Baldwin stood beside Volusia, Tybalt, and Sperry as the morning’s events unfolded.

  It’s a good thing Tybalt spotted that passage in the mountain from the ground when we were ‘scouting’ before, the revenant thought. Maybe it was even lucky that the beastfolk had killed Corporal Jackson, though Baldwin felt conflicted about appreciating that. It might help him and Tybalt get away with Private Lorenzo’s murder, but Jackson’s old man had been something of a mentor to Baldwin. On the other hand, looking for his killer should help keep the Commander off our backs for a while…

  Baldwin himself could no longer see the cave Tybalt had noticed before. He assumed that the necromancer would be able to find it again.

  As soon as Tybalt and the Lieutenant had begun to climb the cliffside, events on the ground took their own direction.

  The Commander began barking orders to those left behind. “Taun! Derren! Pick a few men of your choosing and scout other routes up this mountain. I don’t like relying on the bastard finding a route the enemy have hidden. That’s to say nothing of the booby traps they may have laid in a route only they are familiar with.”

  The soldiers sprang into action almost as soon as the Commander had spoken their names.

  “Sir, yes, sir!”

  Taun and Derren were gone almost immediately with four of their fellows.

  Then Volusia turned to Baldwin.

  “I guess we’ll see if that bears any fruit,” the Commander said.

  “Yes, sir,” Baldwin replied respectfully.

  “Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you: does Tybalt have something on you, Baldwin?” Volusia spoke casually, as if he was talking about the weather. But Baldwin felt something sinister in the man’s tone. Volusia genuinely suspected Tybalt and Baldwin of working together against the Commander’s interests. Even if Volusia had a constant, personal suspicion of Tybalt, fueled by dislike, Baldwin had thought he could rely on Volusia at least trusting him. If not, their situation could get dicey very quickly and without warning.

  “No, sir,” Baldwin said. He kept his tone calm, professional, and measured. He didn’t rush or drag in answering. Being undead, he had slightly better control of his own emotions than the living—though that didn’t prevent him from feeling the beginnings of fear. Volusia was not a man to cross. “Do you mind if I ask what gave you that idea?”

  “You keep winding up in suspicious situations together, that’s all,” Volusia said, shaking his head.

  “The beastfolk attacking people, sir? That would be the only situations we’ve been in that have been out of the ordinary on this expedition, I think. Is that suspicious?”

  Volusia raised his shoulders in a tired shrug and sighed.

  “Maybe not. Maybe not. We always suspected that they were a threat. That one day they would grow territorial in our land—even violent—if they were not expelled. Give in to their… animal natures. That’s why we have these missions. But I smell more to this. I can’t put my finger on it, but something is going awry on this expedition. Something more than just the beastfolk getting feral. Maybe I’m mistaken. But I don’t want you getting yourself into any trouble, Baldy. I know you’re loyal to a friend—perhaps to a fault. I don’t know what it is that’s got you spending so much time with the bastard lately. It’s probably as innocuous as you’re implying. You’ve just made a new friend, and everything is innocent and ordinary.

  “But if it isn’t that way, consider me an ally. If Tybalt has some means of influencing you, if he’s blackmailing you or something, you can talk to me. Even if it’s a violation of the Code, you know I don’t have a stick up my ass about that. I know you would never kill another member of the squad, let alone Corporal Jackson. And killing my men is the only thing I can’t ever forgive. I’m not asking for a final answer now. I know you’re a good soldier. Twenty years of service, right? I respect that. Devoted to the Army. The squad. Just… I doubt the same can be said of Tybalt. Consider where your loyalties lie. If you know the bastard has had some part in the strange goings on lately, or you have any reason to be suspicious of him, I’d reward you for the information, not punish you.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Baldwin said.

  “Of course,” Volusia said, and his voice had the ring of sincerity. “This squad is a family. Have I ever been unfair to a loyal squad member? Tried to hold you all to an unreasonable standard? I don’t think I have.” He gave Baldwin a small but friendly smile and a nod, and then he moved to handle other matters within the squad, leaving Baldwin to watch Tybalt and Sperry continue climbing further up the cliff.

  If Baldwin had been human still, and somehow in on Tybalt’s secret nevertheless, he would have taken a few minutes to think about what the Commander said, and he would have undoubtedly spilled the beans on Tybalt shortly thereafter.

  The squad was almost family to Baldwin. At least it had been. He had devoted so much of his life to it.

  But Baldwin’s fate was bound to Tybalt’s now. He could theoretically betray the bastard’s secret, but five minutes later, Tybalt would give up Baldwin’s far worse secret.

