A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

Truthfinder
stood in the shade of the gate blockhouse entrance, silent
and watching.
    The Overseer approached Bivatt. 'Atri-Preda,' he said, 'I
see none but your own dead here.'
    She glared at him, yet it was a look containing more
than simple anger. He saw fear in her eyes. 'The city was
infiltrated,' she said, 'by an Awl warrior.'
    'This is the work of one man?'
    'It is the least of his talents.'
    'Ah, then you know who this man is.'
    'Overseer, I am rather busy—'
    'Tell me of him.'
    Grimacing, she gestured him to one side of the gate.
They both had to step carefully over corpses sprawled on
the slick cobblestones. 'I think I have sent a troop of
lancers out to their deaths, Overseer. My mood is not
conducive to lengthy conversation.'
    'Oblige me. If a war-party of Awl'dan warriors is at the
very edge of this city, there must be an organized response
– one,' he added, seeing her offended look, 'involving the
Tiste Edur as well as your units.'
    After a moment, she nodded. 'Redmask. The only name
by which we know him. Even the Awl'dan have but legends
of his origins—'
    'And they are?'
    'Letur Anict—'
    Brohl Handar hissed in anger and glared across at Orbyn,
who had moved within hearing range. 'Why is it that every
disaster begins with that man's name?'
    Bivatt resumed. 'There was skirmishing, years ago now,
between a rich Awl tribe and the Factor. Simply, Letur
Anict coveted the tribe's vast herds. He despatched agents
who, one night, entered an Awl camp and succeeded in
kidnapping a young woman – one of the clan leader's
daughters. The Awl, you see, were in the habit of stealing
Letherii children. In any case, that daughter had a
brother.'
    'Redmask.'
    She nodded. 'A younger brother. Anyway, the Factor
adopted the girl into his household, and before too long she
was Indebted to him—'
    'No doubt without even being aware of that. Yes, I
understand. And so, in order to purchase that debt, and her
own freedom, Letur demanded her father's herds.'
    'Yes, more or less. And the clan leader agreed. Alas, even
as the Factor's forces approached the Awl camp with their
precious cargo, the girl plunged a knife into her own heart.
Thereafter, things got rather confused. Letur Anict's
soldiers attacked the Awl camp, killing everyone—'
    'The Factor decided he would take the herds anyway.'
    'Yes. It turned out, however, that there was one survivor.
A few years later, as the skirmishes grew fiercer, the Factor's
troops found themselves losing engagement after engagement.
Ambushes were turned. And the name of Redmask
was first heard – a new war chief. Now, what follows is even
less precise than what I have described thus far. It seems
there was a gathering of the clans, and Redmask spoke –
argued, that is, with the Elders. He sought to unify the clans
against the Letherii threat, but the Elders could not be convinced.
In his rage, Redmask spoke unwise words. The
Elders demanded he retract them. He refused, and so was
exiled. It is said he travelled east, into the wildlands
between here and Kolanse.'
    'What is the significance of the mask?'
    Bivatt shook her head. 'I don't know. There is a legend
that he killed a dragon, in the time immediately following
the slaughter of his family. No more than a child – which
makes the tale unlikely.' She shrugged.
    'And so he has returned,' Brohl Handar said, 'or some
other Awl warrior has adopted the mask and so seeks to
drive fear into your hearts.'
    'No, it was him. He uses a bladed whip and a two-headed
axe. The weapons themselves are virtually mythical.'
    The Overseer frowned at her. 'Mythical?'
    'Awl legends hold that their people once fought a war, far
to the east, when the Awl dwelt in the wildlands. The
cadaran and rygtha were weapons designed to deal with
that enemy. I have no more details than what I have just
given you, except that it appears that whatever that enemy
was, it wasn't human.'
    'Every tribe has tales of past wars, an age of heroes—'
    'Overseer, the Awl'dan legends are not like that.'
    'Oh?'
    'Yes. First of all, the Awl lost that war. That is why they
fled west.'
    'Have there been no Letherii expeditions into the
wildlands?'
    'Not in decades, Overseer. After all, we are clashing with
the various territories and kingdoms along that border. The
last expedition was virtually wiped out, a single survivor
driven mad by what she had seen. She spoke of something
called the Hissing Night. The voice of death, apparently. In
any case, her madness could not be