Amor Vincit Omnia

(Love Conquers All)

Part Two: The Fragile Heart

"And this is for when you feel happy
And this is for when you feel sad
And this is for when you feel … nothing
Ooh, when the minutes drag."
- Love and Rockets
"Haunted While the Minutes Drag"

Chapter Eleven: The Wolves of Caldeum

There was a fly in the cell, droning constantly in the background, buzzing in lazy circles, alighting on various surfaces and then leaving again after a few seconds. It hovered by the barred window for a while, flirting with the idea of dancing out into the sunshine, and then turned sharply back and landed on Baal's forehead, interested in the blood that was rapidly drying on his olive skin. Saiya flicked it away.

"Ugh," Baal groaned, eyelids fluttering open and immediately contracting again as he squinted in pain. "What did I drink last night?"

"It's late afternoon," Saiya replied. "You weren't drunk, you were knocked out. Don't you remember?"

"Vaguely. I was buying arrows and there was some commotion or other. I looked around for you, but you'd disappeared. A bunch of Wolves showed up, and … things are hazy after that. What happened?"

Saiya explained as succinctly as possible about the soldier, and how his malicious act of cruelty had caused her to intervene, how Asheara had arrived and promptly arrested all of them, how they got to their current location.

"I kind of feel like it's my fault," she said guiltily. "If I hadn't drawn attention to myself-"

"Then we'd be back up at the Hidden Camp, and you'd be blaming yourself for not sticking up for those kids," said Baal. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You did what you had to do."

She sighed. "Will they keep us here for days? Or turn us over to the Emperor? It'd be ridiculous, wouldn't it, if we ended up in the same position that we just rescued the others from."

"Mm," Baal grunted. "Where's Gawahir? And my crossbows?"

"Out there." She pointed to the door. "I saw them put Gawahir in a cage. He was cursing like a sailor. I think he's picked up some bad habits from you. For that matter, so have I – I've never sworn so much in my life as I have since meeting you."

"Don't tell me I'm corrupting you," said Baal with a saucy grin, the charm of which was somewhat offset by a wince and a muttered, "Fuck, my head hurts," immediately afterwards.

"Oh, yes," Saiya said, lowering her tone and bending down to murmured in his ear. "Getting me drunk … teaching me to swear … deflowering me … you, sir, are a very bad man."

"Good thing I'm in prison, then," he remarked.

"Well, since we're here, we might as well do something productive. Do you still want to learn how to meditate?"

"I've been practicing," said Baal. "Oh, don't look so surprised. I can more or less fall asleep whenever I want to now. It's been very useful, actually, especially when we were … separated. It made me feel closer to you somehow."

Touched, Saiya stroked the hair back from his forehead and pressed a soft kiss to the spot right between his eyebrows. He lifted a hand in response and traced her jawline with the pad of his thumb, running his knuckle down her lips and bringing thumb and forefinger together to gently grip her chin. They stayed like that for a moment, lost in each other's eyes, ice blue to sea green. The crimson overtones in Baal's irises were barely noticeable, even in the poorly lit cell.

"Well," Saiya said, a little shakily, "it sounds like you're ready for the next stage, then. I want you to fall asleep again, but this time, stop yourself right before you actually lose consciousness. It should feel somewhat like a waking dream."

Baal nodded, lashes drifting down, face going slack, lips parting. She gave him a few minutes and then said, "Are you there?" He started and opened his eyes.

"Damn! I almost had it. Why did you interrupt me?"

"If I was able to," she said, "then your concentration wasn't good enough. Try again."

This went on for some time: him trying to relax and her prodding him awake at the crucial moment. She could tell that Baal was getting frustrated with her, claiming each time that he would have gotten it right if she had just waited a bit longer, and she bit back a grin at a memory of herself at fifteen saying the same thing to the head monk during their lessons. What she didn't point out was that Baal was getting progressively harder and harder to disturb. It might have been temporarily helpful knowledge, but in the long run, the whole point of the exercise was to dominate and subdue one's own emotional reaction – something he could only figure out on his own. Coming to that realization one morning after a particularly irritating session with the head monk had been one of the most joyful and liberating moments in her life.

