Then the woods about the cave boiled to life with armed men wearing Shoka blue and green. A hundred bows drawn and aiming at the group. Teams of hunting dogs barked, straining at their masters' leashes.

Talen didn't care. He'd already died once today. Take him, string him up, and pull off bits and pieces until there was nothing left. He simply didn't care.

______.

Argoth looked at the faces of the men surrounding him. He looked at their dogs. They stood thirty paces away, the proper distance for confronting Sleth. He knew all of them. Then Shim, the warlord of the Shoka, pushed his way through and stood at the front of their line.

"Captain Argoth," the warlord boomed. "Whom do you serve?"

For a moment Argoth faltered. Had he misjudged Shim? Were all of his pleadings and talks of alliances just a ruse? After all, it was Shim who had told him the lie that the Skir Master had lost his beast. It was Shim who had wanted him to expose the Order just before the Skir Master arrived.

"I serve you, Lord."

"Oh, but I have a bailiff here that says the monster is yours." Shim motioned at the bailiff of Stag Home. Next to him stood the man they called Prunes, a warrior of many battles, a man that was frightened by neither death nor torture. His face, oddly enough, shone with fear. And Argoth realized these men were preparing to slaughter them.

Argoth shook his head at the futility of their fight. They'd just dealt a blow to an unimaginable enemy, and these fools were going to kill them.

"What did you say?" asked Shim.

"The monster," said Argoth, "is destroyed."

"And its master?"

"Fled. But you can search the cave and verify what we say. You will find a room with the bodies of those who fell and of those that would have overrun the land."

The warlord turned to the bailiff. "Since you bring the accusations, I'm going to let you lead the search. Pick fifty men."

The bailiff turned and looked at Prunes, who appeared to quail at the prospect of entering the cave. But he did not refuse and soon the two of them had selected the men to go with them. They decided to use Purity's daughter as their guide, bound her hands, and disappeared into the hole.

Argoth and the others waited outside with Shim's army ready to fill them with arrows.

The search party returned as the sun was setting and confirmed what Argoth had told them. They brought with them the bodies of Hogan and Purity and part of the monster's leg.

"There were eight others like this," said the bailiff.

Eight? But there had been nine. Hogan, Argoth thought, my dear friend-where have you gone?

Argoth turned to Shim. "They need to be collected and destroyed. Their master must not return and find them."

"We also found a passage beyond the chamber where the battle took place. It is deep and broad and leads into the belly of the mountain."

Shim nodded. "For years we've lived with the caves of this land, ignoring them, ignoring those who disappear. Perhaps it is time we find out what lives in their depths."

He walked the distance between his men and Argoth's group to stand before Argoth. Shim searched his face. "You've done well, Captain," he said. "Very well. And you'll have your celebration feast, but not just yet."

Argoth looked into the eyes of his old friend and found ... honesty.

What a fool he'd been to doubt him.

"What's wrong?" asked Shim.

"Nothing," said Argoth.

"You don't trust me yet?" asked Shim. "Lords, I should take offense."

"I-".

"I nothing," said Shim.

"Do they trust this?" asked Argoth.

"You are so full of doubts and fears. Perhaps that's what comes of excessive hiding. But it doesn't matter. I trust it," said Shim. "I trust you. And they trust me."

"You're taking a great risk," said Argoth in a low voice.

"Such little faith," said Shim.

He put one of his arms around Argoth's shoulders and turned to his men. "My lords," he called.

Lords?

Two men separated themselves from the other soliders. As they approached, Argoth saw it was Bosser, a captain of the Vargon Clan, and the Prime, the head of the Clan Council.

"Do you see?" asked Shim. "You are not alone."

Both Bosser and the Prime came forward to stand before Argoth.

Bosser stroked the mustache that grew down to his chin.

"Welcome back, Captain," said the Prime.

In a quiet voice, Shim said, "It is time, my friend, for us to receive a little instruction."

Argoth should have felt hope or worry, but after all that had happened, he only felt a weariness descend upon him.

"A new order will arise in this land," whispered the Prime.

The words struck Argoth. Weren't those exactly the words the woman had used? Argoth looked to Bosser. "You don't know what you're doing."

"Not all Glories inherited their rule," said Shim. "Some of them had to take it by force."

"There are more powers at work here than just those of men," said Argoth.

Shim shook his head. "Then we adjust the strategy."

He turned to the men circling them. "Men of Shoka," he said. "It is time to celebrate, for one of ours has saved the land."

They did celebrate that night at the Shoka fortress Lord Shim himself commanded. Shim made sure to ease his men with plenty of ale. They ate and drank and danced and then Argoth told them about how the monster had come after him and Hogan, the two who had first attacked it in the tower. He described the giant night maw and its bluish light. He described the power of the monster and its beautiful master. He told of Sugar and Talen having the courage and sense to deliver the Skir Master's ravelers. Of the battle, he spoke little. Then he told of how Legs had led them out.

He left huge gaps in the story. He had to. Over the next few days the men would begin to wonder-what of Purity, why did the beast rescue her, what was Matiga's connection? He suspected the Crab, before he died, would have revealed that the Skir Master enthralled Argoth. He was sure that report was running, even now, through the clans. There were knots upon knots left to untangle, and he would cut them all with the truth. But not just yet.

After the tale, someone called out for a song. "That blind one's a singer," one of the men said. Argoth remembered Purity saying something about that.

