The children had settled their horses and were now in the saddles, well away from the grisly scorched mound. Kalam glanced over to see Minala and Selv tying Keneb onto his saddle.
The assassin approached his own stallion. The beast snorted disdainfully as he swung himself up and gathered the reins.
'We're in a warren, aren't we?' Minala asked. 'I'd always believed all those tales of other realms were nothing but elaborate inventions wizards and priests used to prop up all the fumbling around they did.'
Kalam grunted. He'd been run through enough warrens and plunged into enough chaotic maelstroms of sorcery to take it for granted. Minala had just reminded him that for most people such a reality was remote, viewed with scepticism if acknowledged at all. Is such ignorance a comfort or a source of blind fear?
'I take it we're safe from Korbolo Dom here?'
'I certainly hope so,' the assassin muttered.
'How do we select a direction? There're no landmarks, no trail...'
'Quick Ben says you travel with an intention in mind and the warren will take you there.'
'And the destination you have in mind?'
Kalam scowled, was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed. 'Aren.'
'How safe are we?'
Safe? We've stepped into a hornets' nest. 'We'll see.'
'Oh, that's a comfort!' Minala snapped.
The image of the crucified Malazan boy rose once again in the assassin's thoughts. He glanced over at Keneb's children. 'Better this risk than a ... different certainty,' he muttered.
'Are you going to explain that comment?'
Kalam shook his head. 'Enough talk. I've a city to visualize...'
Lostara Yil walked her mount up to the gaping hole, understanding at once that, although she had never seen one before, this was a portalway into another warren. Its edges had begun fading, like a wound closing.
She hesitated. The assassin had chosen a short-cut, a means of slipping past the traitor's army between him and Aren. The Red Blade knew she had no choice but to follow, for the trail would prove far too cold should she manage the long way to Aren. Even getting through Korbolo Dom's forces would likely prove impossible – as a Red Blade she was bound to be recognized, even wearing unmarked armour as she did now.
Still, Lostara Yil hesitated.
Her horse reared back squealing as a figure staggered from the portalway. A man, grey-clothed, grey-skinned – even his hair was grey – straightened before her, glanced around with strangely luminous eyes, then smiled.
'Not a hole I expected to fall through,' he said in lilting Malazan. 'My apologies if I startled you.' He sketched a bow, the gesture resulting in clouds of dust cascading from him. The grey was ash, Lostara realized. Dark skin revealed itself in patches on the man's lean face.
He eyed her knowingly. 'You carry an aspected sigil. Hidden.'
'What?' Her hand drifted towards her sword hilt.
The man caught the motion, his smile broadening. 'You are a Red Blade, an officer in fact. Which makes us allies.'
Her eyes narrowed. 'Who are you?'
'Call me Pearl. Now, it seems you were about to enter the Imperial Warren. I suggest we do so before continuing our conversation – before the portalway closes.'
'Can you not keep it open, Pearl? After all, you were travelling it . . .'
The man's exaggerated frown was mocking. 'Alas, this is a door where no door should be possible. Granted, north of here even the Imperial Warren is fraught with ... unwelcome intruders... but their means of entry is far more ... primitive, shall we say... in nature. So, since this portalway is clearly not of your making, I suggest we take immediate advantage of its presence.'
'Not until I know who you are, Pearl. Rather, what you are.'
'I am a Claw, of course. Who else is granted the privilege of travelling the Imperial Warren?'
She nodded at the portalway. 'Someone's just granted that privilege to himself.'
Pearl's eyes sparkled. 'And this is what you shall tell me about, Red Blade.'
She sat in silence, thinking, then nodded. 'Yes. Ideal. I shall accompany you.'
Pearl took a step backward and beckoned with one gloved hand.
Lostara Yil tapped heels to her mount's flanks.
Quick Ben's shaved knuckle in the hole was slower in closing than anyone had anticipated. Seven hours after the Red Blade and the Claw had vanished within the Imperial Warren, stars glittered in the moonless sky overhead, and still the portalway gaped, its red-lined edges fading to dull magenta.