At last Baal sighed, looked up at her with an expression that blended fondness and exasperation, and said, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you."

"Doing what?" she asked innocently.

"Interrupting me just when I'm on the verge of success. It's happened so many times now that I have to conclude this is part of the lesson. So why? What point does it serve except to annoy me?"

"That is the point."

"What?"

She tapped the tip of his nose. "Think about it."

"But it makes no sense! If I'm annoyed, I can't concentrate, and if I can't concentrate, I can't go into the meditation. So you harassing me while I'm trying to learn this is extremely counterproductive."

"Is it really? How do you think I meditate in the middle of battle?"

Before the Hunter could answer, the sound of a door slamming followed by rapid footfalls caused them to freeze in place, unconsciously drawing closer to each other. The approaching steps belonged to Asheara, looking troubled and furious. She thumped a short stool down in front of the door and sat upon it, leaning forward with her elbows propped on her knees and her nose nearly touching the bars.

"You," she said to Saiya. "Where did you get that armor?"

"Your niece, Asiya, gave it to me when we met at the Khasim Outpost," Saiya replied.

"I have had no word from her," barked Asheara. "How do I know that you did not kill her and take it?"

"Why would I do that?" the young monk protested. "She's my friend!"

"So you say. Look what your 'friendship' did for Gamil Fahkri. You were all too ready to take advantage of his kindness and his grief over his son's death to get into the Imperial Palace, but at the first sign of trouble, you ran and left him to take the blame. Tell me: why should I help you any more than I have already? Give me one reason."

"Because you're the only one who can help Fahkri now!" Saiya exclaimed. "The people need you to protect them, Asheara. If you won't do it for us, then do it for them."

Indecision flickered across the Commander's lean face, playing rampantly over her features. Saiya could almost hear the thoughts scurrying like beetles through her brain: Can they be trusted? Do they mean to harm the Emperor? Will they betray me, as they seem to have betrayed Fahkri?

When she finally spoke, her voice was a hoarse whisper. "What do you suggest?"

Saiya, who had not expected a favorable response, glanced down at Baal. The Hunter shrugged, mouthing, "Go for it."

"Well," she said, "I think it would be a good idea to make a public declaration of our guilt." When Asheara looked startled, she elaborated, "Make it clear that Fahkri had nothing to do with our scheme – that we tricked him into it. Our reputation here is already damaged beyond repair, and it might help to clear his name a little."

The older woman nodded reluctantly. "There's some sense in that. Alright, Kala – or whatever your name is – leave it to us." Abruptly changing tack, she pointed to Baal and asked, "Does he need a healer?"

"I'm fine," Baal said.

"Right. I'll have someone send you a meal later."

"Aren't you going to release us?" Saiya demanded.

"No. Did you expect me to?"

"But … I thought since we're working together …"

"Let's get one thing straight, girl," Asheara snapped. "We're not partners in this. You are my prisoners and you're going to remain that way until I'm satisfied of your innocence." She got up and stormed away, leaving the stool behind.

"Shit," Saiya groaned, smacking a frustrated fist into the wall. "That went well."

"Not your fault," said Baal. "We've made some progress, at least. She admits that we might be innocent."

"How can she be so blind as to what's really going on in her precious Emperor's court?" the monk growled.

"She'll have to come to terms with it sooner or later," Baal replied wearily. "For now, we'll just have to hope that Davyd's report gets here soon."

"Yeah." Absently she combed her fingers through his hair, teasing out tangles. He made a pleased humming noise deep in his throat.

"Anyone ever tell you how comfortable your lap is?" he mumbled, coaxing a brief chuckle from her.

"No, I don't think I've ever been praised for my qualities as a pillow before."

"Shame. When I think what I've been missing out on all these months …"

"Baal?"

"Mm?"

"Do you think that if we'd met under different circumstances, we'd have ended up together?"

A tiny cleft appeared between his eyebrows as he frowned. "That's an odd question, Saiya. What do you mean?"

"I mean if we weren't Nephalem, if we weren't fighting to save the world from demons, if we were just two normal people living everyday, boring lives … would you still have wanted to be with me?"

