Book 4 - Soldiers Live by Glen Cook Read Free Book Online Page A

‘
Rajadharma
.’ ”
    “I’ve heard the Bhodi cult is making a comeback,
too.”
    Ghopal Singh added, “Two said ‘
Water Sleeps
.’
That’s not Bhodi. And they weren’t stray graffiti left
over from four years ago.”
    A thrill, half fear, half excitement, coursed through Mogaba. He
stared at the Protector. She said, “I want to know
who’s doing it. I want to know why they’ve decided to
do it right now.”
    Mogaba thought both Singhs looked cautiously pleased, as though
glad to have potential real enemies to chase instead of just
irritating people who would otherwise remain indifferent to the
Palace.
    The Grove of Doom was outside the city. Everything outside was
Mogaba’s province. He asked, “Was there some particular
action you wished me to take in regard to the Deceivers?”
    Soulcatcher smiled. When she did that, just that way, every
minute of her many centuries shone through. “Nothing. Not a
thing. They’re scattering already. I’ll let you know
when. It’ll be when they’re not ready.” This
voice was cold but was filled with her evil smile. Mogaba wondered
if the Singhs knew how seldom anyone saw the Protector without her
mask. It meant that she meant to involve them in her schemes too
deeply for them to escape the association.
    Mogaba nodded like a dutiful servant. It was all a game to the
Protector. Or possibly several games. Maybe making a game of it was
how you survived spiritually in a world where everyone else was
ephemeral.
    Soulcatcher said, “I want you to help catch rats.
There’s a shortage of carrion. My babies are going
hungry.” She offered her black-winged spy another treat. This
one suspiciously resembled a human eyeball.
     
----

----

9

An Abode of Ravens:
The Invalid
    A m I still
alive?” I did not need to ask. I was. Pain was a dead
giveaway. Every square inch of me hurt.
    “Don’t move.” That was Tobo. “Or
you’ll wish you hadn’t.”
    I already wished I did not have to breathe.
“Burns?”
    “Lots of burns. Lots of banging around, too.”
    Murgen’s voice said, “You look like they whipped
your ass with a forty-pound ugly stick, then slow-roasted what was
left over an open pit.”
    “I thought you were at Khang Phi.”
    “We came home.”
    Tobo said, “We kept you unconscious for four
days.”
    “How is Lady?”
    Murgen told me, “She’s in the other bed. In a lot
better shape than you.”
    “She ought to be. I didn’t shoot her. The cat get
her tongue?”
    “She’s asleep.”
    “What about One-Eye?”
    Tobo’s response was barely audible. “One-Eye
didn’t make it, Croaker.”
    After a while, Murgen asked, “You all right?”
    “He was the last.”
    “Last? Last what?”
    “The last one who was here when I joined. The
Company.” I was the real Old Man now. “What happened to
his spear? I’ve got to have his spear in order to finish
this.”
    “What spear?” Murgen asked.
    Tobo knew what spear. “I have it at my place.”
    “Was it damaged by the fire?”
    “Not much. Why?”
    “I’m going to kill that thing. Like we should have a
long time ago. You don’t let that spear out of your sight.
I’ve got to have it. But right now I’m going to sleep
for a while some more.” I had to go where the pain was not,
just for a time. I had known One-Eye would leave us someday. I
thought I was ready for that. I was wrong.
    His passing meant more than just the end of an old friend. It
marked the end of an age.
    Tobo said something about the spear. I did not catch it. And the
darkness came back before I remembered to ask what had become of
the forvalaka. If Lady had caught or killed it I had gotten myself
worked up for nothing . . . But I guess I knew
it could not be that easy.
     
    There were dreams. I remembered everyone who had gone before me.
I remembered the places and times. Cold places, hot places, weird
places, always stressful times, swollen with unhappiness, pain and
fear. Some died. Some did not. It makes no sense when you