A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 3

marred by dark
purple blotches, eyes crusted shut by mucus. The man's
tongue, the colour of Aren Steel, was so swollen it had
forced open his mouth, splitting the parched lips. A healer
– probably Noto Boil – had packed Dujek's neck in a
mixture of mould, ash and clay, which had since dried,
looking like a slave collar.
    After a long moment, Paran heard Dujek draw breath,
the sound uneven, catching again and again in faint
convulsions of his chest. The meagre air then hissed back
out in a rattling whistle.
    Gods below, this man will not last the night.
    The captain realized that his lips had gone numb, and he
was having trouble focusing. This damned incense, it's
d'bayang. He stood for another half-dozen heartbeats, looking
down on the shrunken, frail figure of the Malazan
Empire's greatest living general, then he turned about and
strode from the chamber.
    Two steps across the outer room and a hoarse voice
halted him.
    'Who in Hood's name are you?'
    Paran faced the woman who had spoken. She was
propped up on her bed, enough to allow her a level gaze on
the captain. Dark-skinned, her complexion lacking the
weathered lines of desert life, her eyes large and very dark.
Stringy, sweat-plastered black hair, cut short yet nonetheless
betraying a natural wave, surrounded her round
face, which sickness had drawn, making her eyes seem
deeper, more hollow.
    'Captain Kindly—'
    'By the Abyss you are. I served under Kindly in
Nathilog.'
    'Well, that's discouraging news. And you are?'
    'Fist Rythe Bude.'
    'One of Dujek's recent promotions, then, for I have
never heard of you. Nor can I fathom where you hail from.'
    'Shal-Morzinn.'
    Paran frowned. 'West of Nemil?'
    'Southwest.'
    'How did you come to be in Nathilog, Fist?'
    'By the Three, give me some water, damn you.'
    Paran looked round until he found a bladder, which he
brought to her side.
    'You're a fool,' she said. 'Coming in here. Now you will
die with the rest of us. You'll have to pour it into my
mouth.'
    He removed the stopper, then leaned closer.
    She closed her remarkable, luminous eyes and tilted her
head back, mouth opening. The weals on her neck were
cracked, leaking clear fluid as thick as tears. Squeezing the
bladder, he watched the water stream into her mouth.
    She swallowed frantically, gasped then coughed.
    He pulled the bladder away. 'Enough?'
    She managed a nod, coughed again, then swore in some
unknown language. 'This damned smoke,' she added in
Malazan. 'Numbs the throat so you can't even tell when
you're swallowing. Every time I close my eyes, d'bayang
dreams rush upon me like the Red Winds.'
    He stood, looking down upon her.
    'I left Shal-Morzinn ... in haste. On a Blue Moranth
trader. Money for passage ran out in a town called Pitch, on
the Genabarii coast. From there I made it to Nathilog, and
with a belly too empty to let me think straight, I signed up.'
    'Where had you intended to go?'
    She made a face. 'As far as my coin would take me, fool.
Crossing the Three is not a recipe for a long life. Blessings
to Oponn's kiss, they didn't come after me.'
    'The Three?'
    'The rulers of Shal-Morzinn ... for the past thousand
years. You seemed to recognize the empire's name, which is
more than most.'
    'I know nothing beyond the name itself, which is found
on certain Malazan maps.'
    She croaked a laugh. 'Malazans. Knew enough to make
their first visit their last.'
    'I wasn't aware we'd visited at all,' Paran said.
    'The Emperor. And Dancer. The imperial flagship, Twist. Gods, that craft alone was sufficient to give the Three
pause. Normally, they annihilate strangers as a matter of
course – we trade with no-one, not even Nemil. The Three
despise outsiders. Were they so inclined they would have
conquered the entire continent by now, including Seven
Cities.'
    'Not expansionists, then. No wonder no-one's heard of
them.'
    'More water.'
    He complied.
    When she'd finished coughing, she met his eyes. 'You
never told me – who are you in truth?'
    'Captain Ganoes Paran.'
    'He's dead.'
    'Not yet.'
    'All right. So why the lie?'
    'Dujek decommissioned me. Officially, I am without
rank.'
    'Then what in Hood's name are you doing here?'
    He smiled. 'That's a long story. At the moment, I have
one thing I need to do, and that is, repay a debt. I owe
Dujek that much. Besides, it's not good to have a goddess
loose in the mortal realm, especially one who delights in
misery.'
    'They all delight in misery.'
    'Yes, well.'
    She bared a row of even teeth, stained by