"If you're asking whether my attraction to you is purely based on the fact that our lives are frequently in danger, the answer is 'no'."

"But it helps?"

Baal opened his eyes, which had been slowly closing over the last few minutes. There was a puzzled irritation lurking in his gaze, but his tone carried nothing but patience. "I don't need any help to be crazy about you. What is all this? Is something worrying you?"

"No." She smiled a reassurance that she didn't feel and went back to smoothing over his hair. "Get some sleep, love."

I could probably use some as well, she thought as she looked out the narrow, high window at the darkening sky. It was incredible to think that the last time she'd slept had been in the overly luxurious surroundings of Fahkri's house – an eternity ago, and yet only one day had passed. So much had happened since then that her brain felt like it would stumble and fall racing to keep up.

"A long meditation is just what I need," she mumbled under her breath. Tilting her head back against the rough stone wall, she sank into her place of peace, going down so deep that even Baal's heartbeat was lost to her. There, at the ocean floor of her soul, she found a sunken ship of negative emotions: worry for Caesar, distrust of Adria, anger at Asheara, guilt over Fahkri's arrest, nausea at the brutality she had witnessed in the marketplace, and at the very bottom, hidden under all the rest, intense fear at the thought that she might be pregnant. Fear that Baal would leave her, or even worse, stay without wanting to. Fear that she would somehow fail the child as her parents had failed her.

The screech and scrape of the cell door opening jolted her out of her inner turmoil. A young Iron Wolf entered, bearing a tray, which he set down in the middle of the floor before scuttling backwards as though he thought Saiya was going to lunge for his throat.

"At least no one can say they don't treat their prisoners well," Baal remarked, sitting up.

Saiya nodded in agreement. The tray held generous portions of bread, meat, and fruit, along with a flask of water and even two cups of tea, still steaming hot. She felt absurdly resentful of the kindness; it would have been so much easier to despise the Commander if she wasn't fundamentally a decent person.

Baal was already eating with a voracity that suggested he'd been deprived of food for the last month. Saiya joined him, but the fresh fruit tasted like acid on her tongue, the soft bread like wads of paper, the meat rancid and foul.

The Hunter must have noticed her dissatisfaction, but he didn't question her about it. Instead, pushing the empty tray aside, he sat with his legs stretched out in front of him and patted his thigh invitingly.

"Come here, nuur il-'en."

She climbed onto his lap, resting her head on his shoulder, breathing in the comforting honey-and-smoke scent of his skin. His arms curled around her, not a cage but a brace. Holding her up, not holding her back.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered into her hair, and for a moment, she believed him, allowed herself to hope, convinced herself when Asheara marched down the hallway half an hour later with a convoy of armed guards that she was coming to set them free.

She could not have been more wrong.

"I've secured Fahkri's release," announced the Commander, without preamble. "He'll be able to return home, though a squad of soldiers will keep him under constant surveillance until the suspicion against him dies down."

"That's wonderful!" Saiya exclaimed, but her happy smile faded when she saw the foreboding expression on Asheara's face.

"You may not think so when you hear the conditions of his parole," she said. "The Emperor demands an equal trade – one traitor for another. Boy, you're coming with me."

"No!" Saiya sprang to her feet. "Take me instead!"

Something sickeningly like compassion entered Asheara's eyes as she shook her head. "I didn't tell them about you. Come on, boy, I don't have all day."

Baal was already moving past her, his face grimly set, hands by his sides. Saiya seized his arm.

"Don't separate us," she begged Asheara. "If we have to go, we'll go together."

The Commander opened her mouth, but Baal turned and blocked Saiya's view of her with his body. Taking her face in his hands, he forced her to look him in the eye.

"Saiya, it's going to be alright. Trust me."

"How?" she whimpered. "How is it alright, Baal? They're taking you away from me and they're going to hurt you. Baal, I saw what they did to Caesar and I can't bear to see that look in your eyes as well, I can't! Don't let them pull us apart. Make them take me too!

"No, sweetheart," he said gently. "You have to stay here. The Wolves will keep you safe for now, and once Davyd sends word, they'll let you go."

