It was light enough to drive away bats and shadows. Narayan. Are they fed? Damn the sickness. Lets get them moving.

Where are we going?

Get Blade. Ill explain.

He got Blade. I explained. I rode out with the cavalry, leaving Blade to bring the rest. I headed east ten miles, turned into the hills. Crows followed. I was not concerned about crows. They were not reporting to the Shadowmasters.

Ten miles into the hills I halted. I could see part of the plain. Dismount. Rest. Keep the noise down. Cold food. Ram, come with me. I moved forward. Quiet. There may be pickets.

We did not encounter any before I could see the whole panorama.

There had been changes. When we had come before the hills had been green with farms and orchards. Now they were spotted brown, especially to the south. The canals were not delivering water as they should.

Ram, get those two red rumel men, Abda and whatever his name is.

He went. I studied the prospect.

Shadowspinners camps and siegeworks surrounded the city. Near the north gate the besiegers had raised an earthen ramp to the top of the wall, no mean achievement. Dejagore squatted atop a high mound, behind walls forty feet high. The ramp had been damaged badly. Men were hauling earth up to repair it.

Presumably that had been the point of attack the night whatever had happened had happened.

The besiegers looked ragged. The condition of their camps suggested low morale. Could I take advantage? Had word of yesterdays misadventure reached the line troops? Knowing that, knowing a large force could hammer them against the anvil of the city, they ought to be ripe for a rout.

I could not place Shadowspinner. Maybe he was holed up in the remnants of the permanent camp south of the city. It had its own rampart and ditch. If not, he was careful not to stand out. Maybe Mogaba had a habit of picking on him.

Ram returned with Abda and the other man. I said, I want to find a way to get down there unseen. Spread out, try to find one. Watch for pickets. If we can get down there we can give them a nasty surprise tonight.

They nodded and slipped away. Ram with his customary worried look. He still did not believe I could take care of myself.

Sometimes I wondered.

I gave them a head start, then moved westward. I had a surprise for the Shadowmasters-if my limited talent was up to it.

It took longer than I hoped but it looked workable, it being a bat trap that would call and kill like a candle does moths. Id been thinking about versions since wed left Taglios. It should work on crows, too, with adjustments.

Which left only the shadows.