Ami dreamed of Azvalath. Spoke through him, even. Wherever she spread her spores, she had ears and a voice. She baited Xigon into taking her poison. It was heavily diluted, but it proved just enough to put him in torpor and link his mind with that poison's other living victim. It all went smoother than she ever could have hoped.

She woke to Magpie tapping her shoulder. "Ami, ma'am?"

"No need for formalities, Magpie." Ami sat up and stretched. Her hands brushed the roof of what seemed to be a cave. "Thanks for bringing me to shelter. We're still on the mountain, I presume?"

"Yes." Magpie's voice cracked. "How'd it go?"

"Perfect. Seamless." Ami grinned. "And I'll bet I made Qila real angry."

"Is that good?" Magpie looked concerned. "Doesn't sound good."

"Nah, but Qila's got her moods. I'm sure once I explain everything, Qila's even gonna thank me. I did her lot a solid favor." Ami sniffed the air. "Smells like there's a good bit of Atrament in this cave." She followed her nose and found a patch of what looked like thick purplish-black slime growing out of a crevice in the wall. "Ah-ha! Will you look at that, Magpie?"

Magpie nudged herself in for a closer look. "What's Atrament good for?"

Ami poked at the slime-like mass. "Atrament is a slime mold. One of the odds and ends I use to make Rager. This, a birch-rotting fungus, various plants I can't tell you yet, a bit of snake venom, Sothyrion's polluted blood, and then maybe I'll spit in it for good measure."

Magpie chuckled.

"You think I'm joking?" Ami scraped the encrusting Atrament off with her fingernails. "All right, maybe I am about the last bit. Say, how long do you think we've got before Qila skins us alive?"

"Forever, I hope." Magpie twisted a lock of her black-and-white hair around her fingers. "Ami, I'm scared."

Ami wrapped the slime mold in parchment, then shoved it into one of her many pockets. "You'll be fine, dear. Promise." She looked up and gave her companion a crooked smile. "Magpie, give me Azvalath's voice."

Magpie cleared her throat, then mimicked Azvalath with such perfection no one could possibly tell their voices apart. "What are you talking about?"

"Now we're talking. Good job." Ami beamed. "Give me Kolo now."

"I am! With all my hands!" Kolo's voice came out of Magpie's mouth. Ami's companion bounced a little with excitement. Her voice became her own again. "How was that?"

"Magnificent!" Ami clapped her hands. "How about me?"

Even though she was expecting it, Ami still flinched at the sound of her own voice coming from someone else. "Maybe I'll spit in it for good measure."

"Oh hello, it's me." Ami laughed even though her skin was crawling. "I'll tell you what. If Qila gives you trouble, just scream in one of her babies' voices. That oughta make her think twice. Got it?"

Magpie's voice returned to normal. "Yes, I think so."

"You think or you know?" Ami crawled out of the small cave and into the blistering cold. She beckoned her companion to follow her.

"I know," Magpie corrected. She looked up at the dark cloudy sky. "I can't even tell the time of day right now."

Ami couldn't see the sun, but she spoke with feigned confidence. "I think it's late morning."

"You think or you know?" Magpie retorted in Ami's own voice.

Ami rolled her eyes. "You think you're hilarious, don't you?"

"I know I am." Magpie grinned. "Let's get back to the lift."

When they arrived at the lift, the sky had darkened somewhat, and there was a magpie perched on the side rail. "Well, look at that." Ami pointed and lauged at the bird. "It's your cousin!"

Magpie charged toward the bird and yelled. "Hey you!"

The bird didn't fly away. It barely even flinched. Ami raised an eyebrow. "Bold little thing." She got onto the platform with her companion and sniffed the air. "You smell funny too."

Magpie went to the pulley and started inching them down. "Think it's someone's pet?" She shot Ami a smirk. "Could be ours."

"I don't think so." Ami folded her arms. "Get us going a bit faster, will you?"

Magpie sped their descent. "Finders, keepers. You said so yourself."

Ami swatted the bird. It squawked and flew away.

Magpie looked crestfallen. "Aww, why'd you do that?"

"Didn't like how it was looking at me," said Ami. She wiped her hand on her coat, which had patches of grayish lichen growing on it.

The black-and-white-haired woman looked down. "So we can't ever have a pet?"

"Not sayin' that, dear." Ami came over and patted Magpie's shoulder. "Someday, personally, I'd love a pig."

