“Master?”
“Who is Sath?” Taeben asked roughly.
“My brother,” she answered, her voice innocent and childlike. Something in Taeben’s mind screamed out for attention, another childlike and innocent voice from his past. Sathlir was the Qatu in Bellesea Keep with Gin. Gin…He shoved that memory away and focused on the Qatu female in front of him.
“You are the Princess Royal of Qatu’anari, yes?”
“Yes, Master.”
Taeben licked his lips. “That makes your brother the Prince, next in line for the throne of Qatu’anari, does it not?” Kazhmere’s face clouded over. “What?” He took a slightly calmer approach. “What troubles you, Pet?”
“He is not in line for the throne at all, Master,” she said, tears forming in her large, sightless eyes. “My father disowned him. He told the kingdom that I was stillborn because I was female and therefore not worthy of the throne. There is no heir at this time unless he forced my mother to bear him another cub.”
“The throne is ripe for the picking,” Taeben murmured. “Thank you, Pet, you have been most informative,” he said to Kazhmere, stroking her cheek and drawing a deep purr from her. “That is all I need from you. I command you to go to sleep.” She nodded and curled up as best she could while still encumbered with the magical roots. Once he was sure that she was asleep, he moved back to the other side of the room, grinning from ear to ear. He had done it! He had gotten into her mind without resorting to the coddling, sugary-sweet methods to which his Mistress had been forced to use. That meant he was ahead of her in terms of skill. An evil grin spread across his face. “She is correct on one point, I clearly AM unique,” he whispered, rubbing his hands together. “The power that I could possess is limitless. Not bad for one you thought would never amount to anything, is it my old Master?” Visions of the face of his old guild master in the mage’s enclave in the high citadel swam before his vision and he narrowed his eyes as he made a plan to stop in for a visit once he was free of the tower.
Thirty-Two
“All right, listen. We’ve gotta play this smart, you understand?” Teeand said, looking at each of them in turn as they huddled up right next to the doorway they’d just come through. “She’s a master enchanter. She can turn us against each other. She may already have Sath.” Gin’s breath caught in her throat. “I’m pretty sure that’s why she’s holding Kazhmere, to get to Sath.” He stopped a moment, remembering his promise not to reveal Sath’s identity. “We came here once before, Sath and I, with a team. We made it all the way to the top floor and met up with that crazy bird, Salynth. We weren’t able to defeat her and she escaped as we were forcibly removed from the Tower.”
“Forcibly removed?” Hackort asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Aye, Hack, as in thrown from a window on the top floor. Had it not been for the druid in our group and a well-placed spell that let us rise up like birds on the wing before we crashed into the icy ground below, we would have been finished. Rayhnee was her name, I think,” Tee said, smiling sadly at the memory. “Don’t know what happened to that little halfling.”
“So you made her mad and she threw you out and now she wants revenge? That doesn’t make a lot of sense, Tee,” Gin said, scratching her head. “I mean, if you had beaten her or taken something from her I might understand. But how would she have even remembered who Sath is, let alone set up this elaborate plan to capture his sister? I mean who even knew that Sath had a sister?”
“I see what he means now,” Teeand muttered. “You, lass, have been hanging around with that gnome too much, you’re starting to sound like him.”
“I was just thinking that,” Elysiam said, smiling. The smile didn’t go all the way to her eyes. “But all that aside, Gin has a point. There has to be another reason why Salynth wants Sath and unless we know what that is, I don’t think we are going to be successful just charging in there.”
“And you, Elys, have been influenced by our resident pacifist druid I think!” Teeand exclaimed, clearly amazed at the fact that she did not just advise that they charge on ahead, killing as they went. “I don’t know what she wants with him, but clearly there is something there. When she found out who Kazhmere was, she saw her chance to get Sath here to rescue his sister.”
“There’s more,” Gin said. “She has another prisoner, a wizard that I think I know. I remember him from when I was a child. I last saw him in Bellesea Keep, and helped to free him when I stayed…well, anyway, I have no idea how he ended up here.” Elysiam turned on Gin, eyes warning her to leave that in the past. “You may remember him too, Elys, he was from Alynatalos. Name’s Taeben.”
