A Secret Man of Blood

Chapter Four

"I remember when I first saw you," Scipio says, his sword levelled at Squad's throat. "Your father had been killed a few days before, but had dragged his wounded body across the desert sands to reach your family farm before he died. Murdered by Rogga. You hunted them down and killed them all, with a wooden practice sword. You were six-years-old. The Spider had me fetch you right away. It's almost as if he was watching you beforehand." Scipio sighs, as though the moment evokes, with brutal violence, some memory. "You don't know what you're fighting for. The Spider—"

A slight shift in stance tells Squad that Scipio is about to plunge his sword forward, through Squad's neck but a blast of green energy fills the room and knocks the older man aside. Released, Squad picks up his swords and spins to face Scipio, who is nowhere to be seen. The green light has retreated around a corner, so that only its indirect glow is seen.

Still in combat mode, Squad turns, and turns, and turns, looking for an opponent who's nowhere to be found. Scipio has escaped. An audible susurrus in the distance grows into the mass movement of thousands of limbs. Before Squad can move out of the vast plaza, hundreds of thousands of Skree emerge from a multitude of passageways or descend from the infinite black of the ceiling.

They surround him.

*

"How are we going to find Squad?" Sig asks.

"These passages could lead to anywhere. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," replies Anya.

"I don't think they'd pay our expenses for that," Sig jokes. "But seriously, we need to find Squad. I love that man dearly. He's like a dog to me."

They're at the end of a long tunnel, which opens up into a wider passage. Anya crouches and listens, silently indicating for Sig to do the same.

"What?" Sig asks, scratching his balls and looking at her as if she's insane.

Anya frantically gestures for Sig to get down.

Sig smiles and nods at her, starting to dance a little. "Oh, I get it. You go, girl! Dance like nobody's cringing!"

Anya manhandles him to the ground. "You only needed to say," Sig complains, adjusting his armour. "I can take a hint!"

They crawl to the end of the tunnel and look down on a huge Skree, at least thirty feet long and twenty wide, which is shaped like an aggressive firefly, its rear quarter spinning with actual flames.

Anya whispers to Sig. "We'd best double back the way we came—" she turns to Sig, who has a throwing axe in his hand. "—What are you doing?"

"Don't worry about it," Sig reassures her. "I'm just gonna ruffle his feathers."

Sig throws the axe, which smashes into the creature's hindquarters, where a mixture of acid and fire swirls. The Skree roars angrily.

Anya looks in disbelief at Sig, then at the Skree, then back at Sig. "Ruffle his feathers!? You're just going to ruffle his feathers!?"

"That was a good ruffling, by any standard. Also...speaking candidly, I thought that big sac of lava would explode when I hit it. But don't worry, that creature will never look up here and find us."

"Why not?"

Sig's voice loses all certainty. "Just...coz," he shrugs. "I'm telling you right now—" Anya tackles Sig to the ground as a dollop of acid fire strikes the wall where his face was. "Recent developments have cast doubt on my findings," Sig muses. He looks to where the acidic fire is flowing down the wall, singeing everything in its path. "That's one of the most dramatic things I've seen."