Jim Butcher - Cursors's Fury

Ehren frowned, but nodded. “All right. But after that…”

“After that,” Tavi said, “take the two fastest horses you can find and get out.”

Ehren fell silent.

“It’s your duty,” Tavi said quietly. “The First Lord needs to know about what the ritualists can do. And about those bolt throwers the Canim are using. And…” He shook his head. “Tell him that we’re going to find a way to take down the bridge. Somehow. Convey my apologies that I couldn’t keep it intact.”

There was another silent moment. Then Ehren said, “I can’t just walk away from my friends.”

“Don’t walk. Run. As fast as you can.” Tavi rose and slipped his helmet back on. Then he put a hand on Ehren’s shoulder and met his eyes. “If Gaius doesn’t at least hear about it, it was all for nothing. Don’t let that happen.”

Rain plastered the little Cursor’s hair to his scalp. Then he bowed his head and nodded. “All right.”

Tavi squeezed his shoulder, grateful. At least he’d get one friend out of this mess alive. “Get a move on.”

Ehren gave him a weak smile and a sloppy salute, then turned and hurried away.

Max said quietly, from the darkness nearby, “He’s right, you know.”

Tavi jumped, startled, and glared in the direction of Max’s voice. “Crows, Max. You just scared me out of ten years of life.”

Max snorted and said, “Sounds to me like you don’t think you’ll be using it anyway.”

“You should get food,” Tavi said. “Rest. We’ll need your crafting soon.”

In answer, Max took a ceramic bowl from beneath his cloak, and passed it to Tavi. It was so warm that he could feel it through his gloves, but as the scent of the thick stew reached his nose, a sudden demand from his belly overruled his caution, and he gulped down the stew, barely pausing to chew the meat. Max had a second bowl, and kept Tavi company.

“All right,” Tavi said. “I should probably-”

“Marcus is organizing,” Max said. “Said you should eat. Sit down for a minute. So relax.”

Tavi began to shake his head and deny him, but his aching body prevented him from doing more than leaning up against the wall.

“This is pretty bad,” Tavi said quietly. “Isn’t it?”

Max nodded. “Worst I’ve seen.”

From startlingly nearby, there was the frantic snarl of an enraged Cane and the violent thrashing of water. Max had his sword out of his sheath before the sound died away, and his gaze flickered around them. “What the crows…”

Tavi hadn’t moved. “It’s in the river below us.”

Max arched an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t it concern us if they’re sending troops across.”

“Not particularly. It’s been happening since nightfall. They haven’t made it to this side yet.”

Max frowned. “Water furies?”

“You think I’d let the healers waste their time on something like that?” Tavi asked.

“You’re too clever for your own good, Calderon,” Max growled.

“Sharks,” Tavi said.

“What?”

“Sharks. Big fish with big teeth.”

Max lifted his eyebrows. “Fish?”

“Mmmm. Attracted to blood in the water. Tribune Cymnea’s been collecting from everyone butchering animals in the camp and the down, and dumping the blood into the river. The sharks followed the blood trail up from the sea. Hundreds of them. Now they’re hitting everything that goes for a swim.” Tavi made a vague gesture at the water. “Old fisherman who works this river told me it even attracted a baby leviathan. Little one, about forty feet long.”

Max grunted. “Fish. Sooner or later they’re going to get full, and the Cane are going to have an assault team on this side of the river. You should let me send some of my riders out to patrol the shore.”

“No need,” Tavi said. “Kitai will spot any Cane that gets through.”

“Yeah?” Max said. “There’s only one of her, Calderon. What can she do that fifty of my men can’t?”

“See in the dark,” Tavi said.

Max opened his mouth, then shut it again. “Oh.”

“Besides, “ Tavi said, “if she wasn’t there, she’d be here.”

Max blew out a breath. “Yeah. Always clever.”

“Not always,” Tavi said. He could hear the bitterness in his voice. “Nasaug made a fool out of me.”

“How?”

“I thought he was delaying his attack just to tweak Sari’s nose. That wasn’t what he was doing at all. Sari was stupid enough to order a major attack against the walls with an hour of daylight left. Nasaug managed to stall that attack until night fell, when the Canim would have a major advantage. He broke the gates, then he fixed it so their most expendable troops would soak up the losses from the fire trap.” Tavi shook his head. “I should have realized what he was doing.”

“Even if you had,” Max said, “it wouldn’t have made any difference.”

“And those bolt throwers.” Tavi’s stomach fluttered as he thought of the men they had slain. “Why did I sit around thinking that they would only have hand-thrown weapons for ranged combat.”

“Because that’s all they ever have used,” Max said. “No one could have seen that coming. This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“All the same,” Tavi said.

“No,” Max said. “Crows take it, Calderon. You’ve done a sight more than anyone expected you to do. Probably more than you should have been able to do. Stop blaming yourself. You didn’t send the Canim here.”

In the dark, another Cane’s scream came up from the river.

Tavi let out a tired laugh. “You know what bothers me the most?”

“What?”

“When I was at the riverbank, and those Canim were coming for me, and those lions came up. For just a second…” He shook his head. “I thought that maybe it was something I’d done. Maybe they were my furies. Maybe I wasn’t…” His throat tightened and closed almost shut.

Max spoke quietly from the darkness. “Father never let me manifest a fury. A creature, you know? Like your uncle’s stone hound, or Lady Placida’s fire falcon. But he never taught me anything about water, and in the library there was this old book of stories. There was a water lion like that in there. So… I pretty much taught myself all my watercraft. And since he wasn’t around, it came out like that lion. Named him Androcles.” Tavi couldn’t be sure in the dimness, but he thought he might have seen Max blush. “It was kind of lonely for me, when my mother died.”

“Crassus must have read the same book,” Tavi said.

“Yeah. Funny. Never thought I’d have anything in common with him.” He shifted his weight restlessly. “I’m sorry. That it wasn’t what you’d hoped.”

Tavi shrugged a shoulder. “It’s all right, Max. Maybe it’s time I stopped dreaming of having my own furies and got on with living. I’ve wanted them for so long, but… your furies don’t make things different, do they.”

“Not where it matters,” Max said. “Not on the inside. My father always told me that a man’s furycraft just makes him more of what he already is. A fool with furies is still a fool. A good man with furies is still a good man.”

“Old Killian tried to tell me something like that,” Tavi said. “The day of our combat final. The more I think about it, the more I think maybe he was trying to make me understand that there’s more to the world than furies. More to life than what I can do with them.”

“He was no fool,” Max said. “Calderon. I know what you’ve done. I owe you my life, despite all my furycrafting. You were the one who stood at the end. And that goes double for Gaius. You’ve killed assassins and monsters all by yourself. You faced down a Canim warlord without arms or furycraft to protect you, and I don’t know anyone else who would do that. That trap south of the bridge killed more Canim in an hour than the Legions have in the last ten years. And I still have no idea how you managed to stop their charge-I thought we were finished. And you did all of that without a single fury of your own.” Max’s fist lightly struck Tavi’s armored shoulder. “You’re a crowbegotten hero, Calderon. Furies or not. And you’re a born captain. The men believe in you.’