“Of course I remember him.” Elysiam snarled. “Prancing around, thinking he was better than us because he was from the high citadel.” She spat onto the floor. “He was the one to rat me out for my warrior training, if I remember correctly? I was working under a paladin called Nelenie, remember her? I think she was the older sister of your friend Tairneanach?”
“Yes! I did know about that, Elys,” Gin said, looking sad. “Nel…she was like an older sister to me as well. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“I do. She was banished,” Elysiam said, frowning. “Her Paladin guild leader couldn’t accept that she was training me because I was a wood elf. Banished her from the guild and then her family turned their backs on her. Last I heard she was living rough, working as a mercenary. She had amazing skills.” Elysiam wiped a tear from her eyes. “Taeben was the cause of all of her pain. I think you just gave me renewed reason to fight, Gin.”
“Great, that makes me feel so much better,” Hackort said, rolling his eyes. “No, really, actually it does make me feel better because now I want to fight things.” The gnome was practically vibrating. “Let’s go!”
“We need a plan first,” Teeand said, putting a hand on Hack’s arm. The dwarf breathed a sigh of relief that they seemed to have forgotten about Sath’s identity. “Now we have a dragonkind sorceress and her pet wizard to deal with on top of all the undead minions. Why don’t we throw in a few sand giants and a wyvern or two and make it a fair fight?” He sighed and pulled on his beard as he did when he was deep in thought.
“I think we need to have one druid on each of you for healing magic,” Elysiam said, “much as I hate to even think that because it means all I’m doing is healing.”
“I disagree,” Teeand said. “Hack and I can hold our own. We will need you two to be pouring as much magical unpleasantness onto them as you can. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of here alive and with Sath and his sister.”
“What about that other Cat?” Elysiam said, her eyes narrowing. “How did you get away from her, Gin?” She turned on her sister druid and stared at her, head cocked to one side, but Gin stared right back.
“I don’t know. She was taking me to trade me for Sath’s sister but he…interrupted her. Then Salynth appeared and that’s when I saw Taeben with her.” She looked from face to face. “I don’t think he is there of his own free will. He didn’t look…right. He looked like he was in a daze.”
“He was most likely charmed,” Teeand said. “That’s how she does it, how she keeps all these shades at her beck and call, and I imagine how she got Anni to come get Sath for her.”
“I don’t think Anni is working with Salynth,” Gin said, frowning.
“But why else would she try to…” Elysiam started to ask, but Teeand held up a hand.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Gin, I’m sorry, but I think we have to count that Anni is not on our side and I fear that Sath may be charmed against us too.”
“I don’t believe for a minute that he would hurt us,” Gin said.
“Then you’re a fool,” Teeand said. They glared at each other for a long minute. “But fool or not, I’ve got your back, Flower.” He grinned at her and she grinned back. “So we need a plan.”
“How about this,” Elysiam suggested, her tone positively effervescent. “You two take the lead. Be
llow, scream, insult, whatever you need to do. Gin and I will call up our magic to nibble at their heels. Then, when they aren’t paying attention, we run in and pull down a quake on her head. Easy peasy. Take Sath and Kazhmere and get out of this creepy Tower.”
“It’s not that easy, Elys,” Teeand exclaimed, his face reddening. “You can’t just run in against an sorceress.”
“I say there’s only one way to find out,” Elysiam said as she darted away from the group and into the tunnel that Sath had run through only a short time before. The others followed her and soon all of them were in the cavernous room normally occupied by Lord Kalinth. “Holy…this is a huge room! The Tower’s not this big on the outside, is it?” she whispered. “Looks clear.”
Teeand swore under his breath and followed her into the large room with Hack and Gin right behind him. Gin scanned the room, her tracking abilities keen. “Sath’s been here. Not long ago, either. We need to move on through here though, I sense something else lives here and I doubt that it’s friendly.”
“Clever druid!” Lord Kalinth’s voice boomed through the cavernous area. “Why, I’m having all kinds of visitors tonight! What fun!” The dragon circled the ceiling, barely able to spread his wings, and then came to rest in back of them, blocking their exit.
“What’s your name?” Gin asked, motioning for the others to keep moving toward the doorway.
“Oh, no, I’m not falling for that again,” Lord Kalinth said, chuckling. “The Prince tried that one before, tried to distract me with names, but I didn’t fall for it then and I won’t now.”
