The train station was empty when we entered except for a single older woman who’d been standing behind the counter–probably a ticket agent or something similar. She hustled out quickly when I dragged Ishar inside, though. The station itself was a small affair, nothing more than a ticket counter and several long backless benches where I assumed people could wait during bad weather. I pulled the marshal to one of the benches and sat him down on it before taking a seat on a different bench facing him. He stared at the floor, his shoulders slumped, and his expression defeated.
“So, Ishar,” I said conversationally, still keeping my ability active as I spoke. “Today didn’t quite turn out the way you planned, did it?”
“No,” he said simply, shaking his head.
“How did you think it was going to happen?”
“Honestly?” He shrugged. “From the stories I’d heard, I assumed you’d fight us, but against the kind of numbers we brought, you’d lose. I’d use the severing rune on you, then bring you north and send you to Kamath.”
“Send me to Kamath?” I asked. “Why?”
“Those were my orders. I guess he’s taken an interest in you. He’s never been a man to pass up talent, and you wouldn’t be the first enemy of the Empire he’s convinced to join the Service.”
I nodded. “And where were you when you got those orders?”
“Chatrig. I was acting as sheriff in the town.” He snorted derisively. “The place needed it. The old sheriff basically forbade open murder, and that was about it. We all hear stories about the Gistal, and most of them are just that–stories–but Chatrig was exactly what the stories warned us about.”
“Did you kill the sheriff, then?”
“No. Kamath severed him, then put me in charge. He fed the old man to his own thunderbee–and believe me, he deserved it–and told the town that it was under the Empire’s protection.”
“Were they happy about it?”
He chuckled. “It didn’t really matter. The first night after Kamath left, three handlers who’d been hiding out tried to attack me. After I took care of them, the rest of the town just fell into line.”
“And they’re fine being ruled by the Empire?”
“Fine? I’d say content.” He shrugged. “Most people are happy to be ruled, Naasi, whether out here or in the Empire. They want someone to watch out for them, take care of them, and give them some guidance. No one likes living not knowing if someone is going to rob you, beat you, or rape you because nobody cares to stop them. Chatrig didn’t have any of that, and when I provided it, they ate it right up.”
I nodded. “Where did Kamath go, then?”
“North. I don’t know where. I send the pet wagons up to Farpoint, and they switch all the beasts to another set of wagons–severed beasts are really vulnerable to Pacify. I don’t have a clue where they go.”
“But you have some guesses,” I suggested. “What are they?”
He seemed to hesitate, but I shot a meaningful look the door toward the platform, and his shoulders slumped even further. “He’s gotta be in the Uttar,” he sighed. “I know, because Farpoint’s a week north of Chatrig, and whenever I tell him I’ve got a delivery for him, I have to wait three days before sending my wagons out. That puts him ten days north of Farpoint, and that’s somewhere up in the Uttar–or out in the middle of nowhere in the grasslands northwest of Chatrig. I can’t see any reason he’d be there.”
“So, he’s in the Uttar. What’s he doing there?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me, and it wasn’t part of the original plan–at least, not the one he told me when I signed on.”
“When was that?”
“About a year ago.” The man sighed. “Before this, I was the marshal for the Fazil territory, all the way at the southern end of the line. That made me officially the highest-ranking marshal in the Sonkhee Valley. It was a good job; the area’s pretty quiet. There are too many people traveling around for really powerful beasts to evolve, so bandits are the worst thing you face. Most of them aren’t even handlers, just people with guns and little to lose, so dealing with them’s as easy as breathing.
“One day, I got a runegraph from Kamath saying he wanted to talk with me and to meet him up in Vadoo, so of course, I went.”
“Why of course?”
He chuckled. “Lightning Hands’s a legend in the Service. He’s done more for the Service and the Empire than any two marshals combined.” He made a face. “Plus, he and I go back a long way, all the way to the Academy. We’re not friends, exactly, but I respect the man and trust him.”
“So, you went to Vadoo. What did he tell you about this?”
“He told me that the Gistal had been lawless long enough, and that it was time to bring the Code to it. That’s something every marshal agrees with, but no one’s ever been able to figure out how to do it, at least not without involving an army. The sheriffs aren’t always good people, but they’re all strong handlers who’ve earned their position by fighting for it year after year, and they’ll band together if they have to. It would take the whole Service to get rid of them all, and it would cost a whole lot of lives, lives the Service can’t easily replace. We’ve got high standards, so every marshal dead is a big loss.” He sighed again, shaking his head. “We’ve lost more marshals in this valley than we usually do in a decade, in fact.”
“So, how did he convince you to join him?”
“He showed me the rune. He told me what it did, and how there was only one defense against it, and he had that defense. With it, he could take the sheriffs’ pets from them, and without their pets, the sheriffs are just people. His original idea was to get rid of the sheriffs and bring in companies from back east to take over and protect the towns, only that didn’t work out.”
“Why not?”
