Jerek nodded in reply. ‘Aye,’ he said simply. ‘Mhaira’s alive.’
Before either man could say anything more, the ground beneath them began to vibrate. Kayne turned his head to see the Brethren thundering past, stampeding towards the Demonfire Hills in the direction their master had flown. Back towards the High Fangs, where ghosts he thought buried had just risen from the dead.
Sasha came stumbling over. She looked like a ghost herself, all covered in blood and ash, her pretty hair singed and blackened and her eyes telling the story of the horrors she’d witnessed. ‘Zolta’s men breached the east gate an hour ago,’ she said, in between gasps for breath. ‘They’ve taken the city. Someone gave the order for the militia to stand down. The Watch has surrendered.’
‘Salazar?’ Kayne managed to ask, though he reckoned he already knew the answer, and at that moment he wasn’t much for caring either way.
‘Dead,’ replied Sasha. ‘General Zolta confirmed it. He saw the body. What’s left of it.’
There was a short silence while the news sunk in. It was Jerek who eventually spoke.
‘Well, fuck me,’ he said. ‘The boy’s a hero after all.’
The Truth
He dashed through the Obelisk, his heart racing, his mind focused on one thing only.
He had to find Garrett.
He slid down the sloping heap of debris on his arse, scraping his hands badly. He didn’t care. Taking the stairs leading down to the gallery three at a time, he leaped over the Augmentor’s butchered corpse and almost slipped on the slick marble. He regained his balance and ran on, praying that no guards appeared to disrupt his headlong flight from the tower.
Even the Stasiseum couldn’t slow Cole’s progress, though there was glass all over the floor and he saw that two of the displays had been smashed. The savage green-skinned humanoid and the huge, alien-looking egg were gone, vanished into thin air. As he sped through the chamber he heard the patter of blood dripping from the priest suspended in the central display. A hurried glance at the robed figure confirmed he was dead.
The library passed in a blur and then he was speeding down the passageway outside the Grand Council Chamber. Just as he was nearing the huge double doors he heard the sounds of voices drifting through the doorway. The left door began to rattle and then it creaked open, only to jam against the body of the Watchman sprawled there. Cole silently thanked his luck and sprinted towards the stairs down to the first floor, ignoring the corpse wedged in the corner of the stairwell.
The entrance hall was empty except for the Halfmage, who was biting into a plum. He glanced up in surprise, wiping juice from his chin with the corner of one billowing sleeve. ‘Well?’ he said. ‘What’s happening?’
‘Salazar’s dead,’ he said as he barged past the wizard, causing him to fumble the plum. It splattered to the floor, leaving a red mess.
‘He’s what? Where are you going? What about me?’
‘There’s something I need to do,’ Cole shouted back. ‘Let the city know. Salazar is dead.’
He glanced down at the bag hanging at his belt. Tick tock tick tock. Every pulse of the device sent fresh waves of dread washing through him. He gritted his teeth and ran on.
The light was fading by the time he arrived at the hidden entrance to the temple of the Mother. He pulled the snaking vines of ivy aside, noting with growing dread that they hadn’t been disturbed in a while. He was about to squeeze through the narrow gap when he heard the sound of many footsteps moving in tandem. They seemed to be heading in his direction. He hesitated, and then edged back along the side of the temple’s crumbling walls and peered out down the Trade Way.
A huge column of Sumnian mercenaries was marching towards the Hook. At the head of the small army was the fattest man Cole had ever seen. His ankles were as thick as most men’s thighs, and his four chins bounced up and down with every waddling step he took. Behind the whale of a man, soldiers laughed and cast avaricious glances to the north, where the estates of wealthy nobles rose above the sequestering walls. Some made obscene gestures while others stared with wolfish grins.
Cole ducked back behind the temple. It looked like an entire company of Sumnian mercenaries had breached the east gate without seeing a lick of action. Maybe the defenders learned of