Part 7 (1/2)

”It's not dumb, it's drowning!” Atreus said. Behind Ris.h.i.+, Naraka and his men were swimming along beside their ponies, holding their saddle horns and comingup fast. ”Cut the gold free!”

Ris.h.i.+ looked as though Atreus had uttered a sacrilege. ”You would sacrifice all this gold to spare a yak?”

”If you lose the yak, you lose the gold.”

Atreus pulled hard on the beast's lead, drawing it alongside his own. The poorcreature's eyes were as big as saucers, and it was breathing so hard that it sprayed his face with water. Behind the yak, Naraka and his men had closed towithin five paces of its tail. Atreus plunged a hand into the icy water and managed tolocate the rucksack, then slipped his sword under the cargo rope and began to saw.

”No! You are mistaken in this,” Ris.h.i.+ begged, clutching Atreus by the elbow, but the Mar's grasp was too weak to pull his arm away. ”I am as heavy as the gold. If I swim*”

”You float. Gold doesn't.” Atreus's blade bit through the rope, and the rucksack slipped into the muddydepths. The yak's head bobbed out of the water at once, but its neck and shoulders remained submerged. It was breathing harder than ever. Atreus slipped his swordunder the coffer's rope, but Ris.h.i.+ leaned down and clutched the chest in his arms.

”The yak can carry this much!”

Atreus's yak gave a sudden jerk, and he looked back to see one of Naraka's menholding its tail. Two more riders were coming up behind Ris.h.i.+. Atreus cut the rope. When Ris.h.i.+ continued to hold the coffer, he slammed the Mar in the shoulder and shoved him off the struggling yak.

”Forget the gold! Fight!”

The Mar vanished under the waves, still clutching the heavy coffer to his chest.Atreus spun on his mount's back, drawing his sword tip across the faces of two menbehind him. They screamed and clutched at their wounds, and the current carried them off.

Ris.h.i.+ surfaced behind a third rider, taking him completely by surprise and planting a dagger in his ribs. The man shrieked and began to flail about in anguish.Ris.h.i.+ shoved the fellow's head underwater, then grabbed hold of his pony's saddle.

A deep, unearthly voice rasped across the water. Atreus glanced upstream to see a huge, barge-like boat coming around the bend. Twice as wide as the dugouts, ithad a flat profile packed with slaves, a square bow manned by four guards, and a double set of oars being worked by two rowers. On the stern, a gaunt manlike figurewith sloping shoulders and a pointy head stood in front of a crude cabin watching the battle. That was all Atreus could see before a fourth rider splashed up behind Ris.h.i.+, hissword scribing an arc toward the Mar's head. Ris.h.i.+ rolled into the a.s.sault, leaving theblow to slice harmlessly into the river, and dived. The rider began to slash madly at thewater, cried out, and sank from sight.

Naraka swam up alongside Atreus, dagger flas.h.i.+ng in one hand and swordflailing in the other. Atreus rolled off the far side of his mount and let his swordsink into the river, pulling himself under the beast's s.h.a.ggy belly. He could see Naraka's legs in front of him, kicking madly as the patrol leader pulled himselfonto the yak's back. One foot nearly caught Atreus in the head. He ducked out ofthe way, then kicked hard and came up behind his foe.

Naraka realized his mistake as soon as he heard Atreus's head break the surface. He pushed off the yak, turning to face his attacker. Atreus cupped bothhands and slapped the patrol leader's ears. Naraka's eyes lit with pain. Hebegan to sink, too dazed to keep himself afloat. Atreus caught him by the arm and knocked the dagger loose, and by then Naraka had recovered enough toraise his sword.

Atreus knuckle-punched him in the throat, but even that did not stop the determined patrol leader. The sword flashed down. Atreus shoved a hand up andcaught hold of the wrist. In the next instant, the fingers of Naraka's other handwere ripping at his waist, gouging into his wound and tearing at the flap of loose skin. Atreus screamed and felt his chest fill with cold water, and he began to sink.

He reached up and caught Naraka by the throat, trying desperately to crushhis attacker's windpipe, but the cold water had sapped his strength. It was allhe could do to keep squeezing. Naraka tried to jerk his sword arm free, but thepatrol leader was growing weak too. He followed Atreus beneath the surface, and they hung in the icy current for a long time, clutching and tearing at eachother with cold-numbed fingers.Something crackled in Naraka's throat. His eyes bulged, and a filmy white bubbleslipped from his lips. The sword tumbled from his hand, but Atreus continued tosqueeze, even after he saw water fill the dead man's open throat. He wanted to shake the patrol leader alive, to rebuke him for the prejudice and ignorance that had madethem enemies in the first place. Of course, Naraka would not have listened. He was toogood a soldier; he did as his queen commanded, whether that meant hunting downinnocuous explorers or hurling himself into battle against ghastly devils.

Feeling no regrets for killing him, Atreus pushed Naraka's body away. The patrol leader might not have deserved to die because of his ignorance, but neitherhad Atreus, nor Yago, if that was what had become of the ogre.

Atreus broke the surface coughing and gasping for air. He felt more weak thancold, though he could sense the river sucking more heat from his body with everypa.s.sing moment. His yak was gone, swimming for the far sh.o.r.e, and the small slave boats were well downstream, zigzagging back and forth after the surviving members of Naraka's patrol.

Atreus thrust an arm up. ”Here!” His voice was a mere croak, his legs so stiff hecould barely tread water. ”Help!”

The distant dugouts paid him no attention. One of the little boats slowed, as aslaver pulled a limp rider half out of the river and slit the man's throat. Atreus was too exhausted to be shocked. He merely hoped he would not meet the samefate.

