A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

reached bent and twisted
arms up through the rubble, jutting limbs from which hung
root tendrils, dripping water. Swaths of forest climbed the
mountainside to the north, on the other side of the river,
and the ragged cliffs edging the tumbling water on that side
were verdant with moss. The opposite mountain, flanking
the trail, was a stark contrast, latticed with fissures, broken,
gouged and mostly treeless. In the midst of this shattered
façade shadows marked out odd regularities, of line and
angle; and upon the trail itself, here and there, broad worn
steps had been carved, eroded by flowing water and
centuries of footfalls.
    Seren Pedac believed that a city had once occupied the
entire mountainside, a vertical fortress carved into living
stone. She could make out what she thought were large
gaping windows, and possibly the fragmented ledges of
balconies high up, hazy in the mists. Yet something – something
huge, terrible in its monstrosity – had impacted the
entire side of the mountain, obliterating most of the city in
a single blow. She could almost discern the outline of that
collision, yet among the screes of rubble tracking down
the sundered slopes the only visible stone belonged to the
mountain itself.
    They stood at the base of the trail. Seren watched the
lifeless eyes of the Tiste Andii slowly scan upward.
    'Well?' she asked.
    Silchas Ruin shook his head. 'Not from my people.
K'Chain Che'Malle.'
    'A victim of your war?'
    He glanced across at her, as if gauging the emotion
behind her question, then said, 'Most of the mountains
from which the K'Chain Che'Malle carved their sky keeps
are now beneath the waves, inundated following the
collapse of Omtose Phellack. The cities are cut into the
stone, although only in the very earliest versions are they
as you see here – open to the air rather than buried within
shapeless rock.'
    'An elaboration suggesting a sudden need for
self-defence.'
    He nodded.
    Fear Sengar had moved past them and was beginning the
ascent. After a moment Udinaas and Kettle followed.
Seren had prevailed in her insistence to leave the horses
behind. In a clearing off to their right sat four wagons
covered with tarps. It was clear that no such contrivance
could manage this climb, and all transport from here on
was by foot. As for the mass of weapons and armour the
slavers had been conveying, either it would have been
stashed here, awaiting a hauling crew, or the slaves would
have been burdened like mules.
    'I have never made this particular crossing,' Seren said,
'although I have viewed this mountainside from a distance.
Even then, I thought I could see evidence of reshaping. I
once asked Hull Beddict about it, but he would tell me
nothing. At some point, however, I think our trail takes us
inside.'
    'The sorcery that destroyed this city was formidable,'
Silchas Ruin said.
    'Perhaps some natural force—'
'No, Acquitor. Starvald Demelain. The destruction was
the work of dragons. Eleint of the pure blood. At least a
dozen, working in concert, a combined unleashing of their
warrens. Unusual,' he added.
    'Which part?'
    'Such a large alliance, for one. Also, the extent of their
rage. I wonder what crime the K'Chain Che'Malle
committed to warrant such retaliation.'
    'I know the answer to that,' came a sibilant whisper from
behind them, and Seren turned, squinted down at the
insubstantial wraith crouched there.
    'Wither. I was wondering where you had gone to.'
    'Journeys into the heart of the stone, Seren Pedac. Into
the frozen blood. What was their crime, you wonder,
Silchas Ruin? Why, nothing less than the assured
annihilation of all existence. If extinction awaited them,
then so too would all else die. Desperation, or evil spite?
Perhaps neither, perhaps a terrible accident, that wounding
at the centre of it all. But what do we care? We shall all be
dust by then. Indifferent. Insensate.'
    Silchas Ruin said, without turning, 'Beware the frozen
blood, Wither. It can still take you.'
    The wraith hissed a laugh. 'Like an ant to sap, yes. Oh,
but it is so seductive, Master.'
    'You have been warned. If you are snared, I cannot free
you.'
    The wraith slithered past them, flowed up the ragged
steps.
    Seren adjusted the leather satchel on her shoulders. 'The
Fent carried supplies balanced on their heads. Would that I
could do the same.'
    'The vertebrae become compacted,' Silchas Ruin said,
'resulting in chronic pain.'
    'Well, mine are feeling rather crunched right now, so I'm
afraid I don't see much