The Crimson Gold

by Voronica Whitney-Robinson

  “Ignore everything else and see the obvious. Perhaps binding the demon might stop the waiting disaster, but no one knows. What we can see is death pouring down the mountainside. That needs to be stopped. And we have the means to do it.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Szass Tam asked her.

  “On my way up, I saw the vast armies that dot the sides of the Thaymount. You yourselves bragged at dinner how many thousands of creatures you posses,” she told the small assembly. “There must be more housed within these walls. We’ll use them, one and all, against the demon spawn and as shields themselves, if we have to. They will stop the lava flows,” she finished.

  The Red Wizards regarded her with stunned amazement. Szass Tam tilted his head and scrutinized her closely, contemplating her words. Even the duergar appeared taken aback by her suggestion.

  “It won’t work,” Aznar Thrul stated flatly and shook his head.

  “Why not?” Tazi shouted to be heard over the continued rumbling as another peak vomited out more lava.

  “It might,” interrupted Azhir Kren. “It just might.”

  “They’ll never do it,” Nevron disagreed.

  “He’s right,” Lauzoril said. “Those beasts will never follow just one leader. Never.”

  “It has to be tried,” Tazi argued. “What other choice is there?”

  “There is another,” Szass Tam offered. Before he was able to say more, a shower of molten rocks sprayed the balcony. The group sought shelter as best they could, using the support stones of the balcony for cover. Most escaped the threat, but one was not so fortunate. Azhir Kren screamed in agony as her shoulders and arms were struck by the red-hot projectiles. Lauzoril caught her before she tumbled off the balcony, unconscious from the pain.

  “Inside,” Szass Tam commanded the others.

  “Back into the flames?” the dwarf demanded.

  “There is another corridor,” he replied.

  Tazi and Justikar led the way again as Szass Tam and the others trailed behind, dragging Azhir Kren with them.

  “To the left,” she heard the lich say, and Tazi blindly felt her way through the smoke-filled hall until she found the route he meant.

  As soon as she started down the passageway, her vision began to clear. She realized that they were dropping deeper into the Citadel, and they were quickly down below the level of the smoke from the council room blaze. The corridor began to twist downward in a spiral, and steps formed under Tazi’s feet. She had no idea how far they continued down. Everyone had grown silent, and the only sound was the rumble of the mountains and the howls that grew in strength. Eventually, Tazi saw a glimmer of light ahead.

  With the duergar at her heels, she led the way into another chamber and stopped in her tracks. Before her, the room opened onto a platform. Beneath that platform, it opened further into a cavernous mass too large for Tazi to see the end of. With glow lights scattered across the walls, Tazi beheld an unholy sight. Stacked up from side to side, shoulder to shoulder, stood thousands upon thousands of troops. But it was an army the likes of which she had never seen before.

  Tazi heard the others behind her let out a collective gasp—all except for Szass Tam. Tazi looked from him back to the forces lined up like clay figures, but at the ready. She could see that they wore armor and clothes in varying degrees of decay, and even from where she stood, she could see their skin had a grayish cast to it. Their rusty weapons glinted in the sorcerous light.

  “I think you are familiar with them,” Tam said to her.

  Even with the Citadel crumbling around their ears, one of the other Red Wizards found something to complain about.

  “Szass Tam,” Aznar Thrul shouted, “you never said you had this many housed here. This goes against any agreement we might have—”

  “Enough!” Tazi whirled around and shouted to the bald wizard. “Now is not the time!” He looked at her with his hateful, black eyes but held his tongue. She turned her attention back to the lich.

  “Up there,” she motioned with her sword, “you said there was another way. Let’s hear it now.”

  “I think you were on the right tack with the obvious use of the armies. But for us to be successful, we must work together, lady.”

  Tazi shivered despite the heat when she heard the necromancer link himself to her.

  “Explain,” she said and hated herself for not seeing another choice.

  “Lead the forces as you said, and I will work with Nevron to find a spell to bind Eltab,” he explained to her. “I bound him once; I can do it again. With him under our power, the rest of the demons will obey. It is Thay’s only chance.” And, for the first time, Tazi heard true emotion in the lich’s voice. She believed he might find a way.

