The explosion sent shards of iron scything through them.
A lone hunter closed with Kalam. Two thin-bladed knives darted forward in a blur. One struck the assassin in his right shoulder, the other missed his face by inches. Kalam's knife fell from nerveless fingers and he reeled back. The hunter leapt at him.
The sack of cloth-tacks intercepted the path of the man's head with a sickening crunch. The hunter dropped to writhe on the ground.
Another sharper detonated nearby. More screams rang through the courtyard.
Hands gripped Kalam's tattered apron, dragged him into the shadows. The assassin weakly struggled. 'Minala!'
A familiar voice whispered close to him. 'We've got her — and Crokus has the stallion-'
Kalam blinked. 'Sorry?'
'It's Apsalar these days, Corporal.'
The shadows closed on all sides. Sounds faded.
'You're full of holes,' Apsalar observed. 'Busy night, I take it.'
He grunted as the knife was slowly withdrawn from his shoulder, and he felt the blood welling in the blade's wake. A face leaned into his view, a grey-streaked red snarl of beard, a battered soldier's visage that now grinned.
'Hood's breath!' Kalam muttered. 'That's a damned ugly face you've got there, Fid.'
The grin broadened. 'Funny,' Fiddler said, 'I was just thinking the same — and that's what I don't get, what with you finding this flash lady for company-'
'Her wounds-'
'Minor,' Apsalar said from close by.
'Did you get her?' Fiddler asked. 'Did you kill the Empress?'
'No. I changed my mind-'
'Damn, we could — you what V
'She's a sweet sack of bones after all, Fid — remind me to tell you the whole tale some time, provided you repay in kind, since I gather you managed to use the Azath gates.'
'Aye, we did.'
'Any problems?'
'Nothing to it.'
'Glad to hear one of us had it easy.' Kalam struggled to sit up. 'Where are we?'
A new voice spoke, sibilant and wry. 'The Realm of Shadow … My realm!'
Fiddler groaned, looked up. 'Shadowthrone is it now? Kellanved, more like it! We ain't fooled, y' got that? You can hide in those fancy shadows all you like, but you're still just the damned Emperor!'
'Ai, I quail!' The insubstantial figure giggled suddenly, edging back. 'And you, are you not a soldier of the Malazan Empire? Did you not take a vow? Did you not swear allegiance … to me?'
'To the Empire, you mean!'
'Why quibble about such minor distinctions? The truth remains that the aptorian has delivered you … to me, to me, to me!'
Sudden clicking, buzzing sounds made the god shift around to face the demon. When the strange noises coming from Apt ceased, Shadowthrone faced the group once again. 'Clever bitch! But we knew that, didn't we? She and that ugly child riding her, agh! Corporal Kalam of the Bridgeburners, it seems you've found a woman — oh, look at her eyes! Such fury! I am impressed, most impressed. And now you wish to settle down, yes? I wish to reward you all!' He gestured with both hands as if delivering blessings. 'Loyal subjects that you all are!'
Apsalar spoke in her cool, detached way. 'I do not seek any reward, nor does my father. We would have our associations severed — with you, with Cotillion, and with every other Ascendant. We would leave this warren, Ammanas, and return to the Kanese coast-'
'And I with them,' Crokus said.
'Oh, wonderful!' the god crooned. 'Synchronous elegance, this fullest of full circles! To the Kanese coast indeed! To the very road where first we met, oh yes. Go, then! I send you with the smoothest of gestures. Go!' He raised an arm and caressed the air with his long, ghostly fingers.
Shadows swept over the three figures, and when they cleared, Apsalar, her father and Crokus had vanished.
The god giggled again. 'Cotillion will be so pleased, won't he just. Now, what of you, soldier? My magnanimity is rarely seen — I have so little of it! Quickly, before I tire of all this amusement.'
'Corporal?' Fiddler asked, crouching beside the assassin. 'Kalam, I ain't too thrilled with a god making offers, if you know what I mean-'
'Well, we haven't heard much of those offers yet, have we? Kell- Shadowthrone, I could do with a rest, if that's what you've in mind.' He glanced across and met Minala's eyes. She nodded. 'Some place safe-'
'Safe! Nowhere safer! Apt shall be at your side, as vigilant as ever! And comfort, oh yes, much comfort-'
'Ugh,' Fiddler said. 'Sounds dull as death. Count me out.'
The god seemed to cock its head. 'In truth, I owe you nothing, sapper. Only Apt speaks for you. Alas, she's acquired a certain … leverage. And oh, yes, you were a loyal enough soldier, I suppose. You wish to return to the Bridgeburners?'
'No.'
Kalam turned in surprise, to see his friend frowning.
'On our way up to Mock's Hold,' the sapper explained, 'we listened in on a group of guards during a shift-change — seems there's a last detachment of recruits holed up in Malaz Harbour on their way to join Tavore.' He met Kalam's eyes. 'Sorry, Corporal, but I'm for getting involved in putting down that rebellion in your homeland. So, I'll enlist… again.'
Kalam reached out a blood-smeared hand. 'Just stay alive, then, that's all I ask.'
The sapper nodded.
Shadowthrone sighed. 'And with such soldiers, it is no wonder we conquered half a world — no, Fiddler, I do not mock. This once, I do not mock. Though Laseen does not deserve such as you. Nonetheless, when these mists clear, you will find yourself in the alley back of Smiley's Tavern.'
'That will do me fine, Kellanved. I appreciate it.'
A moment later the sapper was gone.
The assassin turned a jaded eye on Shadowthrone. 'You understand, don't you, that I won't try to kill Laseen — my hunt's over. In fact, I'm tempted to warn you and Cotillion off her — leave the Empire to the Empress. You've got your own, right here-'
'Tempted to warn us, you said?' The god swept closer. 'Bite it back, Kalam, lest you come to regret it.' The shadow-wrapped form withdrew again. 'We do as we please. Never forget that, mortal.'
Minala edged to Kalam's side and laid a trembling hand on his uninjured shoulder. 'Gifts from gods make me nervous,' she whispered. 'Especially this one.'
He nodded, in full agreement.
'Oh,' Shadowthrone said, 'don't be like that! My offer stands. Sanctuary, a true opportunity to settle down. Husband and wife, hee hee! No, mother and father! And, best of all, there's no need to wait for children of your own — Apt has found some for you!'
The mists surrounding them suddenly cleared, and they saw, beyond Apt and her charge, a ragtag encampment sprawled over the summit of a low hill. Small figures wandered among the tent rows. Woodsmoke rose from countless fires.
'You wished for their lives,' Shadowthrone hissed in glee. 'Or so Apt claims. Now you have them. Your children await you, Kalam Mekhar and Minala Eltroeb — all thirteen hundred of them!'
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The priest of Elder Mael
dreams rising seas …
Dusk
Sethand
The whirlwind's spinning tunnel opened out onto the plain in an explosion of airborne dust. Wiry, strangely black grasses lay before Sha'ik as she led her train forward. After a moment she slowed her mount. What she had first thought to be humped stones stretching out in all directions she now realized were corpses, rotting under the sun. They had come upon a battlefield, one of the last engagements between Korbolo Dom and Coltaine.
The grasses were black with dried blood. Capemoths fluttered here and there across the scene. Flies buzzed the heat-swollen bodies. The stench was overpowering.