The plaguespawn, hearing her, took a step forward, and it must have come into the girl’s field of view, because her voice rose into a high, shrill scream. That only captured the thing’s attention further, and it gathered its legs under it, preparing to leap.
Plague that. Maya extended a hand, and a bolt of solid flame flashed across the room, crashing into the side of the monster. It rocked and staggered sideways, fire running briefly over its body before guttering out. It turned again, split jaw working as it glared at Maya with mismatched eyes. She stepped forward deliberately. That’s right. Look at me, ugly.
“Streza!” Maya shouted as the plaguespawn started to circle. “I want you to run back to Kaiura’s house right now.”
“But—” The girl’s voice was a whimper.
“Now. Tell my friends what we found. Go!”
She couldn’t say whether the girl answered, because the monster charged again, legs blurring as it threw itself into a sprint. Maya waited until the last moment, holding its attention, then sprang to one side like a ringfighter. She dragged her haken along its flank, the blazing sword slashing a long, ugly burn into the slick, wet muscle there.
The plaguespawn made a warbling, gurgling sound, then screeched as Maya brought more fire boiling up underneath it. It hopped sideways, and this time she charged first, coming at it head-on and bringing her blade down on its bifurcated head. Flesh and bone parted easily in the path of deiat. Both halves snapped at her, one set of jaws closing on her arm, the panoply field straining to keep them apart. Maya, fighting the chill, spun and twisted her blade through the plaguespawn’s neck, sending one half of its head bouncing to the earth.
The stump gouted black blood, but the thing was still moving, the remaining half head twisting and biting in a frenzy. Maya gave ground, fading to one side, and waited for it to commit to a lunge. When it did, she sidestepped and slashed at its throat. Another half a skull came free, and the now entirely headless creature wobbled and collapsed.
That … Maya was breathing hard, and her heart pounded triple-time. She touched the Thing with her free hand. That was unexpected.
“Streza?” she called. There was no answer.
Good. The girl was, hopefully, halfway across the village by now. I hope she can get through to Tanax. Maya looked down at the dead plaguespawn, swallowing hard. At least none of the parts look human. You couldn’t always tell, but …
It can’t be coincidence. Plaguespawn couldn’t restrain themselves. They were constructs of meat and dhak, and all they understood was the hunger for more flesh. If something this size had found its way in here on its own, the villagers would have seen it before now.
That meant the thing wasn’t a wild plaguespawn, following its own instincts. It had been guarding the tunnel.
Only a dhakim could have set it a task like that. Whatever’s going on in this town, I think I’ve found it.
The logical thing to do would be to retreat, up the stairs at least, and wait for help. But if Streza’s brother was alive, he needed help now, before the dhakim knew she’d found them.
She took a deep breath and let the fire fade, plunging the basement into semidarkness. Ahead of her, the tunnel entrance loomed like a black maw. She touched the Thing again.
Tanax, you ass, you’d better listen to Streza. Maya stepped forward, fingers white-knuckled on the hilt of her haken.
*
The tunnel was long and twisting, so low Maya had to stoop to continue. A light would give her away, so she groped her way along in the dark, one hand on her haken. Dirt crumbled around her outstretched fingers, cascading down into her hair. Long, outstretched roots of plants growing above blocked her path like a stubborn curtain, and she had to push through them.
She was starting to wonder how far it could possibly go when a faint light filtered around a curve up ahead. It wasn’t much, but she could make out dim shadows. Maya crouched, moving more slowly, and stopped when she could see out into a larger space.
It was a cave, roughly circular, with a wider tunnel at one end that ended abruptly in a wood-and-canvas barricade. Crates were piled three-deep in the center, with a lantern on top of the pile providing a flickering light. Around the edges of the room, Maya could see long, rectangular boxes with iron-banded sides and metal grates at the front. Cages?
Three figures worked near the central pile, prying open a set of crates to examine the contents. One of them, slim and blue-haired in a heavy waterproof coat, stood a few paces back, keeping an eye on the others.
So these are the smugglers. Maya wasn’t exactly sure where she was, but they couldn’t be too far from Litnin. Listening closely, she could hear the sound of running water. We must be near the river.
The important thing was to figure out if Reese was here. If he wasn’t—or if he was dead, a possibility she had to force herself to consider—then the thing to do was retreat the way she’d come and return with backup. But if he is here …
Jaedia’s chiding echoed in the back of her mind. Maya pursed her lips. What am I supposed to do? Let people die?
“Plague it,” one of the figures said. “It’s not here. I still say that bastard shorted us.”
“I counted the lots myself,” the blue-haired figure said. It was a woman’s voice. “It’s here. You shitheads just put it in the wrong crate.”
“We haven’t got time for this,” another man said. “Just put it in the next load.”
“No guarantee we’ll have a buyer,” the woman said. “Find the fucking thing.”
Another voice cut across the cavern, a young girl’s, and Maya’s blood went cold. “I’m hungry.”
There was a chorus of whispers, like someone was trying to quiet the girl, but the woman in the coat had already heard. She stalked away from the crates.
“Did I not already tell you to shut the fuck up?” she said. “Next word I hear out of any of you, I’m going to turn you inside out.”
“She’s not kidding,” one of the men said. “I’ve seen her do it. Boy was walking around with all his guts hanging off his outside. So, fucking behave.”
Oh, dhak.
The child’s voice had come from the edge of the cavern. The cages. Peering closer, Maya could see that some of them had their doors hanging open, while others were closed and padlocked. Behind the grills, she could see movement. Have they really got them in cages?
Whether Reese was there or not, going back was out of the question. She had no idea how long it would be before they discovered the dead plaguespawn, but Maya wasn’t going to risk it. And if I can’t go back, then the only way out is forward. She stepped out of the tunnel entrance and straightened up.
“All of you,” she said, her voice shakier than she would have liked. “Stop and drop your weapons.”
The three figures froze. After a moment, the closest, a thin man with a ragged fringe of orange-red hair, snatched up a lantern and stalked toward Maya.
“What the fuck?” the woman said from behind him. “How did she get in here?”
“Plagued if I know. It’s some girl.” The thin man raised his lantern in one hand, a small crossbow pointing at Maya. “You picked the wrong place to wander around—”
Maya could see his eyes go wide as he recognized the haken in her hand. She was already pushing off into a sprint as he squeezed the trigger. His aim was bad, and the bolt flew wide. She’d covered half the distance between them as he scrabbled to draw a sword, letting the lantern and crossbow fall.