“Right!”Zaria said, punching the air.“That’s right!”
“Oh,it’s very right.”
“You’refuckin’ right it is!”
“Let’sgo.”
“Let’sfucking go!”
Therewas a pause.
“Zaria,”he said.
“Fuck!”
Zariaemerged around the corner of a skull-shaped house, her back straight, her fistsclenched, her poleaxe tall and sharp.She marched headlong towards the palace.Isaac followed right behind her.
Theguards on the rampart did not notice them immediately.The dim glow of thecartilage held the plaza in a soft twilight, bathing their entrance in shadow.At the same time, the rumbling of the wyrm seemed to be traveling in a circlearound the palace, growing tighter and tighter.Both guards were following thesound.
Theywere scared.
Theyhad good reason to be.
“Parley!”Zaria shouted.“Parley!”
The twozoanthropes—both male hyenas—flinched in surprise.They took up shootingpositions, one of them almost tumbling from the shoddy perch.
“Soren!”Zaria called, cupping her snout.“Soren!I’ve come to parley, you fuzzycunt!”
On theother side of the wall, all sound ceased at once.For a moment, the rumbling ofthe wyrm faded as well, and only the dead silence of the necropolis remained.Then, all at once, there was a rush of stomping feet.
“H-holdright there!”one of the male hyenas yelled, his crossbow trained.“Zaria,don’t—I mean, stop.Don’t come any—”
“Isthat you up there, Emmet?”Zaria asked.
“Yes!Imean, no!I mean, shut up!”
Zariabarked out a laugh.“What bleedin’ moron trusted you with a weapon?”
“I meanit!Stop!D-don’t come any—”
Emmetstepped forward.The rampart cracked beneath him, shifting his weight.Therewas a snap of string, and the bolt of his crossbow shot straight into theground.Emmet stumbled, lost his grip, and dropped the weapon entirely, lettingit fall down the wrong side of the wall.
“Emmet!”the other hyena barked.
“Sorry!”
Zariascooped the broken bolt from the pavement.“Did you just loose at me, yousniveling cuntsucker?”
“I’m sorry!”Emmet cried, overwhelmed.
“Youopen that gate,” Zaria said, “or I’m shoving this bolt through your pisshole!”
Emmityipped in fright.“Open—o-open the—”
“Openthe gate!”Soren yelled.“Let her through!”
By now,a mass of pirates had swarmed around the rib-shaped grills of the palace gate.They were large, they were fuzzy, they were scarred and armed, and they allsnarled like they did so for a living.Like Zaria,most of them held two heads of height above Isaac.All of them seemed able towrench him limb from limb, if given the chance.As they worked to disarm theblackpowder satchels currently rigged to the wall, Isaac began to doubt thewisdom of their plan.
