Pools of Darkness (29 page)

The green abishai spun and whirled, lashing with its tail. But Gamaliel couldn’t be shaken. Four enormous paws with razor-sharp claws dug in deeply. Gamaliel alternated tearing and gouging. The fiend’s wings hung limp and torn. The cat’s ivory belly was stained black with foul-smelling blood. The feline’s great jaws opened wide, clamping down on the monster’s neck. Gamaliel shook his head with all his might, trying to break his victim’s neck, yet the abishai was too large and strong. In a desperate maneuver, the green abishai hurled itself backward onto the snarling cat.

But Gamaliel’s lightning reflexes took over, and he managed to vault away. Yet the fiend raked the cat before he escaped. Gamaliel landed solidly on his feet with a loud snarl of pain.

The sorceress’s reflexes were at their best also, and before the monster could rise, a green stream of energy surged from her hand and formed a faint jade-colored hemisphere around the fiend. The green creature pounded and clawed at the invisible barrier, but the magical field of force was unyielding.

Ren now battered the black fiend. With his victim blinded, nearly all his swings found their mark. The monster howled an unearthly wail and flailed at its unseen attacker, but Ren was quick to dodge. He escaped injury while chopping at the black monster

Miltiades swung valiantly at the red abishai. Several claw swipes rattled his bones, yet the warrior was unharmed. As Evaine looked up, Andoralson released a spell to blind the monster, but the energy fizzled as it touched the fiend. Evaine loosed her own blinding spell. The energy found its mark, searing the beast’s red eyes.

Gamaliel was now clinging to the back of the black abishai, clawing and raking. Its leathery wings hung like shredded paper, its black blood splattered on the ground. With his sword Ren was whacking at the blinded creature. The cat’s weight slowed the monster, allowing Ren to deliver a mighty thrust through the fiend’s ribs. The blade sunk in deep, and black blood spurted in all directions. The abishai howled and thrashed, striking Gamaliel. The feline snarled in pain and leaped off the monster. Ren drove his sword deeper and the fiend fell backward. In moments, the horrid creature ceased its twitching.

Evaine panicked. “Poison! That thing’s tail is probably poisoned!”

Gamaliel calmed her fears despite his snarls of pain. I can feel it starting to spread… but the ring the paladin gave to me is cleansing it away. I’ll be alright, the cat growled.

The druid was already springing across the clearing toward Gamaliel, one hand fishing for a vial in his pocket. Evaine called out to Andoralson. “Gamaliel’s ring, the one Miltiades gave him—it’s cured the poison! He says he’s out of danger!”

Andoralson pressed his hands to the cat’s head. “He’s right. The poison is nearly gone.” The druid dropped the vial into his pocket and returned to the battle.

Ren and Miltiades were still fighting the red abishai, the toughest of the lot. The green one was still trapped under the magical sphere.

The sorceress turned toward the red abishai. Green eyes blazing, she uttered the words to one of her deadliest spells. Her long, red braid bobbed and swung as she gestured and chanted. Her face fairly glowed as she summoned incredible transformation energies. An emerald sizzle left her fingertips and streamed toward the fiend, encircling it in hissing energy.

Ren and Miltiades backed away from the glowing abishai, now writhing and thrashing. The top of the ugly creature’s head turned ash gray, then the dull color spread down the monster’s body. Red, leathery flesh turned to charred ash as the spell worked its way down the creature’s body. Tattered wings withered and crumbled to the ground. Teeth and claws cracked and dropped off. Limbs bent and twisted like tree roots. Unearthly howls and screams filled the air, further spooking the already terrified horses.

Ren, Andoralson, and Miltiades watched, gasping for breath, as the once-powerful creature turned to a dry, gray husk. Gamaliel looked up, blinking, still too weak to move. The green swirl of energy spun around the dying abishai, sucking out its life and energy. Finally, the dry husk of the fiend dropped to the ground with a whump, sending a cloud of ash into the air.

The companions looked at each other, panting. Evaine ran to Gamaliel’s side. The big cat purred at her touch, despite his pain. “I’ve got something that’ll fix that gash right up. Andoralson, why don’t you see to Ren’s shoulder? We still have a minute or two before the magical shield wears off and that other abishai is free. We must be ready for him when he breaks loose.” Evaine dashed to her horse to find an ointment in her pack.

