Red Magic (37 page)

Brenna completed her spell, a force that dispelled magic and that would eliminate the sorcerous hold she believed Maligor held over the tharchion. The force, which only Brenna could see, shot from her fingers in ribbons, avoiding the skeletons and wrapping about her target.

But Brenna’s magic enchantment wasn’t what she had expected. As the spell took effect, the tharchion grew taller and more slender, his form continuing to change as the bands of magic writhed about him. The magic Brenna had dispersed was not Maligor’s but Asp’s own ability, which enabled the naga to look like the tharchion. The spirit naga’s tail undulated as it grew to its full length, and her human torso sprouted from the stocky man’s dissolving chest. Finally, fully formed, Asp threw back her head and cried, “You’ll die!”

Asp’s appearance startled Wynter, giving one of the miners an opening. Sinking his pick into the back of the centaur’s leg, the miner continued his assault, trying to throw Wynter off balance. The centaur groaned and fought to keep his balance. Then he swung his fist into the miner’s face. The man rolled down the side of the mountain and into the waiting arms of the juju zombies.

While Galvin in his jaguar form slashed at a miner, Brenna rushed the spirit naga, hurling herself on the creature and attempting to pin the snake-woman’s arms. Too late, the enchantress realized her mistake, as the naga’s tail whipped about her legs and restrained her. A dozen skeletons ringed the two women, thrusting forward with their bony arms in an attempt to grab the spirit naga.

Meanwhile, the centaur pulled the pick from his right leg and swung it wildly at another miner, who stood rooted in fear at the sight of the approaching skeletons. Embedding the point of the pick solidly in the man’s neck, the centaur followed through by rearing on his hind legs and pounding his front hooves against the man’s chest. The miner went down in agony as a wave of skeletons stormed by him toward the remaining miner.

The miner ran, but in his panic, his feet tripped him up, and he was quickly lost from sight amid a sea of bones.

The great cat finished with its victim and tried to leap to Brenna’s side. The enchantress was thrashing about on the plateau with the naga. The thick ring of skeletons and zombies that were forming about them kept Galvin from getting through. The druid growled, but still the undead did not open a path.

“Foolish creature,” said a wraith that had floated over the edge of the plateau and was hovering above him. “We smell sweet, sweet death.”

“Get back!” Wynter barked, brushing by the wraith and pushing several skeletons aside so he and Galvin could get closer to Brenna. The druid snarled for emphasis and darted between a pair of bony legs to get inside the circle.

Asp was attempting to strangle Brenna. At the same time, she flailed her tail back and forth like a whip to keep her enemies at bay. But Galvin was desperate, and he sprang forward, pouncing on the naga’s tail and sinking his sharp cat’s teeth into her scales. The naga screamed in pain and released her grip on Brenna’s throat. The enchantress rolled free, leaving the naga open to attack from Galvin and the onrushing skeletons.

“I’ll see you in hell!” the naga cried as the druid, in his great cat form, closed in. Then Asp screamed a single word, and the mountain rumbled in response.

The mine shaft yawned as a large boulder on each side of it trembled and seemed to pull away from the mountainside. The plateau shook, and the twin rocks vibrated and began to crack. The cracks spread quickly and uniformly as stony arms extended from the sides of the boulders and squat legs pushed outward from the bases of the great stones. The face of the boulders cracked still more, chips of rocks flying away from them, leaving behind the chiseled visages of two huge bald-headed men. The rocks’ eyes stared at the undead.

“Trespassers!” the one on the south side of the shaft boomed as its lips cracked open. Its deep voice reverberated loudly over the plateau, bringing a shower of small pebbles down from the mountain that stretched above the mine.

“Trespass-ers die!” the other grumbled in rough, slow tones so thunderous the entire mountain seemed to shake. A stumpy rock arm gestured threateningly. The mountain groaned, and fist-size rocks began to roll toward the heroes and their undead charges.

The boulder gestured again, and more rocks shook loose, all rolling down the mountainside and bypassing the mouth of the mine, all under the direction of the rock creatures. The rocks cascading down now were larger, the size of full-grown melons. They picked up speed and crashed into a wave of skeletons, splintering their bones and bowling them over the side of the plateau.

Wynter summoned his strength and galloped at full speed toward the rockslide, angling his body toward the mine entrance, which the rocks somehow avoided. Stones pummeled his body, but he pressed forward, his hooves pounding over the plateau.

