The Black Company: The First Novel of 'The Chronicles of The Black Company' Read Online Free PDF Page A

nearest door, took a protected route to the Captain’s quarters, let myself in without knocking.
    I found him on his cot, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. His room was illuminated by a single feeble candle. “The forvalaka is in the Bastion. I saw it come over the wall.” My voice squeaked like Goblin’s.
    He grunted.
    “You hear me?”
    “I heard, Croaker. Go away. Leave me alone.”
    “Yes sir.” So. It was eating him up. I backed toward the door.…
    The scream was loud and long and hopeless, and ended abruptly. It came from the Syndic’s quarters. I drew my sword, charged through the door—smack into Candy. Candy went down. I stood over him, numbly wondering why he was back so soon.
    “Get in here, Croaker,” the Captain ordered. “Want to get yourself killed?” There were more cries from the Syndic’s quarters. Death was not being selective.
    I yanked Candy inside. We bolted and barred the door. I stood with my back against it, eyes closed, panting. Chances are it was imagination, but I thought I heard something growl as it padded past.
    “Now what?” Candy asked. His face was colorless. His hands were shaking.
    The Captain finished scribbling a letter. He handed it over. “Now you go back.”
    *   *   *
    Someone hammered on the door. “What?” the Captain snapped.
    A voice muted by thick wood responded. I said, “It’s One-Eye.”
    “Open up.”
    I opened. One-Eye, Tom-Tom, Goblin, Silent, and a dozen others pushed inside. The room got hot and tight. Tom-Tom said, “The man-leopard is in the Bastion, Captain.” He forgot to punctuate with his drum. It seemed to droop at his hip.
    Another scream from the Syndic’s quarters. My imagination had tricked me.
    “What’re we going to do?” One-Eye asked. He was a wrinkled little black man no bigger than his brother, usually possessed by a bizarre sense of humor. He was a year older than Tom-Tom, but at their age no one was counting. Both were over a hundred, if the Annals could be believed. He was terrified. Tom-Tom was on the edge of hysteria. Goblin and Silent, too, were rocky. “It can take us off one by one.”
    “Can it be killed?”
    “They’re almost invincible, Captain.”
    “Can they be killed?” The Captain put a hard edge on his voice. He was frightened too.
    “Yes,” One-Eye confessed. He seemed a whisker less scared than Tom-Tom. “Nothing is invulnerable. Not even that thing on the black ship. But this is strong, fast, and smart. Weapons are of little avail. Sorcery is better, but even that isn’t much use.” Never before had I heard him admit limitations.
    “We’ve talked enough,” the Captain growled. “Now we act.” He was difficult to know, our commander, but was transparent now. Rage and frustration at an impossible situation had fixed on the forvalaka.
    Tom-Tom and One-Eye protested vehemently.
    “You’ve been thinking about this since you found out that thing was loose,” the Captain said. “You decided what you’d do if you had to. Let’s do it.”
    Another scream. “The Paper Tower must be an abattoir,” I muttered. “The thing is hunting down everybody up there.”
    For a moment I thought even Silent would protest.
    The Captain strapped on his weapons. “Match, assemble the men. Seal all the entrances to the Paper Tower. Elmo, pick some good halberdiers and crossbowmen. Quarrels to be poisoned.”
    Twenty minutes fled. I lost count of the cries. I lost track of everything but a growing trepidation and the question, why had the forvalaka invaded the Bastion? Why did it persist in its hunt? More than hunger drove it.
    That legate had hinted at having a use for it. What? This? What were we doing working with someone who could do that?
    All four wizards collaborated on the spell that preceded us, crackling. The air itself threw blue sparks. Halberdiers followed. Crossbowmen backed them. Behind them another dozen of us entered the Syndic’s quarters.
    Anticlimax. The antechamber to