The druid hurried to Ren’s side and quickly began a healing spell. As the ranger’s wound closed, Andoralson looked over at Miltiades solicitously. “Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m a bit shaken, but I’m not injured. Slashing claws don’t harm bones much,” he said wryly. “I’m going to watch the remaining fiend. If Evaine is right, it’ll be free any minute.” With a creaking and clattering, the bony paladin arose and strode across the clearing. He assumed an attack posture, sword held high, ready for the first strike.

Ren did the same as soon as his shoulder was healed. He took up a position about ten yards away, prepared to launch his magical daggers, Left and Right, at the first sign of the force field weakening. Andoralson stood next to him, ready to cast a spell.

Evaine finished rubbing the ointment into the long gash on the cat’s belly. The wound instantly closed and stopped bleeding. In the blink of an eye, the cat rolled to his feet and bounded toward the trapped fiend. Taking a position opposite Miltiades, he dug his back claws into the ground, prepared to pounce.

Evaine also readied herself. Holding a handful of soot and a black gem, she prepared to blast the horrid fiend.

“This is it!” the wizard announced. “The field is dispersing. Get ready to do your worst!”

The faint green field of force shivered slightly, then disappeared. “Now!” Evaine shouted.

Ren’s daggers whizzed through the air. Two loud thumps announced they had found their marks in the abishai’s chest. The handles quivered as the beast howled in pain.

An emerald streak erupted from Evaine’s hand, encircling the monster. The energy sizzled, but then dissipated in a shower of green sparks. The abishai was wounded, but resisted the full effect of the spell.

Andoralson released a blue surge of energy. It divided into thousands of pinpoints of light, like a swarm of turquoise fireflies. The lights swirled around the beast, blinding it and disorienting it. Again, the abishai screamed in pain as each spark burned into leathery flesh. The fiend’s own talons ripped into its muscle as it tried to pull out the scorching magic. An acrid, bitter smoke curled around the horrid beast as it teetered and stumbled about the clearing in a bizarre dance.

Gamaliel leaped for the creature’s back, claws extended. He landed solidly on the smoking abishai and wasted no time raking and shredding the monster’s flesh. Miltiades and Ren faced the green beast, swinging carefully calculated blows at its writhing form. Four hard sword strikes finally brought the wounded creature to its leathery knees, and Gamaliel dealt the final blow by pouncing full-force on the abishai’s head, snapping its neck.

Each of the companions dropped into the trampled grass in the clearing, gasping for air. Even Miltiades creaked his body onto the ground. No one spoke for several minutes.

It was Miltiades who broke the silence. “I’m proud to call you my comrades! I had my doubts about this group, but you are an excellent team.” The paladin stood and bowed deeply to the group.

“We couldn’t have done it without you, warrior. I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re proud to have you on this quest.” Ren nodded respectfully to Miltiades. The others voiced their agreement.

Evaine rose and grasped the paladin’s hand. “If it hadn’t been for your magical ring, I might have lost Gam. I can’t thank you enough for your generosity.”

Andoralson sighed loudly. “I just hope this isn’t an indication of what the rest of the day will be like. We haven’t even had breakfast yet, and we’ve battled three abishai! I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.” The druid arose and loaded wood onto the embers of the campfire. “Gamaliel, if you feel up to hunting us some breakfast, I’ll cook anything you bring us.”

The cat was on his feet in a flash. Evaine laughed. “I hope no one minds fish for breakfast. I know what he’s in the mood for. Gamaliel, if you can sniff out a stream, come back for the rest of us. We’re all a mess after that battle. Just look at your fur!”

The feline glanced down at his coat to find that he looked like a bedraggled panther. His tawny fur was all but dyed by abishai blood. Gamaliel raised his pink nose high in the air, made a prideful comment to his mistress, then turned toward the woods. Evaine laughed as she translated for the others. “He says he doesn’t look like a mess—he looks like a hero!”

Marcus’s red tower shook to its very core. If not for the magic holding the blood-colored stones together, the building would have crumbled.

“My abishai have been killed! Latenat!” the pit fiend hissed at Marcus. The creature circled the inner chamber at the top of the tower, half-flying, half-hopping. Its great wings pounded the walls as it paced.

