The Desert Spear (12 page)

Jardir felt his face heat up at the sight, but no one else seemed to find it amiss. One warrior eyed the woman serving him for a moment, then dropped his kebab and grabbed her, slinging her over his shoulder. She laughed as he carried her to a curtained room filled with bright pillows.

'That will be your right, too, should you survive the coming night,' Qeran advised. 'The Kaji need more warriors. It is the duty of men to provide them. If you acquit yourself well, you may earn yourself a wife to keep your home, but all
dal'Sharum
are expected to keep the
jiwah'Sharum
of their tribe with child.'

The sight of so many women in revealing clothes was overwhelming to Jardir, and he scanned their young faces, half expecting to see his sisters among them. He was speechless as the drillmaster led him to a pillow at the great table.

There was more food than he had ever seen in his life. Dates and raisins and rice and spiced lamb on skewers. Couscous and grape leaves wrapping steaming meats. His stomach churned, caught between hunger and lust.

'Eat well, and rest,' Qeran advised. 'Tonight you will stand among men.' He slapped Jardir's back and left the tent.

Jardir reached tentatively for a skewer of meat, but a hand quickly snatched it away. He looked to the offender, only to find Hasik staring back at him.

'You got lucky the other night, rat,' Hasik said. 'Pray to Everam this day, for it will take more than luck to survive a night in the Maze.'

Jardir went with the other warriors to Sharik Hora to receive the blessings of the
Damaji
before the night's battle. He had never been inside the temple of heroes' bones before, and the sight dwarfed anything he might have imagined.

Everything inside Sharik Hora was built from the bleached and lacquered bones of
dal'Sharum
who had fallen in
alagai'sharak.
The twelve chairs of the
Damaji
on the great altar stood on calf bones and rested on warriors' feet. The arms had once held spear and shield against demonkind. The seats were polished rib that had housed heroes' hearts. The backs were made from spines that had stood tall in the night. The headrests were made from the skulls of men who sat at Everam's side in Heaven. The twelve seats ringed the throne of the Andrah, built from the skulls of
kai'Sharum,
the captains of
alagai'sharak.

Hundreds of skulls and spines made each of the dozens of huge chandeliers. Bones made up hundreds of benches where worshippers prayed. The altar. The chalices. The walls. The great domed ceiling. Warriors beyond count had protected this temple with their flesh, and built it with their bones.

The massive nave was circular, and its walls were pocked with a hundred small alcoves, housing whole skeletons on bone pedestals. These were Sharum Ka, First Warriors of the city.

Under the eyes of the
dama,
the
kai'Sharum
commanded the warriors of their respective tribes, but when the sun set, the Sharum Ka, appointed by the Andrah, commanded the
kai'Sharum.
The current Sharum Ka was Kaji like Jardir'a fact that filled him with great pride.

Jardir's hands shook as he took it all in. The entire temple thrummed with honor and glory. His father, killed in a Majah raid and not
alagai'sharak,
was not remembered here, but Jardir dreamed that one day he might add his own bones to this hallowed place, bringing honor to his father, his sacrifice remembered long after he was gone. There was no greater honor than to become one, in this world and the next, with those who had given their lives before him, and those unborn, perhaps centuries hence, whose lives were yet to be given.

The
Sharum
stood at attention as the
Damaji
begged the blessings of Everam for the coming battle, and those of Kaji, the first Deliverer.

'Kaji,' they called, 'Spear of Everam, Shar'Dama Ka, who unified the world and delivered us from the
alagai
in the first age, look down upon these brave warriors who go out into the night to carry on the eternal struggle, battling
gai
on Ala even as Everam battles Nie in Heaven. Bless them with courage and strength, that they might stand tall in the night, and see through to the dawn.'

The warded shield and heavy spear were the smallest and lightest Qeran could find, but Jardir still felt dwarfed by them. He was twelve, and the youngest of the assembled warriors was five years his senior. He pretended nothing was amiss as he headed to stand with them, but even the smallest towered over him.

