A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 2

sides. She wanted to run. The game was too hard, too fraught. Its final promise was cold – colder than she had ever imagined. Vengeance is a wasted emotion, y et I have let it consume me. I gave it like a gift to the goddess.
    Fragments of clarity – they were diminishing, withering like flowers in winter – as the hold of the Whirlwind Goddess tightened on her soul. My sister traded me for the faith of the Empress, to convince Laseen of Tavore's own loyalty. All to serve her ambition. And her reward was the position of Adjunct. Such are the facts, the cold truths. And I, in turn, have traded my freedom for the power of the Whirlwind Goddess, so that I can deliver just vengeance against my sister.
    Are we, then, so different?
    Fragments of clarity, but they led nowhere. She could ask questions, yet seemed incapable of seeking answers. She could make statements, but they seemed strangely hollow, devoid of significance. She was being kept from thinking.
    Why?
    Another question she knew she would not answer, would not, even, make an effort to answer. The goddess doesn't want me to think. Well, at least that was a recognition of sorts.
    She sensed the approach of someone, and issued a silent command to her guards – Mathok's chosen warriors – to permit the visitor to pass within. The curtains covering the entrance to the chamber parted.
    'A late night for an ancient one such as you, Bidithal,' Sha'ik said. 'You should be resting, in preparation for the battle.'
    'There are many battles, Chosen One, and some have already begun.' He leaned heavily on his staff, looking around with a slight smile on his wrinkled lips. 'The coals are fading,' he murmured.
    'I would have thought the growing shadows would please you.'
    His smile tightened, then he shrugged. 'They are not mine, Chosen One.'
    'Aren't they?'
    The smile grew more strained still. 'I was never a priest of Meanas.'
    'No, here it was Rashan, ghost-child of Kurald Galain ... yet the warren it claimed was, none the less, Shadow. We are both well aware that the distinctions diminish the closer one delves into the mysteries of the most ancient triumvirate. Shadow, after all, was born of the clash between Light and Dark. And Meanas is, in essence, drawn from the warrens of Thyrllan and Galain, Thyr and Rashan. It is, if you will, a hybrid discipline.'
    'Most sorcerous arts available to mortal humans are, Chosen One. I do not, I am afraid, comprehend the point you wish to make.'
    She shrugged. 'Only that you send your shadow servants here to spy on me, Bidithal. What is it you hope to witness? I am as you see me.'
    He spread his hands, staff resting against one shoulder. 'Perhaps not spies, then, but protectors.'
    'And I am in such dire need of protection, Bidithal? Are your fears ... specific? Is this what you have come to tell me?'
    'I am close to discovering the precise nature of that threat, Chosen One. Soon, I will be able to deliver my revelations. My present concerns, however, are with High Mage L'oric and, perhaps, Ghost Hands.'
    'Surely you do not suspect either of them of being part of the conspiracy.'
    'No, but I am coming to believe that other forces are at
play here. We are at the heart of a convergence, Chosen One, and not just between us and the Malazans.'
    'Indeed.'
    'Ghost Hands is not as he once was. He is a priest once more.'
    Sha'ik's brows lifted in frank disbelief. 'Fener is gone, Bidithal—'
    'Not Fener. But consider this. The god of war has been dethroned. And another has risen in its place, as necessity demanded. The Tiger of Summer, who was once the First Hero, Treach. A Soletaken of the First Empire ... now a god. His need will be great, Chosen One, for mortal champions and avatars, to aid him in establishing the role he would assume. A Mortal Sword, a Shield Anvil, a Destriant – all of the ancient titles ... and the powers the god invests in them.'
    'Ghost Hands would never accept a god other than Fener,' Sha'ik asserted. 'Nor, I imagine, would a god be foolish enough to embrace him in turn. You know little of his past, Bidithal. He is not a pious man. He has committed ... crimes—'
    'None the less, Chosen One. The Tiger of Summer has made his choice.'
    'As what?'
    Bidithal shrugged. 'What else could he be but Destriant.'
    'What proof have you of this extraordinary transformation?'
    'He hides well. . . but not well enough, Chosen One.'
    Sha'ik was silent for a long moment, then she replied with a shrug of her own. 'Destriant to the