  “Will they follow me?” she asked and looked past him at the hateful troops of juju zombies. Though their bodies were dead, Tazi could see an evil light in their eyes. They shifted in place but made no sounds. Tazi almost wished they would groan just so she would know where they were when she turned her back on them.

  “Do you take this on, lady? The choice is, as always, yours to make,” the lich said and glided in front of her. Tazi saw the dwarf raise his axe questioningly.

  Tazi looked from the lich to the dwarf and finally to the troops. Another quake shook the building, and she could hear inhuman growls from deep below them. She knew the hell that was loose was her doing, and Tazi shut her eyes solemnly. There was no other choice to be made.

  “Yes,” she replied and looked the lich straight in the eye. “I will.”

  “Good,” he answered and seized her by her left shoulder. Tazi felt energy course through her like lightning, and she was joined to the lich. She screamed in pain and shut her eyes tight; all the while, the lich’s bony fingers burned into her skin. Her head lolled back, and Tazi felt a strange power course its way through her veins. When he finally released her, Tazi stumbled a bit backward and blinked hard. Her shoulder ached where the necromancer had touched her, and when she was able to focus her vision, she saw a strange mark located there, no bigger than a gold piece where the lich’s fingers had been. The burn resembled two hands, one skeletal and one human, gripping each other. She looked at him in wonder.

  “They will answer to you now, Thazienne Uskevren,” he told her, and Tazi was startled to hear Szass Tam address her by her given name. She briefly wondered what else he now knew about her and what, if anything, she might know about him after their intimate exchange. Save that for another time, she told herself.

  Tazi surveyed the number of zombies and remembered the scene from above. “More,” she told Szass Tam. “We need more than this.”

  “Come,” he told her and Tazi saw he now smiled at her. He floated back along the platform to another passageway and motioned for the others to follow.

  “How many tunnels honeycomb this place?” growled the duergar questioningly.

  “More than you could discover in several lifetimes,” the necromancer answered. “And even if you had the time, you would never find what you seek.”

  Tazi was certain that Szass Tam now knew about Justikar’s brother through her.

  I’m sorry, she thought to the dwarf but got no response.

  Farther down they went, all the while the screams and calls grew louder. A violent shudder gripped the building, and Tazi slammed into the wall and tumbled down some of the stairs, the dwarf right after her. Lauzoril struggled with the unconscious Azhir in his arms, and Nevron and Aznar clung to each other. Only Szass Tam remained upright since he floated above the mêlée.

  The corridor spiraled farther down, and Tazi braced her hands against the narrow walls to keep herself from tumbling again as the quakes continued with hardly a break between them. Tazi seriously wondered if the structure was going to be able to take much more abuse before it collapsed and buried them all. However, a few twists and turns later, they found themselves in another chamber. Not nearly as large as the one that housed the zombie forces, it was still of an impressive size.
Tazi swallowed hard when she saw that it sheltered flocks of darkenbeasts. The creatures squawked and pushed against each other, snapping at one another’s eyes. Standing as tall as the dwarf, the monsters had wingspans nearly twice that. Their bodies mostly resembled a bat’s form, though a reptilian head perched atop their curved necks. Their skin was stretched tight across their skeletal frames, and Tazi could see their bones glowing through. Some were green while others were an odd shade of purple. They had razor sharp claws, and they scratched at the stone floor incessantly. Created by fell magic, the creatures could only survive as they were in the darkness. If sunlight struck them, they turned back into their original, untainted form, be it field mouse or rabbit, and died.

  “And how can I control them?” Tazi asked and was afraid that she and Szass Tam might have to bond again.

  “These creatures are a bit simpler to manage. They respond best to mental rather than verbal orders. Pictures in their minds work best. I think you would be best served if you used your pet in this case,” he told her.

  “My pet?” Tazi asked.

