Garou dragged himself onto the bank and lay there glowering. A sweep of sand clung to his wet clothes, forming a crusty red layer over the dusty white one. «My anger is not so easily calmed,» he rasped.
«You aren't looking at this the right way,» Hezekiah said. He squatted over the dripping boatman, much closer to the Styx water than I would have dared. «Back in my hometown,» the boy told him, «people were constantly throwing me into the river too. It was just their way of being friendly… you know, smearing your face with swineberries, pulling down your pants in public, pelting you with horse apples… it's all in fun. Like I'm sure when you yelled good-bye to the umbrals, you were just playing a joke, right?»
Garou looked up at Miriam, who happened to be cracking her knuckles meaningfully. «Yes, a joke,» the boatman answered hurriedly.
«And throwing you in the Styx was the same kind of joshing around,» Hezekiah said. «Miriam's way of being friendly. We're all friends now.»
«Absolutely,» Garou nodded. «Just high-spirited monkeyshines.»
«He fears us,» Kiripao whispered to me. «The dust has robbed him of his power, and he grovels before our strength.»
«We aren't so strong ourselves,» I whispered back. «Keep quiet.» In a louder voice, I said, «Now that there are no more bad feelings… Miriam, what's on the other side of that portal?»
«Rich Man's Row in Plague-Mort,» she answered, still glaring at Garou but restraining her fists. «I recognized the street. It's night there now; a bit cold for my tastes, but nothing unnatural. The town looked pretty quiet.»
«You see?» Garou asked. «I kept my part of the bargain.»
«That's why I only threw you in the drink,» Miriam told him, «instead of feeding you your ears.»
«Then let me finish my part of the deal,» I said, «and we can get out of here. I've had enough of the Lower Planes for a while.»
The others fanned out in a watchful circle as Garou beached the skiff and I went to work with the paints. Hezekiah held Wheezle in his arms, ready to dash for safety if the need arose; and Yasmin stayed close beside Kiripao in case Brother Elf broke into more umbral babbling. Kiripao certainly had the twitches, hearing sounds and smelling odors the rest of us couldn't detect… but Yasmin reined him in with a gentle hand on his arm, and nothing unfortunate happened.
From time to time, I glanced in her direction. She wouldn't meet my eye.
«Acceptable,» he said grudgingly. The boatman bowed a a fraction of an inch, and in a formal voice recited, «Britlin Cavendish of Sigil, there is no bad will between us.»
I supposed that was a ritual farewell among his people. For a moment I considered giving him my business card, in case he or his fellow marraenoloths had work for me in future. Then my gaze lighted on that picture of the man who reminded me of my father; and I decided I could do without such employment.
«Good-bye, Garou,» I told him. «Safe journeys.»
But he was already putting his skiff back into the Styx. Within seconds, he had disappeared into another pillar of mist.
Wheezle cleared his throat. «It seems we must open the gate again.»
«Count me out,» Miriam snapped. «I refuse to be smothered by bugs twice in one day.»
«We could draw lots…» Yasmin said, with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.
«Don't you dare,» I told her. «Treats like this should be savored by those who appreciate them.»
And in the next minute, a million flies gave me an experience I shall not easily forget.
15. THREE HOURS OF AUTUMN NIGHT
16. THREE SOUND SLEEPERS
«You aren't looking at this the right way,» Hezekiah said. He squatted over the dripping boatman, much closer to the Styx water than I would have dared. «Back in my hometown,» the boy told him, «people were constantly throwing me into the river too. It was just their way of being friendly… you know, smearing your face with swineberries, pulling down your pants in public, pelting you with horse apples… it's all in fun. Like I'm sure when you yelled good-bye to the umbrals, you were just playing a joke, right?»
Garou looked up at Miriam, who happened to be cracking her knuckles meaningfully. «Yes, a joke,» the boatman answered hurriedly.
«And throwing you in the Styx was the same kind of joshing around,» Hezekiah said. «Miriam's way of being friendly. We're all friends now.»
«Absolutely,» Garou nodded. «Just high-spirited monkeyshines.»
«He fears us,» Kiripao whispered to me. «The dust has robbed him of his power, and he grovels before our strength.»
«We aren't so strong ourselves,» I whispered back. «Keep quiet.» In a louder voice, I said, «Now that there are no more bad feelings… Miriam, what's on the other side of that portal?»
«Rich Man's Row in Plague-Mort,» she answered, still glaring at Garou but restraining her fists. «I recognized the street. It's night there now; a bit cold for my tastes, but nothing unnatural. The town looked pretty quiet.»
«You see?» Garou asked. «I kept my part of the bargain.»
«That's why I only threw you in the drink,» Miriam told him, «instead of feeding you your ears.»
«Then let me finish my part of the deal,» I said, «and we can get out of here. I've had enough of the Lower Planes for a while.»
The others fanned out in a watchful circle as Garou beached the skiff and I went to work with the paints. Hezekiah held Wheezle in his arms, ready to dash for safety if the need arose; and Yasmin stayed close beside Kiripao in case Brother Elf broke into more umbral babbling. Kiripao certainly had the twitches, hearing sounds and smelling odors the rest of us couldn't detect… but Yasmin reined him in with a gentle hand on his arm, and nothing unfortunate happened.
From time to time, I glanced in her direction. She wouldn't meet my eye.
* * *
It took me ten minutes to finish the last painting. My nerves were on edge the whole time – this was, after all, the Abyss, filled with some of the most hellish creatures in the multiverse – but apart from a green-fire explosion many miles away, we saw no sign of trouble. I took my time to get the final face right, did some touch-up on the other faces, then pronounced the work done. Garou wasted another five minutes on close scrutiny of each grieving figure, but that was expected; I had already sized him up as a customer who would love to find fault if it existed, but not the kind who invents last-minute changes just to impose his stamp on the artist's work (like a dog, urinating on a stick to make it smell more like himself). The faces I had painted were exact copies of the ones on the other side of the boat… and eventually, Garou had to admit it.«Acceptable,» he said grudgingly. The boatman bowed a a fraction of an inch, and in a formal voice recited, «Britlin Cavendish of Sigil, there is no bad will between us.»
I supposed that was a ritual farewell among his people. For a moment I considered giving him my business card, in case he or his fellow marraenoloths had work for me in future. Then my gaze lighted on that picture of the man who reminded me of my father; and I decided I could do without such employment.
«Good-bye, Garou,» I told him. «Safe journeys.»
But he was already putting his skiff back into the Styx. Within seconds, he had disappeared into another pillar of mist.
* * *
Slowly, our group trudged away from the river. The archway of flies was gone; the insects, no longer glowing, had returned to picking apart the elephant carcass. They buzzed lethargically as they sucked at the leathery hide.Wheezle cleared his throat. «It seems we must open the gate again.»
«Count me out,» Miriam snapped. «I refuse to be smothered by bugs twice in one day.»
«We could draw lots…» Yasmin said, with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.
«Don't you dare,» I told her. «Treats like this should be savored by those who appreciate them.»
And in the next minute, a million flies gave me an experience I shall not easily forget.
15. THREE HOURS OF AUTUMN NIGHT
A fly-spawned wind thrust me onto the cobblestoned streets of Plague-Mort. I landed on my knees, just short of an open sewer that was surprisingly empty of slops; water running at the bottom of the ditch showed that it must have rained here recently. The air had a just-washed cleanness to it, touched with the bittersweet fragrance of woodsmoke. As Miriam had said, the night was cool: an autumnal chill, as if the land had grown tired of life and longed for winter's oblivion.
Footsteps sounded behind me. I turned to see Kiripao pounce onto the street, followed more warily by Yasmin and the others emerging into this plane of reality. The portal they used was simply the doorway of a house – a house whose windows had been broken and whose walls had been vandalized with the word Traitor! written in red paint. The woodsmoke smell came from inside, and suddenly the odor didn't seem so dreamily nostalgic.
Hezekiah sniffed, then turned toward the house. «Fire?» he asked, looking around at the rest of us to see if we smelled it too. The boy took a step toward the closest broken window, and said, «Maybe we should check if everything's all right.»
Miriam placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. «Whatever happened, it's over now. Anyway, this is Plague-Mort; don't borrow other people's problems.»
«But if someone is in trouble…»
«No,» she told him. «This is Rich Man's Row, Kid, the closest thing this town has to a Nob Hill.» That in itself said volumes about Plague-Mort, I thought. The houses, even the ones untouched by vandals, exhaled an air of decrepitude. Roofs sagged; cement footings were riddled with dark gummy cracks. «The people who live here,» Miriam went on, «can pay for protection against normal cross-traders and bub-heads… which means if a house like this gets smashed open, the Arch-Lector was behind the job.»
«What's an Arch-Lector?» Hezekiah asked.
