Kendt, as the Behemoth had called him, was still basically ignoring Errod while parrying every attack. "I was curious, he''s got a very particular style. I can''t place it, it''s like he just picked up little bits from various schools without ever mastering any of them."


    The Behemoth snorted. "Well finish it, and get out the healing potions for Rigela and Pogue."


    "And Geiter?"


    I was swung around as the Behemoth turned to look at the one rolling around screaming. "Sounds like he can get his own potion, though they''re not great at eyes. Guess we''ll have to find out."


    Katrin was moaning slightly, and I couldn''t see Hugh. Kendt turned back to Errod, parried another attack, and then chuckled. "You''re a terrible swordsman, you know that?"


    Errod nodded. "So I''ve heard." He saluted, passing his sword off to his off hand so he could raise some fingers to his forehead. The other man looked surprised and then copied the gesture, but lazily - and then went to stab Errod through the eye. I didn''t want to watch, and even without my emotions turned off I may have flinched somewhat, so I couldn''t really catch what the hell happened. Errod still had both eyes, but Kendt was short one ear.


    "What the fuck! How did you - " Kendt sputtered, and then went into full attack mode. Every swing and thrust was perfectly blocked, as if it was a choreographed dance - but one where both dancers had absolutely baffled expressions for some reason. Errod wasn''t attacking - after that shocking ear removal - just parrying in this incredible minimalist way where he only diverted the other man''s moves by exactly the amount needed.


    "Errod!" I yelled, barely able to breathe, "Just kill him and run! Get out of here!"


    The Behemoth snickered at that like it was a hilarious joke, his stupid inhuman grinning face looming over me. What was Errod waiting for? What was the Behemoth waiting for? Why was everyone just watching this? And then I saw the answer - a shadowy figure materialized behind Errod, stepping out of thin air with a sword ready. I tried to scream, but the Behemoth squeezed and I felt all sorts of things grinding together inside me that weren''t supposed to be touching.


    "There," Errod said quietly. He stepped sideways at the last second, slapping the blade that was coming at him from behind so that it dug into the road - before either man could recover Errod had taken another step backwards and very neatly stabbed both men in the throat; Kendt went down instantly, but the shadowy one stumbled back and then vanished.


    "Well I''ll be damned," the Behemoth said, "the kid was faking it. Huh. Good for you, kid. But your friend here can''t breathe at the moment, and you could stab me all day with that needle of yours and it wouldn''t do you any good. So you''re still kinda fucked."


    A voice came from the wreckage of one of the wagons. "Let her go, Henden."


    The Behemoth recoiled and went pale, like he''d seen a ghost. "Nobody calls me... who the fuck is that?"


    Hugh stood up, dusting himself off. His shirt was smoldering and the skin underneath didn''t look great either, but somehow he was still giving off this vibe that said he was about to kick someone''s ass. The Behemoth looked at him for a moment, tilted his head, and then said something I never expected.


    "Hugh? Is that you, man?"


    "Errod," Hugh said calmly, "Get your sister and head for the city. Now."


    Errod looked up at me, jaw set and eyes burning. He wanted to attack the Behemoth, I could see it. But he flipped his sword around and slid it away, surprisingly smoothly considering he was holding it in his left hand and sheathing it on that same side, then looked down at the handle with his brow furrowed in annoyance or maybe even surprise. With one last glance at me he did run over to Katrin and awkwardly hefted her over his shoulder so he could get her to the moskar that were frantically tugging at the ruined wagons.


    The other side was taking advantage of the lull as well - the one whose eyes had been burned by the backlash of his own attack had stopped screaming and pulled out a potion that looked like radioactive snot, and the flier had pried himself off his spiked ball where Hugh had pinned him and was feebly pawing at his bag. Probably they all had healing potions, which would have been a really fantastic score if we''d won the battle. Instead it was just Hugh and the Behemoth staring at each other while the rest of us waited to see who would die and how.


    The grip on me had loosened somewhat, but I couldn''t move my arm enough to reach a knife and it probably wouldn''t have done me any good regardless. I tried to access Mister Creepy to see if he could squirm out and do something, but I couldn''t get it to work for some reason. Everything in my head was yelling that I needed to find a way to attack, to escape, to... anything! But I had to admit to myself that shutting up and sitting still was the only thing available to me. He could have killed me already, easily - and if I provoked him he still could.


