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Two ran off toward the mountains, one with part of her clothes on fire.

I noticed that some of the bars were missing from our cage, enough so I could get out if I wanted, but the thought of trying to stand up made me queasy. I thought maybe I’d best just stay where I was for a moment.

I looked up through the dust, past the huge arm blotting most of the sun, and saw something high up in the sky, not so far from the moon, all pale and washed out as it is by day. And there, just past a low cloud, I spied something red, like a ball, but longer and sharp-nosed. A fish, I think. It was shaped something like a fish.

“Fish don’t fly,” I said soundlessly.

Galva’s mouth made the shape of What?

And then she threw up and trembled.

It was only seeing her tremble that I realized how badly I was shaking and that I’d shit and pissed myself.

Though we did not yet know it, we had just had our first encounter with half-giants.

For these karks had the powers of a dark, dark god at hand.

And, unlike camels or fish, they could fly.

18Into Bondage

Ruin.

Around us ruin, and smoke, and sun warm enough so we were glad for the shadow of the huge arm.

Galva started feeling better before I did, but she was unable to free herself from the cart, chained to her seat as she was. They had not bothered to chain me, rightly thinking me less a warrior than the Spanth, but wrongly counting me less a danger. Had I wished to, I would have been able to free myself from their simple cage and done them mischief by night, even with a banged-up arm. But where to go, even if I cut a throat or two and made off with Galva? This dry, vast land was our true gaoler.

When I could stand, I got myself clear of the wrecked cage.

I looked back at Galva, and she said something to me.

I usually read lips all right, but with my ears ringing and all shook up generally, I wasn’t at my best. So she switched to soldier’s hand-signs, which are not so different from Guild handcanting.

Find. My. Shield.

Not get me out of here. Not bring me water.

Fair play, I knew what that thing meant to her—or I thought I did at least.

The loot-cart had wandered a bit farther off, pulled by its camels, only one of which was injured, and that mildly. Still, with no hand to guide them, they hadn’t gotten far. A loud bunch I guessed they were by their open mouths and heaving lungs, and quite bothered by recent events. Who could blame them? I jumped up in the pretty yellow wagon with its painted knife-birds as it moved slowly along; it was a barrel-shaped affair with its door hanging open—the giants had forced the lock, but had been too large to climb in and make inventory. Maybe they had human lackeys to do that for them back at their camp, for had I not seen men used like dogs in Hrava, sent into buildings to flush out fellow kynd at the bigguns’ command? Or perhaps they would have made Galva and me their dogs.

I couldn’t rid myself of the notion that my freedom, such as it was, was only temporary. What should we do? Take this cart and camels and head south? Hope to find a less murderously cold passage east over the Thralls?

Think, think, I told myself, but thinking was no easy task with whistles in both ears from that loud, hard knock.

The Egalitarians had no small amount of loot in their wagon. I pulled drawers from a cabinet, and all manner of jewels winked in the dimness. I found my Catfall ring and put it on again. I opened a chest and found several pouches of coins, mostly silver, and mostly strange to my eye. I poured some silvers out on the floor. Here was one with a hole in the middle, carved with a cat on one side and three flowers on the other. There was a kraken wrapping its tentacles around a sun or moon, ready to drag even that under the sea. That was an especially fine one. Not a Gallardian owlet, perhaps, but nearly as skillfully made. I held it up, then bit it, then put it under my tongue.

I just love the taste of precious metals.

“Pfuck,” I said around the coin, remembering where I was.

I spit it from my mouth and didn’t bother to collect it, instead grabbing two pouches of gold and one of silver. With some difficulty, as I had just the one good arm, I put these through my belt. I looked up and there, hanging up in a place of honor on the wagon’s wall, was Galva’s shield. I got it down, again no easy feat, held it firmly in my working arm, and started to leave. Then I came back and stuffed two more coin-pouches and an axe into my belt and put the kraken-coin back in my mouth. Now I left the creaky cart and ran, awkwardly for all the coins and my dizziness, back to where Galva waited. The shield seemed heavier than I remembered, but then so was everything, including my legs. I worked the shield off and leaned it against the wheel of the cage-cart.

Galva stopped her work wiping blood from her eyes and face with the end of her shirt, and used her hands to say thank you, then water.

No see water, I canted back.

Key she canted now, and I knew that was just her being rattled. When would these big carks have gotten a key to our bonds, and how could their massive fingers ever grip one? Instead of a key, I shook my axe at her, and she nodded.