The Hungering Flame (25 page)

The forest echoed with the dragon lord’s scream of rage and the mocking laughter of Zara’thul.

Garrett sat on a crate in one of the supply tents within the old elvish temple and wiggled his toes inside his new boots. They seemed a little loose, but they were the smallest that Cenick had been able to find. The supple red leather hardly smelled of death anymore after the scrubbing Cenick had given them. The tattooed necromancer patted the toe of Garrett’s boot and then stood up.

“
That should work,
”
he said.

“
I’m sorry about Cabre,
”
Garrett said.

Cenick shook his head.
“
He betrayed us all, Garrett. There was nothing you could have done to change that… no way you could have foreseen it.
”

“
Max did,
”
Garrett said.

Cenick glanced toward the tent flap and lowered his voice.
“
Garrett, Max was wrong to mistrust the prince… even if he was proven right in the end.
”

“
I don’t understand,
”
Garrett said.

Cenick frowned.
“
You can do the right thing for the wrong reason… just as Cabre did the wrong thing for the right reason.
”

Garrett laughed.
“
Which is better?
”
he asked.

“
It’s better just to do the right thing for the right reason and leave the wrongs for other men,
”
Cenick said.

“
I wish I knew what the right things were,
”
Garrett said.

Cenick reached out and took Garrett’s hand, hauling him to his feet. He pressed his finger to Garrett’s chest.
“
Your heart will tell you, Garrett,
”
he said,
“
Just don’t let it get filled up with hate. Hate will blind you… make you weak. Truth is the wise man’s strength. Never lose that.
”

Garrett nodded.

“
How do the new boots feel?
”
Cenick asked.

“
Good, thanks.
”

Cenick clapped his shoulder with a heavy hand.
“
Come,
”
he said,
“
we don’t want the miss the party.
”

Garrett followed Cenick out of the tent, the distant sound of music growing louder as he stepped outside.

“
Where is everyone?
”
Garrett asked.

“
Max’s new ballroom,
”
Cenick said, shaking his head,
“
You’d think he wants to make this his winter home.
”

They wound their way between stacks of empty crates. Garrett paused before a huge red banner that lay draped across a pile of boxes. It bore the symbol of a raven in flight clutching a bundle of arrows in its claws.

“
What’s that?
”
Garrett asked.

“
The banner of the legion we crushed last night,
”
Cenick said,
“
I thought Uncle might like to hang it in his dining room.
”

Garrett laughed.
“
He’d probably just stick it in the corner and stack a bunch of books on top of it.
”

Cenick laughed as well.
“
You’re probably right.
”

Garrett smiled at the memory of Uncle Tinjin
, wondering if the old man had yet made it back to the city from his mysterious errand, and, if he had, what he would think to find Garrett missing. He felt a sudden pang of guilt that he had not thought to try to leave some sort of message for his uncle before fleeing the city.

Garrett
followed
Cenick through
the tunnel that led to the baths, coming at last to a large subterranean chamber that held three wide pools of shallow water. The pools glowed with the luminous blue algae that clung to the submerged rocks. A great crowd of ghouls and a few necromancers mingled around the food and drink laid out on makeshift wooden tables. Garrett saw Warren, his father, and the Lady Ymowyn talking together over drinks and tarts. The brown ghoul Chunnley, clad in a white apron, moved among the crowd with a basket of treats, making sure that everyone had enough to eat. Jitlowe sat against the wall, playing his lyre and singing a lilting, mournful song in a language Garrett had never heard.

Max Zara and Serepheni, dressed in black and green silks, twirled together in the intricate steps of a courtly dance on the smooth floor between two glowing pools. In the shadows beyond, Marla and Claude sat together on a long wooden crate, talking.

Garrett fought back a sudden pang of jealousy and looked away. He wondered if anyone would notice if he turned and walked out of the room.

“
Comrades!
”
Cenick called out, silencing Jitlowe’s lyre,
“
I present the noble Master Garrett!
”

Garrett’s breath caught in his throat as he froze, mid-turn.

Everyone in the room cheered for him, raising cups and half-eaten meat pies in toast.

“
The hero of the
day
!
”
Max
cried, clapping his hands together over his head.

Garrett looked at Cenick
, not knowing what to say.

“
Without your timely warning,
”
Max said,
“
things might have gone much worse for us. We could have all been trapped in a tunnel between two Chadiri legions. We’ve learned not to underestimate the enemy, and he, perhaps, has learned not to underestimate you, Garrett.
”

A fresh round of applause echoed through the cavern, and Jitlowe struck a few triumphant chords on his lyre.

Garrett managed a tense smile and bowed slightly.

“
The boy has done more than you know,
”
a chill voice called from the tunnel behind. Garrett stepped quickly to the side as Master Krauss and four lean vampires, clad in riding garb, entered the room.

