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‘You are faced with inevitabilities: you will die We will have e need Your people will die How h, is undeter this To direct is male I can point them away froods are listening to them while we collect e require and leave’

He regarded the man evenly

‘This is the choice you are offered Deny it if you wish’

The thy conteed with red

‘What do you want?’

Yldus reached down, plucking the chain froauntlet clutching thirteen arrows He studied it briefly, then held it before the man

‘I knohat this is,’ he said

‘So?’

‘So you already knohat I want’

‘No,’ he said, shaking a tre head ‘No, I cannot do that I swore an oath’

‘Oaths are broken’

‘Before the Gods’

‘Gods are false’

‘To perform a duty’

‘You have failed,’ Yldus said ‘Whatever you er a concern Whatever you ht do for those who look to you can still be effected’

The ement, forced him to nod weakly after a mo finger to the distant cliffs and the hu upon them ‘What you seek is in the temple, beyond the pool Do as you swore’

‘It would be pointless,’ Yldus replied, rising to his feet ‘I will do as netherlings do’

‘Then whatever you do,’ the , ‘whatever… you will die’ He spoke without joy, without hate, without emotion ‘And whatever you are, you will re to kill And you will knoe pray’

He met Yldus’ eyes He did not flinch in pain

‘And I wonder ill answer yours?’

Thecertainty Yldus felt his own narrow despite himself He raised his hand and levelled it at the man, his vision bathed in crimson The man did not flinch

The man did not breathe

Yldus lowered his ar the power slip from his hand and eyes alike The rain fell a little harder now, its droplets cold on his skin The sky was grey now, the orange of the fire-painted clouds going runny as the blazes fell to impotent sht of the skyline, for the ed towards the distant cliffs, thehifaces howled

‘TOH!’ six replied in grating harmony

And then there was the sound of thunder

Hidden behind the largest of the pillarsthe circle of the teive way, but he heard the as they made their way in; the defenders of Yonder had co the doors with crates and sandbags

Not enough to stand against the invaders’ ra of the creatures that had coreat black boats to their city They could not have been prepared for the merciless heathen assault that ca iron They were people of fear and memory Those people protected their churches, as much out of instinct as out of principle

Their dedication to defending the doors, and later the streets, had faces were coh

‘This is why I hate co in unannounced’ A voice echoed: harsh, iron, female ‘Look at what they put out to stop us Wood Sand Barely le fe died today?’

‘As I planned’ Another voice replied: deep, arrogant,over’

‘If we had let theht have been They had weapons They were clearly preparing for so,’ the s back on the island They are chattel These were obstacles Neither are worth losing feot plenty of fe’ The fe ‘I heard the Master’s ship sank Everyone but hiht’

A chorus of fereement

‘And noe have sixteen fewer females for the final attack,’ the male replied wearily ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that, yet again, no one butters’

‘Right, the underscu will kill theht? What’s the point, then?’

‘The point is to kill the underscum’

‘We’ve done it before With the poison’

‘The poison is limited, and it’s far too weak to destroy e’re ive us the edge we need’

‘We’re netherling We have enough edges’

‘And yet, here we are,’ the hed ‘I don’t ask that you understand, Qaine, merely that you do’ He hummed ‘The overscum said it was beyond the pool … but where?’

The fehtful hum The Mouth heard her shuffle around the pool’s peri himself further in the shadow of the temple His hands slipped down to the satchel at his side, producing a short knife and the vial

He stared at the latter intently If he was discovered, there would be no time to use it, no tia-Mer, to complete his mission

He had a mission, he reminded himself He had a deal He would deliver the vial, pour Mother’s Milk into the water and free Daga-Mer In exchange, he would re last He would not reedies, his nari pulled him from his brief reverie A cry of alarm was bitten back in his throat He hadn’t been discovered, he recognised Rather, so had been shattered The statue of Zamanthras that stood at the head of the pool, he recalled Za Zamanthras did not save his family

He had a family

‘Hah!’ the fegest thing in the room and you’ll find your answer’

‘No one says that,’ the male replied

‘I say it I’m a Carnassial So they will say it now Won’t they?’

The fe There was the sound of stone sifting, rocks sliding

‘What … this is it? It’s just a heap of bones!’

‘That’s e came for,’ the male replied ‘Take it back to the ships We’re done here’

‘Done? The sikkhuns are still hungry’