Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [252]
"Hey, brothers!" one called. "Well met. What news from the battlefront?"
"For you, my brother? Death." With casual grace, Bao whipped one end of his staff at the soldier's head. There was a dull thudding crack, like a melon being split open upon rocks. The soldier slumped bone-lessly to the ground.
It went fast.
They were good, Bao and Dai, and they were angry. They fought well and swiftly and hard, taking down all six sentries. I didn't blame them. I, too, grieved for Tortoise, who had always seemed too humble and kind for the lifestyle he had chosen. Homely Tortoise, first to swear loyalty, first to embrace the impossible romance of our quest. In his honor, I made myself watch Bao and Dai avenge his death. Jiang Quan's men got out a few shouts of warning, but not many.
Answering shouts came from the mountainside above them, and scrambling sounds.
The princess leaned over in the saddle and touched my arm. "Now, Moirin. We must go."
"Aye, my lady." I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and nudged my mount hard with my heels. He leapt forward willingly. We rode into the circle of firelight where six men lay dead, and two living ones leaned on their staves, breathing hard.
I dismounted and turned my horse loose, knotting the reins around his muscled neck. "Run free, brave heart," I whispered to him. "Where we go, you cannot carry us."
He whickered softly, chestnut ears pricked.
I slapped his flank. "Go!"
He went; they all went, hoofbeats scattered in the darkness.
"So." I turned my gaze to the mountainside. The entrance to the Stone Forest loomed above us like a gateway, like an immense dolmen. This was a place where water had eaten away all the soft parts of rock. What remained, endured. It was truly an immense maze. Here and there, sparks of torchlight were moving on the steep slopes, briefly glimpsed and swiftly hidden. I breathed deeply and summoned the twilight, folding it like a cloak around the princess and myself. The night took on a silvery sheen. "Lead on, my lady."
Snow Tiger lowered her blindfold that the dragon might look out of her eyes. "This way."
If the waiting had been agonizing, the climb was a thousand times worse. In my eagerness to prevent any unnecessary sacrifices, I'd overlooked the one glaring flaw in my plan, which was that Bao and Dai couldn't see to follow us. When I took Bao's hand to guide him, he shuddered violently and nearly pulled away.
"I'm sorry!" he whispered. "It's like being touched by a ghost."
Although his hand felt warm and solid to me, I remembered how it had felt when the spirit Focalor had touched me, at once tangible and unsubstantial, strange flickers of energy crackling against my skin. I hadn't liked it either, but I saw no choice here. "Well, you'll have to endure it."
Thus did we pass beneath the stone doorway and enter the labyrinth, the invisible leading the blind. I followed Snow Tiger's shimmering figure, coiled all around with the dragon's gleaming life force, leading Bao by the hand. Dai followed hard on his heels, one hand on Bao's shoulder.
Torches descended toward us, bright as falling stars in the twilight. A handful of men gained the base of the mountain and discovered our handiwork. Others wandered lost in the darkness, shouting to one another in confusion.
The dragon led us in a twisting, circuitous route to avoid them. Were it not for his guidance, we would surely have gotten lost ourselves. Time and time again, we paused and huddled on the far side of a great stone obelisk while one of Lord Jiang's soldiers scrambled and huffed past us. Bao and Dai hunkered in the deepest shadows, holding their breath. I forced myself to breathe slowly and deeply, holding the twilight firmly in my grasp.
At least we were outdoors.
It helped; it helped a great deal. Gods knew, I was scared. My nerves were strung as taut as a bowstring. But it was a rational fear