"You're not even afraid of my father? Not even a little bit?"
"Hm." Kaleb frowned thoughtfully. "I respect what he's capable of. I acknowledge that he's dangerous. But fear, like you're talking about? I certainly don't think so. But maybe I wouldn't know it if I were."
"And here," she told him, her smile growing, "I thought you knew everything."
"Not yet," he said pompously. Then he, too, grinned.
"Kaleb," she asked, partially out of a sudden need to say something, "why are you here?"
"Well, when a mommy wizard and a daddy wizard love each other very much-"
"Stop that," she ordered, punching him in the arm even as she battled a case of the giggles. "I mean it," she said, regaining control. "I've told you why I had to come along. And we both know why Uncle Jassion hates my father."
"Anyone with ears who's ever been within ten miles of Jassion knows that."
"And maybe a few without them. But why are you here? And don't try to tell me it's just a job you were hired for, either."
"Well, that's partly what it is," he answered.
"Yes. Partly."
"Just because I've never really been afraid," Kaleb told her seriously, "doesn't mean I can't be hurt. Your father's hurt a lot of people." Her face went stony, her teeth grinding, and she nodded. "He wouldn't know me to look at me," the sorcerer continued, "but I was one of them. Maybe, when we find him, I'll remind him of it."
She wanted to ask, to know, but she wouldn't push him. Not on this, not now. Her free hand rose, seemingly of its own accord, to his face. "I'm sorry, Kaleb. I'm sorry he did that to you. I don't know who he is, anymore. I guess I never did."
She felt his other hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Mellorin."
"I know, but I-"
"Shhh." He was leaning forward, now. She felt the heat of his breath on her lips, could all but taste it on her tongue, and she was certain he must be able to hear her heart pounding. Closer, almost touching…
"Kaleb!"
Mellorin could not have jumped any faster had she been manacled to a catapult. She gawked at Jassion, who stood with arms crossed at the edge of the copse, and nearly choked as a whole battlefield of warring emotions squeezed through her chest, leaving little room for breath. Cheeks flaming, she rose and fled beyond the trees. KALEB WATCHED MELLORIN GO, chewing on the inside of his lip. Languidly he stood, and the expression he directed at the newcomer was utterly bland. "What's your problem, old boy?"
Three steps forward, and Jassion stood as close as Mellorin had been. "I've warned you before about hurting her. Don't think I'm not on to you."
"Damn," the sorcerer said. "You've seen through my clever attempt to not hide anything. I haven't tried to deceive you, Jassion. Does it look like I've any interest in hurting her?"
"There are many kinds of injury, Kaleb, and I'm not choosy. You hurt her, and I'll-"
"Kill me, yes. Possibly by boring me to death by repeating the same threat over and over. Was there a reason you came back? Other than to embarrass me and your niece, I mean."
"There was, actually," the baron said, apparently having decided he'd made his point. "I've found one of them." WHILE THE VOICE IN HER HEAD that warned of pending danger had faded after the battle with Losalis's men, Mellorin's own natural talent allowed her to retain much of the instinct Kaleb's spell had imparted. She'd been hoping, once Jassion returned from his scouting efforts, for the opportunity to practice them. (Had anyone actually used the phrase showing off, she'd have been mortally insulted.) So the young woman was rather disappointed when Kaleb informed her that she and Jassion would serve primarily as a diversion.
That was, until she finally got a good look at her first ogre.
For some time they'd slunk through the edges of the marsh, following Jassion's lead, and every step was an endeavor. So far as Mellorin could tell, the swamp had no true "bottom," just a point at which the filthy mix of mud and water coagulated enough to support their weight. It clung to her ankles like a terrified child, seeped through the seams in her leather boots to caress her skin with sticky, lukewarm tendrils. Kaleb swore that his herbal paste would survive immersion long enough for them to finish what they were doing, but still she flinched, fearing some terrible sting or venomous fangs each time something hidden in the murk brushed against her legs.
Cypresses and other gnarled, bony trees protruded now and again from the swamp. Mellorin's imagination transformed them into the desperate fingers of drowning giants, their bodies sunken in the muck. The stench of slow decay scratched at her lungs with dirty, ragged nails, and she struggled to remind herself that what she smelled was the natural odor of the bog, and not the remnants of those lost titans.
And so it went in all directions, save back the way they'd come: an endless expanse of stagnant water, creeping mildew, and the rotting, ravenous earth that lurked below. Were this truly the edge of the world, it couldn't have been any more disturbing, any more oppressive.
So caught up was Mellorin in her surroundings, it required a quick "Hsst!" from Jassion before she spotted the distant figure. A sentry, no doubt, watching the borders of ogre territory.
Though little more than a distant silhouette, he showed arms and legs-or at least, portions of those legs above the waterline-blatantly corded with muscle. His proportions were just a bit skewed from human, and she could clearly make out the single horn protruding from his skull. Fearsome, certainly, but at this first glimpse he didn't seem all that impressive; dangerous, but not some nightmarish legend.
Then he leaned back against a trunk of a jagged cypress that Mellorin had thought was much farther away into the swamp, and her cheeks went pale. "My gods…"
Kaleb's lips curved in a faint smile. "He's a big boy, isn't he?"
"If that tree's anywhere near as high as… Kaleb, he's got to be ten feet tall!"
"Probably closer to twelve," the sorcerer said speculatively, as though he were looking to buy the damn ogre. "Plus the horn, of course."
"Oh, of course." Mellorin was trying to wrap her mind around the notion of a creature twice Jassion's height. "We wouldn't want to forget that. Wouldn't be polite."
"If you two are quite through," Jassion growled, "I'd very much like to get this done before he spots us skulking out here, thanks. Do you remember the plan?"
"Yes, old boy." Kaleb sighed. "Some of us aren't complete idiots." Mellorin, for her part, rolled her eyes in perfect imitation of Kaleb's traditional expression.
The sorcerer hunkered down in the muck, practically vanishing, while the others advanced on their target, spreading out slowly as they walked. The hilts of her sword and dagger felt somehow sticky and slippery at the same time. Mellorin chose to attribute it to the humidity of the swamp, and not to the fearful sweating of her palms.
With a deliberate calm, the creature turned toward them as they neared, its single eye darting from one to the other. Rather than move to meet them, it remained where it stood, dropping into a shallow crouch with the cypress at its back. At the ogre's waist, positioned for a one-handed draw, hung a sword longer even than Jassion's demon-forged flamberge, and the beast clutched a leaf-bladed spear that could have spitted a warhorse lengthwise, with plenty of room to spare.
Despite the humidity, Mellorin felt her lips go dry, her tongue swell to fill her mouth. She felt like a child wielding toy blades against a very angry parent. Her legs ached as she slogged through the mud, and she knew that any fancy footwork would accomplish little more than to drive her even deeper into the sludge. If it actually came to fighting this monster, the only question was whether she or Jassion would die first.
She could see the ogre's leather armor, now, cut from alligator hide. Opposite his sword hung an iron-banded horn on a leather thong, but he'd made no effort to lift it to his lips. No sense alarming the whole tribe, Mellorin assumed, when it was just a couple of humans either too stupid or suicidal to live.