Krauss paused when he reached the center of the room. He glanced back over his shoulder at Garrett before speaking again.
“
It would seem that he took it upon himself to alert the northern wolf legion camped in the ruins of Taelish regarding the presence of the tunnel. He did this with the assistance of one of our younger pilots.
”

Garrett saw Claude’s face attempt to grow paler than it already was.

Krauss tugged down the black scarf that covered his lower face. His long teeth gleamed in the blue light.
“
It would seem as well that his gambit paid off.
”

Garrett blinked, looking at Cenick and then back at the elder vampire.

“
The wolf legion, upon learning of their vulnerability, found and collapsed the Taelish end of the ancient tunnel. They then built an enormous bonfire atop the site. If any of the raven legion survived the collapse of the southern end of the tunnel, they now lie, entombed within.

Wild hoots of manic laughter erupted from the ghouls and cheers of approval from the necromancers.

Krauss turned to face Garrett, his face stern.
“
You have turned the foe against himself and sowed confusion in their ranks,
”
he said,
“
Well done, master necromancer.
”
The vampire crossed his gloved hands across his chest and bowed stiffly. The other gaunt riders bowed as well.

Garrett saw Claude rise hastily to his feet beside Marla. The scowl on his face as he bowed to Garrett made up for every moment of gut-wrenching terror during their flight to Taelish.

Max held out his left hand, his right hand holding Serepheni’s.
“
Come Garrett,
”
he said.

Garrett crossed the floor, this time, the vampires stepped aside for him.
Max
clasped his shoulder and knelt before him.

“
I know that you lost your amulet to the enemy, and that it must have meant a great deal to you,
”
Max said. He reached behind his neck and pulled his own horned skull amulet off over his head, hanging it around Garrett’s neck.

“
Accept this symbol of honor among the brotherhood you have served so well,
”
Max said.

Garrett managed only a joyful sob, stifling it with a fierce grin.

“
Accept as well the gratitude of the Worm Mother,
”
Serepheni said, smiling,
“
And, with it, a commission in Her holy army.
”

She leaned in as Max stepped away, placing a gentle kiss on Garrett’s cheek.
“
By Her grace, I name you Templar of the Fifth Order, Initiate of the Undying Flame.
”

Garrett looked at Max, his eyes wide.

“
Too late, Garrett,
”
Max laughed,
“
Once she’s kissed you, she owns your soul!
”

“
Max!’ Serepheni laughed, swatting him on the arm.

“
Jitlowe,
”
Max said,
“
give us something with legs!
”

The glass-eyed necromancer grinned and swept his long fingers over his lyre strings, banging out a lively rhythm as the necromancers boomed the chorus of an ancient war-dirge. The ghouls whined and howled and stamped their shaggy feet in time, and even the gaunt riders joined in, following Krauss’s lead, to lend a deep, droning chant that made the surface of the lambent pools tremble.

Garrett laughed and grinned as the crowd welcomed him in.

Warren’s father, Bargas, clapped Garrett on the back so hard that he thought he might have dislocated a rib. Diggs and Scupp hugged him tight and rubbed their bony knuckles on the top of his hood.

Lady Ymowyn stood at Warren’s side, smiling. She wore a long blue gown and a scarf of sheer lavender fabric, sewn with tiny pearls, around her neck. She reached out to lift the hem of Garrett’s hood, peeking beneath.
“
Healing nicely,
”
she said.

“
Thanks!
”
Garrett said,
“
And thanks for helping Warren find me.
”

“
He looked a bit lost when I found him,
”
she sighed, looking at Warren,
“
although I’m inclined now to believe that is just his natural appearance.
”

“
Hey!
”
Warren growled.

Bargas laughed, patting the fox woman on the back, far more gently than he had with Garrett.

“
Mister Bargas,
”
Garrett said,
“
how did you make the tunnel fall in like that?
”

The big, patchy-haired ghoul pulled a frown.
“
Shame about that,
”
he said,
“
I always hate pullin’ down good solid work. The trick isn’t in makin’ a tunnel collapse, boy, it’s in gettin’ it to stay up in the first place. Makin’ it fall down… that’s just givin’ the stone leave to do what it already wants to do.
The short of it is that you dig new tunnels underneath the old tunnel and then sort o' kick the legs out from under it.
”

“
How do you make it come down at just the right time, though?
”
Garrett asked.

Bargas shook his head.
“
We was off by a good three seconds,
”
he said,
“
Some o’ the crew couldn’t knock the shims out when I told ‘em to.
”
He leveled a hard glare toward Diggs and Scupp.

“
It was out!
”
Scupp snarled.

“
Them elf rocks jes’ didn’ wanna let go,
”
Diggs said,
“
They hold on when there ain’t no reason they should still be holdin’.
”

“
I’ll bet most o’ that old tunnel’s still intact,
”
Chunnley said, walking up with his basket of food.