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Back Dreams of Steel
Chapters (76)
  1. Title page
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  59. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  60. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  61. Chapter Sixty
  62. Chapter Sixty-One
  63. Chapter Sixty-Two
  64. Chapter Sixty-Three
  65. Chapter Sixty-Four
  66. Chapter Sixty-Five
  67. Chapter Sixty-Six
  68. Chapter Sixty-Seven
  69. Chapter Sixty-Eight
  70. Chapter Sixty-Nine
  71. Chapter Seventy
  72. Chapter Seventy-One
  73. Chapter Seventy-Two
  74. Chapter Seventy-Three
  75. Chapter Seventy-Four
  76. Chapter Seventy-Five

Yes. Its the holy grove of those who worship Kina. If we cleared the creepers you could see carved representations. Once it was important to the Black Company, who took it from the Shadar. The ground is filled with bones.

He turned slowly, looked into her empty cowl. He wouldnt look at the box she carried. He knew what must be in it. The Black Company?

They made sacrifices here. One hundred thousand prisoners of war.

Croaker blanched. That wasnt something he wanted to hear. He had a long romance with the history of the Company. There was no place in that for a wicked past. Truth?

Truth, my love. Ive seen the books the wizard Smoke concealed from you in Taglios. They include the missing volumes of your Annals. Your forebears were cruel men. Their mission required the sacrifice of a million souls.

His stomach knotted. To what? To whom? Why? She hesitated. He knew she wasnt being honest when she said, That wasnt clear. Your lieutenant Mogaba might know, though.

It wasnt what she said but the way she said it, the voice she used. He shuddered. And he believed. Mogaba had been strange and secretive throughout his association with the Company. What was he doing to the Companys traditions now?

Kinas disciples come here twice a year. Their Festival of Lights comes in a month. We have to finish before then.

Troubled, Croaker asked, Why are we here? Wererecovering our health. She laughed. Where we wont be bothered. Everyone shuns this place. Once Ive nursed you back youre going to help me. Still amused, she pushed back her cowl. She had no head. She lifted that box she always carried, a battered

thing a foot to a side, opened a little door. A face looked out. It was a beautiful face, like the face of his lover, though less careworn and lacking lifes animation.

Impossible.

His stomach knotted again. He recalled the day that head had been struck from its body, to lie in the dust staring up at him and Lady. Her sister. It had been a blow well-earned. Soulcatcher had betrayed the Lady. Soulcatcher had meant to supplant her sister as ruler of the empire.

I cant do anything like that.

Of course you can. And you will. Because it will keep both of you alive. We all want to live, dont we? I want her to live because I want her to hurt. I want to live because I want to watch her hurt. You want to live because of her, because you revere the Company, because... Gentle laughter. Because where theres life theres hope.

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Thunder stampeded. Silver lightning lashed the wine-dark clouds, cracked the umber sky. A mold-grey horde howled across a basalt plain, toward the golden chariots of the gods.