The masked witches

Olthe, the Foehammer s battleguard, stepped back from the monument. She was as big and as broad-shouldered as many a fighting man, and could swing a battle-axe to as deadly an effect when she cha

Presumably she d completed her investigations, so he tossed her the flask. What have you learned? he asked.

The trap has two fiends inside it, she replied. Her alto voice was melodious and cultured, a pere

I believe there might even be three, said Melemer the tiefling, his yellow eyes slightly chatoyant in the starlight.

Olthe glared. You re wrong, she said.

Melemer spread his hands. Of course, battleguard, he replied. If you re certain of your estimate, then be assured, I m certain of it, too. In combat, he was as brave as any mercenary Bez had ever known, but away from the battlefield, it was always his way to apologize, flatter, and defer at least until the person who d offended him dropped his guard.

It doesn t much matter if it s two or three, Bez said, as long as they aren t too powerful. What can you tell me about that?

I think we re all right, Olthe said. She glowered again at Melemer, like she was daring him to contradict her.

But she d already lost Bez s attention. He pivoted and peered up the slope at the murky, faceless figure approaching in a silent, flowing way that somehow looked like creeping and bounding at the same time. Melemer raised his hands, and his several rings, each made of a different metal and engraved with a different glyph, shone like his eyes.

Bez whipped out his dagger and rapier and came on guard. Lightning crawled and crackled in the smaller blade, and frost formed on the larger.

Olthe spun her axe through cuts, blocks, and flourishes and chanted a battle hymn. Though she wasn t directing the challenge at him, Bez still felt the words ring and reverberate inside him.

The shadow didn t seem daunted by the prayer or anyone else s demonstration of power. It kept coming, only halting when light rippled inside it, and its vague, flat form swelled into something constant and three-dimensional.

The transformation only took a heartbeat or two, and when it was finished, Dai Shan bowed with an elegance that somehow conveyed both impeccable courtesy and nonchalance. My valiant associates, he said.

What in the Destroyer s name are you doing here? Bez demanded.

I wanted to confer with you, Dai Shan said, so I sent one of my servants to find you. When I sensed that it had, I inhabited it, turning it into a window through which you and I can speak for the relatively brief time the magic will last.

Bez quelled the murderous forces seething inside his weapons and lowered them to point at the ground. But at that moment, a cordial greeting was beyond him. Maybe it was because, though they d scoured the country from Immilmar east to the mountains, he and his company hadn t found a trace of any of the sundry bands of undead witches, werewolves, and what-have-yous that were supposedly wandering around committing atrocities. Whereas it seemed the Shou only had to dispatch one lone phantom to locate a flying vessel with minimal difficulty. In a better mood, Bez might have found some humor in that, but for the moment, it aggravated his frustration.

And perhaps that was why he examined the merchant s words in his mind, and, began to doubt. Immilmar is west, he said, and, responding to his suspicion and hostility, the potential for more lightning and searing, heart-stopping chill quivered inside his blades. Your ghost, or whatever it was, slunk down from the east.

Dai Shan s slight smile didn t waver. Naturally, the shadow couldn t just travel to you in a straight line, he said. It had to wander back and forth before spotting you at last.

When I said it was coming down from the east, Bez persisted, I meant, sneaking down from the spot where the Storm is moored. We ve been carrying a stowaway ever since we left Immilmar, haven t we? One emplaced to spy on us or worse. He raised the rapier and dagger, and his silent command made their magic flare anew. Taking their cue from him, Olthe and Melemer dropped back into fighting stances.

Dai Shan took a nonchalant step back.

I implore you, he said, consider that I m not really here. If you destroy this thing, all you ll do is bring our parley to a fruitless and premature end.

Bez sneered. And why, merchant, would I want to talk to a false friend who snuck a horror aboard my ship?

Dai Shan s smile widened just a bit. Stalwart captain, had you not opted to make yourself the foremost soldier of the age, I m confident you would have won equal distinction as a poet or a player, for you unquestionably have the requisite flair for the dramatic. Things that rise from shadow have their appetites, and I won t insult your intelligence by suggesting otherwise. But I never let this one slip the leash, and even if I had, how could one little phantom truly threaten a warrior who s fought giants and malebranches in his time?

Bez smiled a grudging smile. It always feels strange to talk to you, Shou. I think it s because I m used to being the glib one. Do you swear the shadow was only aboard to spy and give you and me a way to talk if need be? You didn t plan anything worse?

August warlord, in my father s sight, I swear it, Dai Shan replied. May I also point out that, if my poor intermediary s presence on your vessel was inappropriate, at least you re rid of it now. It won t survive to board a second time.

Bez extinguished the power burning in his weapons and slid them back into their sheaths. All right. Forget it for now, if only because you re right. I can t thrust a sword into the real Dai Shan across the length of this wretched country. So what do you want, anyway?

I want you to return to Immilmar to pick me up.

Why?

Well, that s the part that s slightly awkward. I ll explain when my true self is aboard the skyship. Until then, I m asking you to trust me.

Bez snorted. No offense, merchant, but that s not going to happen. I offered to work with you, not blindly carry out your commands.

But, stalwart and sagacious captain, surely you see that the real problem is my inability to repose complete and utter faith in you. If I told you now where you ought to sail and why, perhaps you would simply do so immediately without bothering to collect me. And then how could I convince the hathrans that I played even a minor part in the achievements that will follow?

Bez grunted. I ll think about it, he said.

Dai Shan frowned ever so slightly. It was about as much of a display of sincere emotion as he ever permitted himself. In its way, his face was as much of a mask as any the witches wore.

Obviously, the little Shou said, I understand why such a shrewd leader of men prefers to weigh his decisions carefully. But if we lose our means of communication before you say yes or no, that will leave me in an awkward and ambiguous position.

Bez sneered. That s your problem, he said.

Indeed it would be. As your problem is chasing a quarry you haven t caught and will never catch without my guidance. Clearly, you realize it, too, or you wouldn t be meddling with a demon trap in the middle of a frigid night.

We re looking for clues that will lead us to the enemy.

Master strategist, wily tactician, scourge of the Dragon Coast, I have the utmost respect for your intelligence. I ask you to respect mine as well. Plainly, you paid attention to the tales of the durthans and their ilk breaking open the old Raumathari menhirs. Frustrated by your inability to locate the actual foe, you ve decided to open a stone yourself, kill whatever s inside, and carry the carcass back to Immilmar as a trophy.