Meanwhile, the druid dodged the rockslide agilely, his cat reflexes signaling him when to leap out of the way, but when the slide increased in intensity, he leapt into the air and willed another transformation. The great cat seemed to fold in upon itself, its fur turning to feathers, its front legs to wings and its rear claws to talons. The hawk let out a cry and rose upward, above the mass of tumbling rocks.

At the same time, Brenna and Asp were about to be pushed over the edge of the plateau by the rocks and fallen skeletons. The naga wrapped her tail about a stone outcropping as the rocks pelted her. The dying naga reached toward Brenna, who had begun to slide slowly down the mountain, attempting to claw the enchantress’s face.

Brenna rolled to the side to avoid the naga’s grasp. Her action only sped her descent down the slope, and she gritted her teeth in pain as her ribs bore the brunt of the ride. She heard the naga scream, then, glancing quickly upward, she saw a sizable rock crash into the naga’s side, knocking her loose from the outcropping and sending her careening down the mountain slope.

Brenna closed her eyes, ignored the pain, and concentrated on casting a spell. The enchantress’s words were nearly lost in the slide as rocks of all sizes pounded over the side of the plateau toward her. Then she felt herself being lifted gently; in moments, she was floating above the rocks and tumbling zombies and skeletons, whose bony bodies were being split apart by the slide.

Gasping for breath, the enchantress levitated toward the plateau, praying to find Galvin and Wynter alive.

The hawk flew toward the mine shaft, willing his human form to return when he was safely within the mouth of the cave. The hawk’s wings melted away and grew, becoming arms, and his claws lengthened into legs. Struggling to stay on his feet as the mountain continued to tremble, Galvin reached his hand out to touch a stone face.

“Stop!” Galvin shouted, hoping to be heard above the pounding rocks. “You’ll kill everyone!”

“Trespass-ers die,” the rock rumbled.

“We’re not trespassers!” the druid retorted, gasping for air as a shower of dirt fell from above the mine opening into his face.

“Trespass-ers die,” the rock repeated, reaching a rocky arm out from its body and grabbing the druid about the waist. The rock lifted Galvin off the ground, and its great stone eyes bore into his.

The druid stared back, calling on his own magic, trying to speak to the rock as he had to the wall in Maligor’s tower. “Stop this!” he croaked, straining to clear his lungs.

The rock pulled him closer, until Galvin’s face was only inches from its right eye. It studied the druid for several long moments, then closed its stony eyelids and the rumbling ceased.

“We’re not trespassers,” Galvin repeated, extricating himself from the rock’s grasp. “We’re Harpers, and we’re here to help.” Taking a step backward from the living boulder, the druid looked frantically about the plateau, searching for some sign of Brenna. His heart hammered in his chest, fearing she had been killed.

“Wynter!” Galvin cried. “Where’s Brenna?”

“I saw her go over the side,” the centaur said. “I couldn’t reach her.”

The druid bolted from the living rock, coming to a stop when he reached the edge of the plateau and saw the enchantress float into view. “Brenna!” he called, embracing her when she glided to the ground in front of him. He held her for only a moment, then tugged her toward the mine opening.

The living boulders were watching them.

“What are you?” Wynter gasped as he faced the boulders. The pounding rocks had injured his human chest and horse underbelly, and it hurt him to breathe and talk. He gently prodded his horse side, checking for broken ribs.

“Galeb duhr,” one said slowly. Then he went on to explain in his deep voice that he was one of a race of rock creatures whose lifespans dwarfed those of Faerun’s humans and demihumans.

“Guard-i-ans,” the other stated. “We watch the mine.”

“We’re not after the mine,” Wynter offered, gesturing at the mountain and the land below. “In fact, we’re here to protect it.”

The galeb duhr on the north side of the mine entrance wrinkled its craggy nose and stared past the Harpers and Brenna toward the remaining undead who were clawing their way onto the edge of the plateau. Only a handful of skeletons had survived the pummeling, and the zombies’ numbers were halved. The wraiths and shadows seemed unaffected.

“The dead men will help the mine, too?” the rock’s booming voice was tinged with sarcasm.

“Yes,” Brenna said, explaining their ordeal with Szass Tam and their promise to stop Maligor and his forces, who threatened the mine.