Legs sat up, chewing on a mouthful of frog's leg.

"Come on, boy," someone called. "A song."

Legs swallowed, put down his frog leg, and wiped his mouth. He rose. "Only if you promise not to pelt me with vegetables, bones, or knives."

A few men chuckled.

"I don't want to be blind blindsided," Legs said.

More laughed at that jest.

Argoth considered Legs again. The boy was resourceful. He kept his wits. He also was a puzzle. Had he been changed by the woman's weave as well?

Legs took a big breath, made a flourish, then began a song about the Mighty One Hundred-Sleth hunters in old Cathay. Again Argoth was surprised. Legs sang with strength. It wasn't the full-bodied voice of a mature man. It was simple and clear and Argoth couldn't help but feel the emotion of the story. When Legs finished the song there was silence for half a beat. Then the men cheered and called for another. But not all the men were as pleased. Some of them still looked at Legs with wariness.

Legs next led a group song about a one-legged slave who saved the village onions. Then someone called out for "The Hogwife." It was a humorous song about a beautiful Sleth who had consumed the soul of a boar. Usually the singer sang each verse alone, then the group came in on the choruses. Argoth wondered if this song was right for this moment.

He saw Legs had the same thought, for Legs paused, then he made a decision and started the men by clapping the rhythm.

Legs began.

Her face fired devotion, Her body fired blood, If only she'd cease Her rooting in the mud.

Argoth watched the faces of the men. This was not the best song to sing at this moment. It would only raise questions about Purity. He wondered if the men would sing the chorus or if they'd feel the jarring as well. Most of the men joined in.

Oh, I've got me two wives All mixed up in one, A woman and a sow, But begets have I none.

Legs continued.

I married her sweetly We labored to breed But, blister me, monsters Can't quicken men's seed.

Legs belted out the last bit like some depressed lout and it was perfect. He sang like one of the entertainers at the gaming fields. More of the men joined in this time.

Oh, I've got me two wives All mixed up in one, A woman and a sow, But I want a son.

When they sang the last line, the men raised their fists and shook them in demand.

Ere long came my pretty, Blackened weave in her hand, To bed, and I'll make you A proper hogman.

Someone made a lovesick call. Legs changed his tone and sang on in a secretive voice.

To bed, in darkness Irresistible she Fed me the boar Enhanced my breed.

Now dirt's my mustache, And worms muddy my eyes Legs paused then came back full of gusto.

But, oh, honeyed heaven There's nothing so fine As Hogwife and I Rooting side by side.

The men joined in again, some swinging their mugs of ale.

Oh, I've got me two wives All mixed up in one.

She bore me a litter- Five smart piglet sons.

The men clapped, whistled, hooted. Someone called out for another, but Legs waved them off, took a bow, and sat down. The men around him clapped him on the back. The ale had loosened them. But tomorrow when they were sober, they would begin thinking. Argoth knew this because one or two were thinking right now, watching their brethren clap and holler.

Argoth looked at Shim who, it appeared, had been watching him. Shim pointed at the door with his chin, indicating he wanted to talk with Argoth outside. Argoth walked out of the room into the night. Behind him a group of men began another song.

The stars hung bright in the heavens. Below those stars, in the middle of the fortress inner court, lay the bodies of the monster's brethren found in the cave. There was so much the Order didn't know.

A few moments later, Shim exited the building. "That blind one's full of surprises," he said.

"I'm sure we don't know the half," said Argoth.

Shim nodded. "Come with me." He led Argoth to his command room across the bailey. Shim lit a lamp. The shutters were closed, but Shim pulled a small, thick blanket across each. In the winter such would keep the cold out. But they also muffled sound.

They sat in chairs, the lamp burning on the table to the side of them. "My friend," said Shim. "I have shown you my love. I have shown you my trust. You need to honor that now and tell me your tale."

Argoth hesitated. Such secrets were so dangerous. But he had hidden all his life. And it had led to nothing but loss. How could bringing the truth into the light of the sun be any worse? "Give me your hand, Lord."

Shim stretched out his rough and callused hand. Upon the wrist was the tattoo of the Shoka clan. Surrounding that and running up Shim's arm were the tattoos of Shoka manhood and his military orders.

Each clan had their own designs for manhood, military orders, and other markings, but each was built around the same simple clan pattern. Each child was required to have that pattern dyed into their flesh by a Divine. The pattern of Mokad.

By all that was holy. He looked at Shim's clan tattoo again, and the true nature of the marking shot through him.

Those who followed other Glories had a different base pattern. And if they should be conquered, the tattoo of the conquerer was added. He thought of Hogan with the simple Koramite tattoo and the Mokaddian added to it. He thought of all those he'd seen-the men of other nations, Bone Faces, Cathay. All wore tattoos. All of them inked by Divines ...

How could he have not seen it before? So simple. Despite all the flourishes added by the clans, the heart of the tattoo, the clan marking, was nothing more than an elaborate livestock brand. The woman was right: they were indeed cattle, marked by their various masters.

Argoth shook his head and took Shim's hand. Nettle's sacrifice had not all been a waste. He still had great portions of his son's Fire in him. Shim's hand was rough, strong, full of experience. Argoth looked Shim in the eyes, then poured a small amount of Fire into him.

Shim took in a breath, his eyes widened, but he did not let go.