'The scouts,' he said to both women, 'have come upon a scene of battle-'
'K'Chain Che'Malle,' Korlat nodded, eyeing the bones. 'K'ell Hunters, fortunately undead rather than enlivened flesh. Likely not as fast as they would have been. Still, to have been torn apart in such fashion-'
'T'lan Ay,' Silverfox said. 'They are why I have come.'
Whiskeyjack studied her. 'What do you mean?'
She shrugged. 'To see for myself, Commander. We are all drawing close. You to your besieged city, and I to the destiny to which I was born. Convergence, the plague of this world. Even so,' she added as she swung down from the saddle and strode among the bones, 'there are gifts. Dearest of such gifts. the T'lan Ay.' She paused, the wind caressing the fox fur on her shoulders, then whispered the name once more. 'T'lan Ay.'
'Kruppe shivers when she so names them, ah … gods bless this grim beauty in its barrenland tableau, from which starry dreams so dimmed with time are as rainbow rivers in the sky!' He paused, blinked at the others. 'Sweet sleep, in which hidden poetry resides, the flow of the disconnected, so smooth as to seem entwined. Yes?'
'I'm not the man,' Whiskeyjack growled, 'to appreciate your abstractions, Kruppe, alas.'
'Of course, blunt soldier, as you say! But wait, does Kruppe see in your eyes a certain. charge? The air veritably crackles with imminence — do you deny your sensitivity to that, Malazan? No, say nothing, the truth resides in your hard gaze and your gauntleted hand where it edges closer to the grip of your sword.'
Whiskeyjack could not deny the hairs rising on the back of his neck. He looked around, saw a similar alertness among the Rhivi, and in the pair of Malazan scouts who were scanning the hill-lines on all sides.
'What comes?' Korlat whispered.
'The gift,' Kruppe murmured with a beatific smile as he rested his eyes upon Silverfox.
Whiskeyjack followed the Daru's gaze.
To see the woman, so much like Tattersail, standing with her back to them, arms raised high.
Dust began swirling, rising in eddies on all sides.
The T'lan Ay took form, in the basin, on the slopes and the crests of the surrounding hills.
In their thousands .
Grey dust into grey, matted fur, black shoulders, throats the hue of rain clouds, thick tails silver and black-tipped; while others were brown, the colour of rotted, powdered wood, faded to tan at throat and belly. Wolves, tall, gaunt, their eyes shadowed pits. Huge, long heads were turned, one and all, to Silverfox.
She glanced over a shoulder, her heavy-lidded eyes fixing on Whiskeyjack. She smiled. 'My escort.'
The commander, struck silent, stared at her. So like Tattersail. Yet not. Escort, she says, but I see more — and her look tells me she is aware. so very aware, now.
Escort. and bodyguard. Silverfox may no longer require us. And, now that her need for our protection has passed, she is free to do. whatever she pleases.
A cold wind seemed to rattle through Whiskeyjack's mind. Gods, what if Kallor was right all along! What if we've all missed our chance? With a soft grunt, he shook off the unworthy thoughts. No, we have shown our faith in her, when it mattered most — when she was at her weakest. Tattersail would not forget that.
So like. yet not. Nightchill, dismembered by betrayal. Is it Tayschrenn her remnant soul hates? Or the Malazan Empire and every son and daughter of its blood? Or the one she had been called upon to battle: Anomander Rake, and by extension Caladan Brood? The Rhivi, the Bar ghost. does she seek vengeance against them?
Kruppe cleared his throat. 'And a lovely escort they are, my dear lass. Alarming to your enemies, reassuring to your loyal friends! We are charmed, for we can see that you are as well, so very deeply charmed by these silent, motionless T'lan Ay. Such well-behaved pups, Kruppe is impressed beyond words, beyond gestures, beyond suitable response entire!'
'If only,' Korlat murmured, 'that were the case.' She faced Whiskeyjack, her expression closed and professional. 'Commander, I will take my leave now to report to our leaders-'
'Korlat,' Silverfox interrupted, 'forgive me for not asking earlier, but when did you last look upon my mother?'
'This morning,' the Tiste Andii replied. 'She can no longer walk, and this has been her condition for almost a week now. She weakens by the day, Silverfox. Perhaps if you were to come and see her…'
'There is no need for that,' the fur-cloaked woman said. 'Who attends her at this moment?'
'Councillor Coll and the Daru man, Murillio.'