Teeand’s face tightened at the mention of ‘The Prince.’ He turned to Gin and whispered, “Keep him occupied.” Using hand signals, he directed the other two to take the opposite corners, and then he went to a corner directly across from Hackort. Gin waited until she got a nod from Tee and then walked out in front of the giant dragon who peered down at her, icy blasts shooting from its nostrils.
“My name is Gin,” she said as loudly as she could. “Will you let my friends and me pass? We have business with the Lady Salynth.” She heard a gasp and looked over at Elysiam who was staring at her as though she had three heads.
“You know my Lady, do you?” Lord Kalinth asked as he lowered his head to peer more closely at Gin.
“Aye,” Gin said, hoping against hope that her knees did not buckle in fear. Thanks to Sath’s hatred of them, they had fought dragons and dragonkind plenty of times, but Gin had never been this close to one of this size and considerable age before. “Now, will you let us pass?”
“I am afraid I cannot, little one,” the dragon rumbled, chuckling. “You see I know who it is that my Mistress has business with today and it is not you. For your bravery, however, I will give you a head start to leave the Tower I have made for her before I have to dispatch you myself.” Lord Kalinth moved his massive head down very close to Gin and looked her in the eye. She shuddered at the large icy eyes that stared into hers. “Do not make me regret my generosity, Ginolwenye of the Forest,” he whispered. Icy shivers rolled down Gin’s spine. “Now, GO!”
“Yes, GO!” Gin shouted as her companions slipped back through the doorway as she headed for it, running as fast as she could. Lord Kalinth chased her over to the door, wings flapping madly and laughing heartily. Gin ran up to the doorway and jumped into the air, thinking she would pass through it, but she only bounced off the closed door.
“Oh dear, did I forget to tell you that the magic in these doorways only goes one way if you are new to my Tower? How else would I keep my Lady safe here?” the enormous dragon giggled. “Now what shall we do, my little druid?”
Gin sat on the ground in front of the door with the mammoth dragon hovering just above her head. She closed her eyes, thinking the end was near for her and was thankful that the others had gotten through the doorway to save Sath and his sister. “Just make it quick,” she whispered, thinking that every moment Lord Kalinth was occupied with her was one more moment that the others could gain ground above.
“Now that is no fun at all,” the dragon grumbled. To Gin’s amazement, he drifted backward a few paces from where she had landed. “I hope the others in your group are more…HEY!” He turned his back to her, scanning the room for the others. “WHERE ARE THEY?”
“Heading off to destroy your Mistress, I would imagine!” Gin shouted as she scrambled to her feet. She dashed between the legs of the dragon and then turned back to make another attempt at passing through the doorway.
“Oh, no no no, you will not…You cannot evade me, Gin!” the dragon roared. Gin found herself flying through the air backward toward the dragon and she screamed in frustration just before she hit the floor at his feet. Using adrenaline she didn’t know she had, she hopped to her feet and cast a spell that would cause roots to grow around the dragon’s tree trunk sized legs, slowing him down as he pounded toward her. He paused to complain and tug at the roots, giving her time to turn back to him and hurtle a spell full of stinging insects to keep him further distracted. He batted the swarm away with one clawed hand, pulled his feet free, and thundered after her.
Gin reached the doorway and tried again to run through it but remembered that she didn’t have the magic key just before she slammed into the wooden door and was thrown backward. “I cannot catch a break!” she hissed in frustration, then fell silent as one of the dragon’s giant clawed feet stopped inches from her.
“Naughty, naughty druid,” Lord Kalinth rumbled. “How shall I present you to my Lady? Dead is no fun.” He squatted down to peer at her, effectively blocking all of her chances to run past him. “Inside out? I haven’t seen a wood elf inside out in a long time. Should I start from the bottom or the top?” Gin scooted back until her backside hit the cold wall next to the door as she stared at him in horror. “Maybe tied in a bow? No, her little arms and legs are too short for a proper bow. Hmmm….”
“Seriously?” Anni’s voice came from the other side of the doorway. “You could have killed her several times by now.” A furry arm moved through the wooden door as though it was water and hooked around Gin’s head, pulling her backward and into the doorway. Gin grabbed Anni’s elbow to keep from being strangled and to make sure that she was not dropped in the middle. She could hear Lord Kalinth screaming and pounding on the other side of the door.
