Hederick, The Theocrat (d-4)

by Ellen Dodge Severson

  "As if there were any doubt that Tarscenian continues to stalk me," Hederick muttered. "Tarscenian won't rest until he sees me dead. He's supremely jealous of me."

  "Your Worship?" Dahos's voice held a spark of hope.

  Hederick said nothing in reply. After a suspenseful wait, the high priest sagged.

  The High Theocrat stifled a chuckle. Suddenly he felt a twinge in his upper torso. He clasped a hand against his breastbone, moved his beloved leather-swaddled pendant aside, and gingerly probed a tender spot. He'd felt odd intermittently since this afternoon, when he'd ordered the black-robed mage executed.

  The mage had injured him, but the god Sauvay had healed him before hundreds of people. Hederick wished he could remember exactly what happened, but his mem shy;ory seemed impaired. Still, he had seen and noted wit shy;nesses of his miraculous revival. There could be no greater sign of Hederick's favor in the eyes of the Seeker gods.

  For a moment the High Theocrat considered unwrap shy;ping the leather covering and admiring the Diamond Dragon. But, no, he'd nearly lost it once-then a second time this afternoon, his aides told him. No telling when Tarscenian would attempt his evil-doing. Hederick would keep the treasure under cover, close to him.

  "Sauvay smiled upon me today," Hederick said

  suddenly, momentarily abandoning his oath to shun the high priest.

  "Yes, Your Worship," Dahos returned quickly. "It is truly…"

  "How are your plans coming for the reconsecration ceremony, Dahos?" Hederick cut in.

  "They are … going well," Dahos replied carefully. "We should be able to conduct the ceremony in three or four days. I have sent word to the Highseekers Council that…"

  "Hang the damned Highseekers Council, you dolt!" Hederick snapped. "This is my temple. I don't need that batch of old women and sinners snooping around Eroly-don. I can conduct my own ceremony, myself."

  "But the Praxis says …"

  Hederick's voice took on a new edge. "I am the judge here of what the Praxis says, Dahos. Don't overstep your shy;self. It could be a fatal mistake."

  "I …. "

  "Yes, High Priest?"

  Dahos swallowed and stood taller. "Nothing, Your Worship."

  * * * * *

  Snoop cursed his luck as he crept along the shoreline, spyglass in his left hand, dirk in his right. It was growing dark, and he knew pitifully little about the area where the land met Crystalmir Lake.

  Snoop hated the outdoors-all bugs and poison ivy and fanged creatures with no sense of civilization. The bucolic folks who frequented the area outside Solace actually enjoyed stalking animals and birds and killing them-and for food, not even for a meaningful bounty! And as for fishing, well, the day that Snoop would be found trying to lure a slimy fish onto a hook so that he could skin it and cut out its entrails and cook and eat it would be the day he'd… well, the day he'd eat dirt.

  No, give Snoop city life any day. True, Solace was a bit small for Snoop's liking, but Gaveley had made it worth his while-for these last few years, at least. Snoop had chafed lately.

  With the Diamond Dragon, though, Snoop hoped to set up his own thieves' ring. Someplace far from Gaveley, it was certain, but that was fine. He'd heard tales of many cities stuffed with riches that beckoned a clever thieves' ring such as the one Snoop longed to run.

  He'd be cursed if he'd settle for his measly cut of Tarscenian's bounty. Not when he could have that Dia shy;mond Dragon free and clear, all his own.

  Snoop tripped over a stone in the gathering dusk, and swore aloud. There was no sense to Gaveley's latest plan. Why order Snoop to follow Tarscenian when everyone in the ring knew the stranger was bound to head straight for Hederick? The question rankled in Snoop's mind, eating away at him until he thought he'd go mad. It was an unfa shy;miliar feeling. He'd never questioned Gaveley's methods before.

  "I could be lounging in the grass behind some tree right now, watching the infernal temple through my glass," Snoop grumbled. "Instead, I'm being eaten alive by mos-quitos, I'm soaked up to my knees trying to keep one eye on some fool who's drifting around the lake in a leaky boat. Damn the luck!" There was no point lowering his voice, not this far out in the woods. "No one out here but the bugs and the rabbits to hear me, anyway."

  He swung up his spyglass… and there was Tarscenian, sitting calmly in the blasted canoe. "Not even rowing, for the gods' sake!" Snoop mumbled. "And he isn't swatting bugs, that I can see. It isn't fair. Gods, how can that canoe be making such speed? And Gaveley and Xam both know where he's going, so why tell me to follow-?"

  He broke off his harangue. There was one excellent reason, it occurred to him, why Gaveley would have sent Snoop on this particular wild-goose chase.

  The half-elf hoped to get to Hederick first and steal the Diamond Dragon for himself.

  The thief-turned-spy sorted out his thoughts. "Not that the guards'd let a half-elf into the temple, of course. Gave shy;ley couldn't get in himself unless . . ." Snoop thought harder. Example after example came to his mind, instances in which Gaveley had had no trouble at all gaining entrance where he'd been expressly barred. And Gaveley had a hulking man like Xam to back him up. Snoop had no one.

  No one but the man he'd been ordered to trail, that was. The man who knew more than anyone else about the Dia shy;mond Dragon-including, no doubt, where Hederick kept it.

  Snoop started to run toward Erolydon. He'd be blasted to the depths of the Sirrion Sea before he'd let Gaveley get the best of him.

  He arrived, sweating and panting, and crouched near some trees just south of the temple. The last worshipers were being let out through a gate in the southern wall. A priest slammed the door behind the chattering people. Snoop heard three bolts being thrown, then nothing. The thief leaned, wheezing, against a tree, and trained his glass on the western horizon.

  There-there was Tarscenian, just arriving at the sea shy;ward wall of the temple. Snoop squinted through his lens. The old man was just staring into the water as though he was thinking. Why didn't he hurry, for the gods' sake? Didn't the idiot know the sky would soon be dark? Snoop swore anew.

  He watched, aghast, as the water churned around the small canoe and exploded around Tarscenian, who dis shy;appeared into the boiling water-Tarscenian, the only one who could lead Snoop to the Diamond Dragon!

  The thief found himself racing along the shoreline, heedless, for the first time in his career, of who might see him. Tarscenian had to survive to lead him to the artifact, Snoop raged. After that, he planned to end the old man's life with a thrust of his dirk, but until then…

  Snoop drew out a grapnel and rope and tossed the barbed hook atop the wall. He pulled himself up hand over hand until he reached the top. A quick glance showed no one inside the compound-no eyes to see him. There was hope, after all. Snoop retrieved his grapnel and hurried along the wall. He adroitly sidestepped the slivers of sharp metal and chunks of jagged glass that Hederick had ordered set into the top of the marble to discourage intruders.

  Snoop came to the end of the southern wall and turned north. A short dash, and then he was on the wall above Tarscenian-or, at least, above the roiling water where Tarscenian was probably drowning. Snoop squinted in the dying light and saw what appeared to be a huge froglike thing poking at the man over and over. A fish with a har shy;poon?

  Snoop snugged the rope around a chunk of glass. Then he dropped the grapnel so that it rested just at the surface of the water. Tarscenian saw the hook and made a break for it, the fishlike creature following.

  This wasn't all that different from garroting someone in an alley in Haven, Snoop reflected. He snagged the koalinth just under the gills. The aquatic hobgoblin jerked back in sudden pain, setting the hook. Then it leaped above the water, panic-stricken. Snoop wrapped the rope once more around the wall outcropping.

  There was a jerk, then the koalinth was left shrieking and struggling, its bloody gills dangling just above the waterline.

  Snoop climbed partway down the rope to where Tarscenian wa
s treading water. Both waited until the beast suffocated.

  Tarscenian caught the dead creature's dropped lance and spoke. "I thought Gaveley wasn't in on this."

  "He's not," Snoop replied. "I'm working on my own now. Going solo, you might say. And I'm throwing in with you, stranger."

  Tarscenian regarded him, an impassive look on his face. Finally he said, "As you wish."

  Snoop nodded.

  "Come on, then. I know how to get into the temple."

  Chapter 19

  Snoop dove toward the place Tarscenian had indicated. Twice his own height in depth, the old man had said. The marble wall became some other kind of rock below the surface of the water, and Hederick's workers had not paid as much attention to attaining a smooth surface. Holding his breath, Snoop swam, forcing himself downward, pulling his body deeper by grabbing handholds in the rough wall.

  A good swimmer, Tarscenian caught up with the thief and passed him. They would have to hurry, however, to find an air pocket before they ran out of breath. It was growing increasingly dim in the water. Tarscenian nearly collided with Snoop as they groped along the wall's base.

  Snoop grasped something, then, with a horrified look, drew his hand back. He thrust something soft and squishy behind him. It scuttled away, emitting a cloud of ink.

  And then they saw the tunnel-a thick circle smooth with algae and black as night within. Tarscenian felt for Snoop's arm, pointed with the lance they had taken from the koalinth, and shoved the smaller man toward the hole. Snoop broke away, shaking his head violently. All right, I'll go first, Tarscenian thought. But if I get wedged in front of you, you're done for, my friend. On the other hand, if another koalinth was waiting in the tunnel, Snoop might have made a wise choice.

  Tarscenian fastened the lance to his waist, dove toward the tunnel, grasped the slippery edge with difficulty, and forced himself inside.

  It was a tight fit. Tarscenian made progress only by keeping his arms outstretched before him and his legs tight together. He could swim through the water and the growing muck, but barely. He closed his eyes and scis shy;sored his legs feverishly.

  Tarscenian felt Snoop's hand bump against his foot and draw back. The thief followed him closely, then. At least Tarscenian hoped it was Snoop.

  Soon his lungs burned, and Tarscenian lost track of direction. Were they traveling horizontally or upward? Did it matter? He kicked weakly now, at times resting his legs and using his arms to pull himself along. A voice shrieked in his mind: Need air need air need air. He tried to focus on the Diamond Dragon, on his hatred of Hederick. On Ancilla. This would be worth it if somehow she could be saved.

  Then his hands broke water. He came to rest on an incline, his cheek cradled in soft mud-above the surface. Tarscenian allowed himself to fill his lungs again and again; it didn't matter that the air was fetid, the mud foul in his nostrils, the light dim. It was air. Somewhere, water dripped. That and his gasping were the only sounds.

  Then frantic scrabbling at his feet reminded him of Snoop's presence. Tarscenian pulled himself farther out of the muck and heard the thief emerge behind him. Snoop coughed, retched, and swore.

  "By all that's holy … old man . .. I've been in some spots before… but this…" Tarscenian heard more retch shy;ing, then still more cursing. "Where do we … go from here?"

  "Be quiet," Tarscenian ordered. "Let me think." They needed to let their eyes adjust. He stood guardedly and unfastened the lance from his waist. Warily, he used the koalinth's weapon to probe the space around him.

  "Ouch! By whatever gods there are, man, watch out!"

  Tarscenian grunted an apology. They seemed to be in a second tunnel, this one much larger than the first-tall enough for Tarscenian to stand in. He was ankle-deep in muck.

  His lance poked something soft but solid. He pulled it free and felt again, a bit to the right, with the same result. Then to the left. His lance met a similar obstruction. It was too soft for stone or wood, too hard for mud.

  Tarscenian felt in the pocket that carried his steel and flint. "I don't suppose you have a supply of dry tinder on you, do you, spy?" he whispered.

  "Certainly," Snoop snapped. "In the same pocket with my emerald collection."

  It would have to be magic, then, although Tarscenian had barely any strength left. Each spell had drained him, and he'd had precious little time to rest, these last few days. "Shirak," he whispered, and molded his hands around the point of the lance. The tip glowed like a torch. Tarscenian gazed around him, half-expecting what now met his eyes. Snoop, unwarned, inhaled suddenly and drew his dirk.

  There were four of them-four bodies, facedown-and when Tarscenian lifted the lance-light, he could make out other, similar mounds farther up the tunnel. He lowered the light again. Pale blue slime coated the four corpses from head to foot.

  Tarscenian used a booted toe gently to turn over one of the four. Snoop gagged.

  "The man from this afternoon," Tarscenian said quietly. "He dared to question Hederick. The guards hauled him away."

  He remembered that Snoop had not been at the sen shy;tencing of the black-robed mage. Tarscenian overturned another corpse. This belonged to a middle-aged woman; a kerchief was still in place on her head. "One of the women the guards arrested. Also this afternoon." His stare went to the other bodies. Two more kerchiefs. "Her friends."

  Snoop looked like a wild-eyed ferret, partly terrified and wholly nauseated. Tarscenian, on the other hand, merely felt tired and old.

  "I suppose the materbill was sated, so they put the bod shy;ies in here," he said. "Eventually the remains will wash out into the lake."

  Snoop burst out, "But what happened to them? What's that coating? There are no wounds, nothing but this blue …" He stooped and reached toward one of the still forms.

  Tarscenian shouted a warning, but too late. Snoop touched the blue substance with his forefinger and, screaming, jumped up. Tarscenian grabbed the thief's hand and used the light of the lance to burn away the ooze. The man's finger turned blistered and red.

  "What is the stuff?" Snoop cried.

  "It's digesting the bodies," Tarscenian replied tensely. "Now be still."

  Snoop controlled himself with an effort. "Why?" he finally whispered. "Who will hear us in here?"

  "Whatever spread this stuff."

  Horror increased tenfold on Snoop's face.

  "I don't know what the monster is called. The man who told me about it years ago referred to it as a slime creature."

  "Where is it?"

  "Somewhere in this tunnel, I'd guess. If it had been in the first tunnel, we'd be dead by now. The creatures spread their ooze on living or dead things, then retire to a cave to wait until the ooze does its job and the prey is soft enough to absorb."

  "Did that man tell you how to fight such a creature?" Tarscenian grimaced. There was something he half-remembered, but he couldn't quite put the words together. It had been a long time ago.

  Snoop gasped in the foul air. "I can handle human ene shy;mies, maybe even a hobgoblin or two. But this … I don't know if I can stand this, Tarscenian."

  "You made your decision when you entered the tun shy;nel."

  "But I …."

  "Be quiet," Tarscenian repeated. "Listen." Water splashed somewhere, and a sound, as of some shy;thing slithering through the tunnel, came to them. "Maybe you should turn out that light," Snoop whispered. "The creature can see in the dark. Can you?" Not waiting for an answer, Tarscenian stepped over the slimy bodies and moved toward the sound. He thrust his lance-light before him.

  Ten feet in front of them, a waist-high mound of pale blue ooze glistened.

  Snoop halted, dumbfounded, then sneered. "That unimpressive thing?" he asked. "That's it? I can probably take care of that beast all by myself, old man." He raised his arm. In an instant the spy's dirk was hurtling through the air toward the creature. Tarscenian's shout came too late.

  The weapon sliced through the slime monster's cover shy;ing of ooze, then bounced off the
creature's hide and landed back in the water at their feet. Snoop slowly bent to pick it up, then halted. He used his foot to nudge the weapon out of the water. The doused weapon was clean and free of ooze.

  Tarscenian frowned. Something still tickled at his mem shy;ory.

  The monster slithered forward, slow and sluglike, as though it had all the time in the world. "How do we stop it?" Snoop whispered, less cocksure now. He took a step backward.

  "Stay back. It catches live victims by interfering with their thoughts. At this distance, you may be safe. If it gets closer, that won't be so. It will offer you what you most desire. Ultimately you will actually urge it to devour you."

  Snoop shook his head. "That thing? Not a chance."

  'It has overcome stronger men than us."

  The thief doggedly shook his head. "It has to have a weak spot, Tarscenian-someplace where my dirk is wel shy;come." Snoop moved forward. Tarscenian tried to grab him, but the thief shook him off and continued. "It's mov shy;ing this way," Snoop said. "There must be eyes or some shy;thing where there's no hide to pro…"

  Snoop's voice trailed off into silence. He stared at the creature, an arm's length away. A whisper hissed through the tunnel.

  "I will give you great wealth. I will give you great power. All the world will thrill to your existence. The world will worship at your feet. You will be rich beyond anything you have dreamed."

  A whimper escaped Snoop. Tarscenian searched through his pockets for something to block his own ears, but he'd lost everything in the lake. His hands would have to do. Covering his ears, he stepped to Snoop's side. He had to remove Snoop from the creature's deadly influence.

  "All of Solace will work to indulge your every wish. You will want for nothing. You will enjoy power and wealth that kings would gladly die for."

  Tarscenian placed a hand on Snoop's shoulder. Snoop gave a small scream and jumped toward the creature. The slime monster turned slightly and now addressed Tarscen shy;ian.