Word of traitors

CHAPTER SIX

20 Sypheros

The most rumored match of the second day of the games had already begun as Ekhaas stepped into the sun of the warlords’ box. Below, Keraal circled the ring, back to the wall, taking the measure of his opponent-an ettin captured somewhere in the northern hills of Darguun and forced into the arena. Ekhaas shaded her eyes against the afternoon’s brightness and studied the creature just as Keraal did. The ettin stood nearly twice as tall as the hobgoblin. Its limbs were thick and its features angry, with fleshy lips and ragged ears on each of the two heads that sprouted from its massive shoulders.

Both pairs of the ettin’s tiny black eyes were fixed on Keraal, watching intently as the warlord of the Marhaan spun the chain that was his appointed weapon in a slow circle before him. The ettin had been provided with arms of a sort as well: a club fashioned from a length of heavy building timber and a shield made out of a door.

The spectators in the stands were cheering, most of them for the ettin, a vocal few for Keraal. Ekhaas saw one of the ettin’s heads murmur something to the other, then the creature let loose a bloodcurdling dual-pitched cry and charged. The club swept down and Keraal slid aside, but it was a feint. The ettin pushed its makeshift shield into the path of Keraal’s spinning chain. A few chunks of wood flew free, then the chain crashed into a tangle. Keraal tried to leap away, but he was slow. The club dealt him a glancing blow. He staggered and turned the stagger into a desperate lunge under the ettin’s arm. He kicked hard into its calf, then sprinted away as it hopped in pain, yelping with two voices. On the other side of the arena, Keraal shook out his chain and began to spin it again.

A few more voices were cheering for Keraal.

Geth sat alone at the front of the box. Ekhaas slipped in beside him. “None of the heirs are putting themselves on display?” she asked.

“They are. Just not here.” Geth pointed to either end of the box, then out into the stands. “They claimed their own territory.”

Ekhaas followed his gesture. At one end of the raised box, Tariic stood cheering with Daavn at his side. A good number of other warlords clustered around him. Aguus of Traakuum and the warlords who supported him had claimed the other end of the box. Garaad of Vaniish Kai had taken a populist approach, sitting in the stands surrounded by warriors of lower ranks-many of them looking vaguely wistful as they stared across the arena at the section of benches taken over by Iizan of Ghaal Sehn and his supporters where wine was flowing freely and boxes of sweet shaat’aar were being handed around.

“He’ll empty the vaults of the Ghaal Sehn,” Ekhaas said.

“They’re all spending money,” Geth told her. “Iizan’s just being more showy about it.”

Ekhaas spotted Midian among the Ghaal Sehn, trying to get Iizan’s attention and apparently not having much luck. “What’s he doing?”

“Trying to get all the heirs to let him continue digging at Bloodrun, I think. So far he’s only got Tariic to agree. I don’t think any of the others care much for gnomes-or history.”

Ekhaas’s ears lay back.

In the arena, the ettin charged again. This time, Keraal flicked his arm and the chain broke out of its spin to fly low at the ettin. At the last moment, the hobgoblin twisted into the chain, wrapping it around his waist. The flying end of the chain, weighted with shackles, changed direction sharply and jumped up to slam into the shoulder of the ettin’s sword arm. The creature’s shield dipped and it pulled its charge up short-though not short enough. Keraal jerked on the chain and the shackles cracked across one of the ettin’s faces, tearing its lips and cheek. A roar went up from the crowd at the sight of first blood.

“Who chooses his opponents?” asked Ekhaas.

The ettin swatted Keraal with its shield as he tried to get past and a cheer went up from Tariic and his supporters. “Who do you think?” said Geth. “He’s let it out that there’s a fat reward to whoever defeats-and kills-the rebel who defied Haruuc.”

Another successful blow by Keraal brought another, louder roar for the rebel. Ekhaas’s ears flicked upright again. “That could bite him,” she said. “The longer Keraal stays alive, the more the crowd will treat him like a hero.”

“Haruuc told me once that Darguuls want blood and it doesn’t matter who sheds it. I think the crowd will be just as happy if he dies.” Geth grimaced. “I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do if he lives.”

“There’s nothing to figure out. He goes free. We’re bound by tradition.” She looked sideways at him. “I’ve found our artificer,” she said quietly.

