Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave opened the door to the abandoned house. He was greeted by a harsh smell. Galamon stood at the table, a fire heating up a large glass bottle that had been turned black by the flames.

“Jesus,” Argrave said, coughing. “I forgot how bad that stuff smells. You get used to it when you live next to it, but…”

“You’re back,” Galamon said. “Sleep well?”

“Better than usual.” Galamon nodded at Argrave’s answer, then picked up the glass bottle. He smothered the flames with a blanket.

“This was the last potion. Eight bottles of the calming brew, four stamina-restoring potions. I fixed the Ebonice arrow. It was bent.”

“I presume your leeching session went well?” He strode in, waving in front of his face to dispel the smell.

Galamon looked at Argrave coldly.

“Come on,” Argrave urged, tapping Galamon’s elbow. “Laughing at something is how you learn to live with it.”

The snow elf set the potion down and picked up a cloth to wipe his hands. “It is a curse. An affliction. An illness is no laughing matter.”

Argrave pursed his lips. “You don’t have to sleep, you don’t age, and the only price is a strange diet and heliophobia.”

“I will not rest with Veid when I die. Instead, I will be lost in the abyss.”

“So, don’t die,” Argrave said, then laughed. His laughter trailed to a stop as Galamon’s pure white eyes stared at him like he was a bug. “Well, whatever. If it’s so terrible, once we’ve killed the world-ending ancient calamity, we can cure you. Until then, keep those fangs sharp.”

“Vampirism cannot be cured,” Galamon said quickly.

“Not by you alone. Me? I have my ways.”

Galamon shook his head. “Erlebnis’ method would be costly.”

“Pfft, where'd that come from?” Argrave waved his hand dismissively, then looked around for his satchel. “Why involve an ancient god? There are plenty of ways.”

Galamon stared. “Supposing that is true… you assume I will not die in your fool’s quest.”

Argrave looked at him, pausing. “You won’t.”

never entered your head before I

a doomer,” Argrave held his hand up. “I’ll die centuries before you do. Stop with the morbidity. We’ve got to pack. You’ve got to pack. We’re heading to Barden.” Argrave grabbed the satchel and threw it over his shoulders. “Amendment; I am going to Barden. You are going beyond Barden, to a dingy

grabbed his bag, putting stoppers in the bottles and loading them in. “It’s the eve of war, and

with Patriarch Dras is going to be extremely difficult. I need a little something to turn his head. In the chaos of battle, no one is going to listen to me if I shout that

his hands as though to hurry

was thinking of some ancient traditions the Veidimen have that I might be able to take advantage of. I remember that in case of a snowstorm, the Veidimen would signal

surprised you know of it. But it’s only accepted if there are extremely pressing circumstances that require

right. I also don’t know how to make the signal.

exactly is in

some ancient race of elves that—well, I could talk about that place for hours, but I’ll skip the details. When their warriors grew old, they’d cover their bodies in melted metal

brushed his hair back. “I am not sure that

door, but it broke recently—some stupid miners, you’ll find them

to fight against a tomb of guardians?

you take something,” Argrave assured. “Just be sure not to kick

The yellow-haired, short woman. Surely she, with proven

They sense one's magic. Besides, it’s

mute, gaze growing

dead king’s head. You’ll have to take it and run. All of them will wake up, but they’re pretty slow-moving. As long as you’re quick, it should be fine. They hit pretty

the chair and sat down. He turned his head up at

fighting Gerechtigkeit, I had considered returning the 3000 gold that you paid me. You were fighting against the world-ending calamity. It is my duty to help, I thought.” He pointed to Argrave. “That’s changed. I’m sending it to my family in Veiden, like normal. It’s the last

be off to fetch them in short order. It’s my duty to hold out until then. We’ll

rarely seen such an expression on the

are monumental tasks beyond my ambition. I was proud to serve under Dras; let us

hesitantly reached out and touched his shoulder. “I’m more worried about

became harmonious for

archers. Those… well, I’m

washed back over Galamon’s face

#####

notable feature was a set of statues atop it. It depicted various human figures in saint-like poses. Each seemed to represent something. The modest carriage was contrasted fiercely by an array of gold-armored knights on horseback. They

the horses to a slow, seeing something ahead in the road. It looked like a heap of black cloth, but it was large enough that the carriage would not be able

and reached over to the heap of cloth to pick it up and throw it aside, but he paused. His back

hair was bound into one large braid, dropping behind him to his knees. His eyes were gray and his

greeted, bowing from atop a horse. “There is a block ahead in the road. This