13

Jade

"That potion didn't work super well," Cricket observed, looking at the dryad's face.

"I know," Jeshu stated.

"I don't think that scar on your face will heal up."

The dryad sighed. "Yes, I understand.”

Cricket's antennae drooped. "I didn't mean... I think it makes you look cool."

"Really?" Jeshu asked.

"Yeah, totally. It makes you look tough. Like a troll bashed you in the face with a club and you got up afterward."

Jeshu tried to hide a smile.

"Besides, the greatest trees always have scars."

"What do you know of trees?"

"You said that," Cricket answered. "You said the oldest and most impressive trees all had scars and stories to tell. Because it wasn't possible for a tree to grow old without overcoming much... um..."

"Adversity," Jeshu finished for him.

"Yes."

"Thank you, Cricket."

Cricket cocked his head, unsure why he'd been thanked.

The frost on the ground, which Jeshu called snow, now rose about two inches from the rock. Patches seemed unusually fascinated with the brittle white crystals and ran about the others, occasionally batting at the snow with her paws, or licking it with her tongue, or disappearing beneath a mound only to emerge somewhat disoriented on the other side.

When Patches grew tired, she climbed on top of Jeshu's pack and managed somehow to sleep next to the jangling utensils and in spite of the druid's jarring steps. When Cricket grew tired, the group stopped for the night.

Jeshu laid a hand on the remaining firewood and the logs began slowly, but surely, to grow, until they were each nearly twice the size. The druid chopped each log into smaller kindling with a hatchet, which made a weirdly hollow scraping sound. Then, like the previous nights, he took only half for the day's fire.

"Can you do that forever?"

"Hmm... not really. Each time the mushroom grows less dense. But that just makes it easier to cut and easier to light."

"I don't think we need that much, if it saves you energy. I was too warm again last night."

"Oh," the druid said, a little disappointed. He tossed a few more logs back toward his pack.

Cricket balanced a dagger between the ground and his forefinger. He started to spin it with a free finger.

"That will dull the blade," Jeshu mentioned.

"I know," Cricket said indignantly, but stopped spinning the weapon nonetheless.

Cricket started to hum to himself absently when a long, thin shard of blackness flew across the campsite and struck the druid in the neck, splintering his skin. The druid grunted and reached for his throat, but the shard evaporated, leaving only a light gash in his bark.

Cricket drew his sickles as he stood and whirled to face their assailant. On the outskirts of the campsite a Cricket-shaped being of flickering shadow stood, holding what looked to be a shadowy short sword in one of its four hands. As Cricket watched, a second sword formed and the shadow pulled a hand back to throw the weapon.

Jeshu reached for his shield, batting the black shard away with his forearm. This time, the shadow broke and swept over him like a whiff of smoke.

Jeshu stood, shield and hammer in hand, and glared at the shadowy insect as the sword reformed in its hand. "Oh, you are going to regret that you didn't kill my friend first."

"Hey!" Cricket protested. He stopped dead-sprint, halfway to their assailant. "What the hell does that mean?"

Jeshu blubbered. "I meant it was his one chance to get you."

"Oh, okay... that's actually flattering." He blocked an assault from the shadowy creature, swatting away a combo of three strikes before countering with a sickle to the throat.

His opponent blocked with a blade of shadow, which dispersed into wisps under the force of the blow, but gave the creature enough time to easily duck and press inward with another three strikes.

"Ah, I hate when they know what they're doing. I can block once or twice easily," Cricket commented as he blocked the first two slashes, but the third penetrated his guard and cut into his side.

"Ow!" Cricket caught the stabbing hand with his lower arms to stop the dagger from plunging deeper. "It's not an illusion. Why didn't it hurt you?"

The shadow swung with both swords at Cricket's head, forcing him to block with both sickles, then it punched his jaw with its fourth hand. Cricket brought his elbows in to guard his face, just as the shadow assassin crashed into his head with a swift, high kick. The force broke through his block but his arms did weaken the blow. Still the shadow's shin plowed into his head, knocking Cricket to the ground.