The shifter sat up. Ekhaas put a hand on his arm and pulled him back down in his seat. “Don’t make a fuss!” She glanced around. No one seemed to have noticed Geth’s excitement. “He’ll see us tonight. You, me, and Dagii.”

“Just the three of us?”

Ekhaas nodded. “I think he suspects something, so he wants to be discreet, which is what we want, too. I’m his contact, you’re the only one who can handle the rod, and Dagii will provide us with extra protection. Bringing Ashi and Midian would attract too much attention in the streets at night.”

“How did you get him to agree to it?”

She drew breath through her teeth. “He hasn’t entirely. Not yet. He knows that he’s going to be copying a Dhakaani artifact. That’s all. I even asked in the Bloody Market about the availability of byeshk. We’ll get it to him when he needs it.” Ekhaas sat back. “He’s fascinated by the lost knowledge of the daashor, the Dhakaani artificer tradition. That’s what hooked him. Bring Wrath with you tonight. If he hesitates when he finds out what we really want, I think the opportunity to examine two artifacts created by the legendary Taruuzh will help him make up his mind.”

“I’d bring Wrath anyway.” Geth touched the sword’s hilt. “I’m not going anywhere without it right now.”

“Dagii and I will come for you when the first moon rises,” Ekhaas said. “Wrap the rod in something to disguise it-and try to disguise yourself. Too many people recognize you now.” She rose.

An loud whistling sound from the arena drew her attention back to the sands. Keraal had doubled up his chain and was swinging it hard and fast overhead. The ettin, uncertain what the hobgoblin was up to, backed away slowly. Maybe too slowly-Keraal dropped suddenly to one knee and loosened his grip. The chain slid through his fingers with a long rattle and swept around in an expanding arc. The end of it wrapped around the ettin’s ankle, the shackles catching in the chain and tangling.

Instantly, Keraal was back on his feet and racing around the ettin even as the two-headed creature tried to shake the chain loose. Keraal caught its other leg inside the loop of chain, and hauled back with all of his strength. Muscles strained under his scarred skin.

The ettin’s legs were pulled together, then wrenched out from under it. Arms flailing, it crashed faces first to the ground. Keraal dropped the chain and charged, jumping up onto its broad shoulders and leaping high.

He came down with both feet together on the back of the creature’s right head. Even with the shouts of the crowd ringing in the arena, Ekhaas thought she heard a distinct crack as the head’s face was smashed into the sand. The left head bellowed in shared agony. The ettin heaved, trying to turn itself over.

Keraal dragged the club out of its slack right fist, wrapped both of his hands around the heavy timber, and lifted it. The ettin saw the raised club and tried to get its shield up, but its left arm was supporting most of its weight. It dropped as if it could roll away, but Keraal swung first. The club came down square on the left head. Bone crunched. The ettin managed a feeble roar. Keraal, silent, swung the club again.

The skull shattered and collapsed. Blood and brain spattered the hobgoblin. The ettin’s right head jerked and screamed. Keraal turned to it and swung the heavy club a third time.

The crowed roared in delight. Keraal flung down the club and turned to look up at Geth. Shifter and hobgoblin faced each other in silence, neither moving for a moment, then Keraal turned to Tariic and thumped his chest with his fist in a mocking salute. Tariic’s ears pressed back flat against his skull.

The arena resounded to the cheers and applause of the crowd.

Geth knew Dagii and Ekhaas had arrived when he heard song in the hall outside his door. It was a beautiful, soft song, strange and broken as all dar songs were to someone who hadn’t grown up with them, but still soothing. It reminded Geth of warm nights looking up at the stars and Eberron’s twelve moons and the hazy glow of the Ring of Siberys that dominated the southern sky.

He jerked back to alertness as the door of his chamber opened and Ekhaas entered. The duur’kala was wearing plain, drab clothes and a loose scarf that hid half her face but left room for her large and mobile ears. “Geth? Are you ready? The guards won’t sleep for-” Her eyes landed on him and she stopped. “What’s that?”

Geth pulled the enveloping cloak that he wore more tightly about himself. The hood hid his face better than Ekhaas’s scarf hid hers-in fact, he could barely see to either side. “You said to disguise myself because too many people recognize me.”