“There weren’t enough companies willing to go along. A few of them agreed to send out representatives, but most of them didn’t even do that. Gold Diamond sent a group to Murkburg, but I guess a pair of handlers there turned them away and killed their guards. Sinja Mining got to Whitestone only to find the mines collapsed, meaning they had to pay to have it excavated, which means it’ll take years to recoup their investment. After that, nobody was willing to cooperate.”
I repressed a smile at the idea of Paisley and Boden working together to drive off Gold Diamond, the only thing I could think might have happened. “Is that why he started leaving marshals in the towns?”
“Yep. Said that they had to be protected. Only…” The man’s face grew pained. “Only, he didn’t want to leave those who most agreed with him behind, and after he’d lost a few marshals–and a few started to ask questions he didn’t want to answer–he came up with an idea. He brought marshals in from other places, people like Chomai, I guess. He severed them and told them that he’d give them a pet, the only kind they could bond anymore, in return for serving as sheriffs in the towns.”
“And you went along with that?”
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“No. We fought about it, hard. In the end, it’s why he left me behind in Chatrig. I wasn’t ‘loyal’ enough anymore.” He snorted. “And he stuck me with three ‘deputies’ who were totally loyal to him and would report anything I did that he didn’t like, or sever me in the middle of the night while I was sleeping if he told them to.”
“So, you were forced to work for him? Why not just take care of the deputies the way you did the handlers who attacked you?”
“Because if they didn’t report in, Kamath would come himself, and I wasn’t about to deal with that.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously. “You’re a pretty strong handler.”
“I’m one of the better ones in the marshals, I think, but Kamath–he’s something different. Let me explain. When we got to Tinford, there was a delegation waiting for us. A group of the Republic’s wardens, ten strong, all Greater and High ranked with pets to match. They told us that the Republic didn’t appreciate what we were doing, and we needed to turn ourselves over to them. I expected Kamath to just sever them, but he didn’t. He took out a damn bloodfly, a Simple creature and about as weak as you can get–and that bloodfly killed all those wardens. They couldn’t hurt it, didn’t stand a chance. It sucked their pets dry, then did the same thing to them.” He shivered.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been in hundreds of fights over the years, Naasi. Kamath’s not just a handler. He’s something more, something out of the old legends like Ujali. I’m not a coward, but I’m also not eager to get eaten by a bloodfly, and I wouldn’t last much longer than those wardens. So…” He shrugged. “I follow orders.”
I leaned back, more than a little troubled by what he’d said. If it were true–if Kamath was that good–I’d need a lot more pets and a lot better ones to even stand a chance. Even then, I doubted I’d last any longer than the wardens he spoke of. I pushed those thoughts aside–I’d figure something out, hopefully–and leaned forward once more.
“Speaking of orders, what were your orders for coming here?” I asked.
“I got a message about ten days ago that you and that severed sheriff were here, and that you’d killed Pramod and done something to mess up the Head Marshal’s plans. I volunteered to come take care of you, but Kamath said he wanted it done right. He told me to gather every marshal I could lay hands on and come here to sever and capture you.” He snorted again and hung his head. “I told him that wasn’t necessary, that I could deal with one handler and a broken sheriff, but he insisted that you were more than you seemed, and that I’d need all the help I could get. He said that you’d already resisted being severed once and might do it again somehow, and I’d have to beat you first, then sever you.” He looked back toward the door to the station. “I guess he was right.”
I nodded slowly, my mind racing. “So, you gathered every marshal you could. Does that mean there aren’t any north of here anymore?”
“Up to Farpoint, no. I don’t know what’s going on up in the Uttar, though. That place is wild even compared to the Gistal.”
I leaned back, tapping my chin in thought. “You and Chomai know each other, right?” I asked idly, not really interested in the answer but just keeping him talking while I considered my next step.
“Yeah. She was one of my deputies, once–and a little more, I guess.”
That drew my attention. “Really? How much more?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It was years ago, when she was fresh out the academy, and it ended badly.” He laughed weakly. “These things usually do.”
“You know that she’s traveling with me,” I said slowly. “And that I’m planning on heading north to see what Kamath’s doing.”
“It’s a damn fool’s errand,” he said bitterly. “Weren’t you listening? Kamath can kill all three of you without even breaking a sweat. Once he realizes that I failed here, he’s going to come south himself to deal with you. You’re going to get yourself killed–and you’re going to take Chomai with you.”
“You’re probably right.” I leaned forward. “Unless, of course, he doesn’t have any reason to look for us.”
“What do you mean?” the marshal asked suspiciously.
“I mean, that maybe you could have some use to me after all. I want you to send Kamath a message, telling him that we’re all dead. Then, he won’t have any reason to hunt us.”
Ishar shook his head. “It won’t work. He’s obviously got eyes here; how else would he have known that you killed Pramod? They’ll tell him what happened.”
“He does, but I know who they are,” I grinned. “Trust me; they won’t be reporting anything.”
He stared at me for several seconds, his eyes narrow. “What’s in it for me?” he finally asked in a quiet voice.
