Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [31]
A small form emerged from the flickering shadows and scuttled up to Berun. Perch stopped, looked up at his master, and let loose a series of excited chitters.
"Yes," said Berun. "Now it's time." Fight-fight-fight.
Chapter Ten
“We wait for the storm,” said Sauk.
The half-orc had gathered his raiding party on a small shelf of rock about halfway down the hill. The assassins huddled in the darkness, each no more than a dim shape against the rock. The wind from the oncoming storm cut through the trees so they swayed and tossed like a Shou feather dancer. Through the occasional break in the tossing boughs, Hama could see the yaqubi's tiny campfire several hundred paces below them.
"Once the rain starts," said Sauk, "listen for Taaki."
"Where has she got off to?" asked Hama.
"She's a ways up the hill on the other side of their camp. Listen for her. She's the signal. Once your hear her, get in the camp and kill 'em all."
"Will we be able to hear her over the storm?" Sauk was less than a few feet away, and Hama could barely hear him over the wind in the trees. The sky flickered, and thunder crashed on the mountains to the west, as if to emphasize the point.
"You'll hear her," said Sauk.
"Why wait?" asked Merzan.
"What?"
"For the storm."
"You know that little lizard our captive keeps setting loose on us?" said Sauk. "Yes."
"That's a treeclaw lizard, and Berun"-Hama could hear Sauk's lips twisting around the name -"learned to train it from the yaqubi. They use the damned things like hunting dogs against the spiders in the deep woods. And like dogs, the little beasts make great guards. Only these little hounds can hide in the trees so that they're near invisible. No telling how many are nestled in the brush around the camp. But they'll hole up once the rain starts. That's when we hit them."
"Those lizards," said Benjar, "are they poisonous?"
"Nah," said Sauk. "But you'll feel their claws and teeth if one gets on you. But they're just lizards. If one gets you, just grab and squeeze."
"It's the spiders we need to be worried about," said Merzan.
"Spiders?" said Hama.
"This is the Khopet-Dag," said Merzan. "The Spider Yaxmx. Peaks. You and Kerlis nearly wet yourselves all day worrying about them on the trail."
"You said most of them weren't dangerous."
"Most," said Sauk. "We're nearer the mountains now. The big ones don't usually come down this far. And the smaller ones-the rain will drive them into their holes. Don't worry about the spiders."
"But what if we run into one of the dangerous ones?" said Benjar.
"Damn it," said Sauk. "Did you see a single spider all day that you couldn't squash with your heel? No? You see a spider you don't like? Kill it. Spiders aren't bees or flies. They don't swarm."
+++++
Berun found what he was looking for near the top of the hill-a small swath of forest where seedlings no more than a season or two old were growing in the remains of an ancient tree. The old tree had fallen several seasons ago and gone to rot. Softened by melting frost and spring rains, it was now a hive of thousands of spiders. The treeclaw lizards preferred the fertile valleys between the hills where water was more plentiful, so the many spiders that made this part of the wood their home laid their eggs along the hilltops, and rotted logs were a favorite haunt.
It was late enough in the year that most of the egg sacs had hatched, but early enough that most of the spiderlings were still lurking in the immediate area. They'd had at least a couple of tendays to feast on flies, moths, and the young fangflies newly hatched from the thick mud along the valley streams. They'd grown nice and fat, and their fangs were full of new venom. But they were still growing and hungry. Ravenous, in fact. Still, there were not enough of them to suit Berun's purpose. Not here. But if his scheme went as planned, more would gather from the surrounding hills and valleys as his spell surged.
Berun settled himself near the base of the old log. He could smell the rot, thick and musky even in the strong rain-scented