A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 3

chaotic pattern. Shadowthrone snarled
and the frenzied hand vanished. A whisper: 'Pure genius.
Why didn't I think of that?' The tone began rising once
more. 'Why? Because I'm not an idiot!!'
    With that the god's presence winked out.
    Paran grunted, then said, 'You never told me if you were
going to send the Hounds of Shadow to Seven Cities.'
    He thought then that he heard a faint scream of
frustration, but perhaps it was only imagined. Paran
returned the card to the deck, put it back into an inside
pocket, and slowly straightened. 'Well,' he sighed, 'that
wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.'
     
    By the time Hedge returned, both Ganath and Karpolan
had reappeared, their glances towards Paran decidedly
uneasy.
    The ghost gestured Paran closer and said quietly, 'It ain't
going to work the way we wanted it, Captain. Too much
distance between them – by the time I get to the closest
one, the farthest one will have gone up, and if those
Hounds are close, well, like I said, it ain't going to work.'
    'What do you suggest?'
    'You ain't going to like it. I sure don't, but it's the only
way.'
    'Out with it, sapper.'
    'Leave me behind. Get going. Now.'
    'Hedge—'
    'No, listen, it makes sense. I'm already dead – I can find
my own way out.'
    'Maybe you can find your own way out, Hedge. More
likely what's left of you will get torn to pieces, if not by the
Deragoth, then any of a host of other local nightmares.'
    'Captain, I don't need this body – it's just for show, so's
you got a face to look at. Trust me, it's the only way you and
the others are going to get out of this alive.'
    'Let's try a compromise,' Paran said. 'We wait as long as
we can.'
    Hedge shrugged. 'As you like, just don't wait too long,
Captain.'
    'Get on your way, then, Hedge. And ... thank you.'
    'Always an even trade, Captain.'
    The ghost headed off. Paran turned to Karpolan
Demesand. 'How confident are you,' he asked, 'about
getting us out of here fast?'
    'This part should be relatively simple,' the Trygalle
sorcerer replied. 'Once a path is found into a warren, its
relationship to others becomes known. The Trygalle Trade
Guild's success is dependent entirely upon its Surveyants –
its maps, Ganoes Paran. With each mission, those maps
become more complete.'
    'Those are valuable documents,' Paran observed. 'I trust
you keep them well protected.'
    Karpolan Demesand smiled, and said nothing.
    'Prepare the way, then,' Paran said.
    Hedge was already out of sight, lost somewhere in the
gloom beyond the nearest statues. Mists had settled in
the depressions, but the mercurial sky overhead seemed as
remote as ever. For all that, Paran noticed, the light was
failing. Had their sojourn here encompassed but a single
day? That seemed ... unlikely.
    The bark of a munition reached him – a sharper. 'That's
the signal,' Paran said, striding over to his horse. 'The
farthest statue will go first.' He swung himself into the
saddle, guided his horse closer to the carriage, into which
Karpolan and Ganath had already disappeared. The shutter
on the window slid to one side as he arrived.
    'Captain—'
    A thunderous detonation interrupted him, and Paran
turned to see a column of smoke and dust rising.
    'Captain, it seems – much to my surprise—'
    A second explosion, closer this time, and another statue
seemed to simply vanish.
    'As I was saying, it appears my options are far more
limited than I first—'
    From the distance came a deep, bestial roar.
    The first Deragoth —
    'Ganoes Paran! As I was saying—'
    The third statue detonated, its base disappearing within
an expanding, billowing wave of smoke, stone and dust.
Front legs shorn through, the huge edifice pitched forward,
jagged cracks sweeping through the rock, and began its
descent. Then struck.
    The carriage jumped, then bounced back down on its
ribbed stanchions. Glass broke somewhere inside.
    The reverberations of the concussion rippled through
the ground.
    Horses screamed and fought their bits, eyes rolling.
    A second howl shook the air.
    Paran squinted through the dust and smoke, seeking
Hedge somewhere between the last statue to fall and the
ones yet to be destroyed. But in the gathering darkness he
saw no movement. All at once, the fourth statue erupted.
Some vagary of sequence tilted the monument to one side,
and as it toppled, it struck the fifth.
    'We must leave!'
    The shriek was Karpolan Demesand's.
    'Hold on—'
    'Ganoes Paran, I am no longer confident—'
    'Just hold it—'
    A third howl, echoed