“Killed? How in the world did you allow my guardians to be killed?” Marcus shrieked.

“Arrrgh! Do you think I let them die? I don’t know what killed them! Their life essences were snuffed out, and since you ordered them to guard your domain, their deaths are on your hands. Latenat!”

The wizard’s face flushed deep red, beads of sweat erupting on his forehead. “Are you somehow blaming me for this? It was your duty to guard this tower and build armies so I could lead them to victory, conquering Phlan! You have now failed me. We both know what happens to my servants when they fail.”

The fiend still bashed about in the black chamber. If not for Marcus’s control of the creature’s life essence and his knowledge of its true name, the fiend could have squashed the wizard in an instant. Instead, he was forced to obey the human weakling. But he had already tolerated far more than any pit fiend should.

The fiend kept circling and thrashing as Marcus continued his diatribe. The beast was only half-listening to the wizard. He had heard all these rantings too many times before. Then the Red Wizard spoke the pit fiend’s name, summoning the creature’s heart from the magical dimension where he kept the beating organ.

“On your knees, beast,” he said. “I will speak to you, and it will be eye to eye.”

In defiance, the winged horror flapped halfway around the chamber one last time, halting in front of Marcus. The Red Wizard raised the fiend’s heart and slowly squeezed until a half-dozen drops of black ichor leaked out, splashing onto the granite floor with a sizzle.

The fiend groaned as his knees dropped to the scarred floor. He glared at his tormentor. “What would you have of me … master? Latenat!”

“For a time, you and I will change roles. I will guard the tower and you will use your puny powers to force Phlan to submit to me. I will summon more clerics and wizards to help in your struggle.”

“That won’t be necessary,” the fiend growled. It struggled to its leathery feet and stalked out of the chamber. “I’ll destroy Phlan myself within two days.”

Marcus snorted an arrogant laugh as the creature disappeared. “We’ll see about that, braggart. Phlan may break you on its walls and teach you a good lesson in the process. Now, I have a little searching to do. I plan to have several unpleasant surprises ready for the dogs who dared to kill my abishai. And those beauties were mine, Tanetal! I don’t care what you think!” Marcus shouted at the empty chamber and the closed door.

In another tower, an angry voice was also heard. But this time, it was the wizard Shal who was being scolded.

“Shal, you should never have attacked that mage in your condition. That shadow attack nearly killed you. If Cerulean hadn’t had the sense to retreat and bring you back to the tower, you would have died horribly.”

Shal tried to raise her head to argue, but she dropped back onto her pillow. Her face was the color of barley mush, her skin clammy. Tarl had used the healing power of the Warhammer of Tyr to restore her strength and sanity, but there were some things the hammer couldn’t cure so quickly.

Shal looked pleadingly at Celie, who sat at her side, dabbing her face with a moist cloth. A covered basket loaded with poppyseed cakes was perched on the bedside table.

“Don’t look at me, missy. Your husband is right to worry. You’ve been with child only five months, yet it looks now as if you’ll be ready to deliver in a few weeks. I don’t know much about magic, but I can see what this exertion is doing to you. The way this baby is kicking, he’s not going to stay cooped up much longer.” The bakerwoman’s voice was stern, but her blue eyes were caring and soothing.

Shal realized there was no arguing with Tarl and Celie. The wizard spoke in a whisper. “I thought if I could kill the red mage who was leading the attacks against Phlan, our troubles would be over. I never dreamed he was powerful enough to cast spells like that.”

Tarl caressed his wife’s forehead, speaking softly to her. “That’s all very noble, but you have a child to think about. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have questioned you going after him like that. But you know better than anyone the way high-powered spells can age a wizard. You’ve already accelerated this pregnancy. What if the baby decided his—or her—time was up while you were flying around up there? I could have lost you both!”

“You’re right. It was foolish to take on that crazed wizard all by myself. I’ll be more careful.” Then to put Tarl’s mind at ease, Shal turned to Celie. “Are those poppyseed cakes I’m smelling?” She knew her husband would worry less if she ate something.

Celie broke into a smile and uncovered the basket. Tarl propped Shal up on her pillows.

“You just lie here and rest as long as you can. We destroyed all the tree-minions of Moander that attacked the city. It should be a while before the wizard regroups and brings another of his armies against us.”