“So we wouldn’t attract attention. Now you look like someone trying to disguise himself. Get that off and we’ll try something else.”

Growling, he shook the cloak off-then growled again as Ekhaas squeezed her eyes shut and bent her ears down. “What?”

“We’re not going to be able to cover that.” She rapped the great gauntlet that covered his right arm.

A sleeve of magewrought black steel plates, studded with flat spikes on the forearm and short hooks on the back of the hand, the gauntlet was all the armor he needed. It was light. It was strong. Paired with a sword in his left hand, it made a second weapon that had surprised many opponents over the years. What it wasn’t was inconspicuous.

“I was wearing the cloak to cover it and Wrath!” He slapped the sword at his side.

“Hurry!” Dagii’s voice came low from the hall.

Ekhaas’s ears bent even further. “There isn’t time to take it off. Just hold still.” She concentrated on his face for a moment, her amber eyes intense, then raised a hand and sang a brief rippling passage of song. Geth had experienced Ekhaas’s duur’kala magic many times before, and each time it felt as though he had been dipped in some wild spring that bubbled with the primal music of the world’s creation. This time the music still had that primal energy, but it was strangely muted, almost as if it were only an echo. Ekhaas lowered her hand and nodded. “It will do.”

“What will do?”

“I’ll tell you when we’re out. Where’s the rod?”

“Here.” Geth had the Rod of Kings wrapped up in the soft oiled leather that normally protected his gauntlet. He reached for the anonymous bundle and was startled to see an unfamiliar hand pick it up-a hobgoblin’s orange-red hand on the end of a slender arm wearing a black wool sleeve. He glanced at Ekhaas.

“Illusion,” she said. “Just take the rod. We need to leave.”

He didn’t ask anything more, but grabbed the wrapped rod and followed Ekhaas out the door, closing it behind him. The guards that stood on either side of the door-an honor for the shava of Haruuc more than anything else-were leaning back against the walls, both of them lightly dozing under the subtle effect of Ekhaas’s magic. They wouldn’t know he had slipped out of his chamber.

Dagii was waiting just along the hall. For the first time Geth could recall, the young warlord wore no armor, though he did carry a sword. His shadow-gray hair had been shaken loose and brushed forward over his face. Dagii barely looked like himself. His ears rose at the sight of them, but he said nothing and fell into step alongside them.

As soon as they were away from the hall outside his chamber, Geth looked down at himself. He wore-or seemed to wear-a robe of black wool and a wide girdle of red leather tooled in the angular patterns favored by hobgoblin design.

He also appeared to have breasts.

“A woman?” he said under his breath. “You made me a woman?”

“My older sister, actually,” Ekhaas whispered. “I was in a hurry. I had to choose someone I knew well but that no one in Khaar Mbar’ost was likely to recognize. The illusion won’t last long-that’s why I prefer non-magical disguise. Try not to talk. The magic doesn’t change your voice.”

“You don’t know any hobgoblin men?”

Dagii’s voice was thick with restrained laughter. “If it’s any consolation, Ekhaas is clearly the beauty in the family.” He nodded to the duur’kala. Ekhaas’s ears flicked and she returned the nod gracefully, a smile playing around her lips.

Geth ground his teeth together.

If it was embarrassing, the illusion was effective. They tried to move through the least busy parts of Khaar Mbar’ost, but even at night the fortress was an active place. Still, no one within the walls gave them the slightest glance except for one hobgoblin warrior whose gaze lingered on Geth. They couldn’t sneak around the guards at the gates, but there Dagii simply looked one of the guards in the eye. The guard, startled by his unexpected appearance, snapped up straight. If anyone cared to question him, the hobgoblin might report that the warlord of Mur Talaan had left Khaar Mbar’ost, but Geth doubted if he would remember the two women who passed by with him.

Beyond Khaar Mbar’ost, the daytime revelry of the games spilled over into the night. Bonfires burned in the middle of some of the wider streets, and the people of Rhukaan Draal gathered around them to sing and dance and drink. The guards that had patrolled the city during the period of mourning were all but gone. Those few Geth spotted as they passed through the shadows were celebrating as heartily as the rest of the crowd. Here and there, vast casks of ale stood open and whole roast hogs were laid out courtesy of those with aspirations to the throne. Geth recognized the chiefs of a few lesser clans calling out the virtues of Aguus or Iizan or Garaad. The warlords had called on their allies to help support the costs of their campaigns of popularity.

