She Is the Darkness: Book Two of Glittering Stone: A Novel of the Black Company (19 page)

I tumbled out of the wagon. After a couple of steps I fell to my knees.

“Whoa, there!” One-Eye said. “What’s up?”

“Spent too long out, maybe. Weak.” Hungry and thirsty. I took water from him. It
had been sweetened but included nasty additives as well. He must be making
something that would turn alcoholic. “Where’s the Old Man?”

“I don’t know. I see Thai Dei, though.” By way of suggesting caution.

I shifted languages. “Lady isn’t playing with them over there. She had troops
climb the scaffolding. They made it to the top. There’s a mob of them inside.

They’ve just found out on the inside. And some of the Prince’s men are in the
ruins of Kiaulune. They were sneaking up to help Lady but they got bogged down.

There’re actually people hiding out there now. Some of Mogaba’s bunch. They’re
putting up a fight.”

I had passed over the ruins coming back and had been surprised to see the
fighting. The presence of fighters there needed examination. It had not been
long since the ruins were occupied by only a handful of survivors incapable of
helping Longshadow with his construction project.

Mogaba had to be sneaking men in a few at a time.

“I think Croaker went off with one of the patrols looking for Mogaba. What do
you need him for?”

“I don’t think he knows what’s happening. I think Lady did this on her own.”

Which had been fine when she was in charge of the frontier but not now, when she
commanded only a quarter of the army. “I have no idea what his plans are but
I’ll bet he don’t want them taken away from him like this.”

One-Eye grunted. He considered Thai Dei and Mother Gota, who was a dozen yards
farther away, closing in, bent under a huge load of firewood. Give her credit.

She carried her share of the work. One-Eye’s own bodyguard, JoJo, was nowhere to
be seen, which was the usual state of affairs. They were two of a kind.

One-Eye said, “I’ll jump in the wagon and find out. You get your strength back.”

He went up with a frown, tossing one concerned glance back before he
disappeared.

I helped Mother Gota with the firewood. So did Thai Dei. We got it sorted and
broken and in out of the wet in minutes. Mother Gota actually thanked me for
helping.

She had moments when she could manage courtesy toward an outsider who had not
been able to help his bad choice of parents. Those were rare. They seemed to
come only when she was feeling particularly good.

I remained courteous myself. In fact, now that I knew what they had done to me
and Sarie, I found myself becoming more formal and courteous. I hoped my manners
did not make them suspicious. I smirked when I thought about Sleepy. Then I
worried about the kid. I had no business burdening him with a personal mission
like that.

I started pacing, wondering if I ought to confess to One-Eye or the Old Man.

One-Eye descended from his wagon. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Or
something equally unexpected and unpleasant.

I headed his way. “What’s up?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have time to find out.” He sort of sighed his words.

“Tell me.”

“I found Croaker.”

“All right. So where is he? So what’s the problem?”

“He’s out there talking to the keeper of the crows.”

“Catcher? He went out to meet Soulcatcher?”

“I didn’t track him back. I don’t know if that was his plan. But that’s where
he’s at. That’s what he’s doing.”

“Did he look like he was a prisoner again?” I did not wait for an answer. I
piled into the wagon.

Silly me, I did not ask One-Eye where Croaker was so I ended up having to track
him from his quarters to his meeting with the madwoman.

He did go specifically to meet her. That I determined by taking Smoke in so
close that I could hear Croaker’s twin crows squawk instructions. The trouble I
did have was after I trailed him through the wilds to his rendezvous inside a
snowbound, rocky ravine that was almost invisible beneath overhanging pines.

I did not get close enough to hear what was said. It was a miracle that I got
Smoke as close as I did, to assure myself that the Old Man did indeed have a
date with Soulcatcher.

The crows were thick there and they sensed me hovering. They became so agitated
that Catcher came out to find out what was going on.

I got out of there.

I wondered if Croaker would suspect anything.

I came back out. Thoughtful One-Eye had a bucket of warm tea ready along with
some fresh bread from a nearby regimental bakery that was just getting started.

I asked, “You get close enough to hear anything?”

“Can’t push that little shit anywhere near her. He’s three-quarters dead but
he’s still five-fourths chickenshit.”

