The Tainted City Read Online Free PDF Page B

who’d survived the initial collapse alive until a crew of mages from the Watch finally showed up.
    I’d hoped for another chance to slip away, but Jathon kept me dangling from pitons beside the airshaft to relay messages to the trapped men until the mages managed to create a narrow passageway through the cave-in. The effort of keeping the tunnel stable and the air breathable apparently took all their concentration; they left it to the rest of us to evacuate the injured. I’d spent the rest of the day climbing through rubble under Talmaddis’s supervision, seeking those survivors too badly hurt to make their own way out.
    I grimaced and scraped harder at my fingers. Talmaddis had given me bloodfreeze and skinseal charms, but even so, I’d lost count of the men who died before I could lever them free.
    I’d seen my dead mentor Sethan in every gray, pain-wracked face. Splintered bone gleaming in the pitiless glare of high altitude sun, blood pouring from Sethan’s nose and mouth as I screamed curses and shoved at the boulder pinning him… I yanked my hands from the river.
    “That scut-man, the one whose crushed leg I had to sever—will he live?” The miner had looked as young as Kiran, somewhere in his late teens. His screams had dwindled into ragged croaks as I’d sawed through the flesh of his pulped leg. Thank Khalmet, he’d fainted before I had to drag him out the crack I’d slithered through to reach him.
    “He may.” Talmaddis sounded as tired as I felt, though he no longer looked so haggard as he had in the immediate aftermath of the quake. His rings were still black, but he’d sparked the magelight easily enough. I took that as a warning. He might not have the full strength of his magic back yet, but he’d need only a trickle to deal with an untalented man like me. “Captain Jevarrdanos brought a full supply of herbs and elixirs, and several among his Watch have made extensive study of healing spells. If anyone can save a man from wound fever, they can.”
    I swiped my hands dry on my pants, uncaring of the grimy cloth. Coal muck I could live with, now I’d consigned the dead men’s blood to the river. “If he’s not dead by the time they bother with a mere scut-man.”
    “This isn’t Ninavel.” Talmaddis’s voice gained an edge. “Those worst injured will be treated first, regardless of their status.”
    “Yeah? If the Watch is so concerned for the injured, how come you’re still breathing down my neck instead of helping cast healing spells?” I pointed at the distant lantern-lit bulk of the camp’s mess hall, which now served as a makeshift infirmary.
    “Because I’m not an idiot.” A brief, sardonic smile touched Talmaddis’s mouth. “You think I haven’t sensed that glowlight charm you’ve got stuffed down your sock? Admit it: you have some ill-conceived plan to run.”
    My heart jolted. I stood, carefully casual. “No harm in carrying a perfectly legal charm in case I get sent on an errand in the tunnels. I just don’t want it stolen off me. I share barracks with criminals, you know.”
    “Ah.” Talmaddis’s tone made it clear he didn’t buy that for an instant. “Well, consider my presence as an appeal to your better judgment. A clever man like yourself must realize the dangers of venturing outside our protection. Ruslan Khaveirin bears you no love, and you well know the torment a blood mage can inflict.”
    Yeah, Ruslan was a vengeful, sadistic bastard. Yet Kiran had once said, He thinks of untalented men as tools to be used or cast aside, not enemies worthy of attention. It was Kiran he’d shatter the world to reclaim, not me. With all Ruslan’s attention focused on tearing down Alathia’s wards, I figured I’d stand a fair chance of surviving a return to Arkennland, so long as I was quiet about it. Hell, I’d probably be safer there than here, if the day’s quake was any indication.
    “After today, I’m not overly impressed with your protection,” I told