«A fancy title for the head thug,» Miriam replied. «In a slumtown like Plague-Mort, you can't just call yourself king. Rulers need chi-chi titles: 'Viscount' or 'Rajah' or 'Holder of the Sacred Sphere'. All comes to the same thing, though – the guy who tells his soldiers to break down your door if you've got something he wants. Whoever lived in this house had a pretty wife, or a fast horse, or maybe just one piece of gold too many. Tonight, the Arch-Lector decided to claim it for himself… and unless you want to fight the local army, you'll mind your own business.»
«But the army isn't here anymore!» Hezekiah protested. «They've taken what they want, right? And if someone here is hurt and needs our help…»
He didn't bother finishing his sentence, as if it was obvious we should dash to the rescue. I thought, Father would have dashed in too; and he'd save the life of a beautiful woman who'd be boundlessly grateful… the berk.
«Miriam,» I said softly, «how long before the looters come?»
«At least a day,» she answered. «Even the greediest knight of the post keeps clear of the Arch-Lector.»
I nodded. «Then for a day, this house could be a safe bolt-hole.»
«Sure,» she admitted, «provided the Arch-Lector doesn't come back in the morning to finish cleaning the place out.»
«We can post a watch,» Wheezle suggested. «If the soldiers return, they will make no effort at secrecy. They have had their fun with the first attack, ripping whoever lived here out of their beds.» The gnome looked at the broken windows, the smashed-in doors. «If the soldiers left any corpses in there, perhaps we could offer the proper obsequies…»
«In Plague-Mort,» Miriam muttered, «the only last rites are cleaning out a deader's pockets.» But she didn't stop the Clueless boy from heading inside.
Hezekiah sped toward the back of the house while Kiripao bounded up the stairs to the top floor. Sighing, the rest of us split up to keep the two of them out of mischief… and I noticed that Yasmin waited for me to head after Hezekiah before she chose to follow Kiripao.
Anything to avoid me.
The house was dark, and we dared not light a lantern that might be seen from the street. Miriam and I stumbled through the front room waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dimness. All of the furniture had been demolished, as well as a collection of china that had once been displayed on plate-rails around the ceiling. The carpet smelled of urine; I supposed that had to be blamed on the soldiers, determined to bespoil every inch of the house… but I could not picture men doing such a thing.
Miriam noticed me sniffing at the odor. «Hounds,» she said in a low voice. «The Arch-Lector's troops call themselves the Hounds. Sometimes they go out of their way to act like dogs.»
«Charming,» I murmured. «If I head into town I'll carry a bucket of water, in case one goes for my leg.»
«The smoke is coming from the basement,» Hezekiah whispered in a low voice. He had just opened a door at the rear of the kitchen, showing steps that descended into blackness. Dank air seeped up from below.
«Can you see down there?» I asked. As a half-elf, Hezekiah had better-than-human eyes when it came to poking around in the dark.
«There's a tiny bit of light,» he said, taking a few steps down. «Yes, over in the corner: the remains of a fire.»
I ventured warily down the stairs after him. In the blackness, I could just make out the dull glow of embers, maybe twenty paces away. The smell of smoke was strong down here, and suddenly that struck me as odd. The Hounds hadn't lit fires elsewhere in the house – they probably had orders from the Arch– Lector not to burn a valuable property (and half the neighborhood with it). Why had they chosen to torch a small corner of the cellar, and left the blaze untended? Were they afraid of something that had been here?
«Be careful,» I whispered to Hezekiah ahead of me. «Something isn't right.»
«There's nothing down here,» he replied, approaching the glowing coals. «I'd be able to see the body heat of any warm-blooded creature.»
«That still leaves cold-blooded…»
At that instant, a gigantic snake rose amidst the remains of the fire. Hundreds of silvery spines lined its back, each spine edged like a razor. The serpent lifted itself a full six feet into the air, hissing with rage… and in the dim light, I could have sworn its head was that of a human woman.
Hezekiah gave an incoherent yell, and suddenly disappeared: the Clueless little berk had teleported away, and this time he'd forgotten to take me. «Nice snakey,» I murmured in what I hoped was a soothing voice. «I'm not with those other guys. What did they do, set you on fire? They're scum, but I'm not like that.»
All through this speech, I was slowly moving my hand to the pommel of my sword; but I froze when the snake spoke in a gentle female voice. «Please help me, good sir,» she said. And then her upraised body toppled forward, slumping flat across the burning coals.
«I need it now,» I told him. «We have to get her away from that fire.»
«Are you nuts?» Hezekiah asked. "Sorry… barmy?
«Just give me a hand, would you?»
Despite his misgivings, the boy followed me toward the snake. She seemed unconscious now… which might have been a blessing, given the burning coals under her torso. I stepped into the simmering ring, ignoring the smell of singed leather as my boots began to smoulder. Putting my hands under the snake was out of the question, because of the bed of embers; but I could squeeze the sides of her body enough to lift her off the ground, and then get an arm underneath for support.
She was about nine feet long and heavy – two hundred pounds of solid muscle – but between us, Hezekiah and I wrestled her away from the fire and up the darkened stairs. Scaly skin flaked off liberally in our hands. I hoped this was normal reptilian shedding, but feared it was actually burned tissue ripping away from her body.
Grunting and panting up the last few steps, Hezekiah gulped, «Uncle Toby… says snake-meat… tastes like chicken. Is that why we're… Britlin, look at its head!»
Enough starlight filtered through the dirty kitchen windows to show what had astonished the boy. The snake did have a human head: the face of a girl about twelve years old, soft and vulnerable, with delicate green skin and long hair of burnished gold. True, she had two sharp fangs protruding from her mouth; but they didn't negate the sweet gentleness of the rest of her features.
«What is she?» Hezekiah breathed.
«A naga,» I said, «one of the snake-people. I've met a few adults in Sigil, but never one this young. She's just past her first molt; while they're children, their heads don't look human at all.»
«What's she doing here?»
«I don't know. Perhaps she was a pet… or a slave. They're as smart as most humans, and have magic abilities. If you got hold of an infant and raised her as a member of the family, she could become a powerful asset.» I laid a hand on her cheek; the flesh was cold, but I could feel her breath on my fingers. «At least she's still alive.»
«But what do we do with her?» The question came from Miriam who stood in the kitchen doorway. I didn't know where she'd been for the past few minutes; possibly rummaging through other rooms in search of removable goods.
«We treat her kindly,» I replied. «Some naga breeds are innately malicious, but most are quite civilized.»
«She's still a snake,» Miriam grumbled, as if anything else was irrelevant.
«Who's a snake?» Yasmin asked, coming in with Wheezle in her arms.
«Her.» I pointed. Even in the dim light, I could see Yasmin's eyes grow bigger.
«She is a snake,» Yasmin admitted.
«And she's waking up,» Hezekiah said.
The naga's eyelids fluttered and a soft moan escaped her lips. Miriam tensed and Hezekiah backed away; but I stayed put, hoping she was too ladylike (and too weak) to use those wicked fangs.
«Who are you?» she whispered.
«Friends,» I told her. «My name is Britlin.»
«My egg name is Zeerith,» she replied. «I must choose a tooth name soon, but… I apologize. I'm so tired.»
«What happened here, Zeerith?» Yasmin asked gently.
«Men came,» the naga answered. «I don't know why. I had been downstairs for a day, enduring my… transformation. The family was very kind, giving me privacy – since they found me outside town, they have always been kind.» She blinked, and a tear beaded in the corner of one eye. «Can you tell me what happened to them?»
«Nothing good,» Miriam muttered.
«I fear she is right, honored snakeling,» Wheezle said. «We have searched the house and found it empty. One can always hope —»
«Not in Plague-Mort,» Miriam cut him off.
Zeerith closed her eyes. The lingering tear spilled down her cheek. «This is not a happy town,» she murmured. Opening her eyes again, she said, «The soldiers thought I was an ordinary snake. They were cowardly men, too fearful to approach and see what I was.»
«Count yourself lucky,» I told her. «If they realized the truth, you wouldn't be here now.»
«Perhaps not,» Zeerith nodded. «As it was, they simply lit burning sticks, then threw them at me until I played dead.»
«Played dead!» Miriam snorted. «I thought nagas could cast magic.»
«I do not know what I can do,» Zeerith answered. «I am virtually new-born. As the men pelted me with fire, I was still in the final stages of molt. I… pardon me, I feel so weak…»
Yasmin handed her a water flask. It only contained brackish water from the umbral village, but Zeerith drank it gratefully. When the naga was finished, I eased her head down to the floor and told her to rest. Hezekiah stayed by her while I stood up to talk with Yasmin and Miriam.
«So?» I said in a soft voice.
«There's no one in the house,» Yasmin replied. «I say we stay here while Miriam finds this friend of hers… November, was that the name?»
«And if the Hounds come back?» Miriam asked.
«We head out the back door and take Zeerith with us,» Yasmin replied. «The Hounds will kill her if they find her; and she can't go far on her own.»
«Won't that look subtle,» Miriam grimaced. «The bunch of us wandering the streets, carrying a boa constrictor.»
I smiled and patted Miriam's shoulder. «You still haven't got the hang of this friendship thing, have you?»
