'I am glad for that, Mhybe.'
'What was the sorceress like, Captain?'
'Generous … perhaps to a fault. A highly respected and indeed well-liked cadre mage.'
Oh, sir, you hold so much within yourself, chained and in darkness. Detachment is a flaw, not a virtue — don't you realize that?
He went on, 'You might well have viewed, from your Rhivi perspective, the Malazan forces on this continent as some kind of unstoppable, relentless monster, devouring city after city. But it was never like that. Poorly supplied, often outnumbered, in territories they had no familiarity with — by all accounts, Onearm's Host was being chewed to pieces. The arrival of Brood, the Tiste Andii, and the Crimson Guard stopped the campaign in its tracks. The cadre mages were often all that stood between the Host and annihilation.'
'Yet they had the Moranth …'
'Aye, though not as reliable as you might think. None the less, their alchemical munitions have changed the nature of warfare, not to mention the mobility of their quorls. The Host has come to rely heavily on both.'
'Ah, I see faint lantern-glow coming from the Shroud — there, directly ahead. There have been rumours that all was not well with the Moranth …'
Paran shot her a glance, then shrugged. 'A schism has occurred, triggered by a succession of defeats weathered by their elite forces, the Gold. At the moment, we have the Black at our side, and none other, though the Blue continue on the sea-lanes to Seven Cities.'
They were startled by the staggering appearance of a Great Raven from the Shroud's flap. She reeled drunkenly, flopped onto her chest but three paces from the Mhybe and the Malazan. Crone's head jerked up, one eye fixing on Paran.
'You!' she hissed, then, spreading her vast wings, she sprang into the air. Heavy, savage thuds of her wings lifted her up into the darkness. A moment later she was gone.
The Mhybe glanced at the captain. The man was frowning.
'Crone showed no sign of fearing you before,' she murmured.
Paran shrugged.
Voices sounded from the Shroud, and a moment later figures began filing out, the lead one carrying a hooded lantern.
'Far enough,' the captain growled.
The woman with the lantern flinched, then thumped a wrong-handed salute. 'Sir. We have just made a discovery — in this tent, sir. The purloined table has been found.'
'Indeed,' Paran drawled. 'Well done, Corporal. You and your fellow soldiers have shown admirable diligence.'
'Thank you, sir.'
The captain strode towards the tent. 'It is within, you said?'