“But we can’t help unless you help us. We need some information,” she continued.

The rocks stared at her quizzically.

“Has a Red Wizard been here recently?” she asked, brushing the dirt from her clothes.

“No,” came the deep reply in unison.

She inhaled sharply and pursed her lips. “Have you seen any strange creatures? Horrid, batlike things?”

The rock on the north side of the mine opening nodded, and the ground shook again. “Saw bat creatures. Hundreds, may-be more. Dark, like a cloud. Flew in-side. Cannot re-mem-ber why we did not stop them.”

Brenna positioned herself in front of the living boulder, directly between its eyes. “Maligor could have ensorceled you. Maybe that’s why you don’t remember. Something’s wrong here, that’s certain. The tharchion I fought wasn’t human.”

“Doubtful something is wrong,” the other galeb duhr answered. “We noticed nothing odd in the mines.”

“We’ve got to go inside and find out for sure,” Galvin tried. “Please trust us.”

“Trust un-dead?”

“We’ll control them,” Galvin continued, staring past the living boulders and into the mine.

“If you lie,” the other galeb duhr interjected, “we will know. We could bring mountain down on top of you, then hollow it out again as if nothing happened.”

“You can trust us,” Galvin emphasized again.

“We trust you. But only because you know language of the earth,” the boulder answered.

Relieved that he seemed to have the approval of the rock creatures, Galvin started into the mine. Wynter and Brenna followed him cautiously. The enchantress cast a last glance at the plateau; the zombies and skeletons that had survived the rockslide were shuffling toward the shaft.

Fifteen

Szass Tam nudged Maligor’s mind. The lich had been unable to find his rival Red Wizard, and the legion of undead headed by his Harper pawns had uncovered nothing substantial, nothing other than hints of Maligor’s whereabouts.

Annoyed and intensely curious, the lich concentrated, probing outward with his thoughts. Szass Tam had spent the past several hours linked to his favorite crystal ball, uncharacteristically tired of waiting for word of Maligor. The ball had yielded nothing, so he had focused his efforts at communication only.

Finally the lich met with success.

“What do you want, Szass Tam?” Maligor’s thoughts haughtily projected. “I am very busy today.”

The lich strained to get inside Maligor’s mind, but the wards were too strong. “You are not with your gnolls,” Szass Tam began. “You are not in Amruthar.”

“So you seek to know where I am?” Maligor said, feigning mild surprise. “Beyond your grasp, lich.”

Angered, Szass Tam furrowed his brow and funneled his energies on Maligor, attempting to look through the rival wizard’s eyes into his mind. But the lich saw only blackness, and he heard only Maligor’s hollow, echoing laughter.

“I will live up to my part of our arrangement,” Maligor said with a chuckle. “You will get half the lands my gnolls take. But you will not be included in future endeavors if you press me.”

The lich ran his bony hand over the smooth surface of the crystal ball, the hot pinpoints of light staring out of his sockets reflected on the crystal’s surface.

“You will not best me, Maligor,” Szass Tam said simply.

“And you will not interfere with my dealings,” Maligor replied. “However, you may watch my gnolls if you desire. And we can speak again when I return to Amruthar in a few days.”

“As we agreed,” the lich added, “I will not lift a hand to stop you—or your gnolls.” But, he thought to himself, my Harper puppets are a different matter, and they will be your undoing.

The lich closed the link and settled back into the large chair in his study.

“Who was that snake-woman?” Brenna whispered as she and Galvin trod into the black maw of the mine. Although she could see the faint flicker of torches ahead, the darkness in the tunnel seemed to swallow them, and she had difficulty seeing. She grasped the druid’s arm. “She wasn’t human.”

“A creation of a Red Wizard, maybe. Perhaps some poor animal Maligor corrupted.” Galvin kept his voice low, not wanting to alert others in the mine to their presence. However, he realized such caution was probably useless. He heard the steady clip-clop of Wynter’s hooves behind him, and the clinking of the undeads’ bones echoed through the shaft. The druid scowled as he thought of the skeletons and zombies; the army had been halved by the rockslide, and he wondered if the remaining force was strong enough to take whatever lay ahead.

“I just hope she—or it—is dead,” Brenna added, still feeling sore from her ordeal with the naga. “I saw her go down the mountainside. I just hope there’s no more of them in here.”