'High Fist, if Kruppe is this world's foremost genius, then Quick Ben's but a step behind him. A very short step.'
They heard shouts outside the tent, then booted feet. A moment later the standard-bearer Artanthos pulled aside the flap and entered. 'Sirs, a lone Moranth has been spotted. Flying in from the northeast. It's Twist.'
Whiskeyjack rose, grunting at the cascade of aches and twinges the motion triggered. 'Queen of Dreams, we're about to receive some news.'
'Let's hope it's cheering news,' Dujek growled. 'I could do with some.'
Her face was pressed against the lichen-skinned stones, the roughness fading as her sweat soaked the ragged plant. Heart pounding, breaths coming in gasps, she Jay whimpering, too tired to keep running, too tired to even so much as raise her head.
The tundra of her dreams had revealed new enemies. Not the band of strangers pursuing her this time.
This time, she had been found by wolves. Huge, gaunt creatures, bigger than any she had ever seen in her waking life. They had loped into view on a ridge marking the skyline to the north. Eight long-legged, shoulder-hunched beasts, their fur sharing the muted shades of the landscape. The one in the lead had turned, as if catching her scent on the dry, cold wind.
And the chase had begun.
At first the Mhybe had revelled in the fleetness of her young, lithe legs. Swift as an antelope — faster than anything a mortal human could achieve — she had fled across the barren land.
The wolves kept pace, tireless, the pack ranging out to the sides, one occasionally sprinting, darting in from one side or the other, forcing her to turn.
Again and again, when she sought to remain between hills, on level land, the creatures somehow managed to drive her up' slope. And she began to tire.
The pressure never relented. Into her thoughts, amidst the burgeoning pain in her legs, the fire in her chest and the dry, sharp agony of her throat, came the horrifying realization that escape was impossible. That she was going to die. Pulled down like any other animal doomed to become a victim of the wolves' hunger.
For them, she knew, the sea of her mind, whipped now to a frenzied storm of panic and despair, meant nothing. They were hunters, and what resided within the soul of their quarry had no relevance. As with the antelope, the bhederin calf, the ranag, grace and wonder, promise and potential — reduced one and all to meat.
Life's final lesson, the only truthful one buried beneath a layered skein of delusions.
Sooner or later, she now understood, we are all naught but food. Wolves or worms, the end abrupt or lingering, it mattered not in the least.
Whimpering, half blind, she staggered up yet another hillside. They were closer. She could hear their paws crunching through wind-dried lichen and moss. To her right, to her left, closing, edging slightly ahead.
Crying out, the Mhybe stumbled, fell face first onto the rocky. summit. She closed her eyes, waited for the first explosion of pain as teeth ripped into her flesh.
The wolves circled. She listened to them. Circled, then began spiralling in, closer, closer.
A hot breath gusted against the back of her neck.
The Mhybe screamed.
And awoke. Above her, a fading blue sky, a passing hawk. Haze of dust from the herd, drifting. In the air, distant voices and, much closer, the ragged, rattling sound of her own breathing.
The wagon had stopped moving. The army was settling in for the night.
She lay huddled, motionless beneath the furs and hides. A pair of voices were murmuring nearby. She smelled the smoke of a dung cookfire, smelled a herbal, meaty broth — sage, a hint of goat. A third voice arrived, was greeted by the first two — all strangely indistinct, beyond her ability to identify. And not worth the effort. My watchers. My jailers.
The wagon creaked. Someone crouched beside her. 'Sleep should not leave you so exhausted.'
'No, Korlat, it should not. Please, now, let me end this myself-'
'No. Here, Coll has made a stew.'
'I've no teeth left with which to chew.'
'Just slivers of meat, easily swallowed. Mostly broth.'
'I'm not hungry.'
'Nevertheless. Shall I help you sit up?'
'Hood take you, Korlat. You and the rest. Every one of you.'
'Here, I will help you.'
'Your good intentions are killing me. No, not killing. That's just it, isn't it-' She grunted, feebly trying to twist away from Korlat's hands as the Tiste Andii lifted her effortlessly into a sitting position. 'Torturing me. Your mercy. Which is anything but. No, look not at my face, Korlat.' She drew her hood tighter. 'Lest I grow avid for the pity in your eyes. Where is this bowl? I will eat. Leave me.'