"No," she sobbed, not caring that she was making a scene in front of spectators. All she knew was that the man she loved was about to be torn away from her, and it felt like her heart was being wrenched from her chest and stomped on.

Baal's lips met hers in a kiss very different from any he had given her before. It was hard, harsh, desolate, his mouth burning against her skin as if he could brand her forever. And then it was over, and he was backing away, his stare pinning her in place.

"Ahebbouka," he breathed. Though she did not understand the word, the look in his eyes told her that something unprecedented had occurred. Mutely, she slumped back against the wall, watching him walk calmly away with a crossbow bolt pointed between his shoulderblades. He did not look back.

"What does 'ahebbouka' mean?" she asked Asheara, who had remained behind momentarily to lock the cell door.

The older woman gave her a strange glance and said, "It means, 'I love you'."

A short while later, the bouncing echo of running feet filled the hall. Saiya, wrapped in her own misery, ignored it. No doubt it was just some soldier with an urgent message, or perhaps an escaped prisoner. She tucked her head further into the circle of her arms, breathing slowly through nostrils stuffed-up from weeping.

The sprinter stopped in front of her cell. There was a jangle of keys. A feminine voice exclaimed, "Saiya! Saiya, wake up!"

It was Asiya, breathless and disordered, looking as though she had just jumped off a horse. Saiya gaped at her for a moment, afraid that this was just some illusion, that her mind was playing tricks on her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Her friend laughed. "What do you think, stupid? I came to bail your ass out. I would have been here sooner, but we got held up at the pass by a shitload of lacuni who thought they could take us on. Anyway, I intended to spend my evening in the bathhouse, washing off all the dust of the road, but I rushed over here as soon as I heard that you'd gotten yourself arrested. Good on you, by the way, for jumping in to defend those kids – though I would have started by using my fists rather than my words. But that's …" The cascade of words slowed to a trickle as she noticed, apparently for the first time, Saiya's reddened eyes and blotchy complexion. "Hey, you okay? You've been crying!"

"Asheara took Baal away!" Saiya blurted out. "She's going to trade him off to the Emperor's men in exchange for Fahkri!"

"How long ago?" demanded Asiya.

"I don't know, twenty minutes?"

"Then we still have a chance to catch up. Come on!" Seizing her by the hand, Asiya dragged her upright and dashed the stone corridor with the young monk stumbling along behind. They stopped only briefly in the guardroom to reclaim both her and Baal's weapons, and to let Gawahir out of his cage. Once released, the raved flapped madly around the room, shrieking insults at the soldiers. He finally settled on Saiya's arm, where he hunched his shoulders in a sulky way and glared balefully at everyone.

Asiya's horse, a graceful bay mare, was tethered to a post in the yard outside. The Wolf swung herself into the saddle with practiced ease before leaning down to offer a hand to Saiya.

"I've, uh, never ridden before," Saiya admitted, feeling rather embarrassed.

"You'll be fine," Asiya assured her. "Just hang onto me, and I won't let you fall." She moved her foot out of the stirrup, so that Saiya could use it as a foothold. With a bit of awkward struggling and a lot of help, she managed to propel herself up and swing a leg over the mare's rump to perch behind her friend. She put her arms around Asiya's waist.

"Ucmaq, Külekiyen!" the healer cried, and Saiya let out an inadvertent cry of alarm as the steed sprang forward, hooves kicking up sprays of dirt. The night air rushed cool and soft through her hair as they galloped out of the courtyard and down the empty streets with Gawahir soaring silently overhead, a jet-black shadow against the starry sky.

They had been riding for only a few minutes when the raven abruptly wheeled to the right, crying, "This way! This way!" Asiya yanked on the reins, nearly unseating Saiya as the horse veered into a narrow alley. There was barely enough room for them to pass; the monk could have brushed her fingertips against both walls if she had extended her arms.

The alleyway spat them out into a much wider street, where Asiya brought them to a shuddering, prancing halt. The Iron Wolves were about twenty yards ahead: a company of eight – two lantern-bearers and six soldiers with Baal penned securely in between them – with Asheara marching in the lead. Saiya was about to call out, but some instinct made her stop. Moments later, three shadowy figures emerged from a side street to block the convoy's path.

