Free Raker by Glen Cook Page A

Captain.
    I considered Silent. No smile on his long, dreary face. He responded with a slight jerk of his head. So. Another victory that amounted to failure. Raker had escaped again. Maybe he would send us scampering after the Limper, squeaking mice who had grown too bold and challenged the cat.
    Still, chopping twenty-three men out of the regional Rebel hierarchy counted for something. Not a bad day's work, in fact. Better than any the Limper turned in.
    Men came for the patrol's ponies. Others set out mulled wine and warm food in the main hall. I stuck with Elmo and Silent. Their tale would get told soon enough.
    After twelve years I am patient with Elmo. He is our finest platoon leader. We like each other. I rate him a close friend.

II
    Meystrikt's main hall is only slightly less draughty than its quarters. I treated Jo-Jo. The others attacked their meals. Feast complete, Elmo, Silent, One-Eye, and Knuckles convened round a small table. Cards materialized. One-Eye scowled my way. "Going to stand there with your thumb in your butt, Croaker? We need a mark."
    One-Eye is a wizened little black man with a volcanic temper and mouth to watch. He is at least a hundred years old. The Annals mention him throughout the past century. There is no telling when he joined. Seventy years' worth of Annals were lost when the Company's positions were overrun at the Battle of Urban. One-Eye refuses to illuminate the missing years. He says he doesn't believe in history.
    Elmo dealt. Five cards to each player and a hand to an empty chair. "Croaker!" One-Eye snapped. "You going to squat?"
    "Nope. Sooner or later Elmo is going to talk." I tapped my pen against my teeth.
    One-Eye was in rare form. Smoke poured out of his ears. A screaming bat popped out of his mouth. He likes his tricks.
    "He seems annoyed," I observed. The others grinned. Baiting One-Eye is a favorite pastime.
    One-Eye hates field work. And hates missing out even more. Elmo's grins and Silent's benevolent glances convinced him he'd missed something good.
    Elmo redistributed his cards, peered at them from inches away. Silent's eyes glittered. No doubt about it. They had a special surprise.
    Raven took the seat they'd offered me. No one objected. Even One-Eye seldom objects to anything Raven decides to do.
    Raven. Colder than our weather. A dead soul, maybe. He can make a man shudder with a glance. Even the Taken, except the Limper, do not effect me that way. Soulcatcher is warmer.
    The aura of the man cannot be conveyed. He exudes a stench of the grave. Yours, if you cross him.
    He never smiles. Says maybe one word a month more than Silent. Mysterious and spooky. And yet.... And yet there's Darling, his shadow, nine or ten, whom he salvaged from the ruins of a village the Limper burned. Darling loves him. Frail, pale, ethereal, she kept one little hand on his shoulder while he ordered his cards. She smiled for him.
    Raven is an asset in any game including One-Eye. One-Eye cheats. But never when Raven is playing.
    Nobody messes with Raven.
    "She stands in the Tower, gazing northward. Her delicate hands are clasped before Her. A breeze steals softly through Her window. It stirs the midnight silk of Her hair. Tear diamonds sparkle on the gentle curve of Her cheek."
    "Hoo-wee!"
    "Oh, wow!"
    "Author! Author!"
    "May a sow litter in your bedroll, Willie." Those characters got a howl out of my fantasies about the Lady.
    The sketches are a game I play with myself. Hell, for all they know, my inventions might be on the mark. Only the Ten Who Were Taken ever see the Lady. Who knows if She is beautiful, ugly, or what?
    "Tear diamonds sparkling, eh?" One-Eye said. "I like that. Figure she's pining for you, Croaker?"
    "Knock it off. I don't make fun of your games."
    The Lieutenant entered, seated himself, regarded us with a black scowl. His mission in life is to disapprove.
    His advent meant the Captain was on his way. Elmo folded his hand, composed himself.
    The place fell silent. Men appeared