Of Bone and Thunder (56 page)

“Did you hear what I said?” Breeze asked.

Jawn blinked. He'd drifted away again. He was doing that a lot these days. “Sorry. You were saying something about a mist?”

“We get a little fog in the valley most mornings, but I've noticed some way up around the peaks. It's been getting heavier, too.”

“Change of seasons?” Jawn said, not really getting what this had to do with thaumics.

“I don't think it's natural,” she said, although she didn't sound convinced.

“Don't know,” Jawn said, not wanting to tell her she was being silly. “Maybe we could discuss it more tomorrow? I'm feeling a bit queasy after the flight.”

Breeze squeezed his arm and began walking again. “Yes, of course. I'll take you to your quarters. We're putting you up with us, but I had them partition off one part of the barrack for you.”

I
wouldn't want to have to look at a cripple all day either
, Jawn thought. “Thanks,” he said, “that's very thoughtful of you.”

CARNY CROUCHED BY FLOCK
Commander Astol as the driver swung Carduus in a sweeping left turn. It was their third circle over the Codpiece and Carny hoped it was their last. He was getting dizzy staring down at the mountain.

“You see a red smoker yet?” Astol asked.

Carny shook his head as a salvo of cat shots slammed into the side of the mountain, tearing out patches of trees. “Nothing yet.” The cat boys had been at it for over an eighth, pummeling the mountain with salvo after salvo. The first of the big trebuchets to be completed—Tall Terror—joined in, lobbing stones that looked as big as huts. The artillerists said they were going to soften up the mountain before the shields went in. Carny was fine with that. He preferred the cats be done with their work when he hit the ground.

“There!” Carny said, tapping Astol on the shoulder and pointing. A trail of red smoke sailed through the air and hit the mountain near its base.

“Sky Horse Leader to flock. The cats are done. Follow me in, clear.”

A series of
aye-aye
s came out of the crystal sheet near Carny. He shivered. He knew it was just thaumics, but it was still unnatural.

“That sounded good, Breeze,” Astol said.

“Jawn's been working the plane, finding me new paths. We're using an irregular slide shift. Every time one gets snarled he finds another,” she said.

Astol looked at Carny and must have recognized the lost expression on his face. “I don't understand most of it myself.”

Carny smiled.
Just get me down on the ground in one piece.

“Prepare for landing!” Carny shouted, waving at the troops strapped in on Carduus's back. He looked to where Big Hog normally sat, then quickly
looked away. The soldier remained trapped in a state between living and dead. It wasn't right.

Astol pointed toward the mountain as they descended to the valley floor. “You know, if those cats could clear a bit more brush, I could probably land you there instead of at the bottom. Save you a lot of climbing.”

Carny saw the gap in the trees. It would save a lot of energy, but the risk would be high. “I'll keep that in mind,” Carny said.

Carduus flared his wings as they approached the dosha swamp. Unlike previous landings, he came in at a gentle slope and then slid along his belly in the mud. It kicked up a ton of crap and smelled like hell, but it brought him right to the edge of the berm. Carny gave Astol a thump on the shoulder and jumped off.

The rest of the troops followed as the other rags began landing. A sparker rag wheeled high overhead but made no move to attack. For the moment, all was quiet.

Carny fanned the shield out into a skirmish line as it moved toward the trees at the jungle's edge. Stone dust and bits of leaves still fell through the air as they pushed through and into the jungle. Carny held his new and improved crossbow and wondered if he'd get the chance to use it. First, he had to navigate the torn tree trunks blocking his path.

“Bard, take your men around the left side of this mess. Wraith, you swing right. I'll go up the middle and we'll meet up at the other side.”

Carny looked behind him. The three fawns were with his group. He wanted to keep an eye on them. The little wiz was glued to Carny's hip, while the former king stick, Houff, and Estow, the pig farmer, were toward the rear.

“Stay low, keep quiet, and keep calm,” Carny said, turning back and raising a leg over the first log.

“Slyts!”

