The Standing Dead - Stone Dance of the Chameleon 02 (42 page)

Osidian
was
next.
Carnelian
had
to
shake
him.
Osidian opened
his
eyes
and
for
a
while
could
do
nothing
more
than gaze
up
into
the
branches
of
the
cedar.
When,
at
last,
he
sat up
with
a
groan,
Poppy
looked
at
him
as
if
he
had
suddenly come
up
out
of
the
ground.
Carnelian
offered
him
a
cake. Osidian's
eyes
fell
on
Poppy,
who
smiled
winningly
at
him. As
he
turned
away
from
her,
Poppy's
face
fell
and Carnelian
reacted
by
cupping
her
cheek
in
his
hand.
She backed
into
his
leg,
making
sure
to
keep
an
eye
on
Osidian. Carnelian
offered
him
the
cake
again.
To
Carnelian's
relief, Osidian
took
it
and
bit
into
it.

The
cakes
were
finished
by
the
time
Fern
appeared. Osidian
greeted
him
with
cold
eyes.
Fern
addressed Carnelian
as
if
Osidian
were
not
there.

'Are
you
sure
he's
going
to
be
strong
enough?'

Carnelian
was
not
sure,
but
was
determined
he
would not
allow
him
to
remain
in
the
hollow.
When
it
came
time for
them
to
leave,
Osidian
refused
any
help.
Grimacing, he
rose
and
then
stood
looking
none
too
steady. 'Where's
Ravan?'

'He'll
be
on
warding
duty
around
the
Koppie
today
with the
rest
of
his
hunt,'
said
Fern.

Carnelian
saw
in
Osidian's
raised
eyebrows
that
he
had expected
Ravan
to
join
them.
Osidian
caught
Carnelian's look
and
smiled.

'So
our
little
friend
thinks
it
too
humiliating
to
work with
us.'

Carnelian
was
half
pleased
that
this
might
lead
to
a break
between
the
two.

They
moved
towards
the
rootstair,
Osidian
tottering after
them.
Poppy
would
not
leave
Carnelian's
side. Together
they
descended
the
stair
with
Fern.
Osidian followed
them,
taking
each
step
as
if
it
were
his
last.

His
face
wet
rust,
Osidian
stood
naked
beneath
the Bloodwood
Tree.
His
pallid
skin
could
have
been
soaked cloth
wrapped
around
the
frame
of
his
bones.
Carnelian and
Fern
looked
at
each
other.
Neither
could
imagine where
Osidian
was
even
finding
the
strength
to
stand, never
mind
for
the
day's
work.
Akaisha
called
out
to them.
Bloodied,
she
stood
by
the
butchered
corpse,
the black
boulder
of
its
liver
bleeding
at
her
feet.
Carnelian saw
her
look
of
concern
as
she
watched
Osidian
advancing
with
them.
Sil
could
not
hide
her
distress.
Even Whin's
forehead
was
creased
with
something
like
pity.

Carnelian
decided
to
act.
He
took
Osidian's
stick
arm.

'You're
too
weak,'
Carnelian
said.

Osidian
pulled
his
arm
free
and
continued
his
advance upon
the
liver.
Soon
he
was
wrestling
with
it.
Its
blood smeared
all
across
his
chest.
Carnelian
saw
Osidian
was intent
on
lifting
the
whole
mass
of
it
himself
and
rushed in
to
help.
Fern
was
soon
there
beside
him.
As
they heaved
the
quivering
mass
to
the
drag-cradles,
they
had enough
of
a
struggle
coping
with
its
weight
themselves
to have
any
energy
left
over
to
worry
about
Osidian.

They
toiled
in
the
withering
heat.
Carnelian
had
become accustomed
to
the
itch
of
flies
walking
upon
his
sweating skin.
The
stench
no
longer
seemed
unbearable.
It
was different
for
Osidian.
Carnelian's
wonder
at
his
strength dulled
into
an
ache
of
fear.
Osidian's
limbs
seemed
so
thin they
might
snap;
his
muscles
so
wasted
he
should
have been
unable
to
move.
Yet
he
worked
as
hard
as
Carnelian did,
as
hard
as
Fern.
Carnelian
could
not
rid
himself
of
the conviction
that
such
miraculous
strength
was
consuming what
little
life
Osidian
had
left.

Carnelian
almost
cried
with
relief
when
Akaisha announced
their
midday
rest.
He
threw
down
what
he
was carrying
and
made
a
show
of
moving
from
the
drag-cradles
to
the
welcoming
shade
of
the
Bloodwood
Tree.
As Fern
and
he
headed
for
it,
Carnelian
kept
turning
just enough
to
make
sure
Osidian
was
following
them.
As
soon as
Carnelian
reached
the
trunk
he
sat
against
it
to
encourage
Osidian
to
do
the
same.
Osidian
slid
down painfully.
His
eyes
stared
unblinking
from
his
ochred face.
Sil
and
Poppy
brought
them
food
and
water.
At Carnelian's
urging,
the
girl
made
sure
Osidian
ate
his share.
Unable
to
look
at
him
any
more,
Carnelian
rested his
head
against
the
bark
of
the
tree
and
closed
his
eyes. He
allowed
himself
to
drift
away
upon
the
waft
of
the women's
chatter.
The
leaves
of
the
Bloodwood
Tree
sighed a
soothing
air.