Book 3 - Water Sleeps by Glen Cook Read Free Book Online Page A

battlefield illusions. And,
though willing to share their secrets, they had not been able to
arm Sahra for the struggle. Her talent did not extend in that
direction.
    The first Greys charged out of the darkness, into the ambushes
waiting to receive them. For a while it was a vicious slaughter.
But, somehow, a few managed to get through to support the Guards
barely hanging on at the Palace entrance.
    Subredil and I moved into position against the foot of the wall,
between the big entrance and the servants’ postern. Subredil
hugged her Ghanghesha and whimpered. Sawa clung to Subredil and
drooled and made strange little frightened noises.
    Though the attackers piled up heaps of Greys, they never quite
managed to break through the defense of the entry-way. Then help
arrived from inside. Willow Swan and a platoon of Royal Guards
burst through the gateway. The attackers scattered instantly. So
fast, in fact, that Swan screeched, “Hold up! There’s
something wrong!”
    The night lit up. The air filled with hurtling fireballs. Their
like had not been seen since the heavy fighting at the end of the
Shadowmaster wars. Lady had created those weapons in vast numbers
and a few had been husbanded carefully since then. The men
employing them had not been involved in the attack on the entrance.
They clung to the fire plan, which counted on everyone being able
to pick Swan out from amongst the Guards and Greys.
    His life depended on it.
    Fire fell to the side of the group away from Subredil and me.
Willow was afraid. When fire swiftly shifted to fall on the entry
and cut him off, he was supposed to retreat toward the service
entrance. Past us.
    Good old Swan. He must have read my script. As his men were
being torn apart by fireballs just yards away, he skittered along,
hand against the wall, staying just steps ahead of destruction.
Molten stone and chunks of burning flesh flew over his head and
ours and I realized that I had underestimated the fury of my
weapons, perhaps fatally. It was definitely a mistake to have
committed so many.
    Swan stumbled over Minh Subredil’s ankle. Somehow, when he
hit the cobblestones, he found himself face-to-face with a drooling
idiot. Who had a dagger’s point neatly positioned under his
chin. “Don’t even breathe,” she whispered.
    Fireballs hitting the Palace wall melted their way right in. The
wooden gateway was on fire. There was plenty of light by which our
brothers could see us signal that we had gotten our man. Fire
became more accurate. The resistance to the Greys coming to help
became less porous. A second apparent attack came forward. A couple
of those brothers collected Swan. They kicked and cursed us. And
took our weapons with them when they went away, part of a general
retreat as the attack wave fled from no evident resistance.
    As they disappeared into the darkness, the thing that we had
feared most occurred.
    Soulcatcher came out on the battlements above to see what was
happening. Subredil and I knew because all fighting ceased within
seconds once somebody spotted her. Then a storm of fireballs
flashed her way.
    We were lucky. She was sufficiently unprepared that she could do
nothing but duck. Our brothers then did what they were supposed to
do. They got the heck out of there. They got downhill and lost
amongst the population before the Protector could release her bats
and crows.
    It was my belief that the activity would have all the nearby
part of the city in an uproar within minutes. The men were supposed
to help that along by launching absurd rumors. If they remained
calm enough.
    Subredil and Sawa moved two dozen yards closer to the
servants’ postern. We had just settled down to drool and be
held and whimper while we watched the corpses burn when a
frightened voice demanded, “Minh Subredil. What are you doing
here?”
    Jaul Barundandi. Our boss. I did not look up. And Subredil did
not respond until Barundandi stirred her with a toe and asked
again, not unkindly. She told him,