«Right behind me,» Yasmin answered. Then she turned and let out an angry breath. «Sod it, he's gone.»
«He could just be lurking in shadows,» I said. «Yasmin, search the house. Hezekiah, you stay with Zeerith. I'll have a peek outside.»
«Me, I'm going to find November,» Miriam announced. «That piking Kiripao will stir up trouble, I can feel it in my bones. Before that happens, I want an escape route back to Sigil.»
«If we have to leave this house,» I told her, «we'll head for the closest inn.»
She nodded and hurried out the front. I looked through a window into the back garden but didn't see any sign of Kiripao. That left the street. When I stepped onto the cobblestones, Miriam was jogging away to the right so I went left, hoping that one of us might catch sight of our missing ally.
Assuming, of course, that Kiripao still was our ally. Since the very beginning he hadn't been easy to trust; now, with the umbral contagion infecting his mind, he might well turn stag on us. Would he stoop so far as to sic the Hounds on us? Or would he simply go berserk in the dark streets of Plague-Mort?
I reached a T-intersection, but saw nothing in either direction. Arbitrarily, I turned left again. Halfway up the street, I heard the far-off sounds of a tavern – a rumble of conversation, bar wenches shouting orders to the tapman, and the ragged muddle of inept musicians: drum, fiddle, and flute. It occurred to me Kiripao might be drawn to the flute's music, even though it was nothing like the piping we'd heard from the umbrals. Crossing my fingers that the tavern wasn't some killhole catering to vacationers from the Abyss, I pushed through the pub's front door.
The place smelled of every staleness known to humanity: stale sweat, stale beer, stale dreams. Not that the place was quiet – it was full of people in constant motion, shouting at each other and playing cute with members of the appropriate sex. What was missing was the sense that anyone took delight in the frenzy. When a patron pinched a passing barmaid, I saw no lust or teasing lechery; it was simply something to do with his hands, some meaningless gesture he'd learned a long time ago and was still repeating because he knew no other tricks. The whole thing looked like a bar scene in the thousandth performance of a long-running play… people going through rehearsed motions, their minds disengaged and distant.
As in most pinch-crust taverns, the proprietor saw no need to invest in over-many candles. The back recesses were too dark to inspect from the door, so I wove my way through the clutter of tables and found some leaning space at the bar. I put a coin down on the counter and the tapman replaced it with a mug of something foamy; but after one sip, I set the mug down with the intention of never touching it again. Perhaps somewhere in the multiverse, a tavern owner has found a way to water ale that I haven't tasted before… but this wasn't it.
I let my gaze roam around the room, searching for Kiripao. He'd be lurking in the shadows, if he was here at all, but that didn't make my job easier – the whole taproom was one big shadow, and the constant movement of people running to the bar or privy made it hard to check every face. I had covered most of the left half of the room when someone squeezed in on my right, calling to the tapman, «A mug of your best for me and my friend!»
Idly, I turned my eyes to glance at the newcomers… then looked away again, my blood running cold. Leaning next to me at the bar were a certain githyanki and githzerai: Qi and Chi, Miriam had called them.
Don't go blubbery, I told myself. They never saw you at the City Courts, the Glass Spider, anywhere. They don't know you… and after traipsing through the Lower Planes so long, you're just a dirty and unshaven cob like everyone else in the room. They won't give you a second glance, as long as you don't go addle-coved.
I picked up my watery ale and had another sip after all; no local pub-patron would leave without emptying his glass. I'd calmly finish my drink, then walk out the door. If Kiripao was hiding in a corner, he could sodding well look after himself.
Another sip, as unhurried as I could make my hand move. Please let it be a coincidence Qi and Chi were here. Miriam had said people from the Glass Spider came to Plague-Mort for rest and recreation; and this tavern was right on Rich Man's Row, which meant it had to be one of the best in town. I'd been here five minutes and hadn't seen a fight yet – in a place like Plague-Mort, that meant the ultimate in chic. Come to think of it, Miriam had recognized Rich Man's Row the second she walked through the portal, so she must have spent time here. Maybe the portal from the Glass Spider came out in this neighborhood too. Qi and Chi were merely here for a drink.
Or else they knew everything, and I'd get a poniard in the back the moment I went outside.
I quaffed off the last of the beer, wiped my mouth in what I hoped was typical Plague-Mort fashion, and eased away from the bar. There was a strong temptation to glance at Qi and Chi to see if they were following; I resisted the urge. Still, as I ambled past tables of irritable customers, most simply looked up in annoyance, then looked down again as soon as I passed. Qi and Chi couldn't be trailing along behind me – otherwise, there'd be three people's worth of glaring instead of just me.
The doorknob was under my hand and I was building up to a sigh of relief, when suddenly the latch snapped away from me. I took a step back, unnerved… and there, outlined in the doorway, stood Kiripao. He hissed softly and pointed at the musicians in the corner of the room. «The flute is mine.»
«What are you talking about?» I whispered.
«The flute is mine, it's mine, it's mine.»
«It is not,» I told him. «It probably doesn't even belong to the flute player. She's so bad, she must have found it in the gutter on her way over.»
«Have you no ears?» Kiripao hissed. «She is playing blasphemies.»
«It sounds more like The Maiden and the Hungry Pigboy.» I put my hand on his arm. «Why don't you come along —»
He shrugged me off, glared at the flautist, and screamed, «Blasphemer!»
«That's enough!» I said sharply… but the tavern had already grown quiet behind me. The small of my back itched at the thought of Qi and Chi staring at us. Even so, I couldn't turn around – Kiripao might notice me look at them. The two thieves shouldn't recognize him, but the elf knew them well enough; he had followed them back in Sigil, from the Mortuary to the Vertical Sea. If he caught sight of Rivi's two henchmen, I didn't know what he'd do. I just knew I didn't want him to do it.
«You're coming with me,» I told the elf with all the command I could muster. Since the tavern was silent, every patron listening to our conversation, I added, «Your mother has been distraught since you chewed your way out of the straitjacket. Come home now, or Doctor Uvula will feed you more quicklime.»
A few people behind me laughed. That was good.
Brother Kiripao had no sense of humor. That was bad.
I remember grabbing the collar of his robe and tugging him toward the street. I remember going, «Whoof!» as Kiripao's fist connected with my solar plexus. After that, I don't remember much of anything, but I hope he hit me a few more times, and maybe landed some flying drop-kicks to my head – it would be embarrassing to get knocked out by a single punch.
There was a rough wooden floor beneath me, with splintered furniture scattered all over it… and let me assure you, it hadn't been the kind of furniture that splinters easily. No tavern in Plague-Mort, not even an upscale one in Rich Man's Row, would buy bar stools that had to be replaced every time people played fast and loose with their fists. All the chairs, all the tables, had been thick, heavy oak; and now they were thick, heavy sticks of firewood, littering the floor around me.
Knowing it would hurt, I sat up. Yep… it hurt. I wasn't the only person laid low by the brawl – unconscious bodies sprawled in undignified poses everywhere I looked – but I was the only one moving at the moment, which I took as a tribute to my constitution. Perhaps I hadn't been out long at all; for one thing, I still had my money-purse, which meant there hadn't been time for thieves to go through my pockets. It was still dark outside too, as I could see through the open doorway: somehow, the door had got knocked clean off its hinges.
I tried to struggle to my feet… but the moment I moved, gravity suddenly increased by a couple hundred per cent, and I sat down again abruptly. Just what I expected in a place like Plague-Mort: natural forces playing dirty tricks on me. I resolved to try again in the near future, this time leaping up fast to catch gravity offguard; but seconds turned into minutes, and the time never felt right.
A figure appeared in the doorway – a lean woman with bony ridges protruding from her arms. Sitting on the floor I waved to her, then found that very funny for some reason and started to giggle.
«Britlin?» she whispered.
«Hello,» I said in a loud voice. «Hello,» I repeated more softly, then wondered how it would sound in a deep voice. «Hello,» (deep bass). «Hello,» (falsetto). «Hell-o-ohh!» (an unsuccessful combination of both).
Yasmin knelt beside me. «What are you doing here?»
«Having a concussion, that's what I'm doing.» Those were the words in my mind; but all that came out of my mouth was a jumbled syllables. My incoherence struck me so funny, I laughed out loud. Flashes of purple light exploded in front of my eyes, with a pain like a mace pummeling my head from the inside; but I couldn't stop laughing, no matter how much it hurt.
«Shh,» Yasmin said.
She laid a hand on my lips, then immediately jerked away again. I guessed she'd made some vow not to touch me, and I was going to tell her how stupid that was as soon as I could remember how to string words together intelligibly. Another thought struck me and I pulled myself together enough to say, «Qi and Chi.»
«Shh,» she said again, as if I was babbling.
«Qi and Chi,» I told her. «Qi and Chi, Qi and Chi, Qi and Chi-di-dee-di-dee.»
Yasmin showed no sign of paying attention to my words. She looked around the ruined tavern as if one of the other unconscious patrons might offer advice on what to do next; then she slid a hand under my armpit and jerked me to my feet. The room spun and more of those purple flashes burst in front of my eyes.