"Where are you taking that man?" demanded a wonderfully familiar voice. Saiya's heart leapt, but once again she forced herself to stay silent, putting a warning hand on Asiya's shoulder to ensure that her friend did the same.

"It's okay," she whispered. "They're friends."

"Who are you to ask?" Asheara was saying in a gruff tone.

"Concerned citizens," answered a second voice, from the tallest of the figures.

"I know you," growled the Commander. "You're the Templar that accompanied this traitor to Fahkri's house. Stand aside, unless you want to be arrested too."

"It seems you leave us little choice," said the first figure.

The Wolves guarding Baal reached for their weapons, only to find themselves frozen in place by streams of icy magic that split the night, refracting the light of the stars and glistening like diamonds. In a matter of seconds, the entire party was immobilized, including Asheara, caught with her sword halfway out of its sheath and her mouth open in a battlecry.

Asiya gasped and spurred her mount forward before Saiya could stop her. Shadows swirled in the street ahead of them, and three demonic hounds sprang up from dark portals, snapping at the horse's feet. The terrified beast reared with a shrill neigh. Caught off guard, Saiya slipped from the saddle and tumbled onto the cobblestones, striking the back of her head against the rough surface with a crack that had bright lights dancing in her field of vision. She staggered up again, reeling like a drunk, a high-pitched ringing in her ears.

"Caesar!" she shouted. "Stop, it's me, Saiya!"

Muscular arms caught her as she pitched forward, and Kormac's deep voice cut through her disorientation. "Easy there, Schwesterchen, I've got you."

"What have you done?" Asiya was wailing. "You've killed them all!"

"No, I haven't," replied the wizard. "Your friends are merely frozen. They can be thawed by a simple spell reversal and will experience no ill effects from their brief stint as ice sculptures."

"Well, do it then!" the healer commanded.

Saiya, whose head was beginning to clear despite the fierce ache in the back of her skull, shook off Kormac's steadying hands and walked forward to where Caesar and Ghor stood in the middle of the stricken Wolves. As she approached, the wizard hurried forward to meet her, catching her up in a firm embrace.

"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously. "I've been so worried! What happened?"

"Baal and I were arrested in the marketplace," she said. "It was my fault, mostly. I drew attention to myself trying to be a hero. Anyway, Asheara was taking Baal to the palace; she meant to trade him for Fahkri. Asiya and I were on our way to stop her, but I see you've done that for us."

"Yes," said Caesar. Turning to Asiya, he added, "I'm sorry about the unpleasantness of the method, by the way. If I'd known … but never fear, I'll soon have things right. In the meantime, why don't you ladies find somewhere pleasant to sit and perhaps have a drink to calm your nerves. I'm sure Kormac would be glad to accompany you." He gave the Templar a meaningful glance.

Saiya frowned. There was something shifty in Caesar's expression, as well as the way that he was still standing directly in front of her with his hands on her arms, almost as though he was trying to block her view of something. And why had Baal not yet come to greet her, or at least made himself heard?

She stepped around the wizard, distinctly hearing his breath catch in his throat as she did so. A moment later it was apparent why: the Iron Wolves weren't the only ones to have suffered the indignity of being frozen.

"It was an accident," muttered Caesar. He sounded embarrassed. "I only regained use of my magic a few hours ago, and my control's still a little shaky. I wouldn't want you to think that I did it on purpose; I'm not that petty."

"Why haven't you thawed him yet?" she asked in an undertone.

He coughed. "I, uh … I tried. Like I said, my magic is slightly unpredictable at the moment. The spell was far more powerful than I'd intended, and … well …"

"You can't undo it."

"No, I just need a minute. I just thought that you might like to relax while I'm working on it. You've had quite an ordeal, after all-"

"I'm not going anywhere, Caesar."

"Nor am I," put in Asiya. "Not until you fix whatever you did to my aunt."

Caesar sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "As you like. But please, don't pester me with demands of why it's taking so long. I need to concentrate if the counter-spell is going to work properly."

