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mainland. It's a hazard and an eyesore and the only reason it isn't dredged
put of there is that it belongs to the Church, deeded over in early imperial
times. Way back they tried to establish a monastery on it but the footings
were too infirm and the floods too frequent. There's nothing left but a tumble
of creeper-covered building stone.
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The Dead Man said our target was hiding under that rockpile.
He might as well have been in another dimension.
We had a good crowd gathered just south of the city wall, in an area kept
barren by an eccentric owner. Chodo had sent a dozen street soldiers to back
Crask and Sadler. The various denominations had contributed several hundred
vigorous young priests. The guy who had come off the Hill, whose name I never
did get, had juice enough to borrow a company of the Watch. Morley and I kind
of stood off by ourselves, with Maya, wondering what was going to happen.
An ecumenical delegation had gone to Chattaree in hopes of recruiting a
Magister or two. We were waiting on the Church's reply.
The drop-off to the river was about twelve feet, a sort of miniature bluff.
Morley and Maya and I were on a knoll fifty yards back. Everyone else was
between us and the river but kind of hanging back, not wanting to get any
closer than they had to. I wondered if the thing on the island was aware of
us.
I wondered, too, if I had some score to settle with Jill Craight. She and her
pal Agire were standing separate, thirty yards south of anyone else. I'd been
keeping an eye on them. They weren't talking and didn't seem very friendly.
Maybe Agire was having trouble coping with being seen in a whore's company. It
was too late for him to make it look like anything but what it was.
Maya noted my interest. She was too nervous to tease me. "What're they doing
here?" she asked. "I don't know."
The only men who had dared the lip of the bluff were Crask and Sadler. Now
they headed our way. I was excited about that.
Crask came up, said, "Garrett, you were the Marine. How do we get over
there?"
"I don't think we do, you want the truth." He scowled.
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"Remember the thing that came to Chodo's place? That's what we're up
against." That and a lot more. This Loghyr had been polishing his tricks for
ages. He'd lived through these things before. In fact, the Dead Man said this
particular Loghyr was supposed to have been scrubbed after the fall of
Carathca. "An attack will just get us all killed."
Neither Crask nor Sadler were known for subtle solutions to problems. Sadler
asked, "Then what're we doing out here?"
"We're here because the people who tell us what to do don't understand what
we're up against."
"All right, smart guy," Crask said. "You live with one of these things. How
would you take it out?"
I'd hoped that wouldn't come up. I didn't want to give anybody something he
could use against me and the Dead Man.
"We should wear him down. First thing, set up a kind of siege."
"A line here, and somebody on the river, to keep its people from rescuing it.
After that I'd just collect mice and rats and bugs and float them to the
island on rafts. For as long as it took."
"What?" They both looked lost.
"All right. First thing you got to realize, this thing is dead. But its
spirit is tied to its body. No body, the spirit has to go away." Or so the
Dead Man claimed. "There's nothing on that island for vermin to eat except
that Loghyr body. The Loghyr knows that, too. He'll be watching for bugs and
stuff. But if there are a lot of them, it'll be hard for him to spot them all
and take care of them. Also, a dead Loghyr has to spend a lot of time
sleeping. That's when they develop the energy they use when they pull their
stunts. This one is probably sleeping right now. When he's asleep he can't
keep track of vermin. They could work him over good. He wouldn't feel them
biting because he's dead."
Crask snorted, disgusted. But Sadler nodded, seeing it. "Take a while,
though."
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"It would. But I don't know of any more certain, less risky way to handle
it."
"We'd have to check with Chodo. He wants results quick." Chodo had retired to
his estate.
"He'll pay dear for that if he insists."
Crask jerked his head at Sadler. They went off to talk it over. Morley asked,
"Why not ring in a firelord or two? They could burn it out there, couldn't
they?"
"Maybe. But a sorcerer wouldn't be safer from it than you or me."
"Garrett," Maya said softly, scared, "I don't think it's asleep."
She had a flair for understatement.
I saw nothing but a glow from where we stood but something was happening on
the island. Those nearer the edge began yammering and backing away.
Then a spot of black cloud formed above the island, maybe fifty feet high. It
grew quickly, spinning like a whirlpool. Everybody watched it, which was a
mistake.
Sudden as lightning three guys in antique armor jumped over the lip of the
bluff. Glowing, they charged the crowd. They hurled spears of fire.
A six-armed woman formed inside the spinning cloud. She grew huge. She wore
nothing, was a polished black, and had a skull for a face and teats like a
dog.
Priests screamed. The Watch company decided they weren't getting paid enough
to deal with this.
Crask and Sadler and their boys were willing to take on the armored guys but
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couldn't get to them through the panicky mob.
The armored guys went to work. Pieces of body flew.
"Damn!"
I glanced at Morley but kept most of my attention on the black thing. It
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