Tsamen’s scouts were invisible. This made it hard for them to be included in society, and so those who hid were most often already rejects. The bald, the deformed, the sickly, and the weak were all invisible under Tsamen’s knife, all equal. The lie was not sustained in death.

In front of the jumble of logs lay three bodies. A hunchback, a cripple, and a man with one arm. Bren looked down at his people and remembered the shape of them. It was his duty as chieftain to paint those who had died under his leadership.

Fleysh was the first to break the silence. He spoke crookedly, without his usual rhythm or care, “What happened?”

A voice rose from the air beside him, sad and weary, “A demon wearing the shape of a man came this way and we were deceived. At first he did not see us. The demon approached the blockade and began doing something with his hands, though we could not see what.

“We attacked, thinking him to be an enemy. I cannot say what alerted him, but in an instant, knives were in his hands and he was amongst us. He was impossible. He matched our speed. He was faster than us. The slightest sound alerted him, and before we knew it, two of our number were dead and one was dying. The rest of us ran or hid. I froze, and so was spared. He left back the way he came. Back to Glovedom.”

“A demon?” If Rebeka had joined forces with a demon the Maharal had already lost. Bren would not accept the possibility. It was pointless to plan for defeat, “Such loyalty is hard won. I doubt this lord who impedes us could do it, nor Rebeka. To summon a demon is beyond the power of all but a select few.”

“Have you known any to match the speed of Tsamen’s scouts? We are elite. Our strength is greater than even the strongest of men.”

“Por, Kolek, Bren, and myself have the same runes. The man could have also been enhanced,” said Tsamen.

“Your forms are far faster, so too are your senses?” Fleysh’s voice had regained some, but not all, of its musical qualities.

“No. The runes do not effect reflexes. But moving so much faster all the time does improve them.”

“You may speculate, but speculation does not bring us closer to the problems at hand,” said Por, “If we overcome this obstacle, we may yet win. Come Fleysh, let us solve this puzzle while they talk.” The two men left to study the wooden barrier.

Bren met Tsamen’s eyes. They had turned dark upon seeing the bodies and had grown darker since.

“Say what you must say,” said Bren.

“We go to punish one girl,” said Tsamen, “We have lost a dozen golems and now three lives. I have considered myself the most grieved by Rebeka’s betrayal, but now even I must ask: Is Rebeka’s betrayal worth this?”

“We punish those who break the vows. It is our way. There must be no exceptions.”

Tears threatened the rim of her eyes and her hands trembled.

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“Why?”

“Don’t pretend you are a girl. We obey the vows.”

“Why?”

“Because all people need something to hold to. It gives them security. Without our vows our lives have no purpose.”

“So our purpose is to kill girls?”

Bren ground his teeth together, “Rebeka is not a girl. She knew enough to prevent what she did. Need I remind you? A people chopped to the base of their roots. Think on what that means. We have lost lives, yes. But we go to prevent one who, in their short time on this earth, has killed hundreds. Without our action, she will live to kill hundreds more, or thousands. Our vows are not meaningless, they sustain all life. They are to protect, even if it means killing.”

Tsamen hung her head.

“I think she has changed.”

“Then why are your scouts dead before us?”

The tears brimming in Tsamen’s eyes overflowed and began trickling down her cheeks.

“I don’t know. Because Lord Glove willed it, or because we seek to kill her. What rat, when cornered, will not fight?”

“Or lie. She has not changed. We must continue.”

“Not at this cost. I won’t go on.” Tsamen said.

“We were surprised, there will be no more deaths.”

“There should have only been one. That of a girl I helped raise. A girl we all helped raise. And then we sold her,” she didn’t try to disguise the disgust in her voice.

Tsamen turned and began running back down the path. She may have just been returning to the wagons, but Bren knew she planned to go much further. There was a sob and then the pattering of a second pair of feet. Her scout followed.

Por and Fleysh returned. “We’ve examined the blockade, come. Worry not, there is always desertion during one of these hunts. It is hard on us all, whether or not we show it,” said Por.

A coldness seemed to have settled around Bren. Por’s words seemed distant, as if spoken on the other side of a very thick wall.

“I have lost my scouts. I’ve lost my kineser,” Bren mumbled.

Fleysh lay an arm on Bren’s shoulder, sticky, but well intentioned, “Do not forget the many who stayed, in pursuit of the few who left.”

Bren needed to start moving. If he didn’t he feared the cold would take him, and he’d stand there until he died. He started walking, pacing on the spot.

“Tell me what you have discovered.”

Por gestured to the jumbled structure, “It appears haphazard and hastily done, but this required planning. A lot of planning. Rebeka would have had to start its construction before she broke the vows. She knew we would come.”

“I do not wish to consider such things now. One betrayal by Rebeka is enough. Tell me how this wall may confound a kineser.”

Fleysh’s eyes glimmered, “It is wonderful and full of wonder. Neophyte kineser play this game.”

Por jumped in, quicker to explain than Fleysh, “The goal of the game is to place three stones inscribed with runes of binding in such a way that they do not move towards each other. It is impossible to win with the stones as they are, but there are numerous solutions nonetheless. You can place the stones so far apart the binding runes lose effectiveness. You can anchor a stone or three so they cannot move. Or you can mar the Bind runes and then try to find a combination of pushing and pulling to make the whole thing work.”

“So this whole mess is like that game?”

“With more stone, or in this case, rocks. Some anchored, some placed in opposition to one another. If we make one mistake, or maybe no mistakes at all, it will explode. Fortunately, it’s reinforced with Strength. Even if we ordered all our golem’s to throw stones at it I doubt it would shift.”

Can we burn it?” asked Bren.

Por shook his head, “Repair runes. Our torches and campfires are much the same. If we burn this, it will stay burning forever.”

Bren looked at the dense woods to either side of the blockade, “Can we build a road around it?”

“Possibly. It would take time unless we used Ice, but we are worried. We found Obey runes carved in the trees on both sides of the path. If we send the golems around, we don’t know what would happen. At best we would lose them, at worst… they might come under Rebeka’s control. There’s Obey runes in the barricade as well.”

“So what is to be done?”

Fleysh smiled, “We can throw a stone at the trees.”

“I thought Por said that the strength runes would make even our golems ineffective.”

Por was grinning too, “You must think bigger.”