"Pigs are only for eating," Magpie scoffed.

"Says fuckin' who?" Ami turned around and started pacing. "I'd sooner trust a pig than a tricky little bird, and we could go sniff for truffles..." She stopped when the lift ground to a halt. "Magpie, is this silly argument really worth holding us up?"

"I can't move us. What's happening?" Magpie tugged frantically at the ropes.

Ami scowled. "Thought that dirty birdie smelled funny."

"What's that have to do with anything?" Magpie stamped her foot. "We're stuck!"

Ami laughed miserably. "It was nice knowing you."

Before Magpie could say anything, the lift jerked upwards. Ami lost her footing and slammed into the guardrails. She and Magpie grabbed on for dear life. The black-and-white-haired woman looked up and yelped. When Ami saw what Magpie was looking at, she half-laughed and half-screamed. Qila's skeletal deer-skulled projection had seized the ropes and was hauling them back up.

"Magpie, as soon as you're able, get the hell away. You hear me?" Ami nearly fell as the lift lurched up. "Run for your damn life!"

Qila was waiting for them at the top. A younger and far more muscular woman helped her projection haul the lift up. Beside them was a snarling sabretooth cat.

Magpie did as she was told and leaped off to escape. The sabretooth cat chased after her. Ami's heart raced. Magpie was clever, but could she outrun or outsmart the predator? She wasn't sure.

Qila snapped her fingers. "Restrain her, Lalek."

The muscular one stepped forward. Ami darted aside and pulled a vial of dark liquid from one of her many pockets, holding it up so both of them could see. "Think twice, Qila. I have Rager."

Lalek reached to grab her, undeterred by the threat. Qila, however, screamed. "Lalek, no! Get back!"

Lalek's head turned. "What?"

"Help Jai-Lag catch the other one," Qila ordered. "I'll handle Ami on my own."

Lalek took off. Ami sneered. "Wise decision, Qila. Don't worry, I'll answer your questions. I just want to do things the civilized way."

Qila stepped forward, blocking the lift's exit. "And how exactly is threatening my student with Rager the civilized way?"

Ami shrugged. "I didn't use it, did I?"

"You did," Qila growled. "You used it on Xigon. He's torpid now. You put Azvalath's life in danger too."

"I saved Azvalath's life," Ami corrected. "As for Xigon, I did you all a solid favor, though I'll admit I went about it in an unnecessarily complicated way."

"In what world is putting Xigon in torpor a favor?" Qila's voice rose to a yell.

"This one." Ami took a deep breath. "I baited him into taking a very small dose of Rager, but he's going to be fine. You know he's quite impossible to kill."

The woman's eyes went wide. "Why, though?"

"So I could link him with the last person I gave that same poison to." Ami looked down. "A man who should have died a long time ago. He also happens to want your newest one for himself."

Qila fell silent.

"What? He didn't hold his end of a deal with me." Ami chuckled miserably. "Yes, Qila, I'm responsible for all of this." She held the vial up to her face. "I'm the one who poisoned Haode."

The old woman raised a patchy eyebrow. "What in the freezing hell, Ami?"

Ami crouched down to pick at some lichen growing on the platform. "High-potency Rager. It was supposed to kill him within a few days." She dug a fingernail into the grayish lichen crust. "Instead, it amplified his power and took away his control of it. Not my proudest accomplishment by a long shot."

Qila shook her head. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Let me make one thing clear, Qila." Ami's head snapped up. "I am tired of being turned away, rejected by everyone I admire." She looked back down. "He used to be a great Ferash Therall. I wanted to be like him. But the only ones he ever let into his circle were those two pathetic children."

"Dakko and Ido?" Qila asked.

"Whatever their names are." Ami shrugged. "When he brought that freezing kid to me for medical attention, I provided under the condition that Haode would give me a second ascension and bring me closer to our god. When he backed out, I punished him."

Qila bit her lip.

"Thing is, Qila, while I lost all respect for that man, I still have a shred of trust in you and Xigon. Even though you won't let me into your walls." She tore a clump of lichen from the splintering wood. "I trust that you'll help me get rid of him. He's a threat to you too, after all. Our interests align. Are we at an understanding?"

The old woman shuddered, then growled, then took a deep breath. "Ami, you are a sick and twisted woman."

Ami shrugged. "Look who's talking."

[24] Ami: Dirty Birds

0 Comments