Free Lord of the Libraries by Mel Odom

the most unpleasant thing Juhg had ever done. Certainly carrying around the severed leg of a fellow dweller who had died from overwork and beatings down in the goblinkin gem mines had been horrible. The slaves had to bring up the leg to prove that the dweller had died rather than escaped, and dragging a corpse around all day hadn’t been possible. They’d had to stay down in the mines till they filled their carts.
    There were other worse things, but Juhg knew he’d have to think for a long time to come up with them.
    In death, the bearded hoar-worm’s flesh was loose, and walking across its belly was like walking through a swamp.
    The storm had abated. The fog remained, but the lashing waves had gone wherever it was they’d been headed when they’d overtaken the pirate ship. The sea was like that, always moving, always restless.
    The monster’s body bobbed in the water, occasionally bumping into One-Eyed Peggie because the ropes that tied the carcass to the ship were short. Gulls landed on the enormous body, tearing at the meat and eating their fill. Dark shapes under the water kept bumping up against the monster like nursing pups, but Juhg knew they were sharks drawn by the creature’s blood. They, too, feasted on the monster.
    Juhg felt a little sorry for the bearded hoar-worm. That surprised him, but he supposed it was because he had known it could think. Somehow that made watching it being eaten worse.
    “Here.”
    Turning, Juhg found Craugh behind him. Surprisingly, the wizard had followed him onto the monster’s body. Juhg had felt certain Craugh would leave him to tend to the ghoulish task on his own.
    “You’re sure?” Juhg asked.
    Craugh tapped the bottom of his staff against the body. He held an oil lantern in his other hand. “Here,” he repeated. Then he sat down, crossing his legs with his staff across his knees. He put the lantern to one side.
    Juhg hunkered down and took a fresh grip on the flensing knife he’d borrowed from Cook. He smoothed the monster’s flesh with his other hand, testing it. His mouth dried and his stomach turned over as he readied himself to carry out his instructions.
    “Go ahead!” a raucous voice shouted. “Go ahead an’ stick ’im! Give ‘im a good ’un fer me!”
    Looking up, Juhg spotted Critter perched on the ship’s railing. The bird sat lopsidedly due to the fork pegleg.
    “Apprentice,” Craugh said in a low voice, “we’re going to lose the light.”
    Already, the sun was setting in the westering sky. Pinks, purples, and reds tinted the clouds.
    Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Juhg remembered the odd bit but couldn’t remember where he’d gotten it from. The Grandmagister would know, of course. And that turned his thoughts back to the chore Craugh had assigned him.
    He no longer felt that Craugh could have done the task himself. The fight with the bearded hoar-worm had all but done him in. Craugh would not have admitted it, Juhg was sure, but it was the truth. The wizard was not sure-footed crossing the monster’s body.
    “The creature is well beyond feeling any pain you may think you’re causing,” Craugh said.
    “I know.” Juhg thrust the knife into the dead flesh and started cutting. He found out at once that he hadn’t cut deeply enough and the task would be more arduous than he’d believed. Still, the knife was sharp and he was determined. After all, this was supposed to help save the Grandmagister. He didn’t know if he hoped to help or prove the wizard wrong. Craugh couldn’t be right all the time.
    Gradually, just as dusk had started to swell in the eastern sky, Juhg sliced through the skin and into the stomach beyond. When that happened, a little more energy seemed to spark in Craugh, but the wizard appeared a trifle more apprehensive as well.
    At Craugh’s urging, Juhg sliced into the stomach. The stench was horrible.
    “Make the hole larger,” Craugh said, leaning forward and peering inside. “We’re going to have to