I remember thinking, If she gives me a good fast twirl, I should feel something really worth remembering. But she didn't. The Doomguard can be so repressed.
All these thoughts seemed very lucid to me; and yet, when I tried to speak to Yasmin again, all that came out was, «Qi Chi there-there.» Even I had to admit that probably wasn't helpful communication.
Perhaps to keep me quiet, Yasmin started talking herself. «It took me an hour to find you,» she said in a low voice. «The town's quiet tonight – absolutely no one on the streets. Maybe people heard the Hounds were out on a raid, so they're staying indoors.»
«Rivi Qi Chi,» I answered. «Here, Rivi Qi Chi.»
«Hush,» she said, «you're delirious.»
«Run, hide, Rivi Qi Chi —»
Yasmin clapped her hand over my mouth. «No noise,» she whispered. «The Hounds may prowling. Please, Britlin, please… don't talk.»
She said those last words staring straight at me – the first time she'd allowed me eye contact since the Sea of the Drowned. I tried to meet her gaze clearly, despite the dizziness coating my brain… tried to be the man she had kissed in the darkness of the umbral village. She must have seen something in my eyes because she quickly turned away again, and whispered, «Don't.»
I didn't say anything. At the best of times, I probably couldn't have found the right words.
After a while, she started helping me along again. Without looking at me, she murmured, «I told you I had a brother. Well, maybe two brothers if I count you… skip that. My brother Jadon was eight years older than me, and always in trouble. Drinking, gambling, bashing old bubbers for fun…»
She kicked at a pebble lying in the street. It clattered over the cobblestones, then splashed softly into the rain-filled gutter.
«When I was ten,» Yasmin went on, «my mother died. Found floating in the Ditch. No one knew if it was suicide, murder, or accident, and apart from me, no one cared. After that, Jadon 'took care' of me. You know what I mean? My own brother. Put me on the streets at ten years old, and used me himself whenever he felt like it.»
I thought of my mother. I shuddered.
Yasmin didn't notice. «Four years of hell,» she said. "Until one night, Jadon roughed up a woman who turned out to be a succubus in disguise. So much for Jadon; and praise The Lady for making Sigil a city where such things can happen. Anyway, I joined the Handmaids of Entropy the same night, thinking they would turn me into a remorseless killing machine… which is what I dearly wanted to become at that moment. I was all wrong about how the Handmaids actually worshipped Entropy, but I was all wrong about wanting to kill people too. The Handmaids gave me what I needed, and here I am.
«But Britlin… if you really are my brother, half-brother, I can't let those old wounds open again. I can't. It's not your fault, it's Jadon's… and maybe mine too, maybe it shouldn't make a difference to me. You and I were happy yesterday, why should it make a difference? But it does. When I think that you might be my brother, it wrenches my stomach and I feel so sick… I can't breathe. And the only reason I can even say this in front of you is you don't understand a word.»
She bent in and kissed my cheek, a kiss thick with good-bye. Even as she continued to help me down the street, Yasmin had left me – as surely as if she had stepped through a portal and disappeared forever.
Wheezle sat propped against one of the kitchen cupboards, his hands folded placidly in his lap. Missing a year from his life, paralyzed from the waist down, he was still as tranquil as death… but when the gnome caught sight of me, his eyes opened wide and he cried, «Honored Cavendish!»
«I found him in the remains of a brawl,» Yasmin said as she lowered me to the floor. «I don't know how Britlin got involved… maybe Kiripao was there.»
«Qi Chi,» I told everyone. «Rivi Qi Chi.»
«He keeps saying that,» Yasmin muttered. «He must have a concussion and it's making him delirious.» She let out an exasperated snort. «If it weren't for the sodding dust in my lungs, I'd have the magic to heal him!»
«Is he very ill?» Zeerith asked softly. The naga raised her head three feet off the ground and gazed down at me as I slumped on the floor.
«He's incoherent,» Yasmin replied. «Conscious but incoherent… and that scares me. Something's seriously wrong with his brain.»
I wanted to tell her I could think just fine; but my tongue couldn't put the words together. It occurred to me, maybe there was something wrong inside my head – some rupture in the conduits connecting thought and speech. Very bad, very very bad.
«Perhaps,» Zeerith murmured shyly, «I could…» She lowered her eyes in embarrassment. «People have suggested I can work magic, but I never… still, now that I have molted…»
«It is worth a try, honored snakeling,» Wheezle said. «And perhaps we can offer you some small advice for focusing the energy…»
«We'll help,» Yasmin assured the naga. «If you have the power inside, we'll show you how to draw it out.»
«This'll be great,» Hezekiah enthused. «A magic lesson!»
«Rivi Qi Chi,» I said. But nobody paid attention.
«Stay relaxed,» Yasmin whispered in the naga's ear. «Think of a time when the world filled you with awe.»
Zeerith bit her lip, a child's gesture. «Do you want me to talk about it?»
«If it will help you remember.»
She closed her eyes, then opened them again, staring directly at me… into me. Her face was not just as beautiful as an angel, it was equally profound.
«Years ago, when I was small,» she began, "a storm struck the town – not one of the fire storms that leaks over from the Bad Place, but a rain storm, with a fierce and terrible wind. That's what I remember most, the wind: roaring through the streets, rattling all the shutters, ripping leaves off the trees. Candles and lamps kept blowing out, even inside the house… because drafts gusted through every chink, and the chimney sucked up a steady breeze. People ran about, trying to plug the holes, keep the shutters from banging; and in the middle of it all, the front door blew open right in front of me. The open door, right there.
"I had never ventured into the street before. The family told me there were people out there who would hurt me; and I knew they were telling the truth. But the door was open, the street was empty, the wind was blowing so hard that the rain made horizontal streaks… and before I knew it, I was down the steps and sliding along the cobblestones.
"The wind pulled at me, but I stayed low. I stayed low. And the feel of the pavement was rough and wonderful against my belly, the sting of the rain beating on my skin, the howl of the wind tearing at the shingles of every roof… I was the only one out that night. Legged creatures would have been knocked off their feet by the wind, but I could move freely. I had the town to myself. The dark and stormy town, not a light to be seen.
«All mine.»
Her voice was a whisper and her eyes shone. She still gazed at me, but I knew she was seeing the blackness of that gale-battered night.
«You are touching the magic,» Wheezle murmured. «Now, invite it into your soul.»
He spoke so softly, I wondered if the naga even heard him. Suddenly, however, the hairs of my skin bristled, tingling with the presence of unseen energy. Zeerith's eyes widened and her mouth shaped into an O: surprise, wonder, awe. Her breath caught in a small gasp; then a creamy warmth gushed around me, pouring out of her body, streaming from every scale. It flooded into my brain, so powerful it turned into a fiery pain, just for a moment. Purple flashes burst inside my eyes once more, a single moment of explosion quickly dissipating into relaxed sparkles.
Zeerith's body loosened around me and slumped to the floor. Yasmin leapt forward to prevent the girl's head from slamming down; but the naga stopped herself without help and offered a weak smile. «Was that magic?» she asked.
«Yes,» I told her. «I assure you it was magic.» For the briefest of seconds, I let my fingers twine quietly through her hair. Then I forced myself away. «Thank you, but now we have to get out of here. Qi and Chi are in the area; it's not safe to stay in one place.»
«Sod it all!» Yasmin growled. «That's what you meant by Rivi Qi Chi?»
«That's what I meant. Let's get moving before —»
«Hello, my wee darlings,» called a gloating voice from the street. «Have you missed me?»
Footsteps sounded behind me. I turned to see Kiripao pounce onto the street, followed more warily by Yasmin and the others emerging into this plane of reality. The portal they used was simply the doorway of a house – a house whose windows had been broken and whose walls had been vandalized with the word Traitor! written in red paint. The woodsmoke smell came from inside, and suddenly the odor didn't seem so dreamily nostalgic.
Hezekiah sniffed, then turned toward the house. «Fire?» he asked, looking around at the rest of us to see if we smelled it too. The boy took a step toward the closest broken window, and said, «Maybe we should check if everything's all right.»
Miriam placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. «Whatever happened, it's over now. Anyway, this is Plague-Mort; don't borrow other people's problems.»
«But if someone is in trouble…»
«No,» she told him. «This is Rich Man's Row, Kid, the closest thing this town has to a Nob Hill.» That in itself said volumes about Plague-Mort, I thought. The houses, even the ones untouched by vandals, exhaled an air of decrepitude. Roofs sagged; cement footings were riddled with dark gummy cracks. «The people who live here,» Miriam went on, «can pay for protection against normal cross-traders and bub-heads… which means if a house like this gets smashed open, the Arch-Lector was behind the job.»
«What's an Arch-Lector?» Hezekiah asked.
