Troy Denning - Faces of Deception

Atreus cursed, then squatted down and swung his legs over the yak's side. "The man is a bloodhound," he said. "Naraka and his patrol are about half a mile behind. They saw me."

"No matter. We can easily lose them again." Rishi turned his yak toward the ribbon of open water.

They had no choice except to plow straight through the willows, leaving an easy trail to follow. This did not concern Atreus nearly as much as the apparent impossibility of finding a dry place to spend the night. Though he and Rishi had more or less dried out after their morning ambushes, they were both hungry and far from warm. After the sun went down, the bitter cold would be a steady drain on their strength-strength that in Atreus's case was already being tested by a throbbing wound.

Soon, the yak's feet began to plunge deeper into the water. Small, arrow-shaped ripples appeared at the base of the willow stalks, and it grew clear they were approaching a river. Rishi continued to plow forward until the water rose above the yak's knees. Finally, he turned upstream, ducking in and out of a network of narrow passages that ran parallel to the main channel. Every now and then they crossed a broader clearing that opened into the river itself, framing a picture-like panorama of water, willows, and sky-scraping peaks.

Naraka's patrol made good use of the passages and the now obvious bearing of their quarry. It was not long before Atreus began to hear the occasional shouted order.

Even with Yago behind the patrol, Atreus did not want to risk a battle this close to dark. Without a dry place to start a fire, the winners would escape death for only as long as it took to freeze.

"We're going to have to cross," Atreus said.

Rishi shook his head. "The river is very deep."

"Yaks can't swim?"

"Of course they can," Rishi replied. "And we will be soaked, with no place to camp."

"We can't camp on this side either."

Rishi shrugged and said, "Who can say, but at least we will not be wet."

They continued along the shore, and the sky grew steadily grayer. Naraka's patrol closed the distance, until their voices became a steady murmur creeping up from behind. Atreus began to roll his shoulder and gently swing his arm back and forth, preparing his wound for a battle that now seemed inevitable.

The willows were just beginning to stripe the water with late afternoon shadows when more murmuring voices sounded ahead. Atreus's first fear was that some of Naraka's men had circled around to cut them off, but then he also noticed a faint, sporadic clanking. Rishi cursed quietly in Maran and peered back toward Naraka's patrol.

"What's wrong?" Even as he asked the question, Atreus fathomed the source of the clanking. "Have we reached the road?"

"Some time ago," Rishi whispered. "And now we must leave it."

"What?" Atreus peered through the willows and saw nothing but river. "Do you mean-"

"The good sir understands very well. And soon, so will Naraka." Rishi started to turn away from the river. "We must lead him away from the river before he sees the boats."

"Boats!" Atreus nearly shouted the word, and the willows fell silent as Naraka's patrol stopped to listen. "We have no boats. How are we to use a river with no-"

"Ssssh!" Rishi held his finger to his lips, then hissed, "The Swamp Way is like any road. There are inns spread along its course, and at those inns boats can often be purchased."

Atreus listened a moment, then groaned. The clanking and voices upstream were growing louder.

"We're going the wrong direction."

Rishi scowled and glanced nervously upstream and down. "Certainly the good sir has sound reason for claiming to know more than his guide?" he said. "Perhaps he has been in this swamp before, or perhaps he has a divine map from his goddess such as the one that shows him how to reach the fabled valley, but not the mountains where it lies?"

"The boat is coming downstream," Atreus replied, "so, unless these river-men make a habit of running in the dark, the nearest inn is not far behind us… on the other side of Naraka."

Rishi's face fell, and Naraka's voice began shouting orders. It did not sound nearly distant enough to please Atreus.

"He's found our trail." Atreus turned his yak toward the river and urged it forward. "Maybe we can catch a ride."

"No! Wait!" Rishi cried. "What about Yago? Surely you do not mean to leave him alone with Naraka?"

"Yago is behind Naraka," Atreus said, continuing toward the river. "That means he's downstream. We'll pick him up on the way past."

Ponies began to splash through the water, moving fast and coming straight toward them. The murmur on the boats was almost as loud as that of Naraka's patrol, the clanking so sharp that Atreus could distinctly identify it as chains.

"You do not understand!" Rishi cried, riding after Atreus. "We must go to the inn. These boats are not for sale!"

"Anything is for sale if you have enough gold," Atreus insisted, pointing to the rucksack hanging from Rishi's yak. "And we have enough gold."

Atreus emerged from the willows and found himself staring upstream at a sharp bend in the river. As he watched, a long wooden dugout floated around the corner, guided by a single man in the rear. In front of the pilot stood several burly guards, looming over a dozen people-men, women, and children-chained to the bottom of the boat.

"Slaves?" Atreus gasped. He turned to Rishi, too stunned to be outraged. "I'm following a slaver?"

A second boat floated around the bend, also holding a dozen slaves The captives sat three abreast, with a single chain running through their wrist manacles from one side of the boat to the other. They had the dark hair and golden skin of the Mar, but their faces were rounder and their eyes narrower. Their cheeks and black eyes were bulging, most had a crust of dried blood beneath their nostrils, lips so swollen they could barely close their mouths. Their clothes were filthy, ripped, and too flimsy for a journey through the cold swamp. Most were shivering. All were staring into the water with hopeless, unseeing eyes.

At the rear of the boat stood a pair of guards, larger and of lighter complexion than their captives. They dressed in warm furs and held furled whips in their hands. At their sides hung long padded clubs, no doubt used to beat slaves senseless without damaging their market value. The two men were frowning and looking past Atreus and Rishi into the willows, where Naraka's patrol was rustling toward shore.

A wave of revulsion rose in Atreus. The thought of buying help from slavers sickened him, but their boats seemed his only hope of survival. Whether or not he defeated Naraka, he would need plenty of warm food and a dry place to sleep if he wanted to see the dawn.

"Perhaps now the good sir sees why we may not ask for a ride," said Rishi. "It is death to anyone who reveals the Swamp Road to the Queen's Men. We must lead the patrol away and circle back to the inn, or the river-men will kill us as surely as our pursuers."

Rishi turned away from the shore, suddenly crying out and pressing himself flat to his mount's back. A pair of wooden lances flew out of the willows, one striking the gold-filled rucksack on his yak and the other sailing over his head into the river.

A grunt sounded downstream from Atreus. He ducked, then heard a lance hiss past and splash into the water. He twisted toward his unseen attacker, automatically bringing his sword around in an inverted guard, and deflected a second lance corning at his ribs. He urged his mount deeper into the willows, not because he cared whether Naraka's men saw the slave boats, but because it was death to be trapped against the river.

He was too late. There were two riders lurking in the willows ahead. On the other side of Rishi, another pair-these still armed with lances-were easing through the thicket upstream. Naraka and four more men were coming from downstream, ready to sweep in from behind the instant Atreus and Rishi engaged either pair of riders.