Steven Erikson - Memories of Ice

'I was simply musing on the T'lan Imass.'

You were? Oh. right. He sighed. 'They war with the Jaghut, Lady. That is their purpose, and it certainly seems sufficient to sustain them. I'd imagine they've little need for spirits or gods or faith, even. They exist to wage their war, and so long as a single Jaghut's still breathing on this world…'

'And are any? Still breathing, that is?'

'How should I know? Ask Tool.'

'I did.'

'And?'

'And … he doesn't know.'

Toc stumbled a step, slowed, staring at her, then at the T'lan Imass striding ahead. ' He doesn't know? '

'Indeed, Toc the Younger. Now, what do you make of that?'

He could manage no reply.

'What if the war's ended? What next, for the T'lan Imass?'

He considered, then slowly said, 'A second Ritual of Gathering?'

'Mhmm…'

'An end? An end to the T'lan Imass? Hood's breath!'

'And not a single spirit waiting to embrace all those weary, so very weary souls …'

An end, an end. Gods, she might be right. He stared at Tool's fur-clad back, and was almost overcome with a sense of loss. Vast, ineffable loss. 'You might be wrong, Lady.'

'I might,' she agreed affably. 'Do you hope that I am, Toc the Younger?'

He nodded.

'Why?' she asked.

Why? Unhuman creatures sworn to genocide. Brutal, deadly, implacable. Relentless beyond all reason. Toc nodded towards the T'lan Imass ahead of them. 'Because he's my friend, Lady Envy.'

They had not been speaking in low tones. At Toc's words, Tool's head turned, the shelf of the brow hiding the pits of eyes that seemed to fix on the Malazan for a moment. Then the head swung forward once more.

'The summoner of the Gathering,' Lady Envy slowly spoke, 'is among your Malazan punitive army, Toc the Younger. We shall converge within the Pannion Domin. Us, them, and the surviving clans of the T'lan Imass. There will be, without doubt, battles aplenty. The crushing of an empire is never easy. I should know, having crushed a few in my time.'

He stared at her, said nothing.

She smiled. 'Alas, they will approach from the north, whilst we approach from the south. Our journey ahead will be fraught indeed.'

'I admit I have been wondering,' Toc said. 'How, precisely, will we manage to cross a hostile, fanatic territory?'

'Simple, love, we shall carve our way through.'

Gods, if I stay with these people, I am a dead man.

Lady Envy was still smiling, her eyes on Tool. 'Like a white-hot knife through ice, we thrust to the heart … of a frozen, timeless soul.' Her voice rising slightly, she added, 'Or so we suspect, do we not, Onos T'oolan?'

The T'lan Imass stopped.

Baaljagg pulled away from beneath Toc's hand, padded forward. The dog Garath followed.

The Malazan spun upon hearing three sets of swords slide from scabbards.

'Oh,' Lady Envy said. 'Something's coming.'

Toc unslung his bow and planted its butt to string it as he scanned the horizon ahead. 'I don't see anything … but I'll take everyone's word for it.'

Moments later a K'Chain Che'Malle crested the ridgeline a hundred paces ahead, huge, slung forward and seeming to flow over the ground on two legs. Blades flashed at the ends of its arms.

Ay and dog flinched back.

Toc's recollection of such a creature — fraught with the pained memories of Trake's death — returned to him with a jolt that shortened his breath.

'K'ell Hunter,' Tool said. 'Lifeless.' He had not yet reached for his stone sword. The T'lan Imass pivoted, faced the three Seguleh. A frozen moment stretched between them, then Tool nodded.

Senu on Mok's right, Thurule on his left and both brothers a step ahead of the Third, the Seguleh padded forward to meet the K'Chain Che'Malle.

'A gamble,' Lady Envy murmured.

'The time has come,' Tool said, 'to gauge their worth, Lady. Here, at the border to the Domin. We must know our … knife's efficacy.'

Toc nocked an arrow. 'Something tells me I might as well throw twigs at it,' he muttered, recalling Trake's death.

'Wrong,' Tool said, 'yet there is no need to test the stone's power of your arrows.'

'Power, huh? Fine, but that's not the problem. I've only got one eye, Tool. I can't judge distances worth a damn. And that thing's fast.'

'Leave this one to the Seguleh,' the T'lan Imass said.

'As you say,' Toc replied, shrugging. His heart did not slow its hammering.

The K'Chain Che'Malle was blurred lightning as it plunged among the three brothers. The Seguleh were faster. Senu and Thurule had already moved past the creature, throwing savage, unerring blows behind them without turning, sliding effortlessly like snakes to avoid the hunter's whipping tail.

Mok, standing directly in front of the creature, had not backed up a step.

The beast's huge arms flew past to either side of the Third — both severed at the shoulder joint by the flanking brothers in their single pass. Mok's swords darted upward, stabbed, cut, twisted, hooked then withdrew with the hunter's massive head balanced on the tips for the briefest of moments before the Third flung its blade-bending weight aside and leapt to the right, barely avoiding the decapitated body's forward pitch.

The K'Chain Che'Malle thundered as it struck the ground, legs kicking and tail thrashing. Then its movements ceased.

'Well,' Toc said after he'd regained his breath, 'that wasn't so hard. Those beasts look tougher than they are, obviously. Good thing, too. We'll just stroll into the Domin, now, right? Gawking at Bastion's wonder, then beyond-'

'You're babbling,' Lady Envy said. 'Very unattractive, Toc the Younger. Please stop, now.'

Mouth clamped shut, Toc managed a nod.

'Now, let us go and examine the K'Chain Che'Malle. I, for one, am curious.'

He watched her walk ahead, then followed at a stumble. As he passed Tool, he offered the T'lan Imass a sickly grin. 'I think you can relax, now, right?'

The deathless face turned to him. 'The Third's dismantling, Toc the Younger …'

'Yes?'

'I could not have done that. I have never seen such … skill.'

Toc paused, his eye narrowing. 'Tool, that was glorified dissection — are you not his match in speed?'

'Perhaps.'

'And could he have done that without his brothers slicing those arms off? What if the beast had attacked with its feet instead of its jaws? Tool, that K'Chain Che'Malle was trying for all three of them at once. Stupid. Arrogant.'

The T'lan Imass cocked his head. 'Arrogance. A vice of being undead, Toc the Younger.'

The Malazan's grin broadened. 'And yours has just been shaken, Tool?'

'An unfamiliar sensation.'

Toc shrugged, about to turn and rejoin Lady Envy.

The stone sword was in Tool's hands. 'I must challenge him.'

Grin falling away, Toc stepped closer. 'Hold on, friend — you don't-'

'I must challenge him. Now.'

'Why?'

'The First Sword of the T'lan Imass must be without equal, Aral Fayle.'

'Gods, not you too!'

The T'lan Imass set off towards the Seguleh.

'Wait! Tool-'

The First Sword glanced back. 'You share my shaken faith, mortal, despite your earlier words.'

'Damn it, Tool, now's not the time for this! Think! We need all of you — each in one piece. Intact-'

'Enough words, Aral Fayle.'

The brothers stood around the fallen K'Chain Che'Malle. Lady Envy had joined them and was now crouched, examining the creature's corpse.

Filled with dread, Toc matched Tool's steady, determined pace as they approached.

Senu was the first of the Seguleh to notice them. He slowly sheathed his swords, stepped back. A moment later Thurule did the same. Mok slowly faced the T'lan Imass.

'By the Abyss!' Lady Envy snapped, straightening, her expression darkening. 'Not now.' She waved a hand.