Bone cracked and split. Ciaran worked desperately, from the thumb and the little finger. Flesh tore. Splinters of grey bone came through. Ciaran's hands slipped in the blood. The grey beast opened its mouth, but no sound came. Ciaran decided then the things were dumb. It was human enough to sweat.
Ciaran grabbed the wand.
A grey paw, the other one, came clawing for his throat around the bulk of Ram's shoulders. He flicked it with the wand. It went away, and Ciaran speared the jewel tip down hard against the Kald's throat.
After a while Mouse's voice came to him from somewhere. "It's done, Kiri. No use overcooking it."
It smelled done, all right. Ciaran got up. He looked at the wand in his hand, holding it away off. He whistled.
Mouse said, "Stop admiring yourself and get going. The hunter says he can hear chains."
Ciaran looked around. The other Kald lay on the ground. Its neck seemed to be broken. The body of the squat, dark boy lay on top of it. The hunter said:
"He didn't feel the wand. I think he'd be glad to be a club for killing one of them, if he knew it."
Ciaran said, "Yeah." He looked at Mouse. She seemed perfectly healthy. "Aren't women supposed to faint at things like this?"
She snorted. "I was born in the Thieves' Quarter. We used to roll skulls instead of pennies. They weren't so scarce."