Free She Is the Darkness: Book Two of Glittering Stone: A Novel of the Black Company by Glen Cook Page B

glanced at the Captain. He was awake. He had a bird perched on one shoulder,
    beak moving at his ear. He eyed Thai Dei and Uncle Doj but said nothing. He
     clambered to his feet wearily, collected a couple of bamboo poles and trudged
     around to where he could see the lake. I followed him. Uncle Doj tagged along
     behind me. It amazed me that a man so short and wide could move so quietly and
     gracefully.
    I saw nothing new out there in the darkness. Occasional flecks of light
     continued to streak the tapestry of the night. “Like fireflies.” There were a
     million stars. The guys who expected snow were going to be disappointed.
    “Hush,” Croaker said. He was listening to something. The damned bird on his
     shoulder?
    Where was the other one?
    A crimson ball zipped away from one wagon just like scores before it. But when
     this one neared the island it dipped violently and swerved to the right,
    scattering the rippling water with ten thousand rubies. At water level the ball
     became a splash of blood that faded immediately.
    There was no reflection off the water anywhere nearby.
    “Shadows.”
    A half-dozen balls streaked out. They defined a river of darkness snaking across
     the lake. Then balls started flying around over the remnants of the village that
     had been burning while that boat sank.
    The discharges there reached panic level quickly. The Captain ordered, “Swing
     one of the wagons around. Give them some support down there. And let’s see if we
     can’t get a couple more wagons up here fast.”
    Some individuals were plinking at the village already, for whatever help that
     would provide. Croaker told the crew of the second wagon, “Cut loose on that
     island. Everything you’ve got. Murgen. I want everybody awake and up here. The
     shit-storm is about to hit.”
    I ran off to tap-dance on a couple of snorers famous for their bugle calls.
    Both wagons cut loose about the same time. Their trigger cranks squealed and
     rattled as they whirled. Bamboo tubes discharged color in furious series. How
     many balls could a wagon launch? A shitload.
    Cavalry tubes carried fifteen charges. Standard infantry and infantry long
     carried thirty and forty charges respectively. The hundreds of tubes on each
     wagon were longer still.
    The fireflies went mad. Every single ball launched darted downward after a
     shadow. Each made its dip nearer shore.
    “Lots of shadows,” Croaker observed laconically. This was a new thing but a
     thing we had feared for years. Shadows attacking in waves and a flood instead of
     sneaking around like spies and assassins.
    The Old Man seemed calm. Me, I damned near drizzled down my leg. I ran, but only
     far enough to get hold of the standard and a bundle of bamboo. I planted the
     former beside the Old Man, got the business end of a pole pointed southward,
    found the handgrip trigger mechanism and started turning. Each quarter turn sent
     another fireball streaking. I told Thai Dei, “Grab you some bamboo, brother. You
     too, uncle. This isn’t going to be anything you can stop with a sword.”
    Balls were arcing over from the far slope now. There were enough in transit to
     define the wave of darkness headed our way. Fireballs plunged into that darkness
     like bright hail, flared, faded. This was the nightmare tide we had dreaded for
     so long, the hellpower of the Shadowmaster unleashed.
    Balls consumed shadows by the thousand. The flood came on. Unlike mortal
     soldiers those things could do nothing but follow commands. Sorcery compelled
     them.
    My pole went dry. I grabbed another one. Uncle Doj and Thai Dei began to grasp
     the situation. They found poles and got into the act, though Thai Dei was not
     very fast one-handed.
    The dark tide came off the water and headed upslope. As it drew closer I began
     to make out individual shadows.
    I saw these things first way back when we first came to Taglios, in the days
     when there were four Shadowmasters and together they could reach