A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 3

significance of the myriad flavours in
this wine shall not be lost on you, I'm sure.' Beaming, he
handed her a goblet.
    She drank, then bared her tusks in what Paran took to be
a smile. 'Bik'trara – ice flowers – you must have crossed a
Jaghut glacier some time in the past, to have harvested
such rare plants.'
    'Indeed, my dear! Jaghut glaciers, and much more
besides, I assure you! To explain, the Trygalle Trade Guild
travels the warrens – a claim no other merchants in this
world dare make. Accordingly, we are very expensive.' He
gave Paran a broad wink. 'Very, as the Master of the Deck
well knows. Speaking of which, I trust you have your payment
with you?'
    Paran nodded.
    Karpolan proffered the third goblet to Paran. 'I note
you have brought your horse, Master of the Deck. Do you
intend to ride alongside us, then?'
    'I think so. Is that a problem?'
    'Hard to say – we do not yet know what we shall
encounter on this fell bridge. In any case, you must ride
close, unless you mean to assert your own protection – in
which case, why hire us at all?'
    'No, your protection I shall need, I'm sure,' Paran said.
'And yes, that is why I contracted with your guild in
Darujhistan.' He sipped at the wine, and found his head
swimming. 'Although,' he added, eyeing the golden liquid,
'if I drink any more of this, I might have trouble staying in
the saddle.'
    'You must strap yourself tightly, Ganoes Paran. In the
stirrups, and to the saddle. Trust me in this, such a journey
is best managed drunk – or filled with the fumes of
durhang. Or both. Now, I must begin preparations –
although I have never before visited this warren, I am
beginning to suspect we will be sorely tested on this dread
bridge.'
    'If you are amenable,' Ganath said, 'I would ride with you
within.'
    'Delightful, and I suggest you ready yourself to access
your warren, Jaghut, should the need arise.'
    Paran watched as the two climbed back into the carriage,
then he turned to regard Hedge.
    The sapper finished the wine in his goblet and set it back
down on the tray, which was being held still by the servant
– an old man with red-rimmed eyes and grey hair that
looked singed at its ends. 'How many of these journeys
have you made?' Hedge asked him.
    'More'n I can count, sir.'
    'I take it Karpolan Demesand is a High Mage.'
    'That he be, sir. An' for that, us shareholders bless 'im
every day.'
    'No doubt,' Hedge said, then turned to Paran. 'If you
ain't gonna drink that, Captain, put it down. You and me
need to talk.'
    Paran risked another mouthful then replaced the goblet,
following as, with a gesture, Hedge set off towards the foot
of the bridge.
    'Something on your ghostly mind, sapper?'
    'Plenty, Captain, but first things first. You know, when I
tossed that cusser back in Coral, I figured that was it. Hood
knows, I didn't have a choice, so I'd do the same thing if I
had to do it over again. Anyway –' he paused, then said, 'for
a time there was, well, just darkness. The occasional flicker
of something like light, something like awareness.' He
shook his head. 'It was like, well,' he met Paran's eyes, 'like
I had nowhere to go. My soul, I mean. Nowhere at all. And
trust me on this, that ain't a good feeling.'
    'But then you did,' Paran said. 'Have somewhere to go, I
mean.'
    Hedge nodded, eyes once more on the mists engulfing
the way ahead. 'Heard voices, at first. Then ... old friends,
coming outa the dark. Faces I knew, and sure, like I said,
friends. But some who weren't. You got to understand,
Captain, before your time, a lot of Bridgeburners were plain
bastards. When a soldier goes through what we went
through, in Raraku, at Black Dog, you come out one of two
kinds of people. Either you're damned humbled, or you start
believing the Empress worships what slides outa your ass,
and not just the Empress, but everyone else besides. Now, I
never had time for those bastards when I was alive – now
I'm looking at spending an eternity with 'em.'
    Paran was silent for a moment, thoughtful, then he said,
'Go on.'
    'Us Bridgeburners, we got work ahead of us, and some of
us don't like it. I mean, we're dead, right? And sure, it's
good helping friends who are still alive, and maybe helping
all of humanity if it comes to that and I'm sorry to say, it
will come to that. Still, you end up with questions,
questions that can't be answered.'
    'Such as?'
    The sapper's expression twisted. 'Damn, sounds awful,
but ... what's in it for us? We find ourselves in an army of
the