«A fancy title for the head thug,» Miriam replied. «In a slumtown like Plague-Mort, you can't just call yourself king. Rulers need chi-chi titles: 'Viscount' or 'Rajah' or 'Holder of the Sacred Sphere'. All comes to the same thing, though – the guy who tells his soldiers to break down your door if you've got something he wants. Whoever lived in this house had a pretty wife, or a fast horse, or maybe just one piece of gold too many. Tonight, the Arch-Lector decided to claim it for himself… and unless you want to fight the local army, you'll mind your own business.»
«But the army isn't here anymore!» Hezekiah protested. «They've taken what they want, right? And if someone here is hurt and needs our help…»
He didn't bother finishing his sentence, as if it was obvious we should dash to the rescue. I thought, Father would have dashed in too; and he'd save the life of a beautiful woman who'd be boundlessly grateful… the berk.
«Miriam,» I said softly, «how long before the looters come?»
«At least a day,» she answered. «Even the greediest knight of the post keeps clear of the Arch-Lector.»
I nodded. «Then for a day, this house could be a safe bolt-hole.»
«Sure,» she admitted, «provided the Arch-Lector doesn't come back in the morning to finish cleaning the place out.»
«We can post a watch,» Wheezle suggested. «If the soldiers return, they will make no effort at secrecy. They have had their fun with the first attack, ripping whoever lived here out of their beds.» The gnome looked at the broken windows, the smashed-in doors. «If the soldiers left any corpses in there, perhaps we could offer the proper obsequies…»
«In Plague-Mort,» Miriam muttered, «the only last rites are cleaning out a deader's pockets.» But she didn't stop the Clueless boy from heading inside.
* * *
Hezekiah went through the door. If he'd had an open wound, he would have ended up back in the Abyss – the door was a portal, and blood was the key. However, the lucky sod had survived the last few days without so much as a paper cut, so he entered the house without incident. The rest of us went through a smashed-in window, stepping down on splinters of broken glass that crunched under the soles of our boots. Rats skittered away from the noise; in Plague-Mort, even the vermin watched their backs.Hezekiah sped toward the back of the house while Kiripao bounded up the stairs to the top floor. Sighing, the rest of us split up to keep the two of them out of mischief… and I noticed that Yasmin waited for me to head after Hezekiah before she chose to follow Kiripao.
Anything to avoid me.
The house was dark, and we dared not light a lantern that might be seen from the street. Miriam and I stumbled through the front room waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dimness. All of the furniture had been demolished, as well as a collection of china that had once been displayed on plate-rails around the ceiling. The carpet smelled of urine; I supposed that had to be blamed on the soldiers, determined to bespoil every inch of the house… but I could not picture men doing such a thing.
Miriam noticed me sniffing at the odor. «Hounds,» she said in a low voice. «The Arch-Lector's troops call themselves the Hounds. Sometimes they go out of their way to act like dogs.»
«Charming,» I murmured. «If I head into town I'll carry a bucket of water, in case one goes for my leg.»
* * *
The back half of the house contained the kitchen and servants' quarters… although in Plague-Mort, those «servants» might actually be slaves. There was no way to determine their status looking at their rooms now – after the Hounds had smashed, slashed and thrown around slops, who could tell if these were the cozy quarters of valued retainers or the squalid pens of chattel? Whatever the servants might have been, they were gone now. In the darkness of the house, I couldn't tell if those smears on the kitchen wall were blood or perhaps just gravy; but there were no bodies here, living or dead.«The smoke is coming from the basement,» Hezekiah whispered in a low voice. He had just opened a door at the rear of the kitchen, showing steps that descended into blackness. Dank air seeped up from below.
«Can you see down there?» I asked. As a half-elf, Hezekiah had better-than-human eyes when it came to poking around in the dark.
«There's a tiny bit of light,» he said, taking a few steps down. «Yes, over in the corner: the remains of a fire.»
I ventured warily down the stairs after him. In the blackness, I could just make out the dull glow of embers, maybe twenty paces away. The smell of smoke was strong down here, and suddenly that struck me as odd. The Hounds hadn't lit fires elsewhere in the house – they probably had orders from the Arch– Lector not to burn a valuable property (and half the neighborhood with it). Why had they chosen to torch a small corner of the cellar, and left the blaze untended? Were they afraid of something that had been here?
«Be careful,» I whispered to Hezekiah ahead of me. «Something isn't right.»
«There's nothing down here,» he replied, approaching the glowing coals. «I'd be able to see the body heat of any warm-blooded creature.»
«That still leaves cold-blooded…»
At that instant, a gigantic snake rose amidst the remains of the fire. Hundreds of silvery spines lined its back, each spine edged like a razor. The serpent lifted itself a full six feet into the air, hissing with rage… and in the dim light, I could have sworn its head was that of a human woman.
Hezekiah gave an incoherent yell, and suddenly disappeared: the Clueless little berk had teleported away, and this time he'd forgotten to take me. «Nice snakey,» I murmured in what I hoped was a soothing voice. «I'm not with those other guys. What did they do, set you on fire? They're scum, but I'm not like that.»
All through this speech, I was slowly moving my hand to the pommel of my sword; but I froze when the snake spoke in a gentle female voice. «Please help me, good sir,» she said. And then her upraised body toppled forward, slumping flat across the burning coals.
* * *
A moment later, Hezekiah reappeared behind me. «Sorry,» he whispered. «I jumped by reflex.» The boy glanced down at the snake lying across the embers and said, «Looks like you didn't need my help.»«I need it now,» I told him. «We have to get her away from that fire.»
«Are you nuts?» Hezekiah asked. "Sorry… barmy?
«Just give me a hand, would you?»
Despite his misgivings, the boy followed me toward the snake. She seemed unconscious now… which might have been a blessing, given the burning coals under her torso. I stepped into the simmering ring, ignoring the smell of singed leather as my boots began to smoulder. Putting my hands under the snake was out of the question, because of the bed of embers; but I could squeeze the sides of her body enough to lift her off the ground, and then get an arm underneath for support.
She was about nine feet long and heavy – two hundred pounds of solid muscle – but between us, Hezekiah and I wrestled her away from the fire and up the darkened stairs. Scaly skin flaked off liberally in our hands. I hoped this was normal reptilian shedding, but feared it was actually burned tissue ripping away from her body.
Grunting and panting up the last few steps, Hezekiah gulped, «Uncle Toby… says snake-meat… tastes like chicken. Is that why we're… Britlin, look at its head!»
Enough starlight filtered through the dirty kitchen windows to show what had astonished the boy. The snake did have a human head: the face of a girl about twelve years old, soft and vulnerable, with delicate green skin and long hair of burnished gold. True, she had two sharp fangs protruding from her mouth; but they didn't negate the sweet gentleness of the rest of her features.
«What is she?» Hezekiah breathed.
«A naga,» I said, «one of the snake-people. I've met a few adults in Sigil, but never one this young. She's just past her first molt; while they're children, their heads don't look human at all.»
«What's she doing here?»
«I don't know. Perhaps she was a pet… or a slave. They're as smart as most humans, and have magic abilities. If you got hold of an infant and raised her as a member of the family, she could become a powerful asset.» I laid a hand on her cheek; the flesh was cold, but I could feel her breath on my fingers. «At least she's still alive.»
«But what do we do with her?» The question came from Miriam who stood in the kitchen doorway. I didn't know where she'd been for the past few minutes; possibly rummaging through other rooms in search of removable goods.
«We treat her kindly,» I replied. «Some naga breeds are innately malicious, but most are quite civilized.»
«She's still a snake,» Miriam grumbled, as if anything else was irrelevant.
«Who's a snake?» Yasmin asked, coming in with Wheezle in her arms.
«Her.» I pointed. Even in the dim light, I could see Yasmin's eyes grow bigger.
«She is a snake,» Yasmin admitted.
«And she's waking up,» Hezekiah said.
The naga's eyelids fluttered and a soft moan escaped her lips. Miriam tensed and Hezekiah backed away; but I stayed put, hoping she was too ladylike (and too weak) to use those wicked fangs.
«Who are you?» she whispered.
«Friends,» I told her. «My name is Britlin.»
«My egg name is Zeerith,» she replied. «I must choose a tooth name soon, but… I apologize. I'm so tired.»
«What happened here, Zeerith?» Yasmin asked gently.
«Men came,» the naga answered. «I don't know why. I had been downstairs for a day, enduring my… transformation. The family was very kind, giving me privacy – since they found me outside town, they have always been kind.» She blinked, and a tear beaded in the corner of one eye. «Can you tell me what happened to them?»
«Nothing good,» Miriam muttered.
«I fear she is right, honored snakeling,» Wheezle said. «We have searched the house and found it empty. One can always hope —»
«Not in Plague-Mort,» Miriam cut him off.
Zeerith closed her eyes. The lingering tear spilled down her cheek. «This is not a happy town,» she murmured. Opening her eyes again, she said, «The soldiers thought I was an ordinary snake. They were cowardly men, too fearful to approach and see what I was.»
«Count yourself lucky,» I told her. «If they realized the truth, you wouldn't be here now.»
