“Having second thoughts?” Mika asked.
Jorfax jerked her head toward the engineer. “Are you?” she snapped.
“Not at all,” Mika responded. If she was cowed by Jorfax’s famous cold stare, she didn’t show it. She held one of her ram’s-horn grenades, tossing it up and down, and smiled back at Jorfax. “I just see evidence of something that needs to die.”
“Then we’re agreed.”
Idrian stepped between them. Jorfax’s prickly nature had clashed with everyone over the last twenty-four hours. She did not play well with others. At least she’d kept her promise not to pull rank. “We’re all agreed,” he assured them both. He turned to Jorfax. “Can you keep him from doing that to you? With the egg, I mean.”
“She’s carrying a grenade in her pocket and someone else has the fuse,” Mika said.
Idrian gestured for Mika to shut up, but Jorfax seemed to relax. “No, she’s right. That’s exactly what’s happening here. I told Lucky to keep his sorcerous attention on the sky. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. If I keep my glassdancer egg on me and the flying glassdancer is significantly stronger than me, I’ll be dead before any of you even notice. You’ll follow quickly.”
“Should you leave your glassdancer egg behind?” Idrian asked. He was fully aware that it was the equivalent of someone telling him to go into battle naked and unarmed, and he could see a vein throb on Jorfax’s forehead.
“No,” she finally said. “I’m stronger than Lucky was. I’ll sense an attack from farther out.”
Mika pulled a face behind Jorfax’s back, but Idrian just shook his head. He wasn’t going to press the issue. Jorfax was the professional. Much of her terrifying reputation came from the fact that she was so good at what she did.
“Sir,” Braileer called. Idrian turned to see the armorer come in through the gate. Braileer paused at the sight, his body rocking from the center like he was holding in a dry heave. A moment passed, his face turning green, before he got a grip on himself. “Their horses are around back. Spooked but untouched.” He swallowed hard, averting his eyes from the bodies. “We should send someone to bring them in.”
Squeaks emerged from inside the villa, shaking her head. “There are a couple of laborers dead underneath the kitchen table. Seems like they tried to hide. The thing that did this was thorough about witnesses.”
“Prudent, too,” Idrian mused out loud. “Didn’t try to overextend at Fort Alameda, but no compunction against slaughtering people at an isolated farmstead.” He gazed across the corpses, studying them clinically. He was no surgeon, but he’d seen a lot of battlefields in his day. “I’d guess this happened about two hours ago. Do we think he’s still in the vicinity? Or moved on?”
“He could be anywhere with this low cloud cover,” Jorfax responded. “I’ll sense him before any of us sees him. We have no idea how fast he travels. Does he glide like a swan or dive like a falcon?”
“Or both,” Mika added.
With that pleasant thought fresh in their minds, the group remounted and returned to the road. Idrian barely thought about his sore ass or his chafing armor. He set his helmet on his saddlehorn, covering it with the hem of his cloak, and tried not to look like he was staring at the sky.
“The low cloud cover works both ways,” he said over his shoulder. “We can’t see him, but he can’t see us either.”
“You think it’s a him?” Braileer asked. The armorer rode up next to Idrian. His head was high, but Idrian could see some red around his eyes. He wondered if he shouldn’t have left him behind. This was no mission for a kid. He snorted inwardly. Was any military mission for a kid?
“Smelled like a him,” Idrian responded.
“Is it even human?” Mika asked.
“What else would it be?” Jorfax reclaimed her spot at the head of their little column. “Fearglass can twist the mind. Why not godglass that can twist the body? All the guild-families experiment at length with sorcery. The Grent government is no exception.”
“But this flying glassdancer only appeared when Kerite’s mercenaries entered the war,” Squeaks pointed out.
“Then it’s Purnian. Or Marnish. Or Nasuud. The Drakes fight all over the world. Who knows what dark glassworks Kerite might have found, filled with experiments?”
Idrian scowled at the thought. Godglass that could completely change how a person looked? How their body worked? “It’s intelligent,” he said, “but it moved like an animal. Sleek and graceful. I just hope it’s not…” He trailed off as a distant sound reached his ears, and he tugged slightly on the reins to bring his horse to a stop. “You hear that?”
They all paused, tilting their heads. It was a distant popping sound, one that might easily be mistaken for fireworks. “Those are my new grenades,” Mika said, perking up.
Idrian inhaled sharply and looked at Jorfax. “The pissing Grent must have turned toward Demir instead of retreating back to the city. They’ve joined battle.”
“And we’re out here riding in circles instead of fighting,” Jorfax growled.
Idrian wasn’t going to pretend that he was the commanding officer anymore. Jorfax outranked him, and she’d be even more use than himself on the actual battlefield. “Make the call,” he told her.
She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder back toward the massacre at the farmstead. She seemed to waffle for several moments, then swore. “We need to ride. That battle is more decisive than one flying glassdancer.” She jerked on the reins, turning to their south, and then suddenly stiffened.
Idrian was already turned around when he noticed that her eyes had gone wide, her jaw tight. “Tilly?”
“He’s here,” she hissed.
The entire group reacted as one, snatching up weapons and casting their eyes to the sky. Idrian’s heart skipped a beat and he signaled for them to hunker low in the saddle. Beside him, Mika loaded a grenade into a sling. Idrian asked, “Where?”
“Just above us. He’s high, circling.”
“Does he know you’ve spotted him?”
“I am being very careful not to turn my senses directly toward him.” Her hand hovered over the pocket that bulged with her glassdancer egg.
“Everyone keep riding,” Idrian ordered. “Slowly. Keep those carbines down. Braileer, stay behind me. Make no move unless it goes for my back. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Idrian lifted his helmet, wrapping his reins around the saddlehorn, raising his eyes without raising his head. He could see nothing in the gray-white clouds and it infuriated him. Every second seemed to tick by longer than the last. “Is he still there?” he asked Jorfax.
“Still circling. He hasn’t tried to use my egg against me. Yet.”
“How close will he have to be?”
“Based on his power? Hard to tell.”
“As long as he comes below the clouds we should be able to drive him to the ground.” He glanced around at his companions. “Do not open fire until he dips down to attack. The grenades will keep it down, and I’ll finish it on foot. Understood?” A round of nods answered him. He split his attention between the sky and Jorfax, watching for any twitch that might betray that she’d been bested in a contest of sorcerous will. To their south, the report of cannon fire joined the pop of grenades.
Jorfax suddenly relaxed. “He’s pulling up,” she said. “Glassdamnit. Keep your eyes open, he might…” She stiffened again immediately, her hand shooting to her glassdancer egg. She let out a strangled “He’s coming!”
Idrian did not wait for more of a signal. With one hand he slammed his helmet on his head. With the other he threw the wrappings from his sword and shield, ripping them from the bindings that held them to the saddle. “Wait for it!” he shouted.