'
Nie'Sharum
are tethered to another warrior their first night in the Maze,' Qeran said, 'to ensure their will does not break when the
alagai
first come at them. It is a moment that tests the hearts of even the bravest warriors. The warrior assigned to you will be your
ajin'pal,
your blood brother. You will obey his every command and be bonded until death.'

Jardir nodded.

'If you survive the night, the
dama'ting
will come for you at dawn,' Qeran went on.

Jardir's gaze snapped to his mentor. 'The
dama'ting
'' he asked. He was not afraid to face
alagai,
but
dama'ting
still filled him with fear.

Qeran nodded. 'One of them will come to predict your death,' he said, suppressing a shudder. 'Only with her blessing will you be
dal'Sharum.
'

'They tell you when you'll die'' Jardir asked, aghast. 'I don't wish to know.'

Qeran snorted. 'They don't
tell
you, boy. The future is for the
dama'ting
alone to know. But if a coward's death is in your future, or greatness, they will know before you ever lose the bido.'

'I will not die a coward's death,' Jardir said.

'No,' Qeran agreed, 'I don't think you will. But you may still die a fool's death, if you don't listen to your
ajin'pal,
or are not careful.'

'I will listen well,' Jardir promised.

'Hasik has volunteered to be your
ajin'pal,
' Qeran said, gesturing to the warrior.

Hasik had grown much in the two years since he had lost his bido. Seventeen years old and fleshed out with hard muscle by the rich food of the
dal'Sharum,
he was easily a foot taller than Jardir and twice his weight.

'Never fear.' Hasik smiled. 'The son of piss will be safe with me.'

'The son of piss took down his first
alagai
a full three years sooner than you, Whistler,' Qeran reminded him. Hasik kept his smile in place, but his lip twitched.

'He will honor the Kaji tribe,' Hasik agreed. 'If he survives.'

Jardir remembered the sound of his arm breaking, and Hasik's promise afterward. He knew that Hasik would be looking for any sign of insubordination, any excuse to kill him before he lost his bido and became an equal.

So Jardir embraced the insult as he did pain, letting it pass through him harmlessly. He would not be provoked into failure right when a chance for glory was in his grasp. If he made it through this night, he would be
dal'Sharum,
the youngest in memory, and Hasik be damned.

Their unit waited in the second layer, hiding in an ambush pocket. A hidden pit stood at the center of a small clearing, soon to be filled with
alagai
awaiting the killing rays of the sun. Jardir tightened his grip on his spear and adjusted his shield to ease his shoulder. But for all their weight, the tether was heaviest of all. Four feet of leather connected his ankle to Hasik's waist. He shifted his foot uncomfortably.

'If you do not keep up with me, I will spear you and cut the tether,' Hasik said. 'I will not have my glory cut short because of you.'

'I will be as your shadow,' Jardir promised, and Hasik grunted. He slipped a small flask from his robes and removed the stopper, taking a long swig. He handed the flask to Jardir.

'Drink this, for courage,' he said.

'What is it'' Jardir asked, taking the flask and sniffing at the neck. He smelled cinnamon, but the scent stung his nostrils.

'Couzi,' Hasik said. 'Fermented grain and cinnamon.'

Jardir's eyes widened. 'Dama Khevat says to drink of fermented grain or fruit is forbidden by the Evejah.'

Hasik laughed. 'Nothing is forbidden to
dal'Sharum
in the Maze! Drink! The night is almost upon us!'

Jardir looked at him doubtfully, but throughout the ambush pocket, he saw other warriors swigging from similar flasks. He shrugged, putting the bottle to his lips and drinking deeply.

The couzi burned his throat, and he coughed, spitting some back up. He could feel the strong drink burning his insides and roiling in his stomach like a snake. Hasik laughed and slapped his back. 'Now you are ready to face the
alagai,
rat!'

The couzi worked quickly, and Jardir looked up through glazed eyes. The Maze was filled with shadows as the sun dipped. Jardir watched the sky turn red, and then purple, finally becoming full dark. He could sense the
alagai
rising outside the city walls, and shuddered.