  Tybalt was the bearer of a forbidden class, but he might be able to talk his way out of being executed, considering that he was potentially very powerful if he could level that class. Valuable. Baldwin was a creature whose very existence was a violation of the laws of gods and men. That was easily verifiable. He had no twice-damned heartbeat.

  Plus, according to Tybalt, if he dies, so will I.

  Baldwin couldn’t be certain whether that was true or not. It was hard to read the necromancer. But he could not afford to risk letting Tybalt die to learn the truth.

  Someone sidled up to Baldwin, and he was forced to pay attention to the real world again.

  “Hello Baldwin,” said Soldier Kirin. Another career soldier, like Baldwin, but one who had been in the squad for a slightly shorter time than Baldwin himself.

  “Kirin, you’re looking well. Glad those bloody furballs haven’t gotten to you yet.”

  “Absolute madness what’s been going on,” Kirin said. “Missions weren’t like this when we signed up, eh?”

  In the background, Baldwin heard some scraps of conversation that made him prick his ears up and attempt to divide his attention.

  “A little too cozy up there,” Volusia was saying. His voice drifted in and out of Baldwin’s perception. “I think the bastard has been filling her head with…”

  Baldwin was nodding and shaking his head in turn along with Kirin’s commentary on recent events, silently wishing both that Kirin would shut up and that he would remain close. With the other man there, actively talking to him, it was extremely difficult for Baldwin to eavesdrop—on an exchange that he was fairly certain concerned Tybalt, which meant it affected the revenant too. On the other hand, Kirin talking to him was a good cover. No one would think that Baldwin was listening in on the other conversation while Kirin was chewing Baldwin’s ear off about Corporal Jackson’s death.

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  “It’s an absolute tragedy, my friend,” Baldwin said, giving Kirin a sincere look.

  From the edge of perception, he heard a voice—Graven?—speaking some words, clearly in the middle of a sentence.

  “—do about it?”

  “I don’t know what we’re going to tell the old Sergeant,” said Kirin.

  “It’ll break his heart,” Baldwin agreed.

  “... off the leash,” Volusia was saying. “I don’t… know about it.”

  Baldwin wished he had acquired more levels since he became a revenant. It would have been easy, considering he had started over from level zero. His murder of Private Lorenzo had instantly elevated him to level six. But with only six levels as a revenant, his senses were hardly better than pre-death. With some additional points in will, his perception would be sharper, and he would be better at dividing his attention. He had been forced to focus on the conversation with Kirin to avoid looking suspicious. Now, he sensed, the interaction between Volusia and the other man—men?—with him was winding to a close. Baldwin had missed key details.

  “Do you want to be the one to break it to him?” Kirin asked.

  “I do,” Baldwin agreed. He took a look around, trying to disguise the gesture as an effort to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation between himself and Kirin. He managed to spy the men gathered around the Commander: Privates Graven and Indus and Sergeant Remus.

  All loyalists. Well, two loyalists and one brown-noser.

  That didn’t bode well. He didn’t know exactly what Volusia was planning, but the choice of confidants gave him a bad feeling. The Commander was not picking the best men in the squad. He was sharing whatever he was up to with men he trusted to be implicitly loyal.

  Baldwin turned back to Kirin and lowered his voice. “I think what will help us explain it is if we can give him a pair of horns and a tail, accompanied by a gruesome explanation of what happened to Jackson’s killer before the fucker died.”

  Kirin nodded, the corners of his lips upturned with a small, approving smile.

  “That’s the Baldwin I know,” he said.

  The two men exchanged a firm, soldierly handshake—almost their whole bodies were involved, making it more like an embrace—and then Kirin wandered off to speak with another soldier.

  Baldwin looked around, to see if the activities of the other men could give him some clue to the contents of the conversation with Volusia.

  Graven had taken a seat on a rock and begun sharpening his knife.

  Sergeant Remus was having a close conference with two of the junior soldiers and appeared to be correcting them on details of armor maintenance or preparation.

  Indus—where was he?

  “Baldwin.” Private Indus made himself heard just behind Baldwin’s right shoulder, and the revenant almost leaped out of his skin. Only more-than-human control of his own body kept him from reflexively jumping at the sound.

  Shit.

  “Indus?” Baldwin asked, managing to sound calm and relaxed despite feeling like he was about to swallow a frog.

  He turned to face Indus. The other man appraised Baldwin with a cruel smile. Then the two looked each other in the eyes, in a strange, impromptu staring contest.

