Chapter 6

To Moephius: Yes, I do know what parthenogenesis is. This is why I mentioned it in the introduction, why Skrch is a virgin but has six daughters, and why I also made mention of Daphnia longispina (a species of water flea that only reproduces sexually under certain very special conditions).

"How much further is it?"

"Not far," Skrch called from up ahead.

Dev Blackstare rubbed her forehead. She felt stronger than yesterday, and a small breakfast had helped, but her head still hurt. The sun had risen very early, they were traveling east, and the glare contributed materially to this condition.

I hope I'm not doing something stupid.

She was overdue in camp. Technically, she ought to report back to Kerd Bladeleaper and get her approval before agreeing to follow this harpy all over every inch of ground between here and the Tattered Banner's new village.

But the Bladeleaper was always encouraging her raiders to use their initiative. And knowing where water was could mean the difference between life and death, out here. Under the circumstances, it seemed like a good idea not to do something that might seriously offend her new acquaintance.

Especially when her sword arm still felt weak, and the harpy didn't have to come within her reach at all. She did remember the cyclone yesterday.

The harpy queen glided into view over a small rise in the grassy earth up ahead. Until she came close, it was easy to forget how big she was.

"Fifteen feet seems like kind of a small wingspan, for a five foot body," Dev said.

"Five and a half feet, and I have hollow bones," Skrch said, hovering in a way that should not, technically, be possible. "And before you ask, yes, I have seen inside a harpy's bones. Most harpies have, if they live to be twenty-three. I'd guess some magic is also involved, given that I've never seen a bird with wings this small compared to the rest of it." She glanced back over her shoulder. "The fountain is right over the hill, but it's better just to look from the top, if you ask me. There's a herd of thunder lizards there right now."

"Then it's probably not much good to the clan," Dev said, urging Daysleeper up toward the crown of the small hill. The wolf padded silently through the tall grass.

"Grouchy Orc," Skrch said mildly. "Still got a headache?"

"Un huh," Dev said. She paused to look down at the small oasis, grateful for the small amount of shade provided by her helmet. "I do appreciate that you're doing this, though."

Four giant reptiles, not entirely unlike kodos, lay around the pile of rocks from which the fountain ran. They were snorting and rolling in the dust, and the sound was quite audible from where Dev sat on wolfback.

"Far as I'm concerned, anybody who isn't trying to kill me is my friend," Skrch said. "That makes you and me more or less boon companions, Warrior."

Dev laughed silently. "Boon companions? Where'd you hear that one?"

Skrch turned her head, giving Dev a glimpse of features as pointed as an Elf's.

"A green Orc and a bull-man – a Tauren – from the Crossroads," Skrch said. "They were trying to climb up to my nest to get my fledglings. I knocked the Orc off, and the Tauren said he'd be back to avenge his boon companion."

"Was he?"

"Jhha, I mean, yes," Skrch said. "I was gone at the time. I'm afraid the girls had torn him into pretty small pieces by the time I came back. It's hard to hold onto a cliff and swing an axe at the same time."

"I see," Dev said. She turned Daysleeper and started to descend the hill again.

"The thunder lizards aren't here all the time," Skrch said. "Some of them come down from the bluff in the winter. They'll be gone by the time the spring rains start."

"Where's the next closest?" Dev said.

"Hmmm." Skrch circled wolf and rider, gaining altitude. The sun gleamed on her feathers, red as blood and slick as steel. "There's sort of a pool ten miles east. It's pretty deep now, but sometimes it dries up to a mud hole in full summer. It's all grass from here to there, but it's a long way to go with the sun in the sky."

Blackstare considered this. If she were to trust Skrch completely, she could simply scout the general location. This was particularly tempting in light of the fact that her headache was not going away, and going ten miles to the East would make it impossible for her to get back and report for at least another day. With lives other than mine to consider, I'd better see the water with my own eyes before I go telling Kerd Bladeleaper that it's there.

"I'm willing if you are," Dev said.