“I don’t feel like going after him. It’ll have to wait. In the meantime . . . ”

In the meantime things were happening in Overlook. Flickering lights illuminated
the whole region. A dark cloud ribbed with fire boiled up and fell apart in the
teeth of the wind. Horns and drums bickered. Fireballs by the thousand pelted
the fortress wall.

“In the meantime you might want to take a look at that so you can tell the Old
Man whatever he needs to know when he gets here. Which he’s going to be when he
realizes that something is happening.”

Not unsound advice. If Croaker was going to make decisions he was going to need
all the information he could get. “Keep my loving family away, eh?” I could not
keep bitterness from creeping into my voice. One-Eye caught it but he did not
ask.

I swallowed one last mouthful of warm bread, settled, grasped Smoke and took him
out. The process had become so easy I could practically do it in my sleep. I
hardly had to think about where I wanted to go. As long as that was not one of
the places Smoke did not like to visit.

Overlook was the proverbial overturned ant’s nest. People were running
everywhere. It did not look like anyone knew where they were going. Almost
everybody was interested only in not being where they had started. Occasionally
Taglians came face to face with the Shadowmaster’s men and fear took its
inevitable course.

Some of the invaders had sense enough to stay up on the wall and use their
bamboo poles to make life miserable for folks inside Overlook. One lieutenant
screamed his head off at the men outside and below, telling them he wanted more
poles up here now! His snipers were having great fun tearing the place up.

Overlook’s defenders did not dare show themselves.

Some of our men had Narayan Singh and the Daughter of Night cornered in a tower.

They pasted it with a blizzard of fireballs. The tower held up only because it
was layered with scores of protective spells. It was one of Longshadow’s
favorite hideouts.

The Howler was on the run. Taglians whooped after him, spraying fireballs around
so liberally that the little wizard had no time to counterattack. He screamed as
he ran.

More and more men, all lugging bundles of bamboo, got into the fortress.

It could not possibly be this easy. Could it?

Where was Longshadow? He was not taking part.

The Shadowmaster remained in his own high tower, staring south toward the grey
plateau, apparently unaware that hell had come calling. How could the man be
that preoccupied?

No. He was not that preoccupied. He did know.

Scaffolding all the way around Overlook burst into flames. It was a ferocious
fire spell. Flames devoured everything consumable in seconds. Scores fell to
their deaths.

Before that ever happened Lady’s men had begun lowering rope and slat ladders
obviously created specifically for scaling Overlook’s walls. They were long
enough for the climb and each dozen feet they boasted a frame box meant to hold
them away from the wall so the climb would be easier for the soldiers.

Longshadow could not see those from his vantage. It would be a while before he
understood that his stroke had gained him very little.

Now he was shut up inside without hope of completing his fortress because he
could acquire materials for scaffolding only on the outside.

Whatever else, Lady had accomplished that much. She had taken away the one
weapon that might have given him an incontestable victory. He could not unleash
a flood of shadows to cleanse the earth of his enemies because he could not
protect himself from the darkness.

Lady’s soldiers continued entering Overlook, slowly, under the impression they
were headed toward victory because the only resistance they encountered
initially was that of gravity. Their comrades already held the top of the
fortress’s north wall for the two hundred yards between two crystal-topped
towers.

Both towers were slagged and blackened, the crystal dead from fireball
bombardment.

To my puzzlement Lady had teams outside the wall still hammering away with their
bamboo poles.

I had no hope of figuring anything out. Lady had brought this mess on with less
warning than the Old Man did his surprises.

Would we have two of them playing this game now?

Actually, I suppose, Lady had been playing all along. I just did not pay
attention because she was never in the primary role.

The Prince’s men remained bogged down with the unexpected mob of partisans in
Kiaulune. But now he was routing his men around the skirmishing. It looked like
there would be plenty more soldiers to follow Lady’s mob up the rope ladders.

The fighting inside Overlook was crueler than I thought it could be. The
garrison were all veterans who had been with Longshadow a long time. They might
not love him but they were dedicated and determined and convinced that the Black
Company would show them no mercy whatsoever. They fought like it. In territory
they knew well and their enemies knew not at all. With the help of several
clutches of those little old brown men called skrinsa shadowweavers.

Shadows did lurk in the fortress. The shadowweavers knew where they were hidden
and how to send them slithering after invaders.

The bamboo poles helped. But not enough to save everybody. The inside of the
fortress was all winding hallways and dark rooms and there was no way to know
that a shadow was around till it attacked.

