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Wounded turned to frustrated. “Do you want to hold my hand?” He stuck out his arm.

“That’s not a bad idea. Does anyone have a piece of rope?”

Ekhaas did. Geth tied one end around Midian’s wrist and the other around his own. Midian gave him a sour look, but submitted before slouching back.

“I have a plan.” said Chetiin. He sketched lines in the dust to mark the course of the ridge and touched points along them. “A few of us show ourselves among the rocks of the ridge here and here. Daavn will try to protect the rod. He’ll send his men to hunt us down. Makka will certainly go as well. Once they’re away, the rest of us get up to the tomb.”

“Who takes the ridge?” asked Geth.

Chetiin considered. “Ashi, Ekhaas, and Aruget. If they stay close to the wall, they should be able to get into the shelter of the ridge without attracting attention.”

Ashi peered out at the rough landscape. “I can do it.” Ekhaas and Aruget gave nods of agreement.

Geth turned—the movement bringing a tug and a grumble of complaint from Midian—to Tenquis. “You’ll be able to get the door open quickly and quietly?”

The bandaged stub of the tiefling’s tail waggled and his golden eyes narrowed with hate. “I’d rather have a long knifepoint conversation with Daavn,” he said, “but like Grandmother says, there’s more than one way to sour milk.” He gripped the collar of his vest and whispered a word. The embroidery of the vest writhed and the slight bulges of pockets reappeared. “I have everything I need.”

“Then we’re ready.” He looked to the others. “Rat and Tiger dance for us all.” He stretched out his hands to Ashi and Ekhaas—and felt his left brought up short by the rope tied to Midian’s wrist.

There was no grumble of complaint and Midian’s arm didn’t yield. Geth turned.

Midian squatted behind him, unmoving and apparently intent on something in his hand. The rope that should have been tied to his wrist seemed to pass completely through it. Ekhaas hissed and swept a foot across the ground where the gnome crouched.

And a glittering crystal disk no bigger than a coin bounced off the stone of the arch. Midian vanished. The rope was tied to a bar of the iron gate.

“Tiger, Wolf, and Rat, I thought we searched him!” Geth snarled. “Where is he?”

Ashi pointed. “There!”

The sun shone off a shock of pale hair, just visible above the long grass on the near side of the grazing horses. Midian moved with such stealth that the grass around him barely swayed. It was easy to guess where the Zil was going: his own secret way into the tomb. Maybe he was going to fetch the rod for them just as he’d said, but Geth doubted it.

“I could stop him,” said Chetiin.

“No.” Geth drew Wrath. “We’re in a race now. Ekhaas, Ashi, Aruget—go!”

“Wait. Let’s put honey in the trap.” Aruget grabbed Geth’s chin and turned his face toward him. He studied the shifter, then let him go. Hobgoblin features melted and reformed. Ears shrank and hair grew out. Small eyes become large and wide. In only moments, Geth stared at himself wearing Aruget’s armor. Aruget-Geth smiled and said in eerie mimicry of his growl, “Daavn will be more likely to chase a face he knows. Ko isn’t the only one who can imitate you.”

He jerked his head and he, Ashi, and Ekhaas stole out of the gate, moving along the low wall in the opposite direction to the way Midian had gone. They ran low and fast, heading for the nearest fold in the ridge. Geth realized he was holding his breath.

“Midian has seen them,” Chetiin said. Geth swung around to look for the gnome—just in time to see his arm swing as he hurled something back at the horses, then dropped into the grass.

“Down!” Chetiin said.

They pressed themselves against the ground. Geth kept his head up just enough to see the hurled object—an ordinary stone—hit one of the horses on the flank. The startled beast reared just a little and danced forward a few steps. The other horses reacted to it, raising their heads and looking around.

The movement was enough to draw the eye of one of the hobgoblin guards. He swung around.

Ekhaas, Ashi, and Aruget-Geth were caught