Whistles pierced the air. Arrows sliced out of the jungle to their front. Three hit the log right in front of Carny. He threw himself backward and fell on Mosanbark.

“You all right?” Carny asked, rolling over and getting to his knees. An arrow stuck out of the wizard's forehead above his left eye. Both eyes remained open, staring sightlessly up at the sky.

The twang of bowstrings and clang of crossbows brought Carny's attention back to the battle.

“Aim your fire! Look for the angle of the arrows!” Carny shouted, peering over the edge of the log. The arrows were coming in fairly straight, so the slyts weren't up in the trees.

“Rake the brush!”

The shield concentrated their fire low down, pumping bolt after bolt. Bard's group to the left looked to be pinned down, but Wraith's bowmen were advancing on the right.

“Keep it up, keep firing!” Carny shouted, running from log to log to check on the men. He found Estow and Houff behind a shattered stump, alternating their fire. “Good job. Keep it up.”

He turned and started heading back down the line when he remembered he hadn't fired his new crossbow. He kneeled and thumbed the safety lever off. He saw movement thirty yards in front. He squeezed the firing lever. The bow arms flexed so much the force nearly ripped the crossbow out of Carny's hands. The bolt flew across the opening like it was being chased by a rag. He saw the bolt punch through the foliage, then heard a scream.

Wraith's group had now reached the far side of the smashed clearing and were shooting right into the side of the slyt line. More whistles sounded and the arrow fire to their front stopped.

Carny stood up and drew his hewer. “Follow me!”

He jumped over more felled trees and pushed his way through the tangle of vegetation until he came to the slyt positions. It became immediately clear why the slyts hadn't all been killed despite the cats' doing their very best. Small, deep holes had been dug behind the trunks of trees on the upward side of the slope. The slyts must have hunkered down in those until the cats stopped, then popped out to fire at the shield.

Carny slowed, looking around for movement. He spotted three dead slyts on the ground. One of them moved, but before Carny could react an arrow pierced its skull.

Wraith appeared from behind a tree with another arrow already notched. “All clear on the right flank.”

Carny nodded. He sheathed his hewer and bent down to cock his
crossbow. He slipped the hook onto the string and grunted as he pulled up. When the latch caught the string he relaxed, taking a moment to catch his breath. He then put in another of Butterfly's talon-tipped bolts. The Bard appeared and signaled that everything was good.

Motioning with his hand for them to move forward, Carny stepped off, walking past the dead slyts. He saw his bolt sticking out of a tree trunk. The shaft was covered in blood. He traced its flight back to the slyt he must have hit. It was gruesome. The bolt had taken the slyt by the left shoulder joint and nearly ripped the arm right off. Carny could see muscle and bone through the blood. The slyt must have bled out.

“Got something here,” Wraith said.

Carny looked up and walked to where Wraith stood. “Any casualties?”

Wraith shook his head. Carny nodded and then looked at what Wraith was pointing at.

A flat area ten feet by ten feet had been cleared. Logs and vegetation had been piled up around it, creating thick walls. The dirt floor was bare except for a crude wooden base with a single thick bamboo pole sticking out of it.

“Ballista stand?” Carny said.

Over the next eighth the shield found seven more positions of similar construction along with dozens of small holes and a cache of food, enough to feed the shield for a week. The biggest find, however, was the disassembled pieces for three ballistas.

Carny had the Bard write it all down in his journal. A rag call high above signaled it was time to pull back. Carny looked up the mountain. The slyts were planning on being here for a while.

“Burn it,” Carny said.

Wraith fired a star into the pile, which immediately caught fire. Carny waited until the entire shield was moving before he turned and started back down the slope. He stopped when he got to Mosanbark's body. The two fawns were preparing to carry him down. Someone had pulled the arrow from his head, leaving a bloody hole.

Carny waited for them to pick him up, then followed after them. Seven dead slyts and three ballistas against one dead wizard. Somewhere
other than where Carny was, he knew there were officers who saw that as a win.

