Sree moved quickly away from the house. She sounded frightened, and that scared Elina. But as she stepped over a fallen tree branch from one of the nearby pines, her stride faltered and so did her grip on Elina’s head. Elina peaked over the witch’s shoulder.
Behind the fence, a dozen sheep lay in a pile so densely packed it was hard to tell where one body ended and another began. Their eyes bulged in a fixed, dumb stare, tongues lolling out the side of their mouths. Every one of the animals had had its skull crushed. Elina saw the red splashed on the fence posts where the sheep had driven their skulls into the wood over and over again.
Elina ducked her head against Sree’s neck, but she couldn’t control her trembling. The witch stopped suddenly and set her on the ground. Elina looked down at her skirt and realized she’d soiled herself. She trembled, cried, and turned red with the shame of it.
“Look at me, child.” Sree took Elina’s chin in her hand and tilted her head up to look into the masked woman’s eyes. “You need never feel shame before me. Fear is not shameful. A wise witch knows how to use her fear to make herself strong.” She picked Elina up again and cradled her close. “I am afraid too, Elina. The sheep are a bad omen, but we must trust in Bhalla and the spirits. They will not lead us astray.”
Sree walked on, and Elina thought about telling the hathran what she’d seen behind the woodpile. No, she thought, that was her secret, a private, precious thing between her and the spirit.
As precious as when her dead mother visited Elina in her dreams.
IKEMMU, THE SHADOWDARK
7 MARPENOTH, THE YEAR OF DEEP WATER DRIFTING (1480 DR)
The day after Olra’s death, Ashok and Skagi went to Tower Makthar to visit Cree and tell him about the mission.
He sat up in bed when they came into the sickroom. His face split in a grin when he saw them. Except for the missing eye, he looked like himself.
“At last,” he said. “I was beginning to think I’d have to break out of here myself, half-naked and with no weapons, but now that you two are here, I’ll have company.”
Skagi laughed. “I’ll wager the clerics all wish you’d lost your tongue and not the eye,” he said.
Ashok winced, but Cree joined in his brother’s laughter. “As soon as my jailers turn me loose, I’m going to the inker,” Cree said. “Uwan said I needed prettying up after that battle.”
Skagi nodded approvingly. “But you were always too pretty for your own good anyway.”
Cree looked at Ashok. “What do you think, Ashok?” He traced his eyebrow down to his nose and across his cheekbone. “The snake marked me, so I’ll put its mark right here.”
Ashok swallowed. “Whatever you wish,” he said.
The brothers shared a look, and Cree’s smile dimmed. “Olra was a fine warrior, the best Camborr leader we’ve ever had,” he said.
“That she was.”
He thinks that’s why I’m silent, Ashok thought. He doesn’t blame me at all. But it didn’t matter. Ashok had only to look at Cree’s face to remind himself of his failure.
“We bring news from the Watching Blade,” Skagi said when the silence became uncomfortable. “Wouldn’t you know it, Ashok and the witch plan to drag us off on another adventure?”
“Oh?” Cree said. “Is that why they’ve insisted on keeping me abed for this long?”
“More likely you were lazing about.” Skagi dodged Cree’s elbow.
Ashok nodded. “They want your strength back and the poison completely out of you. We’re taking Ilvani to Rashemen, in Faerun.”
Cree’s remaining eye widened. He leaned forward eagerly as Ashok and Skagi told him about Ilvani’s dreams and her connection to the mad shadow beasts. Ashok also shared what he’d learned of Rashemen from Darnae.
“I’ve been to the Underdark and to the surface,” Cree said, “but I’ve never traveled that far in the mirror world.”
“Neither have I,” Skagi said, “but the caravans go back and forth all the time. They send the cargo through a portal to the surface, so raiding parties won’t get at it. Usually there are a fair number of guards-shadar-kai, humans, maybe some dwarves. Even the well-traveled trade routes are dangerous, so there’s good coin for that sort of work. Well, you remember how Vedoran used to talk about it.”
Ashok remembered. Vedoran had been well regarded as a sellsword, though everything inside him detested the work he’d been relegated to because of his beliefs. Ashok wondered if there were any shadar-kai sellswords left now that they were allowed to serve in Ikemmu’s military.
“Even with the experienced guards, that doesn’t change the fact that none of us three have the knowledge of Faerun we need. We won’t know what to expect once we’re out of the Shadowfell,” Ashok said.
“We should talk to Tatigan,” Cree said. “Judging from the goods he’s brought back, he knows every trade route and merchant in Faerun. He’ll be able to tell us what we’re in for.”
“That’s a good idea,” Ashok said. He stood, and Skagi moved to join him at the door. Cree started to follow them.
“Oh now, where do you think you’re going?” Skagi said. He crossed his arms and blocked the door.
Cree looked at him incredulously. “You can’t mean me to stay here? I’ll eat through the walls or fade away if I don’t get out of this damned circular cage.”
“The clerics want to make sure there’s no lasting damage from the poison or anything in the snake’s blood that might have affected you,” Ashok said.
“He doesn’t want you spitting foam like a mad dog on the caravan journey.” Skagi snickered.
Cursing, Cree trudged back to his bed. “I’ll make you pay for every bit of enjoyment you’re getting out of this, Brother,” he warned Skagi.
“Looking forward to it,” Skagi said.
Ashok watched Cree climb back into his bed. His elbow bumped the bedside table and knocked over a cup of water sitting there. The liquid made a dark stain on the stone floor. Though he tried to hide it, Cree stiffened, and the muscles in his jaw clenched. He turned, moving more slowly than Ashok had ever seen him, and picked up the empty cup.
Ashok left the room before Cree noticed that he’d lingered.
When they were outside the tower, Skagi said, “He’ll come back from it, you know. Just needs time to adapt. He might not be as fast as he was before, but he’ll still be able to outpace the rest of us.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Ashok said.
“But you look at him like he won’t,” Skagi muttered. “Makes it harder on him.”
Ashok stopped. “I didn’t realize.”
“We’re all Guardians,” Skagi said, “ready to pay the price to protect Ikemmu, even if Uwan asks for a limb.” He looked at Ashok with a strange, unreadable expression. “Did you forget we’re all willing to give it?”
“I didn’t forget,” Ashok said.
He hadn’t forgotten, he told himself stubbornly. He’d just never thought it would be necessary. If he could keep them safe, that sacrifice would never be needed.
Ashok considered going to Darnae to ask the halfling where to find Tatigan, but it took only a few minutes of asking around the trade market to locate the merchant. He kept chambers in Tower Pyton near the topmost span, one of the bridges that connected the tower to its sister Hevalor.
The door stood ajar when he and Skagi arrived. They could see the merchant pacing back and forth in front of the door. During one pass, he saw them and beckoned.
The room was smaller than Ashok expected from the merchant, who dealt in some of the most exotic goods in Ikemmu. Tatigan had a reputation for catering specifically to the needs of the shadar-kai and their constant search for new experiences and pleasures. His own quarters were simple, but what furnishings he owned appeared to be of the finest quality, even to Ashok’s uneducated eyes.