“I don’t see anyone touting for Tariic,” he said.

“He’s being clever,” said Dagii. “Here all the food and drink blur together. He’s concentrating his attention on the arena and on winning over the unallied warlords.”

“He may win over some with a previous allegiance, too, if the others push their client-clans too far,” Ekhaas added.

The street where the artificer lived was far from the busy parts of the city. Here no light but moonlight illuminated the crooked streets. In spite of the silence and the darkness-or maybe because of them-Geth felt a distinct unease. When Ekhaas’s illusion finally dissipated in a flickering of ghostlight, he was more than glad to be rid of it. The sight of Wrath and his great gauntlet might hint at his identity to anyone watching from the shadows, but they would also be a greater deterrent to attack than a gown and a girdle.

The buildings in the area were, for the most part, dark and in poor repair, leaning on each other like a bunch of drunkards. Ekhaas guided them to a low stone building that was doing most of the work of propping up its neighbors. It had the look of human construction rather than dar, and Geth guessed that it predated Haruuc’s creation of Darguun and the establishment of Rhukaan Draal. With a wide double door and only a few small, high windows, he suspected it had originally been a barn or a dairy or some other outlying farm building. Light shone around the door and the shutters. Ekhaas gestured for him and Dagii to hang back along the stone wall, then she went forward and knocked in a short rhythm on the double door.

A moment later, light stabbed her face as a peephole opened up. Geth heard a murmuring voice. Ekhaas gave an answer. The peephole closed again, then bolts rattled and one half of the door opened wide. Ekhaas waved for them to join her and stepped inside. Holding the bundle containing the Rod of Kings close, one hand on Wrath, Geth went after her.

Barn, he decided as he stepped through the door, the stone building had definitely once been a barn. The central room of it was lined with the remains of stalls and the cobble floor showed channels where filth had once been sluiced away. Any animal odor was gone, however, replaced by a strange smell like hot copper. The stalls had been lined with shelves which were in turn filled with books and papers and strange implements. Everbright lanterns hung from the rafters, illuminating the space with an unwavering magical light.

Ekhaas was in conversation with their host-a horn-browed tiefling. As Dagii closed the door behind himself, both turned to face them. “This,” said Ekhaas, “is Tenquis.”

The tiefling was tall and lean, his skin of his face smooth and dark brown. Geth would have said that he was probably a little bit older than either Ekhaas or Dagii, possibly even around his own age. It was difficult to tell because his eyes were solid golden orbs without white, iris, or pupil. Descendants of ancient mages who had bargained with devils, tieflings showed the taint of their ancestors’ bid for power. Tenquis’s strange eyes were echoed in gold flecks on the polished heavy black horns that curled back from his forehead above dark, wavy hair. Horny spikes edged his chin in imitation of a sharp goatee. He wore a kind of long vest embroidered in an intricate labyrinthine pattern over a much-laundered shirt and brown leather trousers; in the back, vest and trousers were cut to make room for a thick fleshy tail, brown like his skin.

And as Tenquis stared at Geth staring at him, the tail rose and lashed the air. “I know you,” he said. His teeth, sharp as a shifter’s, flashed white with each word. His voice had a husky rasp. He glared at Ekhaas. “A Dhakaani artifact? I know what you want! By the sorcerer-kings, get out before you ruin me!”

“Tenquis, wait,” said Ekhaas, raising her hands. “Everything I told you this afternoon is true. Listen to us before you answer. You don’t know what we want-”

“I can guess.” He pointed a finger at Geth. His nails were the same color as his horns, black flecked with gold. “You want a copy made of a Dhakaani artifact. What artifact does Haruuc’s shava hold? The rod of the Dhakaani emperors. I’m no idiot. I am not bloody copying the symbol of the lhesh’s rule! Get out!”

He strode toward the door as if he could throw them out. Dagii stepped in front of it, crossing his arms over his chest. The tiefling pulled up short and looked at Dagii, then back at Ekhaas. “Don’t try to intimidate me,” he said, his voice sinking into his chest as his tail whipped from side to side. “I don’t appreciate intimidation.”