Taking up a position in front of Baal, he began to move his hands in the air as though he was writing. His fingers left trails of snowflakes that vanished as soon as they had appeared. The ice covering the Hunter's right hand, which had been outstretched as though he was reaching for something, melted enough to allow some movement. Baal promptly took advantage of his newly liberated digits to flip Caesar off. The wizard rolled his eyes.

Baal's head was the next to thaw, sending little rivers down his chest and back. As soon as his mouth was mobile again, he sneered, "Hey, fuck-up mage, why don't you free my other hand and stand a bit closer so I can throttle you?"

"Very mature, Baal," Caesar drawled. "Shall I leave you for last, until your temper has cooled off a bit?"

"The only thing that's off around here is your damn aim," retorted the Hunter.

The two of them continued to snipe at each other as Caesar wove the spell. Once Baal was finally free, Saiya didn't give him the chance to start a fight, throwing herself into his arms and peppering his face with frantic kisses.

"Whoa, there!" he laughed. "You're acting like you haven't seen me in a year. It's been less than an hour, you know."

"'Hours stretch into days for parted lovers'," quoted Kormac, with a playful wink that contradicted his sincere tone.

Upon Asiya's insistence, Asheara was the next to be freed from the icy enchantment. The Commander was understandably not very happy about the situation, but according to her morals, she was unwilling to surrender a captive who had committed no crime over to Imperial justice.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about Fahkri," she grumbled, passing a tired hand over her face. "If one of you won't volunteer to be traded in his stead-"

"You're not thinking creatively," Saiya interrupted. "Why can't we stage a repeat of the rather effective rescue that just happened? We proceed with the original plan, but once the exchange has been completed and Fahkri is in your custody, Caesar, Ghor, Kormac, and I can launch an attack. We'll free Baal, and you can get Fahkri safely away during the commotion."

"Abandon my duty?" frowned Asheara.

"It'll never work," Asiya explained. "Auntie's much too honorable to run away from a fight. No one would believe she'd done it of her own accord."

"Suppose I were to freeze you all again?" suggested Caesar. "Then you would be incapacitated but with your precious honor intact, and I could come back to thaw you once the coast has cleared."

"Can you say for certain that you wouldn't 'accidentally' freeze any of your own allies?" said Baal in a snide tone of voice.

"What do you intend to do about the soldiers escorting Fahkri?" Asheara inquired. "Because I won't consent to any plan that involves shedding my people's blood."

"The Imperial Guard are not your people, Asheara," said Baal. "They are Belial's servants masquerading in human form. I've seen their transformation with my own eyes."

"As have I, Auntie," added Asiya.

"Some of them may still be human," Asheara said stubbornly.

"What if," Saiya said, and her voice stilled the agitation rising in the air. "What if I were to pretend to be an Iron Wolf? I'm wearing the armor, after all. Then, one of the rescue group can take me hostage – hold a knife to my throat or something – and threaten to kill me unless both captives are released. Asheara, you take the threat seriously and throw down your arms. If the Imperials are human, they'll probably do the same."

"And we'll take you with us as a bartering chip," Caesar finished. "I like it; simple but effective. I don't see much room for error, as long as everyone plays their part correctly."

"I don't like this deception," grumbled the Commander, "but I suppose since it's for a good cause I will go along with it."

The remaining Wolves had all been thawed by this time, and Asheara ordered them to adopt the same formation as before, with the addition of Saiya, alone in the rear where she could easily be grabbed. They marched off again as soon as they were properly assembled. The secondary team, consisting of Caesar, Ghor, and Kormac, followed the same route one street over. Asiya, meanwhile, rode back to headquarters to inform the other captains of the change in plan.

It didn't take them long to reach the bridge where the meeting was supposed to take place. The Imperial Guard was already there, in far larger number than Saiya had expected. A hasty count established the size of the group at twenty or so. In the center was Fahkri, in manacles and with a black bag placed over his head.

"You're late, Asheara," proclaimed the leader of the group, a large man in an elaborate headdress. "I was expecting you fifteen minutes ago."

"The prisoner gave us some difficulties," Asheara replied. "Are you ready to make the exchange?"