"This way," Skrch said, and turned to glide lazily off toward the East.

---

Considerably further East, the only Lich in the Barrens was having a slightly better day than usual.

Phage Marrowice hovered under a palm tree beside the stream, the panels of his brown kilt swaying just above the ground. A wisp spiraled around and around the tree trunk, casting an eerie glow. Phage turned his skull to and fro as he surveyed his domain.

In addition to the Temple of the Damned that had allowed him to train his newest necromancer, the settlement now boasted five Nerubian towers this side the stream instead of two. The new slaughterhouse was rather sad, its giant wheel made of palm branches due to the limited amount of summonable wood nearby, but it was functional.

Now if only the two ghouls he'd sent out came back al – well, still Undead, and brought something useful, his day would be complete.

That's the trouble with living in the Barrens. Ner'zirhud is used to working with Human corpses, and there aren't many available, even this far North.

They'd already exhausted the contents of the burial mounds they'd been able to find, and only two of the resulting skeletons had shown the same longevity as the remarkable creature Phage generally called Gray.

And then there was…

"Lord Marrowice?" said a familiar voice. "You wished to see me?"

Phage sighed, or at least made the appropriate sound, since there are things one physically cannot do when one consists of three quarters of a skeleton.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that," he said, turning to survey the newest member of his tiny kingdom. "I suppose I could be as tyrannical as I wished, but my indomitable mandate would still only extend from that cliff face to this stream." And since I'm currently exercising lordship over… Let's see…

Four acolytes, seven ghouls, one banshee, two shades, two necromancers, and three abominations, now that Ner'zirhud had finally gotten the latest one finished. And one possessed dragon. And three skeletons.

And then there was Viri Starwater.

Undeads were not common in Kalimdor. Undead Elves were even rarer. So, when Phage turned Viri's sad corpse over to Ner'zirhud, he had not been quite sure what the necromancer would come up with.

The result would have been beyond Phage's wildest dreams, if a Lich ever dreamt. It was unfortunate that Huntress Starwater had not reacted quite the same way.

"If you say so, Lord Marrowice," Viri Starwater said coolly.

Huntress Starwater had been a Night Elf in life, tall and stately, battle-scarred but not disfigured. This was more or less still how she looked. She might be a little paler violet than usual, and her hair had gone entirely silver-gray.

There were marks, of course. That was inevitable, given that she'd met her reasonably timely demise at the hands of a flock of harpies. Most of the new scars were hidden by her leather cloak. Nothing would ever hide the diagonal line that crossed her face from forehead to chin.

She's never going to forgive me for bringing her back, Phage thought sadly. It's quite possible that she can't. Sometimes it takes them that way.

"The necromancer Felwyn has expressed a desire to make a short trip out of camp, to collect a few items she feels she will need," he said. "I'd like you to go with her. She has a tendency to be absentminded, and I wish to ensure her safety."

"Yes, of course," Viri said. She turned and stalked away without another word. Phage shook his skull slightly as he watched her go.

---

Variel Slowburn stuck her head out of the gold mine as Felwyn the Necromancer slid past. Felwyn had only been a necromancer for a few weeks, and she retained the gliding gait cultivated by all acolytes.

"Where are you going, Felwyn?" Variel asked.

Felwyn stopped, turning to face her old friend. Given that their greatest career ambition generally involves a horrible death, flinching is not something acolytes do very often. Variel did not do it now, but it was difficult.

One of Felwyn's eyes was brown. The other was a pupilless and shining blue. It sat in her thin, tanned face like a drop of water on the dust.

"I need to find some things," Felwyn said.

"What's that on your staff?" Variel said.

Felwyn turned her head, eye-to-eye with the skull mounted atop the length of wood. A new crossbar was now lashed to the top above the bony emblem.

"Oh," she said. "That's not for today." And she turned and continued on her way.

Variel shrugged and went back inside the mine. Felwyn hadn't been quite the same since the incident with the dragon. If they'd been living with other Humans, this might have been a handicap.

As it was, she was probably better for it.