MISKA WAS IN
her glory. The soldiers were animated and talkative. Their barrack reminded her of a pub, complete with a cask of beer. From what she gathered, they'd successfully assaulted the mountain they called the Codpiece and destroyed several enemy weapons as well as killing two dozen slyts. She grimaced. High Druid, it was an ugly word. She still hadn't decided if she would include it in her stories when she got back to the Kingdom. You wanted to engage with people, not repulse them.

“What can you tell me about the wizard that was killed?” she asked, smiling sadly at the shield leader. He looked tired, and painfully thin, but there was an air about him that was dangerous. She found it very attractive.

Carny shrugged. “Didn't really know him. He was in the seminary, then volunteered to come out here. Try Estow or Houff. They flew out with him.”

Miska nodded. That wasn't what she wanted to know anyway. She looked at his crossbow. “I understand a dwarf made that for you,” she said.

Carny sat up in his hammock, startling her. “What do you know about it?”

“Nothing, I mean I just heard he made it. It looks different. Is it better than the others?”

Carny looked at her for several flicks before easing himself back down. “It's better. Shoots harder and packs a bigger wallop. Tore the arm off a slyt.”

Miska nodded again. She bit her lip, debating whether to keep going, and decided she might as well or coming out here would be a complete waste.

“So . . . you get along with dwarves then?”

“Sure, they're like us really,” Carny said.

“That's a very enlightened view, Shield Leader,” Miska said.

“People are people, you know?” Carny said. He sounded genuine. There was no guile here, just heartfelt honesty. “I don't have a problem with
dwarves, never have. Why should I? They've never done anything to me. People that have power and money, though, they're a different story. It ain't money that makes you good, it's what's inside.”

Miska held her breath as he talked. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. This was real. This was a man speaking a truth that she believed, too.

“But the LOKAM—”

“Fuck the LOKAM!”
chorused the shield to a rousing round of laughter.

The soldier they called Ahmy stomped out of the barrack, but it did nothing to lessen the mood. They'd won today, even at a cost.

“Look,” Carny said, propping himself up in his hammock. “I need to get some sleep. If you want to fuck, let's go out back and do it now, or leave me be.”

Miska knew her cheeks were flushing. She started to get angry and walk away, but that was probably what he wanted. She stared at him and drew in her breath.

“Fine, let's fuck.”

Carny's eyes widened. “Damn, I figured you'd just punch me.”

Miska smiled. “Who says I won't do both?”

“I CAN'T BREATHE,” CARNY
said, only half joking. Miska straddled him, riding up and down on his cock. She was a big girl, and from Carny's position he got all of her as she drove down on his hips.

“Do you want me to slow down?” she asked, keeping up her rhythmic pace.

Carny grabbed her hips and pulled her down even harder. “Druid, no! I want to die like this!”

Miska squeezed and Carny heard angels.

“What was that?” she asked, stopping midbounce.

“My soul leaving my body,” Carny said. He gave her ass a slap, but she remained still.

“I heard something,” she said, twisting around to look behind her.

“Mercy, it doesn't bend like that.”

“There's someone out there,” she hissed.

Carny raised himself up on an elbow and looked past her body. They were in a secluded spot behind the barracks in a pile of sailcloth too tattered to use for roofs. “I don't see anyone or anything.”

Miska turned to look back at him and leaned forward, her large, beautiful breasts enveloping Carny's face in a hot, sweaty puddle. He thrust his hips up, driving his cock as deep as he could. He truly could pass on right now and be entirely fine with it.

“Oh, Druid!”

WRAITH WATCHED THE
SL and the crier for a few more flicks, then went on his way. He was disappointed that the woman had heard him. Not that he'd wanted to continue watching, but he had been sure he hadn't
made a sound. No wonder he couldn't track the slyts. His stalking was letting him down.

He made his way through the camp, easily dodging the few sentries patrolling. The gray light of a waxing crescent moon cast muted shadows. He paused when he reached the wall. He could track the slyts all the way to the Western Wilds, but would it matter? He started climbing up the ladder. It mattered to him, and that was enough.