“You’ll be helping save Chomai’s life,” I said just as quietly. “If Kamath’s not looking for us, we can sneak up on him, figure out how to stop him–maybe even sever him, so he’s not a threat to anyone anymore–and live through it.”
“That’s–that’s not enough,” he said slowly. “You have to spare the other marshals you’ve captured.”
“I can’t watch all of them,” I shook my head. “And I can’t let them go. They’ll run right to Kamath first chance they get. You said yourself: anyone who wasn’t a true believer got severed.”
“Some of them weren’t his deputies, though. They were people like Chomai, severed marshals conscripted into service. They never wanted to be part of this; they don’t deserve to die.”
“It’s not about deserving, marshal,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “It’s about necessity.”
“Then lock them up here. Just don’t execute them!”
“And then what, Ishar?” I gestured behind me. “You obviously don’t know this, but ten days ago, an Epic monster attacked this town and destroyed about half of it–and the people here know that marshal Pramod was part of the attack.”
“What?” he demanded, half-rising from his seat before he sunk back down beneath my glare.
“Exactly. Somehow, Kamath got Old Sena to attack Shadewood, and the marshal either orchestrated it or at least let it happen. What do you think will happen the moment I leave if I give more marshals to their care?”
He blanched. “They’ll hang them.”
“Exactly.” I leaned back. “Here’s what I’ll offer. You pass the message to Kamath. If I’m satisfied with it, I’ll take you and one of the survivors with me to Chatrig and lock you up there. You’ll get to pick one of them to live.”
“No,” he shook his head. “You might as well put a bullet in my head. Whatever you think you’re gonna do, you’ll fail, and when you do, Kamath’s gonna be coming for me next.”
“Then you die here, right now, and I’ll go see if one of the others will be willing to make the report,” I said, drawing my pistol and leveling it at his head. “If you’re right, and they were dragged into this, I’m sure at least one of them will be willing. They might even be grateful for the chance to get back at the man who severed them. I’ll only have to keep them alive, and that’ll be a lot easier than watching two of you.”
His face paled again, and he swallowed hard. “Two,” he said, his voice a whisper. “Spare two of them, and I’ll agree. They’re the only ones left who were forced to work for Kamath, and like you said, they’ll be happy to get back at him.”
I stared at him for a second, then holstered my pistol. “You’ve got a deal, Ishar. How do you contact Kamath?”
“There’s a card for it in my deck. Greater Message.”
I took out the deck and realized it was another holding case. I thought of the rune he mentioned, and it slid up from the case into my hand. I held it toward him, then lifted it up as he reached for it.
“You understand that if you say anything I don’t like in this message, the last few days of your life are going to be a nightmare, right?” He nodded, and I handed him the card. “Good.”
“How will I explain your deaths?” he asked somberly. “I was supposed to capture you, and he’s gonna ask why it didn’t happen.”
“Tell him about the trap I laid for you, but that it went wrong,” I shrugged. “It killed most of the marshals and me in the process–and maybe some bystanders, so he doesn’t wonder why his watchers disappeared.” I smiled as an idea occurred to me. “Tell him that you managed to sever me first, so you captured my pets, and you’re bringing them back to Chatrig to send to him.”
He nodded and lifted the card. I watched as he activated it, and a moment later, Kamath’s voice drifted from it as clear as if he’d been standing beside me.
“Marshal Ishar,” the jovial voice boomed. “Please tell me you’ve got good news for me.”
“Not exactly, Marshal,” Ishar said slowly. “He’s dead, I’m afraid.”
“Dead?” Kamath’s voice didn’t lose its friendly tone, but it took on a dangerous edge. “Why is he dead when I asked you to capture him?”
“The fool rigged the train platform to blow, Marshal. I used the Severing rune on him, just like you said, and he fought it. He set off the explosives before the rune knocked him out, and it killed him, a whole bunch of townsfolk that were on the platform, and most of the marshals with me. I damn near died myself.”
“And his pets?”
“They were severed, so I managed to capture them. I’m bringing them back to Chatrig with me to send your way.”
Kamath remained silent for a few moments. “Fine. With Pramod dead, Shadewood needs a new sheriff. Assign one of the survivors. I’ll send more help to Chatrig to replace those we lost–how many was that, anyway?”
“Eight,” Ishar replied quietly.
“Damn. I can’t believe you lost eight marshals taking down one handler, Ishar. The Service is gonna lose their minds. You’ll be lucky if they don’t strip you of your badge.”
“If that’s the worst that happens to all of us when all this is done, Marshal, I’ll consider myself lucky,” the prisoner replied woodenly. “You got any more orders for me?”
“Nope. Just get your ass back to Chatrig. We’ll talk more about this some other time; I’m busy right now.” The energy in the card winked out, and he handed it back to me.
“Well done,” I nodded, taking the card and grabbing the man by the arm. I sent a silent command to my buzzfly as I guided the hapless marshal out of the station. I didn’t want Daksha giving a different report, but that wasn’t going to be a problem. The fly was practically on the man’s shoulder; if Kamath reached out to his watcher for verification, he was going to be disappointed.