“We’re not trying to intimidate you,” Ekhaas said. Her tone was soothing yet beguiling at the same time. “If you know who Geth is, then you can make a good guess at who we are. We’re the ones who found the rod for Haruuc and we’re trying to fix a mistake before it destroys Darguun. We need your help to do that. The rod is cursed.”

“Cursed?” The word dripped with disbelief.

“Believe what you want,” said Dagii grimly. “It’s the truth.”

Tenquis looked at the young warlord, then at Ekhaas, then at Geth. “And how do you know this?”

Ekhaas opened her mouth, but Geth spoke first. “Haruuc told me,” the shifter answered, meeting the golden-eyed gaze. “The rod drove Haruuc to hang the warriors of the Marhaan on along the road to Rhukaan Draal. It drove him to sell their women and children into slavery. It drove him to torture Keraal on a Dhakaani grieving tree. It almost drove him to lead Darguun to war.”

“I know a lot of Darguuls who were happy with all of that.”

“Haruuc wasn’t. He knew that what the rod wanted would destroy Darguun.” Geth hesitated, then plunged on with the truth-or at least part of it. “It was created to guide the emperors of Dhakaan, but this isn’t the world the Dhakaani knew. Whoever holds the rod sees the memories of the emperors.”

“The memories of emperors?” Tenquis’s eyes opened a little wider.

Beyond Tenquis, Geth saw Ekhaas’s ears stand tall and remembered what she had said in the arena, that the artificer was fascinated by the lost knowledge of the ancient Dhakaani daashor. He fumbled with the ties that held the bundle closed. The leather fell open to reveal the Rod of Kings. Geth lifted it free.

Tenquis stared at it, his lips open just a little bit, his tongue running across the tips of his teeth. He reached out with one hand. Geth pulled the rod back. “Don’t touch it! That’s how it passes on the memories.”

Tenquis drew back, but just a little bit. “How can you hold it then?” he asked.

Geth dropped the leather and drew Wrath with his other hand. Behind Tenquis, Ekhaas smiled. “The histories preserved by the Kech Volaar,” she said in the tones of a trained storyteller, “tell of three artifacts created by Taruuzh daashor from the vein of byeshk he named Khaar Vanon, the Blood of Night. The first was Aram, or Wrath, the Sword of Heroes that was lost by Rakari Kuun in Jhegesh Dol when he killed the daelkyr lord of that place. The second was Muut, or Duty, the Shield of Nobles that was shattered as Dhakaan slid toward the Desperate Times. The third was Guulen, or Strength, the Rod of Kings. Three great artifacts, each the equal of the others in power.”

“Wrath protects me,” Geth said simply. “I’m the only one who can safely touch the rod.”

Tenquis’s gaze moved from the rod to the sword and back again. He swallowed. “Taruuzh made these.”

“You’ll be the first artificer to have the chance to study them,” said Ekhaas. “You won’t get this opportunity again.”

Tenquis looked longingly at the rod once more, then his lips pressed together into a thin line and he turned to Ekhaas. “What exactly do you need from me?”

Geth took a long breath of relief. Dagii relaxed a little, too. Ekhaas’s face remained impassive, however. “An exact copy of the rod, enchanted to enhance the presence of the one who holds it-”

Tenquis snorted. “Easy enough.”

“-and ready in three days.”

The snort turned into a twitch. “Three days? That’s not possible. This isn’t like forging a horseshoe. Six, maybe. Byeshk is hard to work with and I’d need to find some first-”

“We can have the byeshk here in the morning,” said Ekhaas.

“I’ll need more than byeshk. Other materials. They won’t be cheap.”

Dagii stepped past Geth and tossed a fat, clinking pouch to Tenquis. “That should cover the price of anything else you need.”

Geth wondered where he had come up with the money. The Mur Talaan clan was highly respected, but it wasn’t wealthy. Tenquis rolled the pouch between his fingers, looking both startled and pleased. “I’ll need to study the rod,” he said. “Make sketches, take measurements.”

“You have tonight,” Ekhaas said. “No touching it. Geth can hold it for you.”

The tiefling flicked his fingers dismissively. “Gloves,” he said. “Has anyone tried holding the rod while wearing gloves?”