    "So, Hugh. It''s been a while."


    "It has. Please put her down."


    He looked at his hand as if just noticing I was there, then chucked. "She''s who I''m here for, Hugh. Well, mainly. I was also hoping that U''rmun would be here, but that''s more of a personal matter. Fucker managed to drag me to Kertzale, thank the gods he couldn''t get me into one of the cells. You know how hard it is to get out of that plane?"


    Hugh nodded. "I''ve heard stories. But you seem to have made it out quickly enough."


    "Benefits of a long life of service, Hugh. Sometimes the boss gives a shit if you make it home."


    He was chatting in a fairly normal manner, but he still looked absolutely insane. It wasn''t just that he was the size of a small building, it was that his whole face was distorted into this unnatural grin. Hugh seemed calm as well, though I assumed that was just because he didn''t want to try and fight this fucking monster - especially if he had to worry about hurting me while I was in the thing''s fist.


    "Well Henden, it seems that your years of service are at an end. For that boss, at least. Haven''t you heard? The war is over. The last few months have been a series of absolute disasters, and the allied forces of all three neighboring lands are camped on Halenvar''s soil. I hear the people were more than happy to surrender, in fact."


    Stolen novel; please report.


    He snorted. "I''m bound, Hugh. Word of law, right in my soul. I serve Gilbrect Halenvar until the end. Even if he hadn''t made me swear, you know they have bounties out on me. They want to hold everything I do against me - they aren''t soldiers like us, they don''t understand what you need to do to survive. To win. Most of the ones making those choices have never seen a battlefield."


    Hugh looked gobsmacked. "Henden, you... you ate a woman while her family watched."


    He shrugged, which was an interesting experience from my current position. "Eh. It''s psychology, you know that. People acting up, looking like they''re going to try some shit, so you make an example out of one of them to keep the rest in line."


    "You don''t eat people alive."


    "Don''t tell me you''re going soft, Hugh. The goal is to win. How you get there doesn''t matter. And anyway, I probably saved some lives with that stunt. That''s what nobody gets. If I''d been quick about it, it wouldn''t have made as much of an impact. They needed that time to have the message really set in. The first five minutes just made them angry, you know? They might have still tried to fight back, and then we would have had to kill them all. So yeah, they should have thanked me. Fifteen minutes of screaming, and then they all behaved themselves and nobody else died."


    I had to admit there was a certain logic to it, but even with my empathy dialed to zero the idea of what he had done turned my stomach. That little voice that tried to think of what Bill would say or do when I couldn''t be a good person on my own instincts was flat out ranting. There was no way, it yelled, that eating someone over the course of fifteen minutes was the best way to accomplish that goal. He enjoyed that. He must have. I''d been considering telling him what Halenvar was up to - the whole thing with ending the world - but it had been implied he was okay with it and at this point that would make some sense.


    "What would Hesht say about that?" Hugh asked, and the Behemoth recoiled as if struck.


    "Fuck you. He was a deserter, and you probably helped him."


    "Of course I did. And I was there when he died, Henden. You know, they could have saved him? But he needed more than potions or life magic, he needed someone to reshape the cancer out of his body - and he wouldn''t let anyone with that gift touch him. Because of you. I watched your brother die because he couldn''t stand the thought of someone that shared anything in common with you laying hands on him."


    "Then he was worse than a deserter - he was a fucking idiot. I don''t know if you thought that bringing up my brother was going to make me get all misty eyed or what, but I''m still going to kill this one. Fuck, who was holding the jar?"


    "Sir," the flying one said - he was limping towards the Behemoth but looked mostly healed, like the potion had closed up all the big wounds and left the bruising. "I believe Cartek had it."


    "Fuck, right. He was supposed to do it all stealthy if shit went bad. Fuck. I''m not even sure if he''s alive. Okay, thanks Rigela. Geiter, you good?"


    "I''m... mostly blind, sir. I''ll need an actual healer."


    "Ugh, fucking potions. Pogue?"


