By its very existence the place beyond Shadowgate taunted him. Root of his power, it was also his bane.

He saw no evidence that the quake had disturbed anything there. The gate, he believed, should be proof against all disasters. Only one tool could open the way from the outside in.

He turned back to find the child smiling, one white tooth showing like a diminutive vampire fang. She combined the scariest effects of both her mothers.

Howler shrieked a shriek he cut short partway through. "The destruction leaves us no choice but to defer the labors of empire till the populace can sustain them once more."

Longshadow raised a bony, gloved hand to his face, to adjust the mask he always wore in company. "What did you say?" He must have heard wrong.

"Consider the city before you, my friend. A city which exists only to build this fortress ever taller and stronger. But those who live there must eat in order to have the strength to work. They must have shelter from the elements, else they weaken and die. They must have some warmth and water that does not lead them to their deaths with dysentery."

"I will not coddle them. Their only purpose is to serve me."

"Which they can't do if they're dead," the black general observed. "The gods have taken a dislike to us lately. This earthquake hurts us more than all the armies of Taglios have in all the years of this war."

That was a hearty exaggeration, Longshadow knew. His three fellow Shadowmasters were dead. Their great armies had perished with them. But he got the message. The situation was grim.

"You came to tell me that?" It was presumptuous of the general to come to Overlook unbidden. But Longshadow forgave him. He had a soft spot in his heart for Mogaba, who seemed much like his own younger self. He indulged the Nar where he would have endured far less from his other captains.