"It's an honor, really," Crovax whispered in his ear. "At least I know your name, Valin. The thousands who follow you will be as anonymous as cattle."
CHAPTER 8
Four shadows slipped through the wire grass. Wrapped head to toe in dark gray cloth, they were armed with shortshafted spears, cut down to allow for fast handling in tight places. The four elves were going to a tight place indeed: the camp of the Skyshroud Expeditionary Force.
Cardamel and his comrades Kameko, Darian, and Sanyu, dropped to the ground side-by-side a dozen yards from the picket line. Every few minutes a pair of kerl-mounted men rode by. In between the mounted patrols, two foot soldiers marched past in the opposite direction. Barely thirty seconds passed between the concentric rings of sentries. Not much time to run twenty yards and stop somewhere out of sight. "Let's take out the men on foot," Kameko suggested. Even close together, it was hard to hear each other. The wind was up and would stay up until the Hub ceased rotating.
"The first riders to miss them will sound the alarm," Cardamel said.
"So what do we do?" asked Sanyu.
Cardamel eyed the long rows of tents. If they could reach them, there were plenty of dark places to skulk there.
"We'll have to do it one at a time," he said. "Run straight for the tent line and hide until the last one crosses over."
No one had any better idea, so Cardamel's approach was adopted. After the next pair of kerls clopped by, he sprinted for the tents. Massed campfires inside the camp robbed the night of its cloak of black, and Cardamel knew he was highlighted against the sky. He ran for all he was worth and slid to a stop between two tents, just as the paired foot soldiers appeared around the curve.
"He made it," said Kameko. "I'm next!"
Kameko sprinted into Cardamel's arms, and they hugged the dirt as the next patrol came by.
Darian rubbed dust on his hands and crouched in the tall grass, ready to run. The cavalrymen passed, and Sanyu slapped him on the back.
"Go!"
Darian wasn't much of a runner, but he was a leaper. He was six feet from the tents when the foot guards appeared, so he gathered himself and jumped headlong into the shadows with his friends.
One of the Rathi soldiers unslung his crossbow. "What was that?"
"What? I didn't see anything," said his partner.
"You didn't see something hurtle across, right there?"
"No. What was it?"
"I don't know. Kind of big-a bird, maybe." The soldier licked his lips. "Fresh meat would be great! We could roast it when we got off duty."
He left the path and probed cautiously into the shadows, bow leveled. His partner waited at the perimeter.
"Hurry up," he said. "We'll be punished for leaving the path!"
"Here, birdie," chirped the Dal soldier.
Kameko rose up and snatched the crossbow from the astonished man's hands. Cardamel clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him into the darkness. Darian shoved a knife under the hungry soldier's breastplate, and he stopped struggling.
"Come on," called the waiting sentry. "We'll get in trouble."
Kameko raised the crossbow and put an iron-tipped quarrel through the second sentry's throat. Sanyu burst out of hiding, grabbed the dead soldier's feet, and dragged his body to the tents just as the next mounted patrol appeared.
Cardamel thought fast. He donned the bird hunter's helmet and cloak, took the crossbow from Kameko, and stepped out into the open.
One of the oncoming riders called, "Sentry! What are you doing?"
"I had to answer nature," Cardamel replied.
The riders snorted derisively. "Where's your partner?"
Sanyu was ready for this question. He donned the other guard's helmet and cloak and stepped out beside Cardamel, shaking a leg as he went.
"Ah!" he said broadly. "I needed that!"
The riders spurred on. The two elves kept their faces averted under the helmet brims.
"Peasants," said one rider as they trotted by. "Stick to your assigned route! You've seen what Lord Crovax does to those who fail in their duty!"
"We know," Sanyu muttered.
Before the next patrol came, the elves conferred. They had no choice. Cardamel and Sanyu would have to walk post for the dead sentries, or the game was up.
"It'll work," Cardamel said. "Once you find Valin, come back here and wait until you see us march by-then you'll know it's safe."
"How will we know which sentries are you?" asked Darian.
"Wait at this exact spot," Cardamel explained. "Each time I march by here, I'll tap the bow against my helmet like this." He tapped out a ping-ping, ping-ping sound against his helm. "Then you'll know it's us."
They ran to catch up to where the sentries were supposed to be, leaving Darian and Kameko to rescue Valin.
The camp was very large, and the elves had to make certain assumptions if they hoped to find their brother elf. A prisoner held for interrogation would likely be near the commander of the army-Crovax, in other words. Crovax's quarters would be the largest in camp, probably in the center of the sea of tents.
The elves made for the heart of the enemy camp, skirting bright campfires and small groups of moggs. The soldiers were dead tired from marching all night and all day, so most of the tents were full of snoring men.
Kameko crouched between two tents and pointed ahead. The center of the camp was an open square, dotted with posts newly sunk in the ground. Several Rathi soldiers were tied to posts. Their bare, bloody backs were mute evidence of the floggings they'd received, no doubt for some petty violation of army rules. A tall Vec soldier with sergeant's insignia on his helmet was directing the distribution of water to the punished soldiers.
"A provost! If we grab him, he'll know where Valin is," Kameko said. Darian nodded.
They watched the sergeant tick off that each flogged soldier had received a dipper of water, then he rolled up his scroll and made to leave. The elves flitted between tents ahead of him, and when he turned off the main path to reach his bedroll for the night, they tackled him high and low.
The sergeant fought, but Darian pressed a snakebone dirk against his windpipe.
Kameko hissed, "Be still or die!" The Vec soldier stopped fighting but remained tense, ready to spring. "Where's the elf prisoner? Where is Valin?" "Elf prisoner?" repeated the sergeant loudly. Kameko nicked him with the dirk for being noisy.
"Do that again and you'll have a second mouth in your neck! Where's the elf prisoner?"
The sergeant smiled. "In Lord Crovax's quarters." His smirk infuriated Darian, who punched the sergeant hard in the gut. "Take us there! If you give us away, you'll be the first to die!"
The two elves followed the sergeant to a complex of conjoined tents in the northeast corner of the square. There were no guards at the entrance. The sergeant ducked inside. Kameko and Darian followed, and Kameko pulled the sergeant back.
"If this is your commander's tent, why are there no guards?" he said.
"Lord Crovax doesn't require them." The elves exchanged looks. "Do you want to find him or not?"
Darian shoved the sergeant forward. "Go on." The tent was a maze of flaps and canvas rooms. It seemed deserted until Kameko heard a sigh emanating from an adjoining room. Using the Vec soldier as a shield, he pushed into the room. The sergeant promptly stumbled over a body on the floor.
"Kameko, look!"
Stretched out on the carpet was the young hunter Valin, empty eyes staring at the ceiling. The sergeant had fallen to his knees, but in the center of the room, sitting slumped on a heap of carpets, was Crovax himself. He looked passedout drunk.
Kameko knelt by the dead elf. There were no signs of violence on him, no blood, no bruises.
Crovax did not react at all to the intruders. Darian rushed forward, ready to kill the enemy commander where he sat. His blade went up but froze there.