Maya caught the flash of motion. A dark, asymmetrical shape loped over the ground a few hundred meters ahead, two long, canine heads rimmed with broken bones. But it was sprinting away, not charging them. As she watched, it disappeared over the rocks.

“That’s … odd,” she said.

“It must have been chasing something else,” Tanax muttered. “An animal, maybe.”

“Plaguespawn prefer humans to animals,” Beq said.

“Which means we may not be alone out here,” Maya said.

“You think it was going after Jaedia and Nicomidi?” Tanax said.

Maya shrugged. “If so, they can handle a few plaguespawn.”

It wasn’t long after that they started hearing thunder, rippling booms echoing down the valley. Maya squinted and thought she could see flashes reflecting off the rocks.

“That could be Nicomidi,” Tanax said. The Kyriliarch’s cognomen, Maya recalled, was Thunderclap.

“It sounds … too regular,” Beq said, peering ahead. “Like blaster fire.”

“Centarchs don’t need blasters,” Maya said. Uncertainty fluttered in her chest. “Let’s hurry.”

The booms eventually stopped, but by then there was no longer any doubt what was happening ahead of them. They passed the first battleground, strewn with plaguespawn corpses. Some of the monsters had been shattered by blaster bolts, others cut and torn with raw force. Maya didn’t think any of them bore the clean-edged cuts she would have expected if Jaedia had unleashed her powers.

“What in the name of the Chosen is going on?” Tanax said. “I’ve never heard of this many plaguespawn in one place. And look at the size of that one!” He kicked the flank of a bear-sized monstrosity, limbs slackened in death. It looked as through it had been torn apart by another beast on the same scale.

“Some of these are strange, too,” Beq said. She prodded another corpse carefully. “Look. No blood, and it’s covered in … rock, I think?”

“Dhakim,” Maya muttered. “I knew Cyrtak wasn’t at the center of this. There must be another one directing the plaguespawn.”

“How powerful does a dhakim need to be to pull together this many?” Tanax said.

“That depends on a lot of factors,” Beq said. “It’s not even clear if a dhakim’s reach scales linearly with some kind of overall ability, or if—”

“We have no idea, you mean,” Tanax interrupted.

“Basically.” Beq swallowed. “But if you want my guess—”

“Stronger than Cyrtak,” Maya said. “A lot stronger.”