“That’s a very different context,” she warned.
“I know. It was used by necromancers, back before the Mages’ Guild schismed. It was used to designate ghosts, but the meaning was more complicated. I think it could also mean ‘shadow,’ or even ‘echo.’ ”
“I don’t see how it can mean that here,” she said. “Not knowing any more than we do.”
“What, then? Do you know anyone you trust in the Synod?”
“Hierem is a member of the Synod,” she said. “Maybe we should just ask him.”
“Well, it might come to that,” he said.
“I know someone,” she said. “But he won’t like it if I bring company. You’re going to have to let me out of your custody for a little while.”
“The Dark Brotherhood is still out there,” he said. “They don’t give up easily. I would rather you stayed put.”
She turned and kissed him. “I’ll be careful. I’ll avoid anyplace I usually go, and I’ll go at night. Your protecting me is all very sweet, but I’ve been looking out for myself for a long time.”
“Things are different now,” he reminded her.
“Yes, and I’ll take that into account, right?” A flicker of irritation passed over her face. “Look,” she said, “just because you saved my life and we’ve been playing tussle-bug for a few days doesn’t mean you own me, Colin. What we have here is a common goal and mutual respect. If we don’t have that, then-”
“Easy,” he said. “You’re right. You have as much right to risk your life as I do mine. I just selfishly don’t want you to die. Be that as it may, if you know someone who can tell us if we have something important here or just a recipe for soup, please, go find out.”
“I’ll be careful,” she said again. “What will you do?”
“Well, I still have a job,” he said. “Marall will want a report tomorrow. How long will this take?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “It depends on a few things. A couple of days at most.”
“Days?”
“I have to leave the city.”
“The city is surrounded,” he pointed out.
She smiled. “A girl can’t give up all her secrets right away. Meet you back here in a day or two?”
He nodded.
“Right,” she said, and started dressing.
“You’re going now?”
“It’s dark outside,” she replied. “And time is of the essence, right?”
“Yes,” he admitted. Despite his words, he wanted to grab her, tie her up if necessary. He had a terrible, wrong feeling in his gut, as if he were never going to see her again.
But he didn’t stop her when she went through the door. He walked along with her until their paths parted, and she gave him a little kiss on the cheek. Then he returned to his own apartment.
TWELVE
Mazgar gnashed her tusks as Brennus cleaned the cut in her back, but managed not to let any sound escape her.
“You’re lucky,” he whispered. “Another inch and it would have been your spine.”
“Luck is all I’m having lately,” she grunted back softly.
“Hey,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically serious, “at least we got through. I’m not sure how many of the others did.”
“I saw Falcus go down,” she said. “And Tosh.”
She closed her eyes as he rubbed something in the wound and began to bandage it. She strained her senses at the young night but couldn’t make anything out but silence. Too much silence-no night birds, no dogs barking or wolves howling-just the wind and the rustling of leaves as hundreds, maybe thousands of the wormies strode through the forest below the rock shelter they’d found at dusk. Brennus used his sorcery to further hide them, deaden the sound of their voices, their scent, the life force in them. It had exhausted him, and they still hadn’t been certain it would be enough, but the wormies had been passing for more than an hour without noticing them.
“At least we got a few decent meals,” she said. “And beer! I’d almost forgotten how good it is.”
“We’ll get another,” he said, “when we reach the Imperial City.”
“Yah,” she agreed. “That’s something to look forward to.”
“Divines,” Brennus breathed.
“Now, don’t get silly and start praying,” she said.
“No, no,” he said. “Look.”
She turned, and there it was, a blackness taking up the whole sky. Beneath it, long flickers like lightning reached up from the ground into the shadows, giving the illusion that something huge was walking by on hundreds of tentacles, only a few of which were visible at any given time.
“Each of those is a death,” Brennus murmured. “A soul, drawn up to feed that thing’s engines.”
“Do you think it’s caught up to the others?” she asked.
“Not yet,” he replied. “Not at that pace. We gave them a good head start. Those must be farmers or hunters who either never got the word or were stubborn, like those who stayed in Cheydinhal.”
“Idiots,” she muttered. “That’s likely them passing us down there right now.”
“Right,” he murmured. He didn’t sound good.
“You’re not dying on me, are you?” she asked. “I can’t reach back there, and in a few days it’s going to be itching.”
“There you go,” he said. “That’s incentive to keep living-the promise of scratching your knobby back.”
“Happy to help,” she said. “Now get some sleep. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
“You’re the one with the wound,” he said.
“Yes, and it hurts too much to let me sleep, so do as I tell you, okay?”
“Okay,” he said. He curled up on the stone floor, and in minutes he was snoring.
Mazgar watched Umbriel pass, running the battle back through her head: the mad charge with the Cheydinhal guard, breaking the wormies’ line. That hadn’t been so bad. But then they had to set up their own lines on either side of the gate as Cheydinhal evacuated, and that hadn’t been so much fun. It took hours, and the wormies didn’t rest, didn’t retreat or regroup. They just kept coming, wave after wave of them. In the end their line had been rolled up, and Falcus gave the command to fall back and regroup on the Blue Road-just before he took a spear in the throat. She and Brennus had been driven miles from the road, and now here they were.
Suppose they managed to get around the army and rejoin what was left of the Cheydinhal guards and the Imperial company. Suppose they managed to stay ahead of that thing long enough to reach the Imperial City. What then? Another evacuation? Because, by Mauloch, what was going to stop that?
As dawn slid red claws up from behind the world, she saw that the wormies had all passed, at least for the time being, so she shook Brennus awake.
“You let me sleep all night,” he accused.
“I never got sleepy,” she said.
They packed quickly, starting off south and then turning west, alternating between jogging and walking, hoping to flank the main mass of the wormies. It was easy enough to see where they were, at least-Umbriel could be seen from any clear, elevated spot. But that also made it obvious they weren’t gaining very quickly on their objective.
Most of the undead army marched together, but they were constantly sending out hunting parties in search of more bodies to steal. Brenn and she avoided two successfully, but were spotted by a third a few hundred yards behind them as they were crossing some fallow fields. They picked up their pace, but Mazgar knew Brennus wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long.
She was right; less than an hour later he began to falter, and their pursuers started gaining.
She spotted a farmstead up ahead and steered them toward that. It was abandoned, so they broke in and barricaded the door. There were no windows.
“How many of ’em do you think there are?” Brennus asked as various implements began thudding into the door.
“Fifteen, I guess.”
“You can’t count any higher than that,” he said. “It could be thirty.”
“Could be,” she said. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? They can only get at us one or two at a time.”