"Ah! She's kicking! She kicked me in the head!"

Jeshu swung his hammer at the assassin, but it ducked absently, rushing again at the insect. It pulled back its sword and as Cricket prepared a desperate defense, the druid shouted, "Elkennah, let us bask in your light!"

A blinding light formed around the crown of Jeshu's head, and Cricket was forced to cover his eyes with all four arms. He screamed from the pain.

In a few seconds that seemed an eternity, the light dimmed and Cricket lay alone in the crusty snow with no sign of the shadow.

"Are you okay?" the druid asked.

"No, I'm not okay! You blinded me! You're a big blotch of purple. I've never seen anything so horrific!"

"That was just normal sunlight. Not even strong sunlight, really."

"I didn't know you could do that."

"Without a way to recharge, I'm not sure if I can do it again."

"Ah!" Cricket whined. He rose to his feet and brushed the snow from his legs and then from his lower arms. "It melted my eyes! I'll never be able to see again."

"Calm down. You're not used to bright light, but your eyes will adjust."

Cricket stared at the dryad until the blotch of purple slowly faded. He looked away and the blotch returned. "Oh, this is just the worst."

"I imagine it was worse when you knocked Oydd out with that screech."

"No." Cricket shook his head, certain.

"He told me that he is able to sense sound with every part of his body. So you overwhelmed his senses. I believe it is similar. And I believe it was worse for him, since you haven't passed out."

"Oh, that poor man! You're the worst. No one should have to suffer this."

"Is it improving?" Jeshu asked, patiently.

Cricket didn't answer.

"Well?"

"Yes... it's improving. God! Give me a second."

Jeshu waited, and Cricket stood silently in a daze long after the point where it became awkward.

"Why didn't its weapons hurt you?"

"It was dark magic. Dryads are naturally strong to magical attacks, and Elkennah grants additional protections to her followers against darkness. Do you need treated?"

"No." Cricket immediately contradicted himself, muttering, "Just a touch up."

Jeshu placed a hand on his side and healed the tissue beneath the shell. "I don't have any sap on me. We'll treat the shell when we get back. That shadow was a copy of its caster, which means Jade must be nearby."

Cricket nodded dumbly. "No point in trying to hide our presence any more. She knows we're here."

"She?"

"Yeah, didn't you get a good look at her?"

"I saw a flickering shadow with antennae. I might not have even noticed them if I weren't expecting an insectoid. How do you know she was female?"

"Because she was hot. You didn't think she was hot?"

Jeshu stared blankly at the insect.

"Anyway, let's press ahead. Where's Patches." Cricket looked around the campsite and saw tiny paw marks heading off into the snow. "Probably better if she avoids this fight anyway. She can track us if she needs to."

Cricket drew his daggers and marched deeper into the icy caverns.

*****

Patches followed a small green beetle as it picked its way over the crusty snow, struggling to climb each tiny clump. Frost lined its feathery antennae, and its furry feet, but the bug advanced with a stubborn, relentless purpose.

The mouseling noticed the landscape changed suddenly up ahead. The tunnels turned to smooth shoots of blue and green, glasslike ice. Too slippery for a lone beetle, she decided.

Patches picked up the squirming bug softly with her teeth. She turned it to face a safer direction, then placed it back down. The beetle continued on its new course with the same unthinking persistence.

Still, the icy caves certainly posed no danger to a tiny ratling. She slid down a smooth incline, then dug into the ice with her claws and began to ascend the opposite side.

The mouseling climbed along a thin ledge and then slid down another slope with a low ceiling and ended up in a small natural chamber with a deep crevasse on one side and a high cliff on the other. She stole up to the edge gingerly and peaked over. Certain death, she decided. Certain death if I climb down there. Still the mouseling stayed at the ledge for too long, fighting her curiosity.

