Raphael turned from following Chuy and jogged down the stairs.  He kicked aside a dazed-eyed man who clutched and groped at his leg, aware that Chuy, above him, was halfway along the ramp.  He pushed between two clinging women as Chuy approached the altar.  He dragged a wild-eyed cannibal away from feasting on the intestines of a screaming man and gave the cannibal an uppercut to the jaw with so much force he heard the man’s teeth shatter.

“Aaaaaaagh!”  The scream came from above him, and Raphael knew Chuy had arrived.  A snake headed, kilt-clad priest slammed to the ground immediately in front of him, crushing two naked worshippers into an indistinguishable knot of elbows and sweat.

Surrounded by the bloodthirsty, the lustful, and the mad, Raphael stooped and picked up the Calamity Horn.  He looked up and saw the Marked Woman, wobbling to her feet next to Snake Collar Chuy.

Kokhabel bellowed, rising from his crutch in sudden realization of what was happening.  He lurched forward—

“Qayna!” Raphael called in the Still Small Voice, and he threw the Horn straight up—

the drums fell silent—

Kokhabel slammed into the edge of the tower, sending shattered timbers flying in all directions.  Chuy’s borrowed body disappeared in the destruction.  Qayna turned and leaped at the last possible instant.  Her duster flared out around her body like wings, snapping in the cold night air as she reached out—

and snatched the pistol in mid-air.

Follow