Page 77 of A Drop of Corruption

“Yes,” admitted Ghrelin. “It would. We would have to do so, to deliver it to those who so need it in the inner rings.”

“You want to just float that shitup the canals?” said Malo.

I shut my eyes, my whole body trembling. “Oh, by the fates,” I whispered. “By the Harvester…”

“Understand that we have considered every precaution!” said Thelenai. “We know all the risks! But the greatest risks, ironically, are here in Yarrowdale, in this very dangerous land that the Empire does not control at all! And we obviously cannot ship the marrow now. Not if there is some madman lurking in the trees who knows it is coming!”

“The augurs have calculated the chances that they could duplicate their efforts,” whispered Ghrelin, “and succeed in extracting the marrow again. The odds are far lower than we’d like. This may be our only chance for years to come. And yet we are forced to sit.”

Ana raised a hand, her expression merciless. “Do the inner rings know?” she demanded.

“They know I have succeeded, but not how,” said Thelenai miserably. “Of the augurs, they know nothing.”

“And Prificto Kardas? Is he aware that he is here pursuing a diplomatic agreement you hope to neuter within mere months?”

“I have had little communication with Kardas at all,” said Thelenai. “My people observe his movements, as they do for all who might bring contagion into Yarrowdale. He comes to and fro from the High City in the west and goes nowhere else. He is there even now, I understand…”

Ana impatiently flapped a hand. “And if the marrowwassuccessfully attacked? If, say, Pyktis again used his titan’s blood weapon and managed to penetrate all your defenses about the marrow, there upon the Shroud?”

A taut silence.

“Then…then the marrow would act like…a fissure in the earth dripping lava, layer upon layer,” whispered Thelenai. “Releasing more blood, and more alterations.”

“How much land area would be affected?” asked Ana.

Thelenai shrugged helplessly. “Leagues. Enough to destroy most of the city. Perhaps enough to block up the canals entirely.”

“Which would bring the Empire to a shuddering halt,” said Ghrelin.

Malo shut her eyes. “By hells…”

Ana tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Yes…yes, it is a most excellent target for him! We must assume this is exactly what he wants to achieve. And, you know…I very much think he could do so!”

“He…he could?” asked Ghrelin.

“Well, it depends on how you answer this next question, Ghrelin. The warpings Din and Malo saw in the wood—how much fertilizer would he have needed to do that?”

“Oh, I am not sure, offhand,” said Ghrelin. “Perhaps a few smallstone’s worth. It was a small effect, really, if Kol and the rest were not affected.”

“I see,” said Ana. “A bare drop of corruption. Yet from my analysis of the thefts, Pyktis has stolensix cratesof this fertilizer—with their contents totaling nearlyfifty stone’sworth.”

Nobody moved for a long while. Then Malo placed her face in her hands. “Fucking fates alive…” she whispered.

“Yes,” said Ana. “So he isverycapable of a far worse attack. Enough to imperil the entire Shroud itself! The question is…why has he not done soyet? Why did he not strike quickly, before we even knew he was there? Why aren’t we all just fucking dead, really? It is most troubling to me.”

Ghrelin now looked so horrified I worried he might collapse.

“We…we have to find it,” said Thelenai weakly. “We must find those reagents before he can use them.”

“But the jungle is wide and wild,” said Malo. “And one can hide six crates nearly anywhere.”

“True,” said Ana. “Thus—we find the man, we find the reagents.”

“But I still cannot comprehend why he does this at all. Is it all revenge, Dolabra?” begged Thelenai. “Is that why Pyktis plagues us so? Because we put him to a task that nearly killed him?”

“I cannot say for sure,” said Ana. “I know nothing at all about the fellow! And how I tire of lists and records and codes! Besides the diseased bastards Din and Malo scooped up in the woods, we have noreal witnessesof the man.” Then she went very still. “So…so, so, so. Ghrelin, if you will indulge me…”

“Yes?” said Ghrelin warily.