City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [106]
Lei said nothing. Her eyes were wide as she looked down at Jode.
“What is it?”
“Daine, his dragonmark … it’s missing.”
She was right. The Mark of Healing had been spread across Jode’s head, a proud symbol of his magical gift. Despite the terrible wound, it was easy to see. The mark was no longer there.
“How is that possible?” Daine said. “Is it not really him?”
Lei examined the body more closely, studying the forehead. “I don’t know, but dragonmarks don’t disappear after death. They don’t disappear ever.” She ran her hand across his face. “I’d like to believe this is some trick, but I don’t think so.” A tear ran down her cheek as she looked at Daine. “The sphinx said you’d suffer a loss today, Daine. She didn’t say we all would.”
Daine closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “We’ll find out who did this, Lei. We’ll make them pay. But right now, we have to keep moving. We’ll mourn him when he’s been avenged.”
She nodded, though her face was still a mask of sorrow. “I know.”
“We need to find a way to carry him. Here.” He took off the remnants of his ruined cloak. “Use this.”
“What about the others?”
“We can’t take them all. Worry about Jode.”
Lei nodded and wrapped Jode in the cloak. She whispered to the cloth.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Weaving an enchantment. It will keep his body from decomposing.”
Leaving her to her business, Daine turned to Rhazala. “Are you or your friends here looking to make a few more coins?”
“Always!” the girl said cheerfully.
“Then go to the Illian Apothecary in … Dragon Towers, I think. You want to talk to a man named Bal. Tell him you’ve found the corpses of two of his friends.”
“That we will do. But what of you? You claim to have no coin, then you offer gold for stolen goods.”
“I can get more money. Possibly a lot more. If you’ll help us, you and your friends will get your reward.”
Rhazala and the scout had a hushed exchange. Rhazala turned back to Daine and nodded. “I will help you. If you need the quiet folk, I know where to find them.”
“Good. I want to talk to whoever found these bodies. I need to see where they were found.”
“You’ll be wanting Hazg,” said the goblin scout. “I’ll fetch that one.” He waded away into the murky depths. “Daine!” Lei called.
He turned back to her. She’d stripped the wet rags off of Rasial and was studying his naked body. “What are you doing?” he said. “He doesn’t have a mark either, Daine.”
“What do you mean?”
“According to Bal, their powers come from aberrant dragonmarks. Rasial was supposed to be able to kill with a touch. So … where’s his mark?”
“Hmm. Any more ideas?”
“Perhaps. I need to get back to the Manticore.”
“What about Jode? Is he … ready?”
Lei grimaced and indicated the cloth-wrapped bundle at the foot of the heap. “I’ll need your help.”
Daine waded through the sewage and picked up the body of his friend. Lei took off her pack and opened it. A length of cord defined the size of the opening into the central compartment of the pack. Loosening the cord, she pulled at the mouth of the opening, creating a funnel-like cone. “I think he’ll fit,” she said. She extended the opening toward Daine.
Looking into the opening was like staring into deep, black water. Daine could sense something there, but he could see nothing. Blinking back tears, Daine pushed Jode’s body through the opening. There was a slight sensation of resistance, as if he was pushing the corpse through mud, then it was gone and so was Jode.
Lei tightened the cord and buckled the pack.
Hazg was a surly goblin with patchy hair and flaking gray skin. He spoke little but moved with surprising speed along the slippery stone. He took them up one of the routing tunnels that brought waste into the central chamber. About two hundred feet down the passage, a large chunk of rock had fallen from the ceiling. Hazg stopped and perched on the stone.
“Here,” he croaked, his voice rough and raspy. “The stone’s a recent falling. Things been getting caught. Bodies was here.”
“My thanks, Hazg,” Daine said.
“Not wanting thanks.” He rubbed thumb