'Sarge took an arrow,' said the other sapper. 'His lung's bleeding—'
'Just one of them and it's a pinprick,' the sergeant corrected, pausing to spit. 'The other one's fine.'
'Can't breathe blood, Sarge—'
'I shared a tent with you, lad – I've breathed worse.'
The squad continued on, arguing over whether or not the sergeant should go find a healer. The marine stared after them, shaking her head. Then she turned to the historian. 'I'll leave you to talk with Sormo, sir, if that's all right.'
Duiker nodded. 'Two of your friends didn't make it back—'
'But one did. Next time for sword practice, I'll come looking for you, sir.'
'My joints are already seizing, soldier. You'll have to prop me up.'
She gently lowered Nil to the grass, then moved off.
Ten years younger, I'd have the nerve to ask her . . . well, never mind. Imagine the arguments at the cooking fire . . .
The two Wickan riders returned, flanking a travois harnessed to a brutal-looking cattle-dog. A hoof had connected with its head some time in its past, and the bones had healed lopsided, giving the animal a manic half-snarl that seemed well suited to the vicious gleam in its eyes.
The riders dismounted and carefully laid Nil on the travois. Disdaining its escort, the dog moved off, back towards the Wickan encampment.
'That was one ugly beast,' Captain Lull said behind the historian.
Duiker grunted. 'Proof that their skulls are all bone and no brain.'
'Still lost, old man?'
The historian scowled. 'Why didn't you tell me we had hidden help, Captain? Who were they, Pormqual's?'
'What in Hood's name are you talking about?'
He turned. 'The Claw. Someone was covering our retreat. Using stars and stickers and moving unseen like a Hood-damned breath on my back!'
Lull's eyes widened.
'How many more details is Coltaine keeping to himself?'
'There's no way Coltaine knows anything about this, Duiker,' Lull said, shaking his head. 'If you're certain of what you saw – and I believe you – then the Fist will want to know. Now.'
For the first time that Duiker could recall, Coltaine looked rattled. He stood perfectly still, as if suddenly unsure that no-one hovered behind him, invisible blades but moments from their killing thrust.
Bult growled low in his throat. 'The heat's got you addled, Historian.'
'I know what I saw, Uncle. More, I know what I felt.'
There was a long silence, the air in the tent stifling and still.
Sormo entered, stopping just inside the entrance as Coltaine pinned him with a glare. The warlock's shoulders were slumped, as if no longer able to bear the weight they had carried all these months. Shadows pouched his eyes with fatigue.
'Coltaine has some questions for you,' Bult said to him. 'Later.'
The young man shrugged. 'Nil has awakened. I have answers.'
'Different questions,' the scarred veteran said with a dark, humourless grin.
Coltaine spoke. 'Explain what happened, Warlock.'
'The Semk god isn't dead,' Duiker said.
'I'd second that opinion,' Lull muttered from where he sat on a camp saddle-chair, his unbuckled vambraces in his lap, his legs stretched out. He met the historian's eyes and winked.
'Not precisely,' Sormo corrected. He hesitated, drew a deep breath, then continued. 'The Semk god was indeed destroyed. Torn to pieces and devoured. Sometimes, a piece of flesh can contain such malevolence that it corrupts the devourer—'
Duiker sat forward, wincing at the pain from the force-healed wound in his backside. 'An earth spirit—'
'A spirit of the land, aye. Hidden ambition and sudden power. The other spirits... suspected naught.'
Bult's face twisted in disgust. 'We lost seventeen soldiers tonight just to kill a handful of Tithan warchiefs and unmask a rogue spirit?'
The historian flinched. It was the first time he'd heard the full count of losses. Coltaine's first failure. If Oponn smiles on us, the enemy won't realize it.
'With such knowledge,' Sormo explained quietly, 'future lives will be saved. The spirits are greatly distressed – they were perplexed at being unable to detect the raids and ambushes, and now they know why. They did not think to look among their own kin. Now they will deliver their own justice, in their own time—'
'Meaning the raids continue?' The veteran looked ready to spit. 'Will your spirit allies be able to warn us now – as they once did so effectively?'