Upstream, Ris.h.i.+ cried out, ”I have g-gold!” The Mar sounded as weak as Atreusfelt. ”Help me, and you shall be r-rewarded”Atreus turned and saw Ris.h.i.+ splas.h.i.+ng toward the big slave barge where half a dozen men stood just forward of the ramshackle cabin with the gaunt figure he had glimpsed earlier. There were no more boats coming around the bend, and all theothers were well downstream, murdering the last of Naraka's wounded riders.

Ris.h.i.+ raised his hand, holding the small purse of gold Atreus had given him earlier.”I have gold,” he said. ”It isyours!”

The gaunt figure turned toward the center of the boat and barked a command. Atonce, the two oarsmen began to row against the current, holding the vessel in place. Ris.h.i.+ tucked his gold away and began to swim. Atreus followed, determined to find aplace on the boat.

As he neared the barge, Atreus saw that the gaunt figure looked more like ademon than any sort of human. His slimy, snake-like torso was covered in green-glistening scales, while his spindly fingers ended in filthy-looking claws long enoughto disembowel a yak. To protect him from the frigid weather, he wore nothing more than a loincloth and a soiled yellow cape, and a long barbed tail flicked back and forthover his shoulder.

His face was even more hideous than his body. He had a narrow, pointed head witha bony brow ridge, a pair of beady black eyes set deep in dark hollow sockets, and a huge nose dribbling mucus and shaped vaguely like an arrowhead. His flaky-lipped mouth stretched a full hand-span across his face, exhibiting a row of jaggedfangs that rose up from his lower jaw like saw teeth. Hanging from his chin was agreasy black beard braided into long spikes and teeming with white lice.

When Ris.h.i.+ reached the boat, the hideous figure* Atreus supposed he was theslave-master*dropped to his belly and thrust an arm over the side. ”Pay up!” the demon called.

To Atreus's surprise, Ris.h.i.+ did not insist on being pulled aboard before yielding hisgold. He simply withdrew the purse from inside his tunic and placed it in the fellow's hand. ”I c-can get you more ... much more....”

Leaving Ris.h.i.+ to kick against the slow current, the slave-master tore open the purse and pulled out a gold piece. He tested it on his teeth, then glared down at the Mar.

”How much more?”

”Enough to drown a yak!” Ris.h.i.+ reached up. ”And it is all yours, for no more than sparing my life.”

The slave master's eyes narrowed to tiny slits. ”You try to peel me, sod, and you'llwish you drowned.”

With that, he plucked Ris.h.i.+ out of the river and tossed him onto the deck likesome half-dead fish. Atreus reached the boat, then began to scratch at the slimyhull, too sore and exhausted to call out for help. A scaly hand reached down and caught him by his wounded shoulder. Recalling the fate of Naraka's men, Atreusraised his good arm to block the expected dagger, already starting to explain whyhis life should be spared.

There was no need. The slave-master jerked him out of the water and dropped him on the deck beside Ris.h.i.+, then kneeled down and brought his face close toAtreus's. His breath stank of rotten fish.

”You don't smell like no Walker!”

”Walker?”

”If you got to ask, you ain't,” said the slave master. ”So what in the ThousandDarkness*s are you?””A m-man, of course,” Atreus said indignantly. ”A human being.” The slave master's lip curled into a sneer, revealing a stringy ma.s.s of rotten gum. ”You're a funny one, bubber. Could be worth something in Baator.” Hefaced the ramshackle cabin in the stern. ”Seema! Gather up your brews and come out here. I got something for you.”

The slave master turned to Ris.h.i.+, who was lying beside Atreus shaking. ”Now,where's this gold you were jabbering about?”

Ris.h.i.+ paled and said, ”Just up the river.” He cast an angry glance in Atreus's direction. ”In the river.”

”What do you mean, in the river?” The slave master asked angrily, jerking Ris.h.i.+ upby the collar. ”Like on the bottom?””It is his fault, Terrible One,” Ris.h.i.+ said, pointing at Atreus. ”He sank it!”

The Terrible One's barbed tail began to twitch. He rose, casually lifting Ris.h.i.+ with one hand. ”It don't matter who sank it, addle pate,” he said. ”You tried to bobme. All the gold in this squalid little world does me no good on the bottom of a river!”

”The river is not deep,” Ris.h.i.+ offered, pointing upstream. ”Take me back to thatbend tomorrow, and I can dive down and find it for you!”

The slave master considered this, his fangs scratching his upper lip. Finally, he tucked Ris.h.i.+ under one arm and started forward. Ris.h.i.+'s feet clipped the heads ofsome of the captives as the fiend stepped over rows of neatly chained slaves. Thetwo oarsmen heard him coming and scrambled out of the way, allowing the boat todrift as the Terrible One pa.s.sed. Even the bow guards scurried away to give him awide berth.

The slave master draped Ris.h.i.+ over the side. ”Prove it,” he said.

The slaver opened his hand, and Ris.h.i.+ splashed back into the river.

Atreus gasped and started to rise, but stopped when a stinging whip wrappeditself around his throat.

”Sit down,” said a gruff voice behind him. The guard at the other end of the whip jerked the handle, and the coil grew so tight that Atreus began to gasp. ”Tarchdidn't say you could watch.”

”And yet, did he say you were allowed to harm this man?” The question camefrom the shack on the stern. Though heavily accented with a strange dialect ofMaran, the woman's voice was as pure and lyrical as a lyre. This man should not be strangled.”

The guard continued to hold the whip taut, choking Atreus. ”What?” he asked, then turned to the door. ”You think you're giving orders now?”

”It is an observation, not an order. This man will die if you keep strangling him.”