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*****

When Cricket reached the tubes of smooth ice, he paused for Jeshu to catch up. He pointed with a dagger. "There are three main tunnels and they all show signs of passage. It looks slippery. Can you keep your footing?"

"My feet have deep ridges. I should be able to keep traction. What about you?"

"Good question. There's a reason we say 'slick as a bug's cold foot'."

"Is that really a saying?" Jeshu asked incredulously.

Cricket sat down and cut a leather strap from his chest, leaving the harness for his sickles in the snow. He roughed up one side with a dagger then tied it to his foot with the rough side facing out. He repeated the process for his other foot then hopped up and tested his traction with a slide. He slid quite some distance before coming to a stop, but seemed happy with the results and pressed on, nearly losing his balance on the first slope.

"We need a plan," Cricket said. "We know how she fights now."

Jeshu groaned. "Creating a shadow twin seems very draining. I doubt she can do it again. But if she can, I also doubt I can dispel it."

"You don't think you can do that light trick again?"

Jeshu shook his head. "Not enough to rely on it."

"Okay. But the shadow can't hurt you much. So if she is able to make another one, you take the clone, and I take Jade."

"That sounds like an okay plan, but I get the feeling you want to test her one on one."

"But you agreed it makes sense!" Cricket countered without denying the accusation.

"Fine. But I am more useful if we have to gang up on her. I have a little bit of growth magic left."

"What will that help?"

"It is a spell that makes all plant life within a certain distance of me grow."

"Right, and there's nothing here."

"Think about it," Jeshu said, staring at the insect.

Cricket did think about it, but couldn't—"Wait! You can make yourself grow?"

"It is temporary, but yes."

"Why haven't you done that before?"

"Keep your voice down. When would I have done it before?"

"When we fought the ogre."

"At Vestu Peska? You fought the ogre. You told me to stay behind."

"When we fought those undead raptors."

"Again, you ran ahead and left me behind. Same at the caravan, against those gnolls."

"But what about when you ran through those brambles? You were ahead of me that time, and there were gnolls everywhere!"

"The brambles would have grown. And you're referring to tunnels that were so cramped that Gad barely fit."

"There must have been—"

"Regardless," Jeshu interrupted sternly, "I can. And it is a good time."

Cricket had to agree.

"I hate to suggest it," Jeshu added, "but I should go in front in case we are ambushed by another shadow."

Cricket flinched. He tried to come up with some argument for him to be in the lead, but ultimately accepted the dryad's suggestion.

*****

Patches followed a pair of footprints that she thought belonged to Cricket, but they ended in a small chamber where someone had clearly been living for weeks. A pile of dried mushrooms lay in one corner. A hole, chiseled in the ice, led to a source of underground water. Still as it was, the mouseling thought the water stagnant, but it smelled crisp. She peered into the hole and watched little flecks of white floating around. She splashed, disturbing the tranquil pool.

A cloak of bat fur lay draped across the floor as a makeshift bed, embedded in the ice from the warmth of its occupant. Nearby a pack of basic supplies spilled onto the ground, revealing rope, chisels, flint and steel, and a small pouch no bigger than an apple, tied with green ribbon.

The mouseling's sensitive ears heard the slightest footfall behind her, and without turning to look, she picked up the small pouch in her teeth and ran.

Patches darted quickly over the slick surface and heard her pursuer behind her. She heard the whir of some object hurled through the air that rang like a bell when it struck the frozen wall.

Patches darted down a small side passage and found herself, again, at the edge of the deep crevasse. She turned to see an insect that resembled Cricket, though slightly more feminine in the antennae, the mouseling thought. She moved with a mesmerizing grace over the ice. In her upper hands she held blades carved from a smooth green stone, and she wore a thin breastplate of the same substance over her shiny black shell.

The insect clanged her weapons against her chest plate and they vibrated loudly as black vapors rose from her shell. The vapors enveloped the woman then began to vibrate through the air, forming several likenesses of her image.

Clenching the stolen pouch in her little teeth, the mouseling jumped into the crevasse.

