Dust of Dreams

kill a tick was with his thumbnail, slicing the insect in half on a flat rock. He remembered a dog trying to eat one once. It had had to spit it out. Ticks tasted foul—too foul even for dogs, which he’d not thought possible. Cities probably tasted even worse.
    Listen to me. I’m losing my mind. Damned witch—are you still here? Inside my skull? Making my thoughts go round and round with all these useless ideas?
    He rode up beside her. ‘Leave me alone.’
    ‘You were never that interesting in the first place,’ she replied.
    ‘Funny, I’d decided that about you long ago,’ said Torrent, ‘but you’re still here.’
    She halted and turned round. ‘That will do, then. We’re about to have company, warrior.’
    He twisted in his saddle and studied the cloudless sky. ‘The ones Silchas Ruin spoke of? I see nothing—’
    ‘They come.’
    ‘To fight?’
    ‘No. They were fools once, but one must assume that dying has taught them a lesson.’ She paused, and then added, ‘Or not.’
    Motion in the wiry grasses caught his eye. A lizard—no—‘Witch, what is
that
?’
    Two skeletal creatures—birds?—edged into view, heads ducking, long tails flicking. They stood on their hind legs, barely taller than the grasses. Leather and gut bindings held the bones in place.
    When the first one spoke, the voice formed words in his head. ‘Great One, we are abject. We grovel in servitude—’
    The other cut in, ‘Does she believe all that? Keep trying!’
    ‘Be quiet, Telorast! How can I concentrate on lying with you barging in all the time! Now shhh! Oh, never mind, it’s too late—look at them, they can both hear us. You, especially.’
    The creature named Telorast had crept closer to Olar Ethil, almost on all fours. ‘Servitude! As my sister said. Not a real lie. Just a . . . a . . . a temporary truth! Allegiance of convenience, so long as it’s convenient. What could be more honest?’
    Olar Ethil grunted and then said, ‘I have no need of allies among the Eleint.’
    ‘Not true!’ cried Telorast.
    ‘Calm down,’ hissed the other one. ‘This is called
bargaining.
She says we’re useless. We say we don’t really need her help. She says—well, something. Let’s wait to hear what she says, and then we say something back. Eventually, we strike a deal. You see? It’s simple.’
    ‘I can’t think!’ complained Telorast. ‘I’m too terrified! Curdle, take over—before my bones fall apart!’
    The one named Curdle snapped its head back and forth, as if seeking somewhere to hide.
    ‘You don’t fool me,’ said Olar Ethil. ‘You two almost won the Throne of Shadow. You killed a dozen of your kin to get there. Who stopped you? Was it Anomander Rake? Edgewalker? Kilmandaros?’
    At each name the two skeletons cringed.
    ‘What is it you seek now?’ the bonecaster asked.
    ‘Power,’ said Telorast.
    ‘Wealth,’ said Curdle.
    ‘Survival,’ said Telorast.
    Curdle nodded, head bobbing. ‘Terrible times. Things will die.’
    ‘Lots of things,’ added Telorast. ‘But it will be safe in your shadow, Great One.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Curdle. ‘Safe!’
    ‘In turn, we will guard your back.’
    ‘Yes! That’s it exactly!’
    ‘Until,’ said Olar Ethil, ‘you find it expedient to betray me. You see my dilemma. You guard my back from other threats, but who will guard my back from you two?’
    ‘Curdle can’t be trusted,’ said Telorast. ‘I’ll protect you from her, I swear it!’
    ‘As will I from my sister!’ Curdle spun to face Telorast and snapped her tiny jaws.
Clack clack clack!
    Telorast hissed in reply.
    Olar Ethil turned to Torrent. ‘Eleint,’ she said.
    Eleint? Dragons? These two?
‘I always imagined they’d be bigger.’
    ‘Soletaken,’ said Olar Ethil, and then she regarded the two creatures once more. ‘Or, I think,
D’ivers
, yes? Born as Tiste Andii, one woman, but
two
dragons.’
    ‘Nonsense!’
    ‘Insane!’
    ‘Ridiculous!’
    ‘Impossible!’
    ‘Impossible,’ conceded Olar Ethil, ‘for most—even among the Andii. Yet, you found a way, didn’t you? How? The blood of the Eleint resists the fever of D’ivers. A ritual would have been necessary. But what kind? Not Kurald Galain, nor Kurald Emurlahn. No, you have made me curious. I will have the answer—this is the bargain I offer. Tell me your secret, and you shall have my protection. Betray me, and I will destroy you both.’
    Curdle turned to her companion. ‘If we tell her, we are