  Off to the side, Baldwin heard another conversation starting. It was breathless. The runners had returned.

  “We found another way up,” said one of the breathless men.

  “And?” asked Volusia. His voice was closer to Baldwin’s hearing this time, but it didn’t help much, because Indus was beginning to speak directly to Baldwin, and what he said seemed to demand Baldwin’s attention.

  Baldwin still got the broad strokes. That the runners had found an alternate route to the part of the mountain that Tybalt’s passageway would go to. Where the beastfolk were.

  But almost all of Baldwin’s attention was taken up by Indus as the man finally spoke.

  “I couldn’t help but notice you watching us,” Indus said. “Did you see anything of interest?”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Baldwin said at what he hoped was a normal speaking speed. He barely avoided stumbling over the words.

  “Sure you don’t,” Indus said. His smile widened as he kept his eyes locked on Baldwin’s. “You know, the Commander thinks you’ve got nothing to do with what Tybalt’s up to. He really wants to give you the benefit of the doubt. But men who have nothing to hide don’t lie like this. You know something. You should tell Volusia. Before it’s too late. I know you want to see that family of yours again.”

  Baldwin opened his mouth to say something in response. What, he didn’t know. But there was a clamor from all around.

  “The beastfolk!” shouted a squad member. “Look up there!”

  “Fucking murderers!” hissed another.

  Baldwin darted his eyes all around and then looked way up and saw them. Far above Sperry and Tybalt, who were now almost back to the ground, there was a silhouette of a man with fox ears and a tail. No, more than one. And not just fox beastfolk. There were a couple of ibex beastfolk, too. Baldwin recognized the shape of their horns and tails against the sunlit background.

  So they weren’t all in the village we smoked.

  And another kind of beastfolk made their first appearance of the trip. These had fully humanoid upper bodies, except they possessed wings where humans had shoulders, replacing their arms.

  Harpies?

  “Send them to Lord Mudo!” shouted the central fox beastfolk.

  Isn’t that the god that Tybalt got his powers from?

  A hail of stones rained down. They were so small Baldwin barely took them seriously at first. Then he saw one strike another soldier on his unprotected elbow, and the arm suddenly bent slightly, the wrong way.

  They have slings. Plus, that height… He couldn’t see the enemy well, but they were definitely prepared for this fight. On a mountainside, they would have a plentiful supply of sling-worthy rocks.

  “Turtle formation, and prepare to make orderly retreat!” called Commander Volusia.

  The squad moved to obey, and soon all but Tybalt and Sperry were protected within a long fortress of shields, which were raised over heads or held out in front of the soldiers. The climbers had rushed back toward the ground as the enemy attacked, though they had seemingly been spared from the beastfolk barrage as they descended. They were probably too close to the cliff to be easily targeted with slings. But now they stood on their own, outside the shield wall. The valley was narrow, but crossing the eight feet or so of distance to get behind the shields would be dangerous. It was raining stones.

  After the two reached the ground, Volusia seemed to hesitate before calling his next order. Wildly, Baldwin thought for a moment that he might order that they be left behind.

  Then the Commander stepped slightly aside from his spot in the front of the formation, opening a passage to safety that Tybalt and Sperry rushed to fill. Rocks whizzed alongside them as they moved, though nothing seemed to hit any unarmored spot.

  Then the last two soldiers were through the opening. Volusia stepped back into place, and the squad was impervious to the little rocks, with shields protecting every side.

  “Retreat!” the Commander called. In a quieter voice, he added, “Slowly. We don’t want them to think we’re afraid of them. They simply have the high ground.”

  The squad started marching back toward the entrance to the valley. The soldiers moved in lockstep so that no vulnerabilities opened in their shield walls and roof.

  “Don’t come back!” yelled the beastfolk from the top of the cliff.

  “Interesting,” muttered Volusia under his breath.

  “What is, sir?” asked Indus.

  “They didn’t use arrows this time,” the Commander replied, looking curiously in Baldwin’s direction.

  “It is an awkward angle to loose arrows from,” said Private Taun. “They were very far away from us, slinging stones almost straight down, and they still missed more than they hit. Pitiful. But it would be foolish to waste arrows on shots like that unless they have a vast quantity.”

  “Hmm.” Volusia nodded slowly, though Baldwin sensed that he was not quite satisfied with this answer.

  The story is beginning to unravel, master, Baldwin sent.

  But when he glanced over at the necromancer, Tybalt was smiling.

  Announcement

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