were better balanced and disposed, their adjustment barely perceptible.

Shadowspinner rose slowly, a man in pain. He slipped a crutch beneath one arm. "Yes. A cripple. With no chance for repairs because my only ally won't lend me help he might regret when he decides I've outlived my usefulness. And I have you to thank." He extended a hand. An almost invisible rope of indigo fire snaked from his fingers to me. He made a pulling gesture. The rope dragged me forward. The pain was intense. I contained my scream, barely.

He wanted me to scream. He wanted me to waken the camp so he could show his incompetents what he had accomplished despite their inattention. He wanted to play cat and mouse.

The wall of the tent behind him exploded inward. Two blades ripped canvas and Ram came flying through. Shadowspinner turned. Ram smashed into him, sent him stumbling toward Narayan.

Narayan and his arm-holders moved like mongooses striking. Narayan had his rumel around the Shadowmaster's throat so fast my eyes insisted it was witchcraft. The arm-holders had the Shadowmaster's limbs extended before he lost momentum.

The purple rope ripped away from me. It lashed one of the arm-holders. The man's eyes grew huge. He stifled a scream and tried to hang on but lost his grip.

Shadowspinner whipped the rope at Narayan.

Narayan's eyes bugged. He lost his grip on his rumel. Shadowspinner turned on the other arm-holder.

Ram grabbed Shadowspinner from behind, by the neck and b.u.t.tocks, and hoisted him overhead. Shadowspinner lashed at him. He did not seem able to feel pain. He dropped to one knee, smashed the Shadowmaster down on the other.

I heard bones break. The world would have heard an earth-shaking scream if Narayan had not been so good with a rumel. He looped Shadowspinner's neck on the fly, as Ram hurled him down. Falling with Spinner, he had a tight loop on when the cry tried to force its way out.

Ram and Narayan both hung on.

Blade stepped inside the tent, casually drove his blade through Shadowspinner's heart. "I know you people have your ways, but let's not take chances."

There is an incredible vitality in someone like Shadowspinner. Blade was right. Even stabbed several times and thoroughly strangled, back broken, Shadowspinner kept struggling. Ram, Narayan, and both arm-holders hung on. I stepped up and helped Blade cut and stab.

Swan stood outside the gap in the tent and gawked, so rattled he could do nothing but keep watch. Poor Swan. War and violence just were not his thing.

We carved Shadowspinner into a half dozen pieces before he stopped struggling. We stood around the results. All of us were covered with blood. n.o.body seemed inclined to do anything but pant and wonder if we'd really succeeded. Narayan, who seldom showed any humor, broke the spell. "Am I a Strangler saint now, Mistress?"

"Three times over. You're immortal. We'd better get out of here. Everybody grab a piece."

Swan made a choked, questioning noise.

I told him, "The only way to make sure is burn him to ash and scatter the ashes. Someone like Longshadow could bring him back even now."

Swan dumped his last meal. Even so, he looked shamed, as though he thought he had contributed nothing.

I picked up Spinner's head. As I pa.s.sed I winked and gave Swan's hand a squeeze. That should take his mind off his troubles.

The moon was up. It was a day short of full. Barely over the horizon, it was an orange monster. I gestured for the others to hurry, while there were still shadows to mask our going.

We were halfway to the perimeter when a terrible howl rolled down out of the night. Something wobbled across the face of the moon. Another howl tore the night. There was deadly agony in it.

Ram shoved me. "Got to run, Mistress. Got to run."

All around us Shadowlander soldiers rose to see what the racket was.

Chapter Fifty-Seven.

Croaker glanced at the moon as he entered the city barracks. Not four hours had pa.s.sed since the attack but already all Taglios knew the Shadowmasters had struck at the Prahbrindrah Drah. The city was united in outrage.

Already the city knew that the Liberator was alive, that he had feigned death in order to lead their enemies into a fatal mistake. The military compound was swamped with men who wanted to rampage through the Shadowlands till not a blade of gra.s.s survived.

It would not last. He could do nothing with this illarmed and untrained horde. But for their sakes he ordered them to a.s.semble at the fortress Lady had begun, then move south in forces of five thousand. They could sort themselves out on the road.

He suspected most would change their minds before they reached Ghoja. However strong their rage they did not have the supporting resources to mount a vengeance campaign. But he knew they would not listen, so told them what they wanted to hear and stood aside.

The Prahbrindrah Drah accompanied him. The prince was in a rage himself, but a rage channelled by realism. Croaker discharged his duties to those who wanted him to be larger than life, then found the horses that had pulled the coach. While they were being prepared he stamped around the barracks gathering equipment and supplies. n.o.body questioned him. Would-be soldiers stared at him like he was a ghost.

He took a bow and black arrows from hiding. Soulcatcher had brought them out of Dejagore with his armor. "These were a gift a long time ago. Before I was anything but a physician. They've served me well. I save them for special times. Special times are here."

An hour later the two left the city. The prince wondered aloud if he had made the right choice, out-arguing his sister about joining Croaker. Croaker told him, "Turn back if you want. We don't have time to examine our hearts and dither over choices. Before you go, though, tell me where Lady sent those archers."

"Which archers?"

"The ones who killed the priests. I know her. She wouldn't have kept them with her. She would've sent them somewhere out of the way."

"Vehdna-Bota. To guard the ford."

"Then we ride to Vehdna-Bota. Or I do, if you're going home."

"I'm coming with you."

Chapter Fifty-Eight.

There was no escape from the Shadowlander camp. We were trapped. And I did not know what to do.

Ram said, "Be Kina." Big, gentle, slow Ram. He thought faster than I did.

It was a task of illusion, only slightly more difficult than making witchfires run over armor. It took just a minute to transform both of us. Meantime, the Shadowlanders closed in, though not with the enthusiasm you would expect of men who had caught their enemies flatfooted.

I raised Shadowspinner's head high. They recognized it. I used an augmentation spell to make my voice carry. "The Shadowmaster is dead. I have no quarrel with you. But you can join him if you insist."

Swan had an impulse. He bellowed, "Kneel, you swine! Kneel to your mistress!"

They looked at him, a foot taller than the tallest of them, pale as snow, golden-maned. A demon in man's form? They looked at Blade, almost as exotic. They looked at me and at Shadowspinner's head.

Ram said, "Kneel to the Daughter of Night." He was so close I could feel him shaking. He was scared to death. "The Child of Kina is among you. Beg for her mercy."

Swan grabbed the nearest Shadowlander, forced him to his knees.

I still do not believe it. The bluff worked. One by one, they knelt. Narayan and his arm-holders started chanting. They chose something basic, repeated mantras, of a sort common in Gunni ceremonials and Shadar services. They differed mainly in including lines like, "Show mercy, O Kina. Bless Thy devoted child, who loves Thee," and, "Come to me, O Mother of Night, while blood is upon my tongue."

"Sing!" Swan bellowed. "Sing, you sc.u.m!" Typically Swan, he roared around forcing the slow to kneel and the mute to cry out. His actions were not sane. Sane men do not force enemies who outnumber them a thousand to one. They should have torn us apart. The thought never occurred to them.

"We are a feeble-minded species," Blade observed in wonder. "But you'll have to keep escalating or they'll start thinking."