*****

"I don't think anyone else would be able to tell she was female," Jeshu repeated.

"You're kidding?"

"No, I'm not. We were told it was a man. And Jade is a famous assassin. So if anyone else could tell, they wouldn't think she was a man."

"You don't think she was attractive?" Cricket asked, confused.

Jeshu dug his hammer into the ice and used the extra weight to help him scale a small rise. "How could you tell she was female?"

"It's obvious."

"Humor me."

"Well, for one thing, her smell."

"Her smell?"

"Yeah," Cricket blushed. "Her scent. She doesn't smell like a dude."

"You were fighting a magical shadow! How could you smell her at all."

"Well, I couldn't at first, but I smell her now."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Um... smoother shell? Pointier antennae? Smaller eyes? Flatter um..." Cricket gulped audibly... "thorax."

"Got it. I was genuinely curious. But I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"I don't know if I'll be stronger than her," Cricket mused. "Females in the insect kingdom can be... brutal."

"If Oydd were here, I think he would correct you on the word kingdom. Family, or order, or something..." Jeshu said. Then, seeing the insect's vacant expression, he added, "Is this going to be a distraction?"

"Only if I attempt to mate..." Cricket paused, giving this line of reasoning too much weight.

"Why would you..." Jesh tried to keep his tone even.

"No... that's a terrible idea." Cricket started shaking his head, then added, "No, I'm good. Like you said, she's a trained assassin. Any hesitation and we'll be dead."

Cricket heard shouts up ahead, and pushed ahead of Jeshu, running silently.

He came to a cliff overlooking a small room below where a black insectoid and five shadowy clones frantically circled a crevice in the ice. One dropped inside, sliding down the slick wall.

"Oh, they're beautiful!" Cricket whispered, entranced.

"She's your enemy," Jeshu reminded.

"No, not her. Those weapons. What is that? It's like somewhere between a sword and a sickle."

Jeshu peered over the ledge. "A khopesh..."

"A khopesh..." Cricket repeated. A drop of brown spit dripped from his open mouth. "Perfect." Cricket beamed, and pulled three iron shurikens from his pouch. He pinched them together and threw them overhead, down at the assassin. The spinning blades curved and spread as they soared through the air. One struck a shadow which fluttered but reformed. Jade stepped aside, without looking up, and two shurikens struck where she had been standing, burying themselves in the ice.

Jade glanced at Cricket then darted into a side chamber.

The shadows, in unison, looked up as well and vanished.

"Well that was easy," Cricket turned around to Jesh and saw four clones quickly reforming atop the ledge.

"Remember the plan. You entertain the shadows!" Cricket shouted, then slid down the steep slope after Jade.

"We said one! We agreed on one."

Jeshu cried to his goddess and began to grow. He gained one foot, and then two. Leaves sprouted from the small branches on his head and a small pink bud blossomed behind his ear.

*****

Patches extended paws in every direction, digging her claws into the sides of the crevasse, even pressing her clipped tail futilely against the ice. She dropped slightly and gasped, nearly letting the pouch slip from her teeth.

A shadowy figure dropped into the crevice in front of her, wedging against both sides, and threw its weapon.

Patches pulled her claws from the ice and dropped to avoid the perfectly aimed throw, then quickly jabbed her claws back into the walls. In spite of the short drop, she slid down much further than she intended. Fortunately, this brought her around a curve in the ice and to a depth too narrow for the assassin to follow.

With the narrower gap, the mouseling was able to remove a single forepaw from the ice without slipping. She pulled the pouch from her mouth and untied the string with her teeth, then peered inside.

She saw an egg-sized opal and a three-banded gold ring inlaid with a ruby.

The mouseling bit the pouch and pulled the ring out with her tiny fingers. She slipped slightly on the ice and squeaked. She crossed her eyes until she could see the pouch in her mouth. She looked at the ring, then frantically back at the pouch. She wanted to return the ring to the bag, but required all four paws to hold onto the ice.

Patches slipped another inch.