«Perhaps not,» Zeerith nodded. «As it was, they simply lit burning sticks, then threw them at me until I played dead.»
«Played dead!» Miriam snorted. «I thought nagas could cast magic.»
«I do not know what I can do,» Zeerith answered. «I am virtually new-born. As the men pelted me with fire, I was still in the final stages of molt. I… pardon me, I feel so weak…»
Yasmin handed her a water flask. It only contained brackish water from the umbral village, but Zeerith drank it gratefully. When the naga was finished, I eased her head down to the floor and told her to rest. Hezekiah stayed by her while I stood up to talk with Yasmin and Miriam.
«So?» I said in a soft voice.
«There's no one in the house,» Yasmin replied. «I say we stay here while Miriam finds this friend of hers… November, was that the name?»
«And if the Hounds come back?» Miriam asked.
«We head out the back door and take Zeerith with us,» Yasmin replied. «The Hounds will kill her if they find her; and she can't go far on her own.»
«Won't that look subtle,» Miriam grimaced. «The bunch of us wandering the streets, carrying a boa constrictor.»
I smiled and patted Miriam's shoulder. «You still haven't got the hang of this friendship thing, have you?»
* * *
Zeerith pleaded for more water. Hezekiah found a rain barrel in the house's back garden and fetched in a few quarts with a soup cauldron. As he was beginning to apply cold compresses to the naga's burned skin, Hezekiah looked up and asked, «Where's Kiripao?»«Right behind me,» Yasmin answered. Then she turned and let out an angry breath. «Sod it, he's gone.»
«He could just be lurking in shadows,» I said. «Yasmin, search the house. Hezekiah, you stay with Zeerith. I'll have a peek outside.»
«Me, I'm going to find November,» Miriam announced. «That piking Kiripao will stir up trouble, I can feel it in my bones. Before that happens, I want an escape route back to Sigil.»
«If we have to leave this house,» I told her, «we'll head for the closest inn.»
She nodded and hurried out the front. I looked through a window into the back garden but didn't see any sign of Kiripao. That left the street. When I stepped onto the cobblestones, Miriam was jogging away to the right so I went left, hoping that one of us might catch sight of our missing ally.
Assuming, of course, that Kiripao still was our ally. Since the very beginning he hadn't been easy to trust; now, with the umbral contagion infecting his mind, he might well turn stag on us. Would he stoop so far as to sic the Hounds on us? Or would he simply go berserk in the dark streets of Plague-Mort?
I reached a T-intersection, but saw nothing in either direction. Arbitrarily, I turned left again. Halfway up the street, I heard the far-off sounds of a tavern – a rumble of conversation, bar wenches shouting orders to the tapman, and the ragged muddle of inept musicians: drum, fiddle, and flute. It occurred to me Kiripao might be drawn to the flute's music, even though it was nothing like the piping we'd heard from the umbrals. Crossing my fingers that the tavern wasn't some killhole catering to vacationers from the Abyss, I pushed through the pub's front door.
The place smelled of every staleness known to humanity: stale sweat, stale beer, stale dreams. Not that the place was quiet – it was full of people in constant motion, shouting at each other and playing cute with members of the appropriate sex. What was missing was the sense that anyone took delight in the frenzy. When a patron pinched a passing barmaid, I saw no lust or teasing lechery; it was simply something to do with his hands, some meaningless gesture he'd learned a long time ago and was still repeating because he knew no other tricks. The whole thing looked like a bar scene in the thousandth performance of a long-running play… people going through rehearsed motions, their minds disengaged and distant.
As in most pinch-crust taverns, the proprietor saw no need to invest in over-many candles. The back recesses were too dark to inspect from the door, so I wove my way through the clutter of tables and found some leaning space at the bar. I put a coin down on the counter and the tapman replaced it with a mug of something foamy; but after one sip, I set the mug down with the intention of never touching it again. Perhaps somewhere in the multiverse, a tavern owner has found a way to water ale that I haven't tasted before… but this wasn't it.
I let my gaze roam around the room, searching for Kiripao. He'd be lurking in the shadows, if he was here at all, but that didn't make my job easier – the whole taproom was one big shadow, and the constant movement of people running to the bar or privy made it hard to check every face. I had covered most of the left half of the room when someone squeezed in on my right, calling to the tapman, «A mug of your best for me and my friend!»
Idly, I turned my eyes to glance at the newcomers… then looked away again, my blood running cold. Leaning next to me at the bar were a certain githyanki and githzerai: Qi and Chi, Miriam had called them.
Don't go blubbery, I told myself. They never saw you at the City Courts, the Glass Spider, anywhere. They don't know you… and after traipsing through the Lower Planes so long, you're just a dirty and unshaven cob like everyone else in the room. They won't give you a second glance, as long as you don't go addle-coved.
I picked up my watery ale and had another sip after all; no local pub-patron would leave without emptying his glass. I'd calmly finish my drink, then walk out the door. If Kiripao was hiding in a corner, he could sodding well look after himself.
Another sip, as unhurried as I could make my hand move. Please let it be a coincidence Qi and Chi were here. Miriam had said people from the Glass Spider came to Plague-Mort for rest and recreation; and this tavern was right on Rich Man's Row, which meant it had to be one of the best in town. I'd been here five minutes and hadn't seen a fight yet – in a place like Plague-Mort, that meant the ultimate in chic. Come to think of it, Miriam had recognized Rich Man's Row the second she walked through the portal, so she must have spent time here. Maybe the portal from the Glass Spider came out in this neighborhood too. Qi and Chi were merely here for a drink.
Or else they knew everything, and I'd get a poniard in the back the moment I went outside.
I quaffed off the last of the beer, wiped my mouth in what I hoped was typical Plague-Mort fashion, and eased away from the bar. There was a strong temptation to glance at Qi and Chi to see if they were following; I resisted the urge. Still, as I ambled past tables of irritable customers, most simply looked up in annoyance, then looked down again as soon as I passed. Qi and Chi couldn't be trailing along behind me – otherwise, there'd be three people's worth of glaring instead of just me.
The doorknob was under my hand and I was building up to a sigh of relief, when suddenly the latch snapped away from me. I took a step back, unnerved… and there, outlined in the doorway, stood Kiripao. He hissed softly and pointed at the musicians in the corner of the room. «The flute is mine.»
«What are you talking about?» I whispered.
«The flute is mine, it's mine, it's mine.»
«It is not,» I told him. «It probably doesn't even belong to the flute player. She's so bad, she must have found it in the gutter on her way over.»
«Have you no ears?» Kiripao hissed. «She is playing blasphemies.»
«It sounds more like The Maiden and the Hungry Pigboy.» I put my hand on his arm. «Why don't you come along —»
He shrugged me off, glared at the flautist, and screamed, «Blasphemer!»
«That's enough!» I said sharply… but the tavern had already grown quiet behind me. The small of my back itched at the thought of Qi and Chi staring at us. Even so, I couldn't turn around – Kiripao might notice me look at them. The two thieves shouldn't recognize him, but the elf knew them well enough; he had followed them back in Sigil, from the Mortuary to the Vertical Sea. If he caught sight of Rivi's two henchmen, I didn't know what he'd do. I just knew I didn't want him to do it.
«You're coming with me,» I told the elf with all the command I could muster. Since the tavern was silent, every patron listening to our conversation, I added, «Your mother has been distraught since you chewed your way out of the straitjacket. Come home now, or Doctor Uvula will feed you more quicklime.»
A few people behind me laughed. That was good.
Brother Kiripao had no sense of humor. That was bad.
I remember grabbing the collar of his robe and tugging him toward the street. I remember going, «Whoof!» as Kiripao's fist connected with my solar plexus. After that, I don't remember much of anything, but I hope he hit me a few more times, and maybe landed some flying drop-kicks to my head – it would be embarrassing to get knocked out by a single punch.
* * *
The process of «coming to» spread itself over ten seconds: first a muddy emergence of my brain, then other parts of my body checking in to complain about how much they hurt. Several ribs spoke the loudest, followed by a diffuse throbbing around my left cheek and eye.There was a rough wooden floor beneath me, with splintered furniture scattered all over it… and let me assure you, it hadn't been the kind of furniture that splinters easily. No tavern in Plague-Mort, not even an upscale one in Rich Man's Row, would buy bar stools that had to be replaced every time people played fast and loose with their fists. All the chairs, all the tables, had been thick, heavy oak; and now they were thick, heavy sticks of firewood, littering the floor around me.
Knowing it would hurt, I sat up. Yep… it hurt. I wasn't the only person laid low by the brawl – unconscious bodies sprawled in undignified poses everywhere I looked – but I was the only one moving at the moment, which I took as a tribute to my constitution. Perhaps I hadn't been out long at all; for one thing, I still had my money-purse, which meant there hadn't been time for thieves to go through my pockets. It was still dark outside too, as I could see through the open doorway: somehow, the door had got knocked clean off its hinges.