  The lich nodded toward the duergar. Tazi realized that the necromancer was aware of Justikar’s mental abilities. Whether he knew that from his brief communion with her, or if he could simply sense the duergar’s telepathic abilities, she wasn’t sure. And it didn’t matter. Tazi turned to Justikar and sat on her haunches before him. Another tremor shook the structure, and the darkenbeasts screeched and cawed at each other even more frantically.

  “I can’t ask this of you, but I will. Would you do this, Justikar?” Tazi asked the dwarf. “Would you lead these creatures into a battle we will probably lose for no other reason than to save people you don’t even know?”

  “With odds like that, how could I refuse, human?” he sniped.

  “I mean it,” she said, all joking aside. “Will you?”

  The duergar regarded her with his river rock eyes. “I never joke,” he replied. Tazi gripped him on the shoulders but restrained herself from embracing him any further.

  “Out of my way,” he said gruffly and brushed her hands aside. He stepped past her and the lich and faced the hordes of darkenbeasts solemnly. Tazi’s skin crawled as she recollected what it was like to face the monsters in battle. She had no idea what the dwarf felt at that moment.

  Tazi watched as he sheathed his axe and raised his hands out toward the screaming creatures as though he were pronouncing a benediction. His eyes widened, and Tazi could almost feel the tug of his mind. She saw that some of the creatures shrieked in apparent protest. Some flapped their wings in anger, while others just ignored the duergar. She could hear Justikar mutter foul oaths under his breath. It seemed to no avail, though, and Tazi thought he had failed. But, after what seemed to be an eternity, the crowd of birdlike things began to quiet down and calm themselves. Amazed, Tazi saw them fold their wings against their thin bodies and focus their small, black eyes at Justikar. Sweat rolled off of the dwarf, and he slowly lowered his hands. Tazi caught a glimpse of them trembling.

  “I think we understand each other,” he announced to the silent group, after collecting himself.

  Tazi faced the lich again. “What else have you got hidden here?” she demanded.

  “There is one more place to go. Follow me,” he told her.

  “Stay here,” Tazi said to the dwarf. “I can see a gate down there. Does that lead to the mountainside?” she asked Szass Tam. He nodded and Tazi turned back to the dwarf. “Wait with them until the last rays of the sun have faded,” she instructed him.

  “Then what?” Justikar asked her tiredly.

  “Then kill everything in your path.”

  “I can do that,” he replied with an evil grin.

  Tazi followed Szass Tam and the others to one last set of barracks within the Citadel. The room resembled a laboratory more than anything else, with shelves of jars and potions and a large vat off to one side. Large, armored humanoids milled about inside. Their stooped posture and pig faces marked them as orcs. And these, like the ones Tazi saw with Naglatha on their journey to the Thaymount, had mottled skin the color of dried blood.

  The tremors had set the beasts on edge, and they were quarreling with themselves. Unlike the zombies, though, their armor was in the best of condition, and Tazi could also see a wall that held an array of fine weapons behind them. The orcs grunted and paced about, itching for something to crush, their yellow eyes flashing.

  “These were to be a gift for Azhir Kren,” the lich explained. “She has been anxious for some time to invade Rashemen, and I would not allow it. I thought if she had a set of new troops to train, it might keep her occupied for a while.

  “They’ve been imprinted to recognize her,” he continued and glanced at Lauzoril’s unconscious burden. “Sadly, I fear she is in no condition to lead them now.”

  “What can we do so that they will follow me?” Tazi asked. “Unless, of course, one of you would like that honor on the field of battle?” The other Red Wizards remained silent. Bits of the ceiling tumbled down, emphasizing how little time they had left.

  “What can you do to make them follow me?” Tazi asked Szass Tam, knowing it would have to be her.

  “That is the tricky part. Aside from Azhir Kren, the only other they would follow would be a leader of their own kind.”

  “What?” Tazi said.

  “They will only recognize another Blooded One. You must become one of them if you are to lead them.”

  “How can I?”

  “In the corner there,” Szass Tam pointed to the large vat Tazi had seen when they first entered the room, “is where we create the Blooded Ones. The young are dipped in a vat of alchemical blood and when they emerge—”

  “They’re stronger and more powerful and easier to control,” Tazi finished for him.

  “Correct,” replied the lich.

