Vashkar grinned, his teeth filling with his own blood. Then his chest fell one last time, and he was still.
Drakis pushed the body away from him and stood, alone, at the crest of the knoll. The silence was complete and suddenly unbearable.
“What are you staring at,” he yelled at his companions. “Everyone pick up a field pack and let’s get through that portal now. We’ve got a long way to go.”
“It’s quiet, and the dead will not trouble us,” Ethis suggested. “We could rest here a while.”
“No,” Drakis spoke, the words sticking in his dry throat. “No one will ever rest here again.”
“Two days!” Soen seethed. “Two days we’ve been going in the opposite direction of these bolters, we finally are on their trail and you want us to wait?”
The Master Iblisi stood to the side of the fold platform, his face inches from Jukung’s long nose. His two Codexia stood to the side, their hands folded inside the sleeves of their robes, hoods drawn over their heads, leaving their faces in shadow from the late morning sun. Each watched the scene with detached amusement. Hazing the younger members of the Order was an old and established pastime. . but it could be a dangerous game when played with one of the Keeper’s favorites.
Jukung blanched but did not back down. He had to give the young Assesia credit, Soen thought through his rage. Jukung was a young, green blade, but he stood his ground. Ch’drei would not have chosen the whelp to spy on the Iblisi if he could not stand up against Soen’s occasional hot wind.
“It is her order that we remain here until she arrives,” Jukung replied, his back stiffening.
“Here?” Soen scoffed, his left hand darting out to point at the blood-soaked mounds of the field behind them. Impress Warriors moved about the battlefield, dragging the dead toward the center of the clearing where a great pit had been dug. Several Tribunes and a handful of Proxis maintained a raging fire in the pit into which the dead were being cast. The greasy, black smoke curled upward, fanning over the surrounding trees in the still air. The stench of the bodies lying under the warm sun was overshadowed by that of burning flesh.
“I confess that I am at a loss to understand your disapproval, Master Iblisi. It is a great honor that the Keeper affords us as she rarely leaves the Keep of our Order for any purpose, let alone to travel as far as the Western Provinces.”
“Then you wait around and receive her honors,” Soen spat. “No doubt you’ve honored her enough times in the past.”
Qinsei, standing next to the Inquisitor, covered her laugh with a cough.
Jukung set his sharp jaw against the hot words that had come to his mind and spoke more delicately than he would have liked. “It is nevertheless her will that we await her coming as she is most anxious for your report.”
“Odd that her intention should be communicated so quickly over such a distance,” Soen continued. “I should have sent you back to the Imperial City, herding slaves with the rest of the Assesia.”
“The instructions of the Keeper were clear,” Jukung stated. “Such an act would not have served the Will of the Emperor!”
“Don’t talk to me about the ‘Will of the Emperor,’ boy,” Soen spoke in a quiet, dangerous tone. “I’ve stood in the presence of the Emperor, and know his will far better than any of Ch’drei’s pets.”
“Master Soen,” Phang said at once, injecting himself between the Iblisi and his Assesia before either was tempted to take their argument further. “I have spoken with the Tribunes and have something worthwhile to report.”
Soen waited for a moment before responding. “I will hear your report, Phang.”
Phang bowed slightly and then spoke. “Tribune Tsa’fei reports that just prior to the battle joining last night, an Octian from House Tajeran reported to her.”
“Let me guess,” Soen said, looking down at the ground and nodding as he spoke. “Three humans-two of them female-two manticores, one chimerian, and. .”
“And a dwarf, yes, Master,” Phang said.