The Desert Spear

past. The ward was shattered beyond repair.
    The greenlander saw it, too. Jardir expected him to bolt from the alcove before the demon could turn, but again the Northerner surprised him. He pointed with his spear at the broken ward, shouted something in his guttural tongue, and turned back to face the
alagai.
    “Repair that ward!” Jardir shouted, but he needn’t have bothered. The Pit Warders were already at work painting a fresh symbol on slate. They would be done in less than a minute.
    Again the demon struck, and again the greenlander dodged aside, catching only a glancing blow on his shield. But this time, the demon was ready, swinging the stump of its other arm like a giant club. The greenlander managed to throw himself to the ground and avoid the attack, but the demon raised a foot to crush him while he was prone, and Jardir knew he would never rise in time.
    The Warders were almost done. The greenlander would die a hero’s death, and Krasia would be safe. All Jardir had to do was let go the mystery of the brave Northerner, and turn his back.
    Instead he gave a shout, and leapt into the alcove.

CHAPTER 8
PAR’CHIN
    p.
326-328 AR

    THE ROCK DEMON ROARED , smashing its taloned foot down. Jardir skidded on his knees underneath the blow, bracing his warded shield with his shoulder as he lifted it over them.
    The blow rattled his teeth and jolted his spine. He felt his shoulder pop free of its socket, and his shield arm went limp.
    But the magic flared and the great
alagai
was knocked backward, losing its balance. It struck one of the walls and the wards there flared, throwing the demon into the opposite wall, which flared as well. It shrieked in fury, knocked about like a child’s ball.
    The greenlander was quick to rise, grabbing Jardir’s uninjured shoulder and hauling him to his feet. The Pit Warders had completed their work by then, and while the demon thrashed, they stumbled from the alcove.
    A moment later the rock demon found its footing and threw itself at them, but the greenlander’s wards lit the night, and it was thrown back. The Northerner shouted something at the beast and made a gesture that Jardir assumed was as obscene in the North as it was in Krasia. He laughed again.
    “What news from the Watchers?” Jardir asked Shanjat.
    “Half the Maze is overrun,” Shanjat replied. “A few warriors succor behind the wards in ambush pockets, but most have gone to Everam’s embrace. The Majah are holding at the sixth; the
alagai
have not been able to penetrate the wards there.”
    “How many warriors did we lose?” Jardir asked, dreading the answer.
    Shanjat shrugged. “No way to know until dawn, when the men in hiding emerge and the
kai’Sharum
can make a full count.”
    “Guess,” Jardir said.
    Shanjat frowned. “No less than a third. Perhaps half.”
    Jardir scowled. There had not been such losses in a single night since the Return. The Andrah would have his head on a block.
    “If the inner Maze is clear, begin taking the injured into the
dama’ting
pavilion,” he said.
    “You should be among them, First Warrior,” Shanjat said. “Your shoulder…”
    Jardir glanced down at his arm, hanging limp at his side. He had embraced the pain and forgotten it. With this reminder, it screamed at him until he suppressed it again.
    He shook his head. “The arm can wait. Have the Watchers bring their reports to me here. The sun will be rising soon, and I wish to see this
alagai
burn.”
    Shanjat nodded and left, shouting orders. Jardir turned to regard the rock demon, clawing at the wards and roaring its fury as it tried to get to the greenlander. The greenlander stood calmly before it, and the two—human and
alagai—
had the same hatred in their eyes as they stared at each other.
    “What happened between you?” Jardir asked, knowing the greenlander could not understand.
    But surprisingly, the man turned to him, guessing at his tone perhaps, and made the same chopping motion with his hand that he had before. He held out his right arm, and chopped at it with the other hand, striking just below the elbow.
    Jardir’s eyes widened as he caught the greenlander’s meaning.
    “You cut its arm off?!” Others looked up at the words. When the greenlander nodded, Jardir heard the buzz of rumor that would spread like blowing sand throughout the city.
    “I underestimated you, my friend,” he said. “I am honored to be your
ajin’pal.
”
    The greenlander shrugged and smiled, not understanding