“What did you do that for?” Gin wheezed as Anni released her on the other side of the doorway. “You going to…try to trade me again?”
“No.” Emerald eyes shone out of grayish fur as Anni stared down at the druid. “Sathlir needs your help…I need your help to help him.”
“What has happened? Where are the others?” Gin said, her heart jumping up into her throat.
“They are on their way to engage Salynth and her pet wizard,” Anni said, scowling. “The wizard is the deal breaker. Your friends will not be able to manage Salynth and the wizard together,” she said. “But he knows you; I heard that he recognized you.”
“Aye,” Gin said sadly. “I knew him when we were children and…yes, I know him.”
“Then you must use that to your advantage,” Anni whispered to her. “He will hesitate to hurt you if he knows you, and that’s when the others will strike.”
“But he is a prisoner too, just like Sath’s sister, is he not?” Gin asked. “Why must we strike him? Can we not rescue him as well?”
“Eyes on the target, druid. That wizard is collateral damage,” Anni hissed. Gin frowned at her. “Our goal is to rescue Sathlir and Kahzi. I would have thought that you of all people would put Sathlir’s wellbeing first?
Gin cocked her head to one side. “What do you mean by that, Anni?”
“Gin, only a fool would not see how you feel about him. We all love Sathlir and must work to make sure he is safe, yes?” Anni said, her emerald gaze holding Gin fast.
“We…we do all love Sath, yes,” the druid said quietly. “What is your plan, Anni?”
“Simple,” Anni replied. “Sathlir has charged on ahead to
engage Lady Salynth. Your friends are on their way to…help.” She choked out the last word, almost unable to keep back her disgust for them. “We need to hang back a bit and let them become embroiled in the melee before we offer help. That way we can use the element of surprise to our advantage and hopefully they will have taken care of all of her minions so we can concentrate on ending her.” Anni’s gaze remained fixed on Gin’s face as she began drumming her fingers almost imperceptibly on the skin of the drum she wore on her belt. “Do you understand me, Ginolwenye?” she purred in Qatunari as the drum’s rhythm began to drill into the druid’s awareness. The beat began to synchronize with Gin’s heartbeat, and Anni smiled as Gin blinked, and then turned her face up to look at Anni, her eyes blank and staring.
“Yes, I understand Mistress,” she said. “How many I serve you?”
“Follow me,” Anni said. She crept away from the door leading to the enchanted cavern and toward the hall, where a loud melee was erupting. Gin followed her closely, grabbing onto the large feline’s tail periodically. “Cut that out,” Anni hissed.
“Apologies, Mistress, it is a habit developed while running with Sathlir. He often has me hanging onto his tail so that I do not become lost,” Gin said, her eyes wide and void of the emotion usually there when she spoke of Sath. Anni spat.
“Well stop it,” Anni said, increasing the frequency of the drumbeat. Gin’s eyes shut for a moment and then opened again, nothing but a void present in their depths as she released Anni’s tail. “Much better.” She sprinted down the hall again with Gin following closely but not touching Anni’s tail until she reached the spot where the fighting had broken out. “And you will never do that to…oh, dear spirits, never mind!”
Teeand and Hackort were up to their eyes in shades and ghosts when Gin and Anni arrived. Elysiam was off to the side with fire shooting from her fingertips. With every blast, the flames grew weaker and Elysiam grew angrier. “Stop the torching and shoot us some healing magic, would you please?” Teeand shouted over his shoulder. Elysiam scowled at him but did as he asked. He and Hackort felt the wave of magic sweep over them and immediately increased their attack rate and accuracy. “Thanks Elys…Elys?” He had glanced back over his shoulder and she was nowhere nearby. Hackort spun around then and let out an anguished cry followed by a bellow of pure rage. He ran toward the shade that stood on Elysiam’s body, now prone on the floor, passed out cold. With a shriek that woke the rest of the dead in the room, Hackort cut the ghost’s head from its transparent shoulders. He grabbed Elysiam by one of her arms and dragged her to the side before jumping back in to dispatch more of the minions.
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