Geth looked at Ekhaas and Dagii, and felt a flush of embarrassment warm his face. They’d been too worried about the danger of the rod to consider it, but the priest at Haruuc’s funeral had held the rod on a tray and felt nothing.

Tenquis raised an eyebrow at their silence. “I didn’t think so. I’ll want to study the sword, too.”

“Another time,” said Ekhaas. “Can you do better than six days?”

Tenquis pursed his lips and glanced at Geth and the rod. “I may be able to make it in five.” He held up a finger. “I have conditions. Nobody outside of this room can know about my involvement. Not any allies, not your mothers. I’m not losing my head for you.”

“That’s fair,” said Ekhaas.

Tenquis held up a second finger. “There will be a… fee.”

Dagii’s ears pressed back. “The pouch has more than you’ll need for materials. The rest is yours.”

“More than money.” Tenquis looked at Ekhaas again. “I want to know what the Kech Volaar know about the daashor. Histories, stories, legends-anything.”

“I’ll tell you everything I know,” Ekhaas promised. “After the rod is copied. Five days, no more. If the Rod of Kings passes into the hands of an heir, we’ve run out of time. Do we have an agreement?”

Tenquis smiled. “We have an agreement.” He held out his hand. Ekhaas drew a knife. The tiefling’s smile faltered for a moment, then returned. “By your people’s custom, then.” He pulled an ornate dagger from his belt and touched the blade to Ekhaas’s, sealing the deal in dar fashion. Then he dropped the dagger onto a nearby table and pointed at Geth. “Bring the rod, here. If I only have tonight to examine it, I need to get started.”

Tenquis worked quickly, clearing a large table and directing Geth to set the rod on it. Multiple everbright lanterns with arrangements of mirrors and lenses directed bright light onto the rod, lighting it up as if the sun were shining into the converted barn. The artificer produced paper, pens, and ink, a measuring stick, calipers, and more lenses. He began with a careful examination of the byeshk shaft-with Geth turning it as he instructed-then took calipers and began transferring the dimensions of the rod onto paper. As quickly as he worked, though, the copying took time. Ekhaas found a chair among the shelves and books, stretched out, and dozed off. Dagii simply lay down on a carpet that covered a section of the stone floor.

Geth didn’t have that luxury. He could move about, stretch, occasionally sit down, but it was never long before Tenquis called on him to turn the rod-the tiefling had tried handling the rod with thick gloves, but while they protected him, they were also clumsy. Geth’s hands were more dexterous. At Tenquis’s request, he laid Wrath alongside the rod, so the artificer could compare the runes scribed on the two artifacts. Half the night seemed to pass and Geth watched him fill page after page with careful sketches of the rod in the most minute detail. Tenquis was a talented artist-the drawings he made were vivid and fine. His dark hands, calloused and nicked in ways that set them apart from a fighter’s hands, moved with swift certainty from pen to calipers and back again, adjusting a lens on a lantern, grabbing for a fresh piece of paper, or flipping back to consult a previous sketch.

After a time, he realized that Tenquis was glancing up at him as well. He twitched his gaze away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Tenquis set his pen down and stretched his hands. The joints popped. He leaned back on the stool he occupied and looked at him. “The rod and the sword aren’t the only artifacts you carry.”

Geth touched the collar of black stones, each one roughly polished and marked with a symbol, that he wore around his neck. “You mean this.”

“Yes. Those are orc runes.” He rose and leaned across the table, reaching out to lift one of the stones and rub his thumb across it. His fingers were warm and dry. “Druidic tradition. Very old. Powerful too.”

“The collar is a Gatekeeper artifact,” said Geth. “It protects my mind from the forces of Xoriat, the plane of madness. It belonged to a… close friend.”

“Who died?”

It was difficult to read the tiefling’s featureless eyes, but up close Geth could see the tiny creases in the skin around them, the slight movement of the brow below the heavy horns. He half-expected to see himself reflected in the golden orbs, but they gave back no reflection at all. “He was killed,” he said.

“And the person who killed him?” Tenquis let the stone fall back against Geth’s neck and stood straight.

“Dead.”

Tenquis smiled, showing sharp teeth again. “My grandmother has a saying: the way through the maze is clear for the wise and the lucky, but the rest of us have to fight.” He sat down and stared at the rod for a moment before looking up at Geth again. “The symbols on the rod and the sword-you don’t understand them, do you?”