Great Kaji, Spear of Everam,
he prayed,
if it is true that across the centuries I come of your line, grant me courage to honor you and my ancestors.

Before long he heard the Horn of Sharak, followed by the retort of rock slingers on the outer wall. The cries of
alagai
began to echo through the Maze. 'Ware!' a call came from above, and Jardir thought he recognized Shanjat's voice. 'Baiters approach! Four sand and one flame!'

Jardir swallowed hard. Glory was upon him.

With a cry of
'Oot!'
the Baiters ran full-tilt through the ambush point, veering only slightly to avoid the pits. Above, the Watchers lit oil fires in front of polished metal mirrors, and light flooded the area.

The sand demons ran in a pack, long tongues slavering over rows of razor-sharp teeth. They were the size of a man, but seemed smaller hunched down on all fours. Their long talons tore at the sand and stone of the Maze floor, and their spiked tails whipped back and forth through the air. Their gritty armor plates had few weaknesses.

The flame demon was smaller, the size of a small boy, with wicked talons and terrifying speed. Its tiny, diamond-hard iridescent scales overlapped seamlessly. Its eyes and mouth glowed with orange light, and Jardir recalled his lessons about the creature's deadly firespit. Across the ambush point was a pool in which the warriors would attempt to drown it.

Once again, the sight of the
alagai
filled Jardir with utter loathing. The creatures were a plague upon the Ala, Nie's taint come to infect the surface. And tonight, he would help send them screaming back into the abyss.

'Hold,' Hasik warned, feeling him tense. Jardir nodded, forcing himself to relax. The couzi continued to work its way through him, warming him from the night's chill.

The
alagai
passed them by, intent on the Baiters. Two of them ran right out onto the tarp covering the demon pit, falling in with a shriek. The other sand demons pulled up short, but the flame dodged around, leaping onto the back of the slower Baiter. It dug its claws into the man's back and bit hard into his shoulder. The warrior was knocked down, but he did not scream.

'Now!' the
kai'Sharum
cried, and led the charge from the ambush pocket.

Jardir let the warrior's roar explode from his chest, thrumming in unison with his brothers in the night and carrying him forward with the others. They smashed into the two sand demons from behind, knocking them into the pit.

The
kai'Sharum
pivoted, launching his spear and knocking the flame demon from the Baiter's back. The other Baiter dragged him to the safety of the wards, doing his best to stem the flow of blood.

There was a cry, and Jardir turned to see that the first sand demon to fall into the pit had caught its edge, the concealing tarp protecting its talons from the wards. It swung up out of the pit easily, biting off the nearest warrior's leg at the knee. The warrior screamed as he was knocked into his fellows, opening a gap in the shield wall. The demon shrieked and dove into the opening, talons raking.

'Shield up!' Hasik called, and Jardir complied just in time to catch the full weight of the demon. He was knocked down, but not before the wards flared, throwing the
alagai
back. The demon landed in a coil and sprang at him again, but Jardir thrust his spear from his prone position, catching the demon between its breastplates. He braced the butt of the spear against the ground to create a fulcrum, and used the demon's own momentum to hurl it away.

Still in midair, bolas from half a dozen warriors struck the demon, and it hit the ground bound tight. It began tearing at the ropes with its teeth, and Jardir could hear the bindings snap under pressure from its corded muscles. It would be free in moments.

The
kai'Sharum
signaled, and a pair of warriors broke off to harry the flame demon while the rest encircled the sand demon with a wall of interlocked shields. Whenever the demon struck at a warrior, those behind it stabbed with their spears. The weapons could not pierce its armor, but they stung nonetheless. When it turned to face its attackers, their shields snapped into place and those behind struck.

The Pit Warder had cleared the tarp from the wards, preventing the other
alagai
from escaping the pit, as the warriors began to force the demon toward it by advancing the shield wall. Eventually, the creature backed up to the pit's edge, and the warriors there melted away.