I tried to struggle to my feet… but the moment I moved, gravity suddenly increased by a couple hundred per cent, and I sat down again abruptly. Just what I expected in a place like Plague-Mort: natural forces playing dirty tricks on me. I resolved to try again in the near future, this time leaping up fast to catch gravity offguard; but seconds turned into minutes, and the time never felt right.
A figure appeared in the doorway – a lean woman with bony ridges protruding from her arms. Sitting on the floor I waved to her, then found that very funny for some reason and started to giggle.
«Britlin?» she whispered.
«Hello,» I said in a loud voice. «Hello,» I repeated more softly, then wondered how it would sound in a deep voice. «Hello,» (deep bass). «Hello,» (falsetto). «Hell-o-ohh!» (an unsuccessful combination of both).
Yasmin knelt beside me. «What are you doing here?»
«Having a concussion, that's what I'm doing.» Those were the words in my mind; but all that came out of my mouth was a jumbled syllables. My incoherence struck me so funny, I laughed out loud. Flashes of purple light exploded in front of my eyes, with a pain like a mace pummeling my head from the inside; but I couldn't stop laughing, no matter how much it hurt.
«Shh,» Yasmin said.
She laid a hand on my lips, then immediately jerked away again. I guessed she'd made some vow not to touch me, and I was going to tell her how stupid that was as soon as I could remember how to string words together intelligibly. Another thought struck me and I pulled myself together enough to say, «Qi and Chi.»
«Shh,» she said again, as if I was babbling.
«Qi and Chi,» I told her. «Qi and Chi, Qi and Chi, Qi and Chi-di-dee-di-dee.»
Yasmin showed no sign of paying attention to my words. She looked around the ruined tavern as if one of the other unconscious patrons might offer advice on what to do next; then she slid a hand under my armpit and jerked me to my feet. The room spun and more of those purple flashes burst in front of my eyes.
I remember thinking, If she gives me a good fast twirl, I should feel something really worth remembering. But she didn't. The Doomguard can be so repressed.
* * *
Yasmin half-dragged me out of the tavern, my feet bouncing along like a marionette's. A few more crumpled bodies lay outside on the cobblestones, but none I recognized. Kiripao must still be on the loose… as if Plague-Mort wasn't a dangerous enough place already. Qi and Chi were also gone; I wondered if they had slipped away from the fight, or bashed in heads until no one was moving.All these thoughts seemed very lucid to me; and yet, when I tried to speak to Yasmin again, all that came out was, «Qi Chi there-there.» Even I had to admit that probably wasn't helpful communication.
Perhaps to keep me quiet, Yasmin started talking herself. «It took me an hour to find you,» she said in a low voice. «The town's quiet tonight – absolutely no one on the streets. Maybe people heard the Hounds were out on a raid, so they're staying indoors.»
«Rivi Qi Chi,» I answered. «Here, Rivi Qi Chi.»
«Hush,» she said, «you're delirious.»
«Run, hide, Rivi Qi Chi —»
Yasmin clapped her hand over my mouth. «No noise,» she whispered. «The Hounds may prowling. Please, Britlin, please… don't talk.»
She said those last words staring straight at me – the first time she'd allowed me eye contact since the Sea of the Drowned. I tried to meet her gaze clearly, despite the dizziness coating my brain… tried to be the man she had kissed in the darkness of the umbral village. She must have seen something in my eyes because she quickly turned away again, and whispered, «Don't.»
I didn't say anything. At the best of times, I probably couldn't have found the right words.
After a while, she started helping me along again. Without looking at me, she murmured, «I told you I had a brother. Well, maybe two brothers if I count you… skip that. My brother Jadon was eight years older than me, and always in trouble. Drinking, gambling, bashing old bubbers for fun…»
She kicked at a pebble lying in the street. It clattered over the cobblestones, then splashed softly into the rain-filled gutter.
«When I was ten,» Yasmin went on, «my mother died. Found floating in the Ditch. No one knew if it was suicide, murder, or accident, and apart from me, no one cared. After that, Jadon 'took care' of me. You know what I mean? My own brother. Put me on the streets at ten years old, and used me himself whenever he felt like it.»
I thought of my mother. I shuddered.
Yasmin didn't notice. «Four years of hell,» she said. "Until one night, Jadon roughed up a woman who turned out to be a succubus in disguise. So much for Jadon; and praise The Lady for making Sigil a city where such things can happen. Anyway, I joined the Handmaids of Entropy the same night, thinking they would turn me into a remorseless killing machine… which is what I dearly wanted to become at that moment. I was all wrong about how the Handmaids actually worshipped Entropy, but I was all wrong about wanting to kill people too. The Handmaids gave me what I needed, and here I am.
«But Britlin… if you really are my brother, half-brother, I can't let those old wounds open again. I can't. It's not your fault, it's Jadon's… and maybe mine too, maybe it shouldn't make a difference to me. You and I were happy yesterday, why should it make a difference? But it does. When I think that you might be my brother, it wrenches my stomach and I feel so sick… I can't breathe. And the only reason I can even say this in front of you is you don't understand a word.»
She bent in and kissed my cheek, a kiss thick with good-bye. Even as she continued to help me down the street, Yasmin had left me – as surely as if she had stepped through a portal and disappeared forever.
* * *
In minutes we were back at the smashed-up house. Hezekiah had found an old wash-tub and Zeerith was dipping herself in it to soothe the pain of her burns. Her serpent's body was much too long to fit inside the tub all at once, so she was immersing a bit at a time, the rest of her body hanging out over the sides. It looked uncomfortable, but the soaking had clearly eased the pain on her gentle face.Wheezle sat propped against one of the kitchen cupboards, his hands folded placidly in his lap. Missing a year from his life, paralyzed from the waist down, he was still as tranquil as death… but when the gnome caught sight of me, his eyes opened wide and he cried, «Honored Cavendish!»
«I found him in the remains of a brawl,» Yasmin said as she lowered me to the floor. «I don't know how Britlin got involved… maybe Kiripao was there.»
«Qi Chi,» I told everyone. «Rivi Qi Chi.»
«He keeps saying that,» Yasmin muttered. «He must have a concussion and it's making him delirious.» She let out an exasperated snort. «If it weren't for the sodding dust in my lungs, I'd have the magic to heal him!»
«Is he very ill?» Zeerith asked softly. The naga raised her head three feet off the ground and gazed down at me as I slumped on the floor.
«He's incoherent,» Yasmin replied. «Conscious but incoherent… and that scares me. Something's seriously wrong with his brain.»
I wanted to tell her I could think just fine; but my tongue couldn't put the words together. It occurred to me, maybe there was something wrong inside my head – some rupture in the conduits connecting thought and speech. Very bad, very very bad.
«Perhaps,» Zeerith murmured shyly, «I could…» She lowered her eyes in embarrassment. «People have suggested I can work magic, but I never… still, now that I have molted…»
«It is worth a try, honored snakeling,» Wheezle said. «And perhaps we can offer you some small advice for focusing the energy…»
«We'll help,» Yasmin assured the naga. «If you have the power inside, we'll show you how to draw it out.»
«This'll be great,» Hezekiah enthused. «A magic lesson!»
«Rivi Qi Chi,» I said. But nobody paid attention.
* * *
With deep concentration, Zeerith stared into my eyes. The rest of her green-scaled body had coiled around me, not tightly but with a firm grip that held me solid. It took all my self-control not to squirm – not just suppressing fear of being crushed by a constrictor, but also a frisson of arousal at this embrace from a girl just entered into womanhood. You're delirious, I told myself; such feelings are beneath you. But her face was the only thing I could see… her solemn, beautiful face meeting my gaze with the intensity of a lover.«Stay relaxed,» Yasmin whispered in the naga's ear. «Think of a time when the world filled you with awe.»
Zeerith bit her lip, a child's gesture. «Do you want me to talk about it?»
«If it will help you remember.»
She closed her eyes, then opened them again, staring directly at me… into me. Her face was not just as beautiful as an angel, it was equally profound.
«Years ago, when I was small,» she began, "a storm struck the town – not one of the fire storms that leaks over from the Bad Place, but a rain storm, with a fierce and terrible wind. That's what I remember most, the wind: roaring through the streets, rattling all the shutters, ripping leaves off the trees. Candles and lamps kept blowing out, even inside the house… because drafts gusted through every chink, and the chimney sucked up a steady breeze. People ran about, trying to plug the holes, keep the shutters from banging; and in the middle of it all, the front door blew open right in front of me. The open door, right there.
"I had never ventured into the street before. The family told me there were people out there who would hurt me; and I knew they were telling the truth. But the door was open, the street was empty, the wind was blowing so hard that the rain made horizontal streaks… and before I knew it, I was down the steps and sliding along the cobblestones.
"The wind pulled at me, but I stayed low. I stayed low. And the feel of the pavement was rough and wonderful against my belly, the sting of the rain beating on my skin, the howl of the wind tearing at the shingles of every roof… I was the only one out that night. Legged creatures would have been knocked off their feet by the wind, but I could move freely. I had the town to myself. The dark and stormy town, not a light to be seen.