I could locate the little old men but I could not tell anyone where they were so
they could be erased from the equation.

The deeper the soldiers pushed the worse it got.

Longshadow was not doing much. He had taken that one shot, then nothing. And the
Howler . . . What had become of him?

Howler had eluded the soldiers trying to kill him. He was sneaking around,

trying to join forces with the Shadowmaster. Longshadow went on to suffer one of
his fits.

It was a big one, so bad he collapsed, thrashed around, tore his clothing, lost
his mask, nearly swallowed his tongue. Floor and face alike became soaked with
spittle. How had this guy survived to become one of the most powerful sorcerers
in the world if he had seizures whenever he was under stress?

Again, though, I could tell no one that he was down and it was a perfect time to
kick him in the head.

The protective spells shielding the tower where Singh and the Daughter of Night
had gone to ground were particularly strong. The Taglians trying to reach them
knew who they were, though. And they were dedicated to their commander. And to
the huge reward she had offered for Narayan.

Lady said Singh was worth his weight in rubies if he was delivered alive.

She never offered anything for her daughter.

The sky darkened suddenly. Never have I seen so many crows. It seemed the sun
would go out.

I raced to find Croaker and Soulcatcher. Smoke was so far off balance I actually
got close to Lady’s mad sister. She was dancing around in a rage, talking to
herself in different voices, cursing Lady for having too much initiative,

cursing her crows for not getting to the battle and back with information fast
enough to suit her. “It’s not time!” she raged. “There’s no conjunction yet!

This can’t happen now!”

I hustled off to find Croaker when Smoke began to strain away from the woman. We
soared upward, terrifying the crows, leaving a discernible wake through their
swarm. I hoped Soulcatcher was not alert enough to catch it.

There had been times when she had seemed aware of my presence. Though that had
been on occasions when I was loose from my own place in time, mostly.

Croaker was easy to spot. He was headed for camp at a gallop, trailing a comet
tail of crows. His giant black stallion seemed almost to fly.

I rose higher still, to see if there were developments elsewhere in need of
noting.

Smoke seemed to enjoy rising up where the eagles soar. We went higher than ever
before, until the surface of the earth was so far below that I could not make
out such trivial details as men and animals, till only the most vast works of
man stood out from the snowy background. The Dandha Presh gleamed like a row of
teeth in the north. In the west a pile of dark clouds promised more hard weather
for later. In the south the plain of grey stone sparkled as though strewn with
newly minted coins. The plain as a whole faded away into grey nothingness, yet
at the extremity of vision something loomed within the grey.

All Overlook’s north face seemed to be on fire.

I swooped down there to discover that Howler and Longshadow had gotten together
and launched a counterattack against the troops holding the top of the wall.

Then Lady had come to the aid of her people. Every man who could work a bamboo
pole was doing so, often apparently not aiming at anything.

Amidst all the other lights the air shimmered with fragments of something that
recalled the northern lights we had seen ages ago when the Company was way up at
the Barrowland. None of these shards was bigger than a platter. They flew around
like a swarm of gnats. The air was filled with a sound like sharp steel in rapid
motion. The shimmers slashed everything but Longshadow’s most densely
spell-protected stone.

Lady was up near the edge of the emergency housing that had been erected for
Shadowlander refugees. Her usual gang of worshippers surrounded her, ready to
repel any physical attack. She was doing whatever it was that was throwing those
blades of light around up there, keeping the defenders under cover and Howler
and Longshadow too busy to trouble her or any of her soldiers.

The blades of light did not appear to be under Lady’s direct command but orbited
a point she did control most of the time.

A tower collapsed into the interior of the fortress. A pillar of dust,

reflecting colorfully, rose to be carried away by the wind bringing the storm
from the west.

The outside of the fortress, once so ivory, was a mess of stains. I figured the
housekeeping staff would be real put out.

The flying black speck that was the Old Man was almost back to his headquarters.

I knew he would want to see me first. Reluctantly I left the great show for
flesh.

“What the hell is going on?” One-Eye demanded as I let myself down from the
wagon. The show must have impressed him because he was all business. He had food
and drink waiting.

“Croaker’s almost here. I’ll tell you both.”

