Havilar screamed through her gag: the amulet. One opening and Mehen would be knocked on his back as neatly as she had been. Oblivious to the danger, Mehen pulled his sword back for a wide slash. The shopkeeper held the amulet in his palm, leaning toward him.
Havilar got her feet under her and stood woozily. She lowered her head and charged, horns first at the shopkeeper. The crash shook her skull down to the neck and she fell to her knees. With a great cry, the shopkeeper was thrown from his feet and landed hard on the cobbles. The amulet flew through the air to skitter to a stop at Mehen’s feet. He kicked it into the shadows, and slashed the falchion across the hamstrings of the fallen shopkeeper, who was trying to find his bearings. The shopkeeper screamed again, his cries falling into great moaning sobs.
Mehen rushed to Havilar, unsteady on his feet, and tore the gag from her mouth. The air might have been humid and close, but it still felt cold and refreshing compared to the sodden rag, and she took great gulps of it before Mehen crushed her to him.
“Thank the gods,” she said, tears springing to her eyes. “I could not figure …” She trailed off as she realized Clanless Mehen was weeping too.
“You’re all right?” he asked.
“Bumped and scraped and bruised,” she said, as he cut through the ropes around her chest and wrists. “Where’s Farideh? And Brin?”
Mehen shook his head grimly. “Keeping the rest of these bastards at a distance. We’re to get Tam and the city guard. We’ll meet the others at the gate.” If they’re still alive, Havilar thought.
“No,” she said, “please. We need to help them. I can’t bear.… Please Mehen.”
“I don’t like it either, but there’s foul magic happening, and we can’t risk it.”
“At least let’s make sure they’re all right!”
Mehen hesitated—clearly he did not like being sent to cool his heels while Farideh risked herself any more than Havilar did. And surely—surely—the two of them could be of some use without coming too near Rohini.
“No.” He helped her stand. “Grab your glaive. We have to get the guard.”
Havilar cursed and grumbled to herself, but she did as he said. They moved through the side streets, away from the main road, away from the action. At every crossing Havilar looked for signs of trouble in the direction of the House of Knowledge. She needed to be there, not hunting up guardsmen to show up too late.
But the last time she’d run off on her own, she’d been caught by the shopkeeper.
Still she hurried ahead of Mehen. The Hall of Justice’s doors were hanging open, and from inside a cacophony of voices shouted at one another. There were half-a-dozen soldiers, their armor blazoned with lion’s heads and gauntlets like the one on Brin’s medallion. Two of them held Tam’s arms, and the wiry priest was making sure their work was cut out for them.
“I didn’t know about the fire,” he shouted. “I was only reporting the bodies. What sort of idiot do you take me for?”
“It’s the way things are done,” the armored woman before him said. “We’ll sort things out once the ashes cool. Never fear.”
“You don’t have time for that!
“He’s right!” Havilar said. A few of the guards turned to stare at her. The armored woman ignored her. This, she thought, is exactly why I should be with Farideh.
“Havilar?” Tam said. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to—”
“There’s a battle,” Mehen interrupted coming in behind her. “A battle brewing with cultists and devils and planes know what else. You need to send your troops to the House of Knowledge before all the Hells break loose.”
Hurry, Havilar nearly shouted. If they went now, perhaps she could still help.
The armored woman peered at Mehen. “Who are you?”
“He’s trustworthy,” Tam said. “And she was one of the two who saw the murder scene. Will you listen?”
Outside a horn sang an alarm that echoed over the half-built buildings, the ancient temples and the mountains beyond. Havilar jerked toward the noise. “What’s that?”
“That’s the soldiers on the Wall,” the armored woman said. “Something’s wrong.”
That did it. Mehen could do as he liked, but Farideh needed her now. Havilar took off running toward the House of Knowledge, fast as her aching legs could carry her.
FARIDEH RACED ALONG THE ALLEYS THAT PARALLELED THE MAIN ROAD, scrambling over refuse and scree and unconscious bodies alike. Overhead, hidden by his charm, Lorcan flew. If she glanced up, she could almost perceive the disturbance in the air that marked his passage, but she had not tried for several minutes, she was too focused not tripping over the detritus. Brin ran ahead of her, the pale of his shirt like a torch in the night.
They reached the hospital only seconds before the squadron of erinyes and tucked themselves behind an abandoned food stall in the shadow of one of the buttresses.
For a moment, it looked as if the erinyes meant to enter the House of Knowledge. But then a familiar figure launched herself from one of the high windows.
“Welcome to Neverwinter, my captain,” Rohini said, hanging in the air on wings made of nightmares. “A pity you’re too late.”