The captain gestured imperiously. Asheara grabbed Baal by the back of his neck and muscled him forward, while the Hunter made a good show of fighting her without actually breaking free. Two of the guards brought Fahkri up to the end of the bridge. The politician did not resist, but his odd shuffling gait and the way his covered head seemed to loll from side to side raised suspicions in Saiya's mind that he had been drugged or tortured.

Though she was fully expecting to be grabbed suddenly from behind, Kormac (who had been given the job) came up so stealthily that she was caught off guard anyway, letting out a real shriek of surprise. She felt the cold kiss of metal just under her chin and gulped, knowing that a single wrong move or slip of the hand could result in her getting her throat slashed.

"Drop your weapons now!" bellowed the Templar. "I will kill him without hesitation if you do not do as I say!"

Clever fellow, Saiya thought, mentally appreciating Kormac's quick-witted improvement to his act. I do look rather masculine in this get-up, especially in the dark, so if he were to refer to me as female, a perceptive person might infer that he and I were already acquainted.

Asheara hesitated a moment, conflict written in every tense line of her face and body, but when Kormac made a violent movement, as if to draw blood, she tossed her sword on the ground at her feet and motioned for her men to do the same.

"Ona itaet edin," she said to the Imperial captain. "Girov mina bir nisbi deyil."

"Sizin qan elaqeleri, Asheara mene aid deyil," replied the captain. "Xarici it Imperator öldürmek ücün cehd qrupunun bir hissesi deyil, men de onu hebs edecek."

"Amma esger!" cried Asheara. It sounded like a protest.

"Bir ölü it mene hec bir ferq edir." Looking directly at Kormac, he raised his voice. "Go ahead, xarici. Kill him."

Saiya could sense Kormac's confusion and doubt, but the Templar took this change of course with admirable calm. "You there," he called to Asheara. "You're the boss, right? You seem to be the most reasonable around here. I don't want to shed any more blood than I can help. I just want my friend back. Let him go, and I'll release this one unharmed."

"What about Fahkri?" Saiya hissed.

"Can't be helped," he muttered back. "Listen, Sister – if a fight breaks out, you stay out of it, okay? The least we can do is preserve Asheara's cover. If you get involved, they'll know she was in on this."

Saiya nodded reluctantly.

"Alright, xarici," Asheara said heavily. "I'm going to let your friend go. Please don't hurt the girl."

She was interrupted by a loud clicking sound as the soldiers across the bridge raised their crossbows in unison. The Captain chopped the air with his hand, and they fired. The Wolves who had not been fast enough to dive for cover were killed where they stood. Kormac dropped his knife and spun Saiya around so that he was shielding her with his own body. She felt him flinch. Dropping all thoughts of keeping her cover, she gasped, "Kormac! Are you okay?"

"My leg," he grunted. "I'll live. Those bastards!"

"Kurtlar, mene!" Asheara was screaming. "Yertici ov!"

The whistle of flying arrows filled the air as both sides began shooting freely. Kormac bundled Saiya and himself into a cranny in the side of a nearby building, where he sank to the ground, clutching his thigh. Saiya inspected the wound; fortunately, it was not deep, though the arrow would be difficult to remove, on account of the fact that it had run under the skin and emerged partially on the other side. The only thing to do would be to slice along the length of the shaft, draw it out, and then stitch the incision – an operation which would have to wait until they were back in camp. Saiya contented herself with breaking off both head and tail of the arrow so that the Templar would not injure himself further, and tightly wrapping his leg with her sash-like belt.

Cautiously poking her head out from behind her cover, she saw Baal crouched behind a statue of a formidable-looking dog, picking off shots at the enemy forces. She scuttled out to join him, staying on all fours to minimize her chances of getting hit, stopping along the way to pry a crossbow from the hand of an Iron Wolf with an arrow through his eye.

"How's Kormac?" asked the Hunter, letting loose another bolt and nodding in satisfaction as his target screamed.

"He's hurt, but not badly," Saiya replied. She sighted down the barrel of the bow and pulled the trigger. Her arrow stuck quivering in the wooden railing, mere inches from where one of the soldiers was kneeling.