*****

Cricket stabbed a sickle and a dagger into the slope of ice to slow his fall then darted into the side chamber after Jade.

He noticed the ground in this chamber was crusted over, making it less slick, and picked up his pace to try and force a battle before she moved on to slicker terrain. He rounded a bend and nearly collided with the female assassin.

"Hello... lady bug..." Cricket said with a sultry smile, then immediately cringed at himself.

Jade waited motionless, and reluctantly Cricket made the first move. Jade countered expertly. She moved surprisingly fast on the ice, swiping her weapons in a pattern. As one khopesh struck, the other arm withdrew, preparing a follow-up strike. One, two, three, four, five. Cricket scrambled to dodge, quickly losing ground.

She managed to lunge and cover herself with each beat, extending her reach without creating an opening. Cricket thought he saw an opening once, but Jade turned her next attack into a block without missing a beat of the sequence. She kept her lower arms free and occasionally punched or struck with the edge of her open hand, where the carapace came to a sharp ridge.

Cricket started to memorize the combination, and then Jade began to strike off-beat, keeping him on his toes. It was too smooth and unpredictable for him to adapt mid-fight. And just when he thought he had learned to read her moves, she began to kick with her shins, aiming at his knees and around his side, landing near the holes that he used to breathe.

"Hey no, feet!"

Jade slashed him once across the chest, barely cracking the shell, then followed up with a double stab. One khopesh entered the fresh crack and the other entered the crack from their previous encounter with expert precision. Cricket coughed up blood, and bent over just as a khopesh swung for his neck.

If he hadn't dropped unintentionally, it might have taken his head. Instead, he felt it clip his antennae at an angle. Two black stalks fell into the snow at his feet. Cricket lunged and grabbed around her neck, pulling her in a range too close for her weapons and too close for a punch.

Jade swished in her mouth then suddenly spat a wad of brown saliva in his face. The sticky liquid stung his eyes. He felt her twist at the hips then ram his stomach with the palm of her hand. She twisted back the other way and struck with the other palm gaining a surprising amount of force. Finally, she brought the spiked pommel of a khopesh down on the brittle section of shell where the Nightcrawler bow had pierced Cricket's shoulder, crushing the discolored shell into powder.

Cricket gasped. He drove forward, blinded, and winded, and wounded, knowing he didn't have time to wipe the grime from his eyes. He dropped his weight, to take her to the ground, but felt her twist, lithely in the air. A moment later he landed on his back and felt her wrapping all four arms around a single one of his smaller arms, hugging it to her chest. She used her feet to hold back his larger arms. Then she dropped her weight and arched her back.

Cricket heard a crack, then felt a pop, and a searing pain in his side as she wrenched the limb from his body.

She stood, as he squirmed and squealed. He watched through blurry, yellow-tinted vision as she noticed the mark of the right hand on his dismembered arm and her eyes widened in horror. She looked from the arm to Cricket and back again, then tossed the limb aside, and Cricket heard his own discarded limb clack against the crusty snow.

He watched her intently, and in an instant her face was desolate again—emotionless—and Jade ran without a backward glance.

Before he blacked out, Cricket heard Jeshu's roar, and felt the ground shake as he charged toward them.

*****

After the sounds of battle quieted above, Patches squeaked for help, unable to open her mouth. And ages passed before Jeshu lowered a rope into the crack, for her to grab onto.

It was difficult for the dryad to evaluate her exact location, and the rope appeared several feet away.

The mouseling tried to call for help, but when she loosened her bite on the pouch, the green ribbon fell, landing on one of her paws. This only made matters more difficult. Patches looked from the ribbon to the pouch to the ring, deciding if she could abandon any one of the treasures. After a lengthy deliberation, she wrapped her tail around the ribbon and leapt for the rope, scrambling to grab hold with her three free paws. Which proved too difficult. In a moment of desperation, the mouseling dropped the ring and latched onto the rope with both of her forepaws as the shiny trinket bounded away, deeper and deeper into the crevice.