Chapter 64 An Appreciative Audience

The gate lifted.

The bell-eater came out on four knuckles and swept a forearm across the nearest ore tub.

Iron shrieked against stone.

Jin's left-hand finish vanished beneath the overturned tub.

He stayed at the cutting block.

Rusk's crew struck from the ramp side. Two long spears met the creature's shoulder, sliding beneath the thick fur. It turned toward them, drew itself upright and brought its hands apart.

“Down!”

Jin dropped behind the block.

The clap struck.

Grit lifted off the pit floor in a broad sheet. One spearman went backward into the men behind him. Kessa crouched against the right-hand wall, bow tucked close.

The creature's chest ridges shuddered.

Three breaths.

The second clap hit Rusk's shield.

He slid a full pace, boots carving lines through the loose stone. The shield's lower edge split.

Lark crossed the exposed ground while the creature's hands were still together.

His sword struck its outer thigh.

The silver edge opened fur and flesh. The leg buckled, but the bell-eater dropped onto its opposite fist and swung the wounded limb clear before he could cut deeper.

Its other hand swept across the pit.

Lark ducked.

The hand hit the cutting block.

Stone burst beside Jin's head.

He chose the right-hand route and moved.

Four driving strides carried him through dust. He reached the shelf, planted his foot and caught Kessa's shoulder as she rose to shoot.

“Low!”

The third clap crossed the space they'd just left.

Chips flew out of the wall above them.

Kessa swore in a language his pin apparently considered important enough to preserve.

She stood as the pressure passed and loosed.

The arrow struck the side of the creature's neck.

Its head jerked. The next breath whistled through one of the ridges.

“Again?” Jin asked.

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“If it keeps its head still.”

She nocked a second arrow.

Lark came up under the wounded leg. This time the bell-eater saw the cut coming. It stamped on the flat of his wooden sword and drove its weight down.

Lark twisted free before the sole could trap his fingers.

The blade came out scored white along one side.

His face changed.

Jin jumped from the low shelf, landed outside the swinging forearm and cut across the back of the creature's exposed wrist.

His steel knife went in.

Not far enough.

The bell-eater jerked its arm away. Jin let the blade come with it rather than lose his hand. Blood slicked his knuckles as he stumbled clear.

The creature hit him with its shoulder.

He flew sideways and struck the slope below the wall.

For a moment the world contained nothing but white stone and the impossible effort of drawing breath.

He rolled before the fist came down.

Rock cracked where his head had been.

A spear struck the arm from the ramp. Rusk dragged a fallen hunter clear, using the broken shield as cover.

Kessa's second arrow hit the chest.

It lodged between two round ridges.

The bell-eater turned toward her.

Lark ran across its path and cut the reaching forearm. This time he let the wood bend with the blow instead of meeting the weight straight on.

The silver edge drew another line of blood.

“Stairs!” Rusk shouted.

His crew fell back toward the near wall.

One man tried to lift the wounded spearman. His own knee folded beneath the weight.

Kessa slung her bow across her back and took the other arm. Between them they dragged the spearman onto the first step. Rusk backed after them, broken shield still facing the creature.

The bell-eater watched the retreat.

It didn't chase the easy targets.

Its eyes followed Lark, the man whose sword had gone through its thigh.

Jin saw the head turn and kicked a loose stone against its knuckles.

“Over here.”

The hand flexed. A finger hooked the stone and flicked it back at him.

It broke against the wall by his ear.

“Fair criticism.”

At the first step, Kessa stopped and looked back at Jin.

He was on one knee, knife still in his hand. His lungs had remembered their job, though they were being unpleasant about it.

He waved her toward the steps.

She didn't move until he stood.

The bell-eater slapped the ground between Lark and the stairs.

The pit rang.

Every loose stone seemed to jump at once.

Jin's foot slipped. He caught himself against the slope. The creature watched him, chest swelling, yellow teeth showing beneath the flat nose.

He'd been waiting for the hands.

The throat ridges were filling before the hands moved.

Kessa's arrow trembled with the rising hum.

Jin looked at the iron tub. The cutting block. The creature's two great palms.

His window opened.

He stared at it.

Behind the creature, Lark was still trying to reach the stairs. Blood ran from his hair into one eye. He couldn't cut his way straight through those hands.

Jin put his knife away.

“Oh, that's ugly,” he said.

The bell-eater turned its head toward him.

“Not you. This is a professional consultation.”

He grabbed a loose stone and struck the overturned ore tub twice.

The ringing filled the pit.

The creature's hands lifted.

Jin raised both arms in a grand, ridiculous bow.

“Thank you. I'll be here until one of us dies.”