Book 1 - The Black Company Read Free

about that out there?" An isolated
scream echoed in the distance. It had a quality which set it aside
from other recent screams. Those had been filled with pain, rage,
and fear. This one was redolent of something darker.
    He hemmed and hawed in that way he and his brother One-Eye have.
If you don't know, they figure it's a secret worth keeping.
Wizards! "There's a rumor that the mutineers broke the seals on the
tomb of the forvalaka while they were plundering the Necropolitan
Hill."
    "Uh? Those things are loose?"
    "The Syndic thinks so. The Captain don't take it seriously."
    I didn't either, though Tom-Tom looked concerned. "They looked
tough. The ones who were here the other day."
    "Ought to have recruited them," he said, with an undertone of
sadness. He and One-Eye have been with the Company a long time.
They have seen much of its decline.
    "Why were they here?"
    He shrugged. "Get some rest. Croaker. Don't kill yourself. Won't
make a bit of difference in the end." He ambled away, lost in the
wilderness of his thoughts.
    I lifted an eyebrow. He was way down. I turned back to the fires
and lights and disturbing absence of racket. My eyes kept crossing,
my vision clouding. Tom-Tom was right. I needed sleep.
    From the darkness came another of those strange, hopeless cries.
This one was closer.
     
     
    "Up, Croaker." The Lieutenant was not gentle. "Captain wants you
in the officers' mess."
    I groaned. I cursed. I threatened mayhem in the first degree. He
grinned, pinched the nerve in my elbow, rolled me onto the floor.
"I'm up already," I grumbled, feeling around for my boots. "What's
it about?"
    He was gone.
    "Will Mercy pull through, Croaker?" the Captain asked.
    "I don't
think so, but I've seen bigger miracles."
    The officers and
sergeants were all there. "You want to know what's happening," the
Captain said. "The visitor the other day was an envoy from
overseas. He offered an alliance. The north's military resources in
exchange for the support of Beryl's fleets. Sounded reasonable to
me. But the Syndic is being stubborn. He's still upset about the
conquest of Opal. I suggested he be more flexible. If these
northerners are villains then the alliance option could be the
least of several evils. Better an ally than a tributary. Our
problem is, where do we stand if the legate presses?"
    Candy said,
"We should refuse if he tells us to fight these northerners?"
    "Maybe. Fighting a sorcerer could mean our destruction."
    Wham! The mess door slammed open. A small, dusky, wiry man, preceded by a great humped beak of a nose, blew inside. The Captain bounced up and clicked his heels. "Syndic."
    Our visitor slammed both fists down on the tabletop. "You
ordered your men withdrawn into the Bastion. I'm not paying you to hide like whipped dogs."
    "You're not paying us to become martyrs, either," the Captain
replied in his reasoning-with-fools voice. "We're a bodyguard, not
police. Maintaining order is the task of the Urban Cohorts."
    The Syndic was tired, distraught, frightened, on his last
emotional legs. Like everyone else.
    "Be reasonable," the Captain suggested. "Beryl has passed a
point of no return. Chaos rules the streets. Any attempt to restore
order is doomed. The cure now is the disease."
    I liked that. I had begun to hate Beryl.
    The Syndic shrank into himself. "There's still the forvalaka.
And that vulture from the north, waiting off the Island."
    Tom-Tom started out of a half-sleep. "Off the
Island, you say?"
    "Waiting for me to beg."
    "Interesting." The little wizard lapsed into semi-slumber.
    The Captain and Syndic bickered about the terms of our
commission. I produced our copy of the agreement. The Syndic tried
to stretch clauses with, "Yeah, but." Clearly, he wanted to fight
if the legate started throwing his weight around.
    Elmo started snoring. The Captain dismissed us, resumed arguing
with our employer.
     
     
    I suppose seven hours passes as a night's sleep. I didn't
strangle Tom-Tom when he wakened me. But I did grouse