"Shit," said Baal suddenly. His attention was fixed on the other side of the bridge, where a strange, bulky shape seemed to be forming out of the shadows. It was oddly faceted, like a boulder which had been cut into a diamond shape, but it was trundling slowly towards them on human legs. After a long, puzzled look, Saiya realized that it was a group of several soldiers huddled close together, each carrying a shield that formed a sort of protective shell around them.

"Don't let them get over here!" Asheara yelled, but her few remaining men fired in vain, their arrows bouncing uselessly off the metal shields.

"Aim low," Baal muttered to Saiya. "Try to hit their feet." He followed his own advice, but though he hit his mark, the formation continued its shuffling advance.

"Got any more bombs?" Saiya asked.

Baal shook his head. "I used them all up in Alcarnus and I haven't made any more yet."

The soldiers were nearly halfway across the bridge now; another ten feet and they'd be across. Saiya was on the verge of using the bell out of desperation when there was a shriek like nothing she had ever heard and an enormous ball of fire, trailing smaller flames in its wake, swooped down from the sky and engulfed the unfortunate Imperials. Black bird-like shapes moved within the flickering orange. The soldiers scattered, dropping their weapons and jumping into the river below. There was no escape for them, however – with a sound like pebbles crunching underfoot, the river froze over, trapping the men under an opaque sheet of ice. The fiery swarm moved on to their remaining foes.

"Looks like the mage decided to do something useful after all," Baal remarked, "though if he'd waited much longer there would have been no one left to admire him."

"Has the whole palace gone insane?" snarled Asheara, plucking an arrow out of the ground beside her and snapping it angrily in half. "They fired on us without provocation. They would have massacred us all!"

"Now do you believe us?" Baal asked her. She shot him a vicious glare and gestured to one of the Wolves.

"Scorch, I want you and the others to take our fallen back to headquarters. Tell the captains that our allegiance has changed. We no longer follow the Emperor. We will aid the xarici in freeing Caldeum from this curse of madness … by any means necessary."

Caesar and Ghor had joined them by this time, the wizard supporting a limping Kormac. Asheara gave them a reserved but respectful nod.

"Thank you for your assistance," she said. "I take it that the burning demons belonged to you, sangoma?"

"Yes," replied Ghor. "They are the moto dhoruba – the firestorm bats."

"Gott, hilf mir," muttered the Templar under his breath.

"Can you control them?" Asheara asked.

The umbaru woman regarded her evenly out of her inscrutable jet-black eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Many people are uncomfortable with your kind of magic," explained the Commander. "I myself am not, as long as you can properly control the spirits you call forth into this world."

"You need not worry," said Ghor, with the barest hint of a smile. "I have a very good relationship with my loa."

While they were talking, Saiya had ventured across the bridge with Baal at her heels. She avoided looking at the faces of the soldiers beneath the ice, not wanting to face the accusation in their blank and lifeless stares. The smell of scorched flesh soured her stomach, and she felt suddenly weary of all the bloodshed. It was one thing to fight against demons, but these were human beings with homes and families and hopes and fears. How many of them had wanted to be here, blindly obeying a superior officer who had ordered them to their deaths?

Fahkri was lying on the ground, but he had no obvious injuries, and his feeble movements informed them that he was alive, at least. Saiya knelt beside him and helped him to sit up, talking in a soft voice.

"It's alright, Mister Fahkri. It's Saiya and Baal. We've come to rescue you."

Fahkri made an incomprehensible gurgling noise. Beginning to feel alarmed, Saiya grasped the bag over his head and pulled it off. Her mouth fell open in shock.

"Baal!" she gasped. "This isn't Fahkri! We've been deceived!"

* Asiya said, "Fly, Wind Eater!"

* The conversation between Asheara and the Imperial Captain goes as follows:

Asheara: "Please obey him. The hostage is a relative of mine."

The Captain: "Your blood ties do not concern me, Asheara. If this foreign dog is part of the group that tried to kill the Emperor, I will arrest him as well."

Asheara: "But my soldier!"

The Captain: "One dead dog makes no difference to me."

* Asheara's orders here basically amount to rallying the Wolves with the battle cry, 'Yertici ov', which translates roughly to, 'Hunt prey'. I thought it was rather fitting for an outfit called the Iron Wolves.