Don Bassingthwaite - The tyranny of ghosts

Ashi glared at Midian, then nodded to Ekhaas and dashed away along the corridor. “I should follow them,” murmured Chetiin.

Ekhaas hesitated, then said, “No. Stay with us. You should be close in case we need to use the shaari’mal.”

Chetiin’s big ears twitched, but he nodded slowly. Keraal gestured to the rest of them. “This way.”

He led them the opposite way along the corridor, then up to what must have been a staging area for the arena. Sand spilled through from the other side of a pair of tall doors, currently closed, but shaking with the sound of the crowd in the stands above. Ekhaas could smell old blood and animal odors.

Lined up before the doors in parade formation was the Iron Fox, armor and weapons polished. Standing at the company’s head in his scarred battle armor, helmet in his hands, was Dagii. The young warlord’s gray eyes turned as they entered-then widened as he saw her.

Ekhaas’s blood seemed to thunder in her ears at the sight of him as well. She was vaguely aware of Keraal urging them forward as he and his men moved to where junior warriors waited to help them don their armor. Ekhaas tried to force her emotions back, but they resisted her. She walked to Dagii with Chetiin to one side of her and Geth and Tenquis to the other. “Ruuska’te,” she said. Tiger man.

He stared at her, not shifting from his parade position, though his ears were trembling. “Taarka’nu.” Wolf woman. She saw him swallow. “I’m about to swear a false oath before my lhesh and then rebel against his command. Gath’muut, Gath’atcha.”

No duty. No honor. Ekhaas knew that it was probably as close to an admission of fear as he was ever likely to come. She shook her head. “Ta muut’rhu,” she said. “You have a greater duty. Dagii, we’ve found a way to block the power of the Rod of Kings. We’re going to come with you. We can fight Tariic.”

His eyes widened and finally broke away from her to glance at Geth and the others. Ekhaas turned to Tenquis. “Give me the shaari’mal.” The tiefling nodded and murmured the word that revealed the pockets of his long vest.

Beyond the door, the crowd in the arena went suddenly silent.

Tenquis froze, hand reaching for his pocket. Dagii stiffened, his ears pressing flat along his head. “No!” he said sharply. “Get back-”

Tariic’s voice echoed through the arena. “Let my commanders enter!”

The throb of drums and drone of war pipes rose. The great doors began to open. Dagii snapped around to face them as sunlight fell on him. Suddenly Keraal was beside Ekhaas and the others. “Your spell of disguise!” he said. “Use it now!”

Ekhaas blinked and sang more out of instinct than conscious thought. Picking four warriors of the Iron Fox, she held their images in her mind as the magic took shape. Illusion wove itself around Geth and Tenquis-and her and Chetiin too. One of the four warriors glanced away from the opening doors at the rippling sound of her song, and Ekhaas saw his ears rise at the sight of his own double.

Keraal cursed and said, “Try not to draw attention to yourselves.” He shoved them toward the Iron Fox and barked an order. The warriors shifted in their ranks and four places opened up. Ekhaas and the others stepped into formation just as the doors opened fully, and Dagii led his company out onto the sands of the arena.

Ashi found the stairs to the stands and raced up them, not bothering to look back and see if Midian had kept pace with her. In fact, she hoped that he hadn’t. Discovering that Ekhaas, Geth, and the others had made it back to Rhukaan Draal was exhilarating. Finding out that Midian was still alive-and had even become an ally once more-sickened her.

She knew where the dragonmarked envoys would be sitting in the stands. The envoys and their diplomat counterparts from the Five Nations always took the same seats, outsiders banding together in the sea of Darguuls. She paused outside the entrance to the stands, slipped off the hood of her cloak, and pushed the enveloping folds back. The disguise would do more harm than good as she joined the other dragonmarked, but she wanted to keep it available in case Tariic happened to be looking up this way.

A hobgoblin guard was standing just inside the entrance. He held up a hand as she tried to pass. “You don’t belong here,” he said in Goblin.

Ashi gave him a haughty glare. “I am Lady Ashi d’Deneith,” she said in the same language. “I have every right to sit in this section.”

He looked her up and down, and she realized what he was seeing. Compared to the other envoys and diplomats, she had the appearance of a pauper. Clothes dirty from days of captivity, hair and body unwashed-she certainly didn’t look like she belonged here.

She hesitated and considered calling for one of the other envoys to verify her identity.

The crowd fell silent. The guard turned away. Ashi craned her neck to look past him.

In the raised box where he sat surrounded by Darguun’s most prominent warlords, Tariic rose to his feet and held up the Rod of Kings. “Let my commanders enter!”

The big doors on either side of the arena opened, and two companies of hobgoblin soldiers entered. From the right came Dagii and the Iron Fox-Ashi didn’t see Ekhaas or the others but Keraal was there so they had to be close. From the left came ranks of Kech Shaarat. She recognized both Taak Dhakaan and Riila Dhakaan at their head.

The throbbing sound of big goblin drums and the dissonant drone of war pipes filled the arena. The crowd remained silent, watching with fascination and respect, as the companies made a brisk parade and took their places. Ashi searched the stands in front of her and found the back of Pater d’Orien’s broad shoulders only a few rows from the edge of the section. She clenched her teeth and tried the guard again. “Let me through.”

He turned to glare at her, but his gaze shifted to someone behind her. Ashi looked back and saw Midian. In his travel-stained clothes, his small crossbow hidden beneath his stripped-off jacket, the gnome was only a little less disheveled than she was, but he stared up at the guard with a confidence much larger than his stature. “You stand in the way of Lhesh Tariic’s guest,” he said. “She’s missing this great event. I am Tariic’s historian. Have you seen me in Khaar Mbar’ost? Move or Tariic will hear about this!”

The guard’s eyes darted between them-and he stepped aside. Below, the two companies had fallen into formation. They stood still, warriors looking straight ahead, commanders looking up at Tariic. The lhesh lowered his rod, and the drums and pipes faded. “Taak Dhakaan of Kech Shaarat,” he said in Goblin. “Riila Dhakaan of Kech Shaarat. Dagii of Mur Talaan. You go to meet the enemies of Darguun-”

The blessing had begun. Ashi walked past the hobgoblin guard, looked down at Midian, and gave him a nod of thanks. He wasn’t even looking at her. His gaze was on Tariic, his eyes intent.

Ashi felt a sudden flicker of unease. Ekhaas said they had a way to counter the rod, but she wondered how permanent that way was. Could Midian have fallen under Tariic’s power again just by seeing him with the rod? “Midian,” she whispered as they walked down the stairs of the stand together, “are you still with us?”

“Don’t worry, Ashi,” he said. “Tariic’s never going to have a hold on me again.”

His eyes stayed on the lhesh. Ashi’s unease didn’t go away.

They were at the bench behind Pater. “Wait for me,” she said. Keeping her head down and praying that Tariic kept his attention on the Iron Fox and the Kech Shaarat, she pushed her way along.

“-Do you accept the challenges that I set before you? Do you follow the will of your lhesh for the glory of Darguun?” asked Tariic.