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I didn’t have to wonder what had been in them, since they reeked like the creatures we’d just been fighting. It looked like there was some sort of pulley system that brought the cages down to the level of the wall, where they could be opened right into a portal’s mouth. I guess the fey didn’t like dealing with their experiments any more than we did.
But the cages were empty right now, having already had their contents sent through. And while there was another line behind them, snarling and spitting in the air over the edge of the balcony, it was far out of reach. So I didn’t see the problem.
“What’s the prob—” I began.
“Don’t you know what shh means?” Ray hissed. “And that’s the problem!”
His eyes went across the ledge.
It was a wide one, and since I was almost nose to filthy floor, I couldn’t see anything beyond it. I couldn’t hear anything, either, but not because the place was silent. The roar of what sounded like every ocean ever bounced off the walls, serving as damned good white noise.
So I decided to check it out.
I heard Ray curse behind me, but Zheng didn’t say anything. And the next thing I knew, he was right beside me, slinking over the rough-hewn floor in a liquid motion that belied his size. And then Ray was there, too, I guess on the assumption that there was strength in numbers.
Only we weren’t the ones who had them.
“Aiyaaaa,” Zheng said softly.
And if that meant “holy shit,” I agreed.
A stone floor spread out maybe twenty feet below us, covering what looked like about an acre. Which wouldn’t have been all that remarkable. Except that it was packed with a solid mass of helmeted heads.
I felt goose bumps break out on my arms, because the heads belonged to fey. Row after row of them, crammed tight together in shiny black battle armor and drawn up in front of a huge wall on the right. A wall lined with massive portals.
The gaping blue maws could easily accommodate two or possibly three people at a time. And there had to be at least twenty of them, maybe more. It was hard to tell, given the flickering light sending waves of color rolling over a crowd that looked to be two, maybe three thousand strong.
The only good news was that it didn’t look like anybody was moving through the portals yet. So maybe gateways hadn’t been cut through to the other side. But as soon as they were…
“We’re fucked,” Zheng breathed.
Yeah. That pretty much summed it up.
We were barely holding our own with the trashed experiments and ragtag mercenaries and bio weapons that the fey had thrown at us in the first wave. We wouldn’t last ten minutes with this bunch, not even if the consuls finally got off their asses and ordered their people into the fight. There were just too many and they were better armed, and even a consul might have a hard time fighting after being turned into an icicle.
So yeah.
Fucked.
“Come on,” Zheng whispered, and began crawling back toward the much smaller line of portals behind us, just a dark shadow in the flickering light. Ray and I were less impressive, but we made it because nobody was paying attention to where the riffraff were being launched.
Except possibly the shadows leaping on the wall under the arch, as if someone with a light was coming up some stairs.
“Crap,” Ray said, freezing in place.
“Grab the bodies,” Zheng ordered, flinging two at the portal. Ray and I looked at each other, and then we did the same, snatching one each and dragging them with us into the wild blue yonder. Zheng followed with a corpse tucked under each beefy arm, dumped them on the floor of the great hall and turned on me.
“What the hell?” he demanded.
“You ought to know. Or did your boss get cold feet?”
“Lord Cheung didn’t have shit to do with—”
“Told you,” Ray said.
“—whatever that is—”
“What does it look like?” I asked.
