Don Bassingthwaite - The Grieving Tree

She felt like a tiny vessel on the middle of an ocean storm as her creator raged around her. Tetkashtai! Dandra shouted, trying to calm her down. Tetkashtai!

Her thoughts were butterflies to the hurricane of Tetkashtai’s terror and Dandra felt a flash of fear herself. Back in Zarash’ak, she’d told Singe that every episode of panic seemed to take the presence closer to the brink of true madness. Abandoning any effort to soothe Tetkashtai, she wrenched herself away. Or attempted to. It was like trying to rip a limb from between the teeth of a beast. Tetkashtai shrieked, dragging her back. In desperation, Dandra drew up a memory of Dah’mir-acid-green eyes shining-and flung it at her.

Tetkashtai’s screams rose and she flinched back. Dandra slammed the gates of her mind, trappping the presence outside them. Echoes of Tetkashtai’s terror rang in her ears. Dandra threw her will against them and blocked them out. For a moment, her thoughts were her own.

And she realized that Ashi’s footsteps weren’t the only ones she could hear.

Dandra raised her head and tried to look behind them. Far back, a squad of ogres swung around a corner. One-Chuut, she realized-saw them and let out a deep shout.

“Il-Yannah,” Dandra cursed. She twisted around in Ashi’s grip. “Ashi! Let me down!”

“Wait.” Dandra whirled in the air as Ashi slid around another corner-

— and came to a sharp stop. “Rond betch!” she spat and swung Dandra off her shoulder. Dandra turned around and stared.

The passage continued on but the torches they had followed were gone. The corridor ahead was pitch dark. To their right, stairs plunged down into darkness as well. To their left, a stout door stood closed. Ashi snarled and whirled, staring at their options with wild eyes. “We can’t go on. Even if we had a torch, the ogres would see the light!”

Dandra spun to the door, reaching for the handle. There was no way of knowing what lay beyond it, but at least it was a hiding place-but if the ogres didn’t see a light retreating down either the darkened hallway or the stairs, wouldn’t the door be the first place they’d look? Her hand dropped. She turned back to Ashi. A glance at the hunter’s face told her that she had realized the same thing.

Ashi had her spear clutched in her hand. She thrust it at her and Dandra took it, raising her chin in determination. Ashi bared her teeth and drew her sword, the bright blade shining in the dim light. Neither of them said anything. The pounding footsteps of their pursuers closed in. Dandra moved to face the turn in the corridor, stepping up onto the air and skimming the ground, ready to fight. Raising a hand, she reached into herself to call up the fierce energy of whitefire. The first ogre around the corner was going to burn.

Instead of whitefire’s droning chorus, all that filled her was Tetkashtai’s mad terror. It lanced through her, tearing a gasp from her throat as she fought it back. She stumbled, her feet dropping hard to the ground. Ashi’s hand whipped out and caught her before she could fall.

“Dandra!”

Dandra shook her head, struggling to clear her mind. “It’s Tetkashtai!” She tried to summon the concentration to lift herself off the ground once more, but the presence was like a drowning person, dragging on her mind. Dandra beat her back, but yellow-green light seemed to force itself into the corners of her eyes. Through the glare, she saw Ashi swing toward the sound of the approaching ogres like a cornered animal.

To their side, the door that they had seen and rejected as a hiding place swung open. Ekhaas leaned out through the door frame, gesturing for them. “Inside! Quickly!”

Ashi snarled, but Dandra shoved her toward the door. She felt no trust for the hobgoblin, but Ekhaas was no friend to the treacherous Tzaryan Rrac-and if Robrand was right, at least Geth had found some reason to set her free. “In!”

“The ogres will look in here!” the hunter said.

“No, they won’t.” Ekhaas reached out and grabbed her arm, hauling her through the door. Dandra slipped through on her heels. The hobgoblin held the door open for a moment longer. Her free hand gestured and Dandra caught a snatch of deep, swelling song. Two flickering lights flared over her palm. With a quick motion, Ekhaas hurled them into the darkness of the hallway, then pulled the door almost shut, leaving it open just enough to peer out. Through that thin crack, Dandra could just see Ekhaas’s lights receeding down the dark passage-exactly like torches carried by running fugitives.

The sound of heavy footsteps and ogre voices filled the corridor outside. Dandra heard Chuut give another shout and order the ogres onward. In moments, their pursuers had hurtled past them.

“Quickly,” said Ekhaas. “We don’t have much time. The lights won’t last long. Down the stairs. Take my hand and I’ll guide you.” She pushed the door wide, then reached back and grabbed something from the shadows. The dim light in the hallway struck flashes of purple from a heavy byeshk sword. Geth’s sword.

Fear and anger rose in Dandra’s throat. Her spear darted forward, point quivering a finger’s width from Ekhaas’s side. “What’s going on here?” Dandra hissed. “Where’s Geth? The General said he and you fled together!”

Ekhaas didn’t move, though her yellow eyes narrowed and her ears twitched back. “The General lies. Geth is in Tzaryan’s dungeon-with Lor.”

Dandra blinked. Ekhaas’s breath hissed. She pushed Dandra’s spear away, then stretched out her hand. Out of sight down the corridor, ogre voices rose in confusion. Ekhaas’s ears flicked. “Decide! Geth is in danger. You have my word on that.”

Dandra glanced at Ashi. The hunter’s eyes were hard and suspicious, but she nodded. Dandra clenched her teeth and took Ekhaas’s hand. “We’re all in danger.”

“Be silent until I tell you it’s safe.” Ekhaas led them-Dandra’s hand in hers, Ashi’s hand on the shaft of Dandra’s spear-across the corridor and down the stairs. The light of the hallway vanished. In the dark, the oversized steps of the stairs were even more treacherous, but Ekhaas descended with rapid urgency. They reached the bottom just as the sound of Chuut and his ogres echoed again along the corridor above. Ekhaas shoved Dandra and Ashi back against a wall and let go off Dandra’s hand. Once again, the hobgoblin sang and two more tongues of flame, identical to the first two, appeared above her palm. This time, however, the flick of Ekhaas’s hand left them hanging in the air at the bottom of the stairs. Dandra choked back a curse. Ekhaas was going to draw the ogres right to them!

Up above, harsh words became excited at the sight of the flames below. Footsteps started down the stairs-only to stop at a command from Chuut. An argument erupted, then ended with the sound of a closed fist on a thick skull. Chuut growled another command and heavy footsteps charged away, back along the corridor in the direction they had all first come.

In the lights of the flames, Dandra could see Ekhaas’s face. Her ears stood high and she looked pleased with herself. From behind Dandra, Ashi said softly, “Are you mad? You almost brought them right after us!”

Ekhaas gave a disdainful snort. “You don’t speak their language, do you? For an ogre, Chuut is smart-but not that smart. I knew he’d think the lights were just another distraction. We’re safe for now.”

“If we’re safe,” Dandra said, “I want an explanation now. What’s going on?”

“Listen while we move.” Ekhaas moved away from the wall and started along the lower hallway. The dancing lights she had brought into being moved with her, forcing Dandra and Ashi to stay with her as well or be left behind in the dark.