  “But I thought the process only worked on the young?”

  “Correct again, Thazienne. In the past, it has proven potentially fatal on adults,” he finished. “I do not know what else it might do to you, or how long the effects might last, if you even survive the process. But it is a risk you will have to take.”

  “My choice?” she questioned him.

  “Always,” he replied easily. “It is always your choice. Remember that.”

  Tazi faced the gathered wizards. Then she looked back, swallowing hard. “What do I have to do?”

  “Climb into the vat and submerge yourself completely in the blood. When you rise, if you live, you should be able to marshal the orc forces.”

  “If …” she pointed out.

  Tazi walked over to the wooden vat that was nearly ten feet high and swayed as another tremor rolled past. She climbed the small set of steps along the side of the container and peered over the rim. She saw the maroon liquid roll and slosh with the quake, thick and syrupy, and she briefly wondered where it came from. She banished the question immediately from her mind.

  Doesn’t matter now, she told herself.

  Tazi felt her gorge rise and burn the back of her throat. The smell of hot copper filled her nostrils as well as a burning whiff of acid. She swallowed hard and looked over her shoulder at Szass Tam. He floated gently above the ground, his robes barely brushing the stones set in the floor, and regarded her with his cold stare. Tazi turned back to the vat and climbed the rest of the way up.

  She balanced on the tiny platform for a moment, and the room grew deathly silent. Then she crossed her arms over her chest and stepped forward to plummet straight down into the pool of blood.

  Tazi cut through the liquid like a knife. The moment she hit the fluid, Tazi felt every part of her catch fire. Hot and cold sensations ran along her body, from the ends of her hair to her toes. She felt nauseous and light-headed at the same time. She wanted to scream but knew if she opened her mouth she’d be drinking the tainted blood. Images stabbed through her brain—foreign and familiar at the same time, and she felt a rage burn into her. Lights flashed behind her eye
lids, and she twitched spasmodically.

  When she could stand no more, Tazi burst up from the blood like some blighted phoenix, and she sucked in great drafts of air. When her breathing had calmed a measure, she grabbed for the platform and pulled herself up. She hooked a leg along the side of the tub and used that and her arms to haul herself back onto the platform. She kneeled there for a moment, feeling her heart pound so loudly she was certain the organ might rupture from the strain. Her leathers were soaked in blood, her skin no longer recognizable.

  She rose slowly to her feet and spread her arms wide, her hands curling into fists. Anger boiled up within her. Blood dripped from her arms and her hair was plastered to her face and neck in thick strips. Tazi was a study in crimson. She let her head fall back and bellowed out an animal cry of fury and pain. From the barracks, the orcs stopped their quarreling and gradually lowered their arms. They heard Tazi’s call and responded to her in kind. First one orc then another joined until all of them roared back as one. Zulkir Nevron clamped his hands over his ears against the horrendous cry.

  Tazi straightened her head and opened her eyes. Blood tracked down her face like a trail of ruby tears. She met Szass Tam’s amazed stare and said evenly, “I’m ready.”

  Tazi was lost in a red haze. She pushed past the astonished wizards and entered the barracks of the orcs. They continued to howl and snarl but parted before her. Some smashed chairs and others beat their swords and spears against the floor. Tazi spun around until she found what she was searching for: a gate like the one in the darkenbeasts’ pen, which opened to the mountainside. She pulled at the handle fruitlessly, foot braced against the wall.

  “Open it,” she bellowed to the lich.

  Szass Tam made a single pass of his skeletal hand, and the gate’s lock sprung free. Tazi threw open the doors, and the raging orcs streamed past her into the growing darkness. She cast one backward glance at the necromancer and charged after her troops.

  The barracks opened up onto a gentle, downward-sloping stone field. Tazi felt the ground crumble beneath her boots. The heat from the mountains had turned much of the upper layers of rock to brittle pumice. To the east, the lava had made some progress down the peaks, and the demons continued to flow out of the crevices of the Thaymount. Off in the distance, Tazi saw the darkenbeasts swirling around Justikar and beyond them, the zombie troops began their march out.