    The one that had been flying - Rigela apparently, which sounded a bit familiar - glanced over at the mess behind him. "Uh. He''s out. Alive, I think. Fuck, my arm still feels wrong. Bitch put a knife all the way into my shoulder from underneath."


    "Well you can watch her die in a minute, how about that? Hugh, it was interesting to see you again. Tell you what, one last favor since we have history - if you turn and run away right now, I won''t pull your legs off."


    Hugh just stood there, looking annoyed. I wasn''t sure what he could do - the Behemoth was only keeping me alive momentarily in the hopes that shadowy guy - Cartek - would be back with some sort of fucking jar. From the sounds of it they were planning to pop my head off and stick it in a mason jar like some preserves. If Hugh attacked in the meantime they''d probably just kill me right away, and in fact if the jar didn''t show up soon I had to assume they''d rip my head off anyway. Errod and Katrin were actually leaving as far as I could tell, though they''d disappeared from view. Even if they turned around and came back I didn''t think they could help.


    "Sorry Hugh," I said, "you two want to talk about service and loyalty and whatever, but I''m done. I''m out. Behemoth, you''re being toyed with. I''m bait - I''ve been bait this whole time. They fucked with my memories to put fake shit in there and reshaped my face to make me look like this Calliope Smith bitch, and then got you and Telen to run all over the countryside like idiots. Lord Protector Hammersmith is using me to keep you busy, she doesn''t actually need me for anything."


    He hesitated. "You''re just saying that so I won''t kill you."


    "Gosh, how did you figure that out? Did that take a lot of work, putting those pieces together? Congratulations genius, you''ve solved it. But that doesn''t mean I''m not telling the truth."


    "No, I think you''re full of shit. Nice try, though. With or without the jar, my orders were to bring back your head for them to examine."


    "Hah! Good luck, with all the bullshit they shoved in to my memories. You''re going to get a bunch of blurry surreal shit that was designed to be as confusing as possible - and that''s if my head is even in good enough shape to read anything. Keep me alive, and I''ll tell you everything. Kill me, and by the time your boss figures it out it''ll be too late."


    He was still grinning, but now the silence dragged on. He wasn''t sure if I was telling the truth, and someone like this was bound to err on the side of murder. Thankfully, Hugh lunged through the air and tried to smash my head in. There was a split second of confusion as I saw him launching at me fist-first, but the Behemoth reflexively shielded me and slapped Hugh aside and it clicked pretty fast - he was making my story look more legitimate.


    "Don''t let him kill me, I can tell you so much!"


    Hugh''s face contorted in anger. "Traitor!" he yelled, mustache bristling, but he wasn''t the best actor - and I''d seen him actually angry. I could tell the difference. Thankfully the performance had been enough to tip the scales, and the Behemoth stepped away from Hugh without killing me.


    "Fine," the Behemoth said - though he didn''t sound happy about it. "I''ll keep you alive for the time being. But Hugh? You just lost out on my offer. I''m going to need to rip your arms and legs off - and hey, say hello to my brother if you see him at the bottom of the Necropolis."


    He casually reached over and broke both my legs before tossing me aside - everything was a blur from the pain, and I had to pull away into my memory palace to block it out. I was still vaguely aware of my agony - mostly the legs, but I''d hit my head when I landed as well and there was some general soreness from being squeezed - but it was more like alarms going off around me than actually feeling it. I took a deep breath and dropped back into my body to see if I could help somehow - a well placed knife, maybe - but I was face down and it hurt so badly to roll over that I nearly passed out.


    It was worse than the stab wounds, worse than the broken ribs. He''d shattered multiple bones in my legs, and there was no way I could throw a knife straight even if one of the baddies wandered directly in front of me. Desperately I clawed my way back into the memory palace where I could block it all out, and I collapsed on the bed. After a moment sharp spikes of pain told me I was being moved around, and I hesitantly opened my eyes one more time but only saw the rough fur of one of those boar-wolf things. For a second I entertained the thought that Hugh had somehow won and was using this creature because the wagons were fucked, but I could hear voices - the Behemoth and one of the others, I wasn''t sure which.


    I wanted to stop them, to attack somehow, to go back and see what happened to Hugh, but if he was smart he''d have run off and left me behind. There was nothing more I could do but wait for a miracle.