«All mine.»
Her voice was a whisper and her eyes shone. She still gazed at me, but I knew she was seeing the blackness of that gale-battered night.
«You are touching the magic,» Wheezle murmured. «Now, invite it into your soul.»
He spoke so softly, I wondered if the naga even heard him. Suddenly, however, the hairs of my skin bristled, tingling with the presence of unseen energy. Zeerith's eyes widened and her mouth shaped into an O: surprise, wonder, awe. Her breath caught in a small gasp; then a creamy warmth gushed around me, pouring out of her body, streaming from every scale. It flooded into my brain, so powerful it turned into a fiery pain, just for a moment. Purple flashes burst inside my eyes once more, a single moment of explosion quickly dissipating into relaxed sparkles.
Zeerith's body loosened around me and slumped to the floor. Yasmin leapt forward to prevent the girl's head from slamming down; but the naga stopped herself without help and offered a weak smile. «Was that magic?» she asked.
«Yes,» I told her. «I assure you it was magic.» For the briefest of seconds, I let my fingers twine quietly through her hair. Then I forced myself away. «Thank you, but now we have to get out of here. Qi and Chi are in the area; it's not safe to stay in one place.»
«Sod it all!» Yasmin growled. «That's what you meant by Rivi Qi Chi?»
«That's what I meant. Let's get moving before —»
«Hello, my wee darlings,» called a gloating voice from the street. «Have you missed me?»
16. THREE SOUND SLEEPERS
«Grab Wheezle!» I shouted to Yasmin. Then in a much quieter voice I asked Hezekiah, «How many people can you teleport at once?»
«I've never tried more than two,» he answered, «but I should be able to… gahhhhh!»
The boy keeled over, squealing and pressing his hands to his face. «She's trying to blank me again!» he shouted. «I hate this!»
«Fight it,» I growled as I snatched up a heavy crockpot lying on the floor. «I'll try to break her concentration. If you get a chance to port the others out of here, don't wait for me.»
Without giving time for an answer, I sprinted into the dark front room of the house. Through the broken windows, I could see the damned albino standing outside on the cobblestones, her face more painted than ever: crimson stripes down one cheek like claw marks, and blue bands radiating out like spokes around both eyes. She still wore that filmy sheath of black silk, sheer enough to reveal intimate details of her flawless body beneath; yet the sight aroused nothing in me but the ardent desire to bludgeon her slaggish skull with the crockpot in my hand.
Rivi held her fingertips lightly to her temples, eyes half-shut as she tried to crush her way into Hezekiah's brain. Wights flanked her left and right, at least a dozen of them; I didn't stand a chance of getting close to her. Still, I had a clear shot for heaving the pot straight at her face… and I only spent a moment taking aim before I hurled it through the broken window.
The pot sped swift and true, too fast for the clumsy wights to react… but as the crockery hurtled through the darkness, a blur of motion intercepted it, smashing it to the ground mere inches in front of Rivi's feet. The blur snapped around to block any more projectiles that might fly out of the building; and I saw it was Kiripao, a look of ecstasy on his face.
«Peel it off,» he said, staring straight at me. «Peel away the shell.»
With one fluid motion, he tucked a toe under the lip of the crockpot and kicked it back at me with the speed of a cannonball. I dove for the floor; the wind from the passing pot whisked coldly against my neck. A moment later, plaster spattered around my legs as the pot gouged a chunk from the wall behind me.
Expecting Kiripao himself to barrel through the window any second, I whipped out my sword and rolled to my feet. He might be fast, but I had the advantage – he'd have to land gingerly to avoid the broken glass on the floor, giving me time to impale him straight through the heart. The question was, could I really do it? I'd never really liked Kiripao, but he'd been on our side to begin with. Even if he worked for the enemy now, he wasn't responsible for his actions: the umbrals had infected him with their twisted mentality, and perhaps Rivi had done some tinkering too. Did Kiripao deserve to die?
No. He didn't. But I'd kill him anyway if he came through that window. When a dog goes mad, you don't have a choice.
I waited, forcing myself not to hold my breath. He'd come through the window, or maybe the broken-down door. I stood where I had a clear path to each, a single step forward and the killing thrust. Seconds trickled by; and then a wail came from the kitchen, Hezekiah cursing, «Damn, damn, damn, she did it to me again! I'm completely blanked.»
«You really have to work on your willpower, darling,» Rivi called from the street. «You're a dear wee child, but you don't have the instinct for blood. Too soft. Too… undirected.»
Hezekiah shouted back, «I'll 'direct' you if I get my hands on you.»
«That's the spirit,» Rivi laughed. «Focus on hatred and vengeance; you'll be as strong as me in no time. Of course, that's precisely what you have: no time.»
«How'd you find us, Rivi?» That was Yasmin, asking a question I would have asked myself, except that I didn't want to give away my position.
«Your friend Kiripao has been an utter dear,» Rivi replied. «He met two of my colleagues in a drinking establishment not far from here. Picked them out of the crowd, walked right up, and told them precisely where you were. I'd say that he sold you out, except that he's not interested in monetary reward.»
«Peel them,» Kiripao cried. «Peel them all!»
Rivi chuckled. «Apparently he's developed some fascinating ideas on how to free your souls from their wee prisons of flesh. He cares about you, he really does; he sees himself as your personal liberator.»
«I've never tried more than two,» he answered, «but I should be able to… gahhhhh!»
The boy keeled over, squealing and pressing his hands to his face. «She's trying to blank me again!» he shouted. «I hate this!»
«Fight it,» I growled as I snatched up a heavy crockpot lying on the floor. «I'll try to break her concentration. If you get a chance to port the others out of here, don't wait for me.»
Without giving time for an answer, I sprinted into the dark front room of the house. Through the broken windows, I could see the damned albino standing outside on the cobblestones, her face more painted than ever: crimson stripes down one cheek like claw marks, and blue bands radiating out like spokes around both eyes. She still wore that filmy sheath of black silk, sheer enough to reveal intimate details of her flawless body beneath; yet the sight aroused nothing in me but the ardent desire to bludgeon her slaggish skull with the crockpot in my hand.
Rivi held her fingertips lightly to her temples, eyes half-shut as she tried to crush her way into Hezekiah's brain. Wights flanked her left and right, at least a dozen of them; I didn't stand a chance of getting close to her. Still, I had a clear shot for heaving the pot straight at her face… and I only spent a moment taking aim before I hurled it through the broken window.
The pot sped swift and true, too fast for the clumsy wights to react… but as the crockery hurtled through the darkness, a blur of motion intercepted it, smashing it to the ground mere inches in front of Rivi's feet. The blur snapped around to block any more projectiles that might fly out of the building; and I saw it was Kiripao, a look of ecstasy on his face.
«Peel it off,» he said, staring straight at me. «Peel away the shell.»
With one fluid motion, he tucked a toe under the lip of the crockpot and kicked it back at me with the speed of a cannonball. I dove for the floor; the wind from the passing pot whisked coldly against my neck. A moment later, plaster spattered around my legs as the pot gouged a chunk from the wall behind me.
Expecting Kiripao himself to barrel through the window any second, I whipped out my sword and rolled to my feet. He might be fast, but I had the advantage – he'd have to land gingerly to avoid the broken glass on the floor, giving me time to impale him straight through the heart. The question was, could I really do it? I'd never really liked Kiripao, but he'd been on our side to begin with. Even if he worked for the enemy now, he wasn't responsible for his actions: the umbrals had infected him with their twisted mentality, and perhaps Rivi had done some tinkering too. Did Kiripao deserve to die?
No. He didn't. But I'd kill him anyway if he came through that window. When a dog goes mad, you don't have a choice.
I waited, forcing myself not to hold my breath. He'd come through the window, or maybe the broken-down door. I stood where I had a clear path to each, a single step forward and the killing thrust. Seconds trickled by; and then a wail came from the kitchen, Hezekiah cursing, «Damn, damn, damn, she did it to me again! I'm completely blanked.»
«You really have to work on your willpower, darling,» Rivi called from the street. «You're a dear wee child, but you don't have the instinct for blood. Too soft. Too… undirected.»
Hezekiah shouted back, «I'll 'direct' you if I get my hands on you.»
«That's the spirit,» Rivi laughed. «Focus on hatred and vengeance; you'll be as strong as me in no time. Of course, that's precisely what you have: no time.»
«How'd you find us, Rivi?» That was Yasmin, asking a question I would have asked myself, except that I didn't want to give away my position.
«Your friend Kiripao has been an utter dear,» Rivi replied. «He met two of my colleagues in a drinking establishment not far from here. Picked them out of the crowd, walked right up, and told them precisely where you were. I'd say that he sold you out, except that he's not interested in monetary reward.»
«Peel them,» Kiripao cried. «Peel them all!»
Rivi chuckled. «Apparently he's developed some fascinating ideas on how to free your souls from their wee prisons of flesh. He cares about you, he really does; he sees himself as your personal liberator.»