The masked witches

The orange glow of the coals was captivating. Despite Aoth s resolve to remain alert, they held his gaze for a moment, until someone said, Psst!

Startled, he cast about. A hanging eviscerated rat with a bristling black pelt looked back at him with beady scarlet eyes. The combination of colors reminded him momentarily of Jet, although the griffon would surely have taken offense at the comparison.

You re not dead, Vandar said.

Do I look dead? asked the rat. Aoth heard the edge of pain in his high, cheeping voice.

Cera said, Actually, yes.

The creature sniggered. Fair enough, sunlady, fair enough, he said. But you could make me better, you and your healing hands.

Maybe she could, Vandar said. But you have the look of either a corrupt fey or an awakened beast allied with them. So I don t know why she would.

To keep me from tattling that there are intruders in the palace, the creature replied. Guards do wander by from time to time.

The berserker drew his dagger. I know another way to keep you quiet, he said.

Despite his mangled condition, the rat managed to raise his front paws in a placatory gesture. Easy, human! I was only joking, he said. The reason you should set me free is because you re either spies, thieves, or assassins, and I ve been spying here for a while myself. Whatever you re after, I can help you.

Aoth glanced around, checking to see if anyone was approaching. No one was, as far as he could tell. Who are you, and who were you spying for? he asked.

My name is Zyl, replied the rat. The name of the prince I serve wouldn t mean anything to you.

But he s dark fey, isn t he? Vandar asked. Which means a creature in his service is the last person we should trust.

If you know anything about fey, said Zyl, dark or otherwise, you know we keep a bargain or a promise. And I swear by Lurue s horn that if you free me and heal me, I ll help you perform whatever foolhardy task you came to accomplish.

Cera looked to Aoth. We shouldn t leave any creature in such a plight, she said.

Vandar hefted his knife. With respect, lady, I don t intend to, the beserker replied.

Zyl kept his eyes fixed on Aoth. I truly can help, he said. And you ve fought alongside fouler things than me in your time.

Aoth smiled a crooked smile. I don t know how you know that, but it s true, he said. Vandar, you ve already got a knife out, so you can cut that wire around his feet. Cut him, too, if he tries to bite or run.

Scowling, the Rashemi got Zyl down and laid him on a table amid a scatter of bread crumbs and scraps of yellow fungus. Cera murmured a prayer that set her hand aglow and gently pressed her fingers to the rodent s ghastly wound.

Afterward, the raw, vacant space didn t look any different. But Zyl did. He rose to his feet with renewed energy and said, Thanks. Now it s your turn, fire spirit. If you cool down the coals and the pot, I ll thank you, too.

Jhesrhi aimed her staff and threw a flare of frost at the cauldron and the hearth. Steam puffed into being as cold met hot.

Zyl jumped off the table, ran across the floor, sprang on the rim of the cauldron, and dropped inside. Over the course of the next few moments, pieces of rat viscera flew out of the vessel to land with a splat on the gleaming black floor. Aoth watched with slightly squeamish fascination as Zyl jumped back out after the organs, and, rearing onto his hind legs and using his forepaws like hands, stuffed them back inside his body cavity. When he had finished, he pulled his flaps of skin and muscle closed and sealed them with the stroke of a claw. His abdomen bulged and heaved as the organs inside presumably rearranged and reattached themselves.

Zyl looked up and caught everyone staring. I mostly heal pretty well all by myself, he chattered. I just needed a push to get me started. Now, what s this errand you re on?

Aoth told him.

Still peering up from the floor, Zyl cocked his head. He seemed nonplussed, as if he hadn t just been hanging helpless with his guts stewing on the other side of the kitchen. That might not be so easy, he said.

Well, said Aoth, you ve been spying. If you already know the information we re after, you can simply share and save us all some trouble.

Unfortunately, I don t, replied the rat.

So Let me think

We ve stayed in this one spot too long already, Vandar said.

Patience, berserker, Zyl said, I don t tell you how to slice your own flesh and foam at the mouth. Zyl looked back at Aoth. Follow me, he said as he dropped to all fours and headed for an exit.

As they left the kitchen, Jhesrhi waved her hand in the direction of the hearth. Fire leaped up from the coals to set the cauldron boiling again and turn any leftover frost or water to vapor.

If you re such an able spy, Vandar asked, how did they catch you?

They didn t, said Zyl. They caught a common rat. If they d caught me, knowing it was me, I would have been hanging in a torture chamber, not the slaves larder.

Still, Cera said, shifting her grip on her gilded mace, how did they get you?

To you, healer, I ll confess they found me passed out drunk, Zyl said. When their masters aren t looking, the goblins distill a liquor from table scraps, toadstools, and such. It s foul, but I ve been in Lady Grontaix s home a long time. I d go mad if I didn t take a little pleasure when I had the chance. Now, hush, everyone. We re making too much noise.

Aoth thought the rat was right, and so, though he was full of questions, he allowed Zyl to lead them stalking onward in silence. At one point, a cyclops warrior appeared up ahead, but he evidently couldn t see far enough in the gloom to spot the intruders. Aoth whispered, Freeze, his companions obeyed, and the hulking creature disappeared down a branching passage without ever realizing anything was amiss.

By degrees, the tu

This, said the rat, is the tu

Maybe, said Vandar. But can we break through the wall without making enough noise to bring every cyclops in the place down on top of us?

The fire spirit can, Zyl replied.

Frowning, Jhesrhi said, That s true. Just give me room to work.

Everyone else stood back while she positioned herself in front of the appropriate section of wall. She recited words of power in one of the tongues of the earth elementals, her high clear voice managing the hard consonants and rasping inhuman sounds without a fumble. For a moment, the folds of her patched, stained cloak and the strands of her golden hair stirred as though a jealous wind was tugging at them in a plea for her attention.

The wall split from the small hole upward, grinding and crunching. Beyond it, an entirely natural tu

Does it get anymore cramped than this? Aoth asked.

Some, Zyl replied. But I promise, you can all squirm through if you try.

It turned out he was right, although at one point, the way narrowed into such a tight bottleneck that Aoth wondered if anyone but Jhesrhi would be able to wriggle through without leaving armor behind. Then it occurred to him to conjure a coating of grease into being on the surface of the stone, to make it easier to worm one s way through the tight spot, and when Aoth, with his wide shoulders and barrel chest, succeeded, he knew that his companions could, too.