Right on cue the Old Man popped over the nearest rise and hurtled toward us. His
mount was still in motion when he left his saddle. He grunted as his boots hit
the ground. “Tell me.” He understood that we were waiting.

I told him everything I knew. Including the fact that he was sneaking around
with his wife’s sister when the shitstorm hit. He stared over my shoulder toward
Overlook the whole time. His expression was cold, stony. I offered the
observation that Lady had in no way exceeded her authority within the general
orders of the organization. That cold look turned my way.

I had no trouble meeting it. A couple of brushes with Kina can do wonders for
the trivial fears of the world.

“You got something on your mind, Murgen?”

“You don’t tell anybody what’s going on, you got to accept it when they go ahead
and get on with the job.”

I thought smoke was going to roll out of his ears.

A skinny, mangy mongrel raced past and on the dead run clamped jaws on a
startled crow. He got a wing.

All the crows in the world descended on him before he could enjoy his dinner.

“A parable,” One-Eye said. “Observe! Black crows. Black dog. The eternal
struggle.”

“Black philosopher,” Croaker grumbled.

“Black Company.”

Croaker said, “Let’s go have a chat with my esteemed paramour. Where is she,

Murgen?”

I told him.

“Let’s go.” But he had to stop and pick up his Widowmaker costume. Which allowed
me time to borrow Thai Dei’s grey mare and get a head start. Croaker frowned but
did not ask when he caught up. Thai Dei insisted on coming along even though he
had to jog now.

He did not keep up.

Neither did I, of course.

If Lady and the Old Man indulged in a head-butting contest it was over before I
got there. Maybe I could take Smoke back to look their meeting over. When I got
there they were looking up at the tall white wall and deciding how best to
exploit the situation.

Lady was saying, “I fear our supply of bamboo poles is growing too small. It’s
certain that Longshadow will send shadows against us at least once.” She spoke
Taglian. She did not care who heard what she said. And plenty of ears were
nearby, including Blade, Willow Swan and the Nar generals Ochiba and Sindawe,

none of whom enjoyed my complete trust. Crows were, as always, plentiful, too.

They were turning the ruins of Kiaulune into a major rookery. Good eating there,

I suppose, with the cold weather preserving the corpses of the Shadowmaster’s
subjects.

Almost everyone threw rocks at the birds. They had become adept at dodging. I
suspected resignation would set in eventually and the only time we would enjoy
any privacy would be when Lady used one of the spells she had developed for
frightening the birds away.

A ripple of astonished disturbance passed through the circling birds. No one
else noticed. But I was alert for it because I had been wondering if One-Eye was
going to watch.

If anyone else figured this out . . . You can do nothing in this world without
leaving some mark, somehow. If someone else knows what sort of trace you will
leave . . .

One of the crystal tower tops received so many fireballs that it began to ring.

The sound started as a soft hum and rapidly swelled to a raging shriek. The
tower top exploded in a cloud of smoke and dust and spinning shards that melted
holes in the snow and earth wherever they fell. The event so startled everyone
that it distracted even Lady for a moment.

In that brief moment Longshadow counterattacked.

The boots of an invisible giant a thousand feet tall began stomping and kicking
the men atop Overlook’s wall and those trying to join them. In the moments it
took Lady to overcome her surprise and respond, every ladder got stripped away
and the bands holding the secured section of wall got scattered. Many fell to
their deaths.

Lady stopped the stomping but all efforts to reestablish a ladder link to the
men up top failed. Longshadow was fully into the game.

Croaker stayed and watched for the rest of the day. I stayed with him. Nothing
much happened.

We walked back. Croaker said, “Overall, that may have been a net gain.”

“We still have people inside. If we can preserve them.”

“We shall make every effort.”

His mind was racing. Something had happened outside whatever playscript he had
written and he was trying to incorporate it as a positive. He had no attention
left over for little questions like why I was using Thai Dei’s horse while my
brother-in-law was hoofing it.

Which reminded me that I needed to check up on Sleepy. The weather and the war
had not gone the way I had expected here so his life might not have been
comfortable lately, either.

The wind rose dramatically during our walk. Pellets of ice came as precursors of
the storm. “I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a bad one.”

Croaker grunted. “Pity she didn’t pull it off this morning. We could be inside
and warm.”

“At least it ought to be about the last big one of the winter.”

“That reminds me. How are we doing finding seed grain?”