“They’re not Goblin.”

“No. They’re not any kind of language you could read, really.” He picked up the pen and tapped it against the rod. “They bind magic, shaping it. The methods used by the Dhakaani daashor are different from what modern artificers use, but there are similarities if you know what to look for.” The pen touched one carved rune, then another. “These are strong runes. Taruuzh bound incredible power into the rod.” Tenquis lifted his eyes. “There’s more to the rod’s power than just the memories of emperors and enhancing the presence of the holder, isn’t there?”

The hair on Geth’s arms and neck rose. He didn’t say anything. For a moment, neither did Tenquis. Then the tiefling nodded slowly and set the pen down. “I might be able to figure it out myself, but I’m not sure I want to,” he said. He paused before asking, “When I’ve made the copy, what are you planning to do with the true rod?”

“Who says we’re planning to do anything with it?” said Geth.

“The voice of experience. When people want something copied, they usually have plans for the original. They want to sell it if it belongs to them or they want to steal it if it doesn’t.”

Geth’s throat felt dry. “We’re going to destroy it,” he said.

Tenquis’s lips curled. “Really?” he said.

Quick as a thought, he reached down and caught up a heavy smith’s hammer. Before Geth could stop him, he had raised the hammer and brought it down on Wrath’s blade with a crash that jolted both Ekhaas and Dagii from their sleep.

“Grandfather Rat!” shouted Geth. “What do you think you’re-”

He stopped, staring at Wrath. By rights the blade, heavy as it was, should have been smashed or at least bent, but there wasn’t a mark on the purple metal. Tenquis dropped the hammer. “It’s not so easy to destroy powerful artifacts like these,” he said. “You might want to come up with another plan.”

“Maabet!” cursed Dagii. “What was that about?” He had his sword out, ready for a fight.

Geth looked at Tenquis for a moment longer, then turned to Dagii. “Tenquis was showing me how tough Wrath and the rod are.”

“You couldn’t have been quieter about it?” Ekhaas looked at the sea of papers and sketches that covered the table. “Are you finished?”

“I think so.” Tenquis began to gather up his drawings. “Be sure the byeshk gets here. I’ll send word if there are problems. Otherwise you’ll hear from me when the false rod is completed.”

As soon as Geth returned Wrath to its sheath and wrapped the rod back into the bundle of leather, they took their leave. Tenquis gave Geth one last golden-eyed glance, then his door closed behind them. The night was almost over, the first hints of dawn glowing in the east, though the streets were still dark enough to have left a human blind. Rhukaan Draal was, briefly, at its most silent. Ekhaas didn’t bother trying to renew the illusion that had cloaked Geth-instead she brushed his shaggy hair forward to hide his face. Dagii shed the jacket he wore and draped it over Geth’s shoulder to conceal both his great gauntlet and the bundled rod. A rough disguise, but it would do. The weariness of a night without sleep weighed on Geth. There was something he knew he had to say, though.

“Tenquis figured out that there’s something more to the rod.”

Ekhaas let out a soft curse. “Can we trust him?” asked Dagii.

“I think so,” said Geth. “He also guessed we were planning to do something with the true rod. I told him we were going to destroy it. That banging was him showing me that’s going to be harder than we thought.”

“I was afraid it might be,” said Ekhaas grimly. “In legends, great artifacts are either ridiculously fragile or impossibly durable. The cursed ones are never fragile. We’ll think of something-”

The skittering of a stone in the shadows interrupted her. Instantly, all three of them were on the alert, hands on their swords. “Rat?” breathed Dagii.

“No,” Geth said. There was another sound, this time from the shadows on their other side. They moved back to back. Almost immediately, a third stone rattled on the street, louder than the others. They all looked toward it.

“Whoever is out there,” said Ekhaas, “is either incredibly clumsy or wants us to know we’re not alone.”

“The latter,” said a voice that was thick and strained like a scar. A small shadow detached itself from high on a wall and dropped softly to the street, then moved forward so they could clearly see an old goblin with thin cobweb hair, the parchment-like skin of his face stained dark to match the black clothing of the shaarat’khesh.

“We need to talk,” said Chetiin.