“Traitor!” Invadiah bellowed. “You’ll return to the Hells—in shackles or in pieces, I care not which. But you’ve broken your last oath.”
Rohini laughed. “And? I am beyond oaths, beyond allegiances.” She flew a little higher and the soldiers on the wall sent a volley of arrows over at her. Rohini gave them no notice. “Especially not for a hierarchy eager to use me up and leave me for dead like an enemy on the field.” She raised her arms, hideous light dancing up her skin and shooting off into the night.
A terrible cacophony came from the other side of the Wall—from the Chasm beyond. The soldiers on the Wall screamed and swords rang against the stone. One long tentacle reached over the Wall, and then another, hauling up a creature with a great gaping maw of teeth. Brin started.
“No,” Farideh said, throwing up an arm to stop him. “Let them kill each other. We’re only going to make sure Rohini falls.”
“And quickly,” Brin said, pointing to the slimy-skinned man standing in the doorway beside Brother Vartan. “That one serves the aboleths. I would stake everything on it. He can call the monsters from the Chasm, same as Rohini.”
Another three creatures—bristling, squidlike things that belonged in the sea and not the air at all—shot over the Wall and attacked the erinyes. The largest creature heaved itself to the ground, shaking the already fragile buildings.
Lorcan landed beside her, his invisibility gone. “Damn spell has run out.” He stared at the horrors of the Chasm. “Lords.… ”
The erinyes divided into clusters of three and went after the monsters with deadly precision. Still, for every grave wound or severed tentacle, an erinyes reeled from poison or dropped her weapons to clutch her head. Invadiah herself was in better stead, her flaming sword deflecting the worst of the largest monster’s attacks.
But none had reached Rohini. And they were falling.
The succubus landed lightly beside the servitor, sickly magic dancing over her like a second skin. She surveyed the wild battle with an air of amusement.
“Here’s a prophecy for you,” Farideh heard the succubus say. “This city will be your grave.” She turned to the man. “I hope you don’t mind sharing it with all the rest.”
Rohini’s hand shot out and wrapped around the servitor’s throat. Her fingernails lengthened, piercing the man’s slick skin as he struggled against her surprising grip. A pulse of Hellish magic surged through Rohini and into the man, rocking him with a convulsion violent enough that Farideh heard bones crack.
“A fitting offering,” Rohini crooned, “the City of Jewels. A sacrifice to fallen Arunika. To lost Rohini. And your masters … well, they won’t care a bit. You shouldn’t have pressed me.”
Another pulse of Hellish power–mingled now with the strange, dancing magic–shook the man. Rohini r
eleased him and he collapsed to the stone stairs.
Farideh gripped the broken wood of the stall’s edge. Rohini gestured again at the wider city, flinging streamers of her strange magic out into the night. The creatures from the Chasm lifted heads, eyes, and tentacles, following the path of her casting into the city beyond. One fleshy beast, all barbs and wet eyes, sprang forward, crashing into the ancient brickwork of a merchant’s shop.
The erinyes were nothing but a pebble in Rohini’s path, Farideh thought. She pulled the rod from her sleeve.
“Lorcan, go up and strike at her from above,” Farideh said. When he started to argue, she added, “We can’t get away as long as she can make those monsters do her bidding. Brin, get your sword ready and for the love of Torm, hope your spells work.”
One of the large monster’s tentacles slammed down on the stall, shattering it into splinters. The three of them scrambled backward out of the way as it rose up again, waving over the battling devils.
Farideh ran into the street, trusting that they would follow her, not caring if they did because she knew she had to stop Rohini before she destroyed everything. As she ran, she pulled her rod free and called up the powers of the Hells. Not fire, she remembered. Missiles of brimstone rained down on Rohini and Brother Vartan, on the appendages of the larger monster that waved too near.
Rohini grinned. “Ah, Glasya’s latest prize.” Vartan’s lip curled and his hands wove the paths of some spell.
“I have him,” Brin shouted as he passed.
A bolt of energy streamed down from where Lorcan hovered and struck Rohini. She screamed in rage and cast her own magic up at him. He ducked it and swooped farther back.
Farideh started to cast another rain of missiles, when Rohini launched at her. Her talons closed on Farideh’s arms and pulled her in close.
“You’ve been so difficult,” she said. “Twisted out of my grasp so many times.” A shock of pain burst over Farideh, driving her breath from her lungs. Her knees buckled, but Rohini held her up, her mad eyes dancing. “I don’t play by your rules anymore. Let’s see how Lorcan likes fighting his little toy to the death.”
Something heavy wrapped itself around Farideh’s heart, and something sharp sank itself into her mind. She could hardly remