Vanity's brood hos-3

by Lisa Smedman

R.E.A.R.C.A.V.E.T.U.N.N.E.L.H.I.D.D.E.N.I.N. M.O.U.T.H.S.H.A.D.O.W.A.S.P.S

  "Hidden in mouth?" he whispered aloud. What did that mean?

  The first part of the message was clear enough: there must be a tunnel, somewhere in the back of the cave. He had obviously hidden something inside it, then erased all memory of having done so. There was only one thing valuable enough to merit such a drastic step.

  The Circled Serpent.

  Arvin grinned. That explained why Pakal wasn't there. The dwarf had must have gone through the pack, reported to Ts'ikil that the other half of the Circled Serpent had been taken by someone, and been sent on a futile errand to track down the supposed thief.

  Pocketing the cord, Arvin hurried to the back of the cave. He had to clamber up a slope to find the tunnel; it was hidden behind a column of rock and was bricked shut except for a small opening where two bricks had fallen out. Touching it dislodged still more bricks; the entire wall seemed loose. He'd expected to see the box containing the Circled Serpent just inside the tunnel's mouth, but it wasn't there. It was probably deeper inside the tunnel, but it was difficult to make anything out in the shadows. He'd have to wait for his eyes to adjust. A breeze passed over his shoulder; air flowing into the hole in the bricks. The tunnel must have a second exit.

  The knotted cord had mentioned shadow asps. Heeding his own warning, Arvin sent his awareness down the tunnel in a sparkle of silver. If there were asps lurking in those shadows, he'd be able to detect their thoughts. The tunnel, however, seemed clear. He yanked at the bricks, clearing a large enough hole for him to enter. Then, dagger in hand, he crawled into the tunnel. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. largo enough hole for him to enter. Then, dagger in hand, he crawled into the tunnel. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light.

  A second cavern lay a short distance ahead. As he started to move toward it, his manifestation at last picked up the three serpent minds. Their thoughts were focused on moving forward, on the sensation of their insubstantial bodies slithering through stone. They were intent upon something that had entered the second cavern-that had just appeared there without warning a few moments before. They were dimly aware of a second intruder behind them-Arvin-but it was the one in the cavern they wanted.

  Arvin had halted the instant he detected the asps, but he hurried forward. Belatedly, he realized the source of the breeze he'd felt when he first peered into the tunnel: Pakal's body in gaseous form. The dwarf must have been lingering in the cavern, watching Arvin the whole time. Protected by the armband that was the equivalent of Karrell's ring, his thoughts had gone undetected.

  Arvin didn't bother moving quietly. Pakal would have heard the tumbling bricks and be expecting him to show up. He did, however, send his awareness on ahead of himself to observe what the dwarf was up to. A low droning filled the air as Arvin concentrated on the second cavern.

  It was deeply shadowed, but Arvin was still able to make out a few details. At the center of the second cavern was an enormous serpent, its body coiled in a tight ball. Surprisingly, it had not stirred, despite the fact that Pakal stood with one foot on the serpent's jaw while forcing the mouth open with his hands. The mouth slowly creaked open, revealing a square object that rested against the serpent's tongue. Pakal kicked it, knocking it out of the serpent's mouth, then let the head drop. As he bent to pick up the box, three shadowy heads reared up out of the floor behind him.

  Arvin couldn't bring himself to just stand by and watch Pakal die. Besides, if the dwarf was busy fighting snakes, Arvin could make a grab for the box.

  "Pakal!" he shouted. "Behind you. Three snakes!"

  Even as he spoke, he reached the end of the tunnel and could see what was happening with his own eyes. He manifested another power, and a thread of silver shot out from his forehead. One end of it wrapped around the box.

  Pakal ignored Arvin's warning. He shouted in a deep, throaty voice that sounded like an animal's growl and gestured. Five glowing red claws detached themselves from the tips of his fingers and thumb and streaked through the air toward Arvin.

  Arvin ducked, but the claws found his shoulder and raked through flesh. He gasped in pain and the power he'd been manifesting faltered. The thread of silver flickered and the box thudded to the floor.

  The claws pulled back for another swipe-then disappeared.

  Pakal was having problems of his own now. While his back was turned, the shadow asps had attacked. Pakal stood with one hand pressed against his leg, his teeth bared in a grimace. He ground out a prayer and swept his hand across the seemingly empty space in front of him. A heartbeat later the three asps were outlined in glittering gold dust. Pakal growled a second time and raked the air with one hand. Glowing red claws streaked toward the nearest of the asps. As they tore into it, black shadowstuff oozed out through the glitter that coated its body. With a flick of his hand, Pakal's claws tossed the body to the side.

  Two more asps remained, however. They flanked him, slithered in close, and struck.

  him, slithered in close, and struck.

  Pakal howled as their fangs sank into his bare legs. He managed to kill another with his glowing

  claws, but the third asp reared back and struck him again. The dwarf fell to his knees.

  Arvin, meanwhile, steeled himself against the pain of his wounded shoulder. As blood dribbled down his right arm, he concentrated on the task at hand. He remanifested his power and used it to pluck the box from the floor. It sailed back into his hand. He caught it, then sent the thread of psionic energy back into the room and used it to yank open the pouch that hung from Pakal's belt. A crescent-shaped object fell out. It was wrapped in crumpled lead foil.

  The other half of the Circled Serpent.

  Pakal lunged for it, grabbed it with both hands, and fell heavily on top of it.

  Arvin cursed. His psionic hand wasn't strong enough to lift a body.

  The last of the shadow asps was still outlined in glittering dust, making it an easy target. Arvin leaned into the cavern just enough to give his arm some play, raised his dagger, then hurled it. He was almost surprised when the blade pierced the asp's head. Even though the dagger was magical, he'd half- expected it to pass right through the creature. The asp thrashed for a moment then stilled.

  Arvin cal led his dagger back to his hand and waited. No more shadow asps appeared. He picked up the box that held the upper half of the Circled Serpent and stepped down into the cavern. Just to make sure there weren't any more guardians lurking within the stone, he sent his awareness sweeping in a circle around him. Nothing.

  Still holding his dagger, Arvin hurried to where Pakal lay. He glanced warily at the enormous serpent that loomed over them. No wonder it hadn't moved; it looked as though it had been dead for many years. Its body was studded with gems, one of the largest of which-a stone that had been cut in a star shape-had

  fallen out. Arvin picked it up and smiled, realizing that the gem-studded body of the abomination was a fortune, ripe for the plucking with the shadow asps gone. That could wait, however. There were more important things to attend to.

  He tucked the gem into a pocket, then bent and turned Pakal over. The dwarf's face was as gray as the stone floor on which he lay. His lips were an even darker shade and his eyes were closed.

  "I'm sorry," Arvin told the corpse. "I tried to warn you, but…"

  Arvin pushed any thoughts of remorse firmly aside. Pakal could have helped him rescue Karrell. Instead he'd chosen to oppose Arvin. The bloody wounds in Arvin's shoulder were testimony to that. Even so, Arvin felt a twinge of guilt. He told himself that Karrell was what mattered, that the dwarf was the one who had started the fight, but it didn't help.

  As he picked up the lower half of the Circled Serpent, tears of relief welled in his eyes. At last he had both halves of the key that would open the door to Smaragd. He could rescue Karrell.

  If only he knew where the door was.

  Or how to use the Circled Serpent, for that matter.

  He'd worry ab
out that later. For now, he had to focus on getting out of the cave and away from there, before whichever of the flying serpents won the fight-Ts'ikil or Sibyl-returned. He smoothed the foil back into place and picked up the box. It looked large enough to hold both halves. As he nested them together inside it, he heard a faint whisper.

  Pakal's eyes were open. He was casting a spell. Arvin startled, nearly dropping the box.

  "… together," the dwarf whispered.

  Arvin started to summon energy in preparation for a manifestation, but stopped when he realized

  Pakal had merely cast the spell that allowed what he said to be understood.

  "Put… together," the dwarf repeated. Sweat blossomed on his forehead as he fought the effects of the shadow serpents' poison, straining to rise. His words were faint. "Push tail… into head. That's how… destroy…"

  His eyelids fluttered, then closed. His body went slack.

  Arvin touched a finger to the dwarf's throat. A pulse still flickered there. Faintly.

  Relief washed through Arvin. Despite the wound in his shoulder, he hadn't wanted the dwarf to die. "I will destroy it," he promised. Then, under his breath, he added, "Once I've rescued Karrell." That said, he stood. He looked down at Pakal, hesitated, then decided. If he left the dwarf there, Pakal would die.

  He tucked the box inside his shirt, then bent and hooked his hands under Pakal's shoulders. Grunting, he hauled the dwarf into the tunnel. It was a struggle, crawling backward down the tunnel while hauling the limp body. His left hand was still sore where Juz'la's viper had bitten it. Eventually, however, he reached the first cavern. He paused for a moment before entering it, listening, but heard only the rush of the river below and the cries of monkeys in the jungle on the far side of the canyon. He realized his forehead had stopped tingling-a good thing, since it meant the iron cobra wouldn't be showing up. Maybe the dunking in the river had finally caused it to seize up.

  He lifted Pakal out of the tunnel and took a moment to find his footing on the steep slope. He would set the dwarf down near the mouth of the cave, where Ts'ikil could spot him, then stuff the box into his pack, morph into a flying snake, and get out of there. He edged his way around the column that hid the entrance of the tunnel.

  Standing on the other side of it was the dog-headed man. Arvin barely had time to blink in surprise before large golden eyes bored into his. Arvin turned his head to the side and tried to manifest a psionic shield, but he was too late. His eyes rolled back in his head, his body went slack, and his mouth opened wide in an involuntary yawn. He felt Pakal slip from his arms, then his own body crumpled into a heap on top of the dwarf's.

  Arvin awoke with a jerk, his heart pounding. The dog-manArvin leaped to his feet and drew his dagger. He shook his head violently, trying to throw off the cobwebs of sleep that clung to it. He looked around the cavern. The first thing he saw was Pakal, lying on the floor at his feet. The next was the dog-man, lying on his back. Bright red blood stained the golden fur of his face; it looked as though something had slammed into his forehead, hard enough to cave in his skull. More blood was splattered on the top of the stalagmite he lay next to.

  Arvin slapped a hand against his chest. The box he'd tucked into his shirt was gone. His backpack still lay in a corner. Whoever had killed the dog-man had taken only the Circled Serpent. Arvin was close to weeping. He'd actually had the key to Smaragd in his hands, only to have it stolen from him again.

  By whom? How had the dog-man known where to find him?

  Arvin touched a finger to Pakal's throat and felt a faint pulse. The dwarf was still alive, though just barely. If it had been Sibyl who had returned, surely she would have finished both Arvin and Pakal off. What had happened?

  There was one way for Arvin to find out. He drew energy up through his navel, into his chest, and exhaled slowly. The scents of saffron and ginger filled the air, and ectoplasm shimmered briefly on the walls of the cavern before evaporating in the jungle heat. The cavern blurred, shifted slightly…

  Arvin stared down at a ghostly reflection of himself. The dog-man stood over him, his mouth open in a grin, tongue lolling as he panted with silent laughter. He rolled Arvin over and tore open his shirt. The box fell out. Panting harder, the dog- man picked it up.

  A second source of powerful emotion drew Arvin's eyes to the entrance of the cave. The dog-man's back was turned, so he didn't see the snakeskin carpet that drifted to a halt at the cavern's mouth, its fringe of tiny wings fluttering. A serpent that had been coiled on it slithered into the cavern.

  The dog-man, at last alerted to danger, whirled. He visibly relaxed-then his body tensed up again. As if turned by an invisible hand, his head was wrenched to the side. He stared at the wall for a heartbeat or two, then exploded into a run toward it. As he reached the wall, he flung himself forward, smashing his forehead into the rounded top of a stalagmite in a spray of blood. Then his body crumpled into a heap beside the stalagmite.

  The serpent regarded him for a moment with unblinking eyes. Then it shifted into yuan-ti form. It was, as Arvin had half suspected, the Dmetrio-seed. The seed strode forward, lifted the box the dog-man had dropped, examined it briefly, then opened it. Seeing both halves of the Circled Serpent, he hissed in delight. Triumph shone in his slitted eyes.

  The seed gestured and the flying carpet floated into the cavern. He placed the box on it. Then he bent to examine Arvin and Pakal. He lifted the dwarf's

  leg and flicked his tongue over a patch of black that spread outward from the twin puncture marks left by one of the shadow snake's bites. Hissing softly, he dropped the leg. He turned to Arvin and lifted Arvin's hand. Unblinking eyes stared down at the bite marks on the back of it-punctures surrounded by a dark bruise. The Dmetrio-seed looked disappointed-he probably assumed Arvin was dead and was rueing not having killed Arvin himself-and let Arvin's hand fall. Then he stepped onto the carpet. He shifted into serpent form and coiled tightly around the box. With a flutter of wings, the carpet lifted from the ground and flew out of the cavern.

  The last impression Arvin's manifestation gave him was the Dmetrio-seed's triumphant hiss. Then the vision ended.

  Arvin stood for several moments, staring at the body of the dog-man. The Dmetrio-seed had acted with the decisive brutality Arvin had come to expect from Zelia; the seed had seemed fully aware, powerful and in control. The death of Juz'la must have broken the lethargy he had been languishing under. Arvin shuddered as he contemplated what the dog-man had been forced to do. He had seen Zelia dominate someone before-he'd experienced her psionic compulsions first-hand-but had never dreamed they could be so strong. His tutor, Tanju, had hinted that there were powers that could compel a person to take his own life, but this was the first time Arvin had seen them in action, and Dmetrio was merely one of Zelia's seeds. Arvin would be doubly wary from then on of any version of Zelia.

  Especially the one that had both halves of the

  Circled Serpent.

  Arvin rubbed his forehead, realizing that the tickling he'd felt in his forehead as he descended toward the cave must have been the Dmetrio-seed

  using his psionics to view Arvin at a distance. Arvin had shown the seed exactly where the cave was.

  His left hand still throbbed where the viper had punctured it, his right shoulder was crusted with dried blood from Pakal's attack, and his chest felt bruised from the crushing the yuan-ti who had swept him into the tree had given him.

  The deepest ache, however, was inside him. For a few brief moments, he had held the key to Karrell's prison in his hands, then it was gone again.

  He took a deep breath and pushed the melancholy thought firmly aside. He reminded himself that it could have been worse. It could have been Sibyl who had claimed the Circled Serpent. At least Arvin knew how the Dmetrio-seed's mind worked. There was a chance that the seed would dutifully carry the Circled Serpent back to Zelia in Hlondeth-but only a slim chance. More than likely, the seed had decided to betray Zelia-all Arvin needed to do was find the doo
r. If Arvin could find a way to locate the Dmetrio-seed before the seed learned where the door was, then perhaps…

  The whuff-whuff-whuffof wings startled him out

  of his reverie. A shadow-large and serpent-shapedpassed across the mouth of the cave. A flying serpent, landing at the base of the bluff. Was it Ts'ikil returning? Or Sibyl?

  Arvin scrambled across the cavern toward his pack. Plunging a hand inside, he seized the musk creeper net. He used his dagger to slash the rootlets that had grown into the pack, at the same time manifesting the power that would render him invisible. Then, cautious, he crept to the mouth of the cave.

  CHAPTER 10

  The marilith lowered its face to Karrell's and glared into her eyes.

  "Naughty mortal," it scolded. "Don't you dare run away again."

  Karrell, her legs held by a twist of the demon's tail, met the marilith's eye with a defiant look.

  "Or what?" she countered. "You'll kill me? Go ahead."

  The demon hissed. Its tail tightened. As it did, Karrell whispered Ubtao's name under her breath and brushed a hand against the marilith's mottled green scales. The wound-ing spell took effect, sending a jolt of pain through

  through the marilith's body. The demon gasped and its coils loosened again.

  Karrell felt the ground beneath her feet

  grow soggy. The foul smell of rot drifted up from the ground-the jungle reacting to her spell. She distracted the demon by speaking again.

  "By killing me, you'll only kill yourself," she reminded it.

  The demon's eyes narrowed.

  "Let go of me," Karrell demanded. She nodded down at her belly. "You know I can't run."

  The demon tilted its head, considering. One of its six hands toyed with a strand of sulfur-yellow hair. A half- dozen dretches surrounded it. One of them scratched at its belly, setting the blubber there to jiggling.

  "Mistress," it croaked. "Should we kill it?" Drool dribbled from its mouth as it gave a fang-toothed smile.