Plague that. Maya extended a hand, and a bolt of solid flame flashed across the room, crashing into the side of the monster. It rocked and staggered sideways, fire running briefly over its body before guttering out. It turned again, split jaw working as it glared at Maya with mismatched eyes. She stepped forward deliberately. That’s right. Look at me, ugly.

“Streza!” Maya shouted as the plaguespawn started to circle. “I want you to run back to Kaiura’s house right now.”

“But—” The girl’s voice was a whimper.

“Now. Tell my friends what we found. Go!”

She couldn’t say whether the girl answered, because the monster charged again, legs blurring as it threw itself into a sprint. Maya waited until the last moment, holding its attention, then sprang to one side like a ringfighter. She dragged her haken along its flank, the blazing sword slashing a long, ugly burn into the slick, wet muscle there.

The plaguespawn made a warbling, gurgling sound, then screeched as Maya brought more fire boiling up underneath it. It hopped sideways, and this time she charged first, coming at it head-on and bringing her blade down on its bifurcated head. Flesh and bone parted easily in the path of deiat. Both halves snapped at her, one set of jaws closing on her arm, the panoply field straining to keep them apart. Maya, fighting the chill, spun and twisted her blade through the plaguespawn’s neck, sending one half of its head bouncing to the earth.

The stump gouted black blood, but the thing was still moving, the remaining half head twisting and biting in a frenzy. Maya gave ground, fading to one side, and waited for it to commit to a lunge. When it did, she sidestepped and slashed at its throat. Another half a skull came free, and the now entirely headless creature wobbled and collapsed.

That … Maya was breathing hard, and her heart pounded triple-time. She touched the Thing with her free hand. That was unexpected.

“Streza?” she called. There was no answer.

Good. The girl was, hopefully, halfway across the village by now. I hope she can get through to Tanax. Maya looked down at the dead plaguespawn, swallowing hard. At least none of the parts look human. You couldn’t always tell, but …

It can’t be coincidence. Plaguespawn couldn’t restrain themselves. They were constructs of meat and dhak, and all they understood was the hunger for more flesh. If something this size had found its way in here on its own, the villagers would have seen it before now.

That meant the thing wasn’t a wild plaguespawn, following its own instincts. It had been guarding the tunnel.

Only a dhakim could have set it a task like that. Whatever’s going on in this town, I think I’ve found it.

The logical thing to do would be to retreat, up the stairs at least, and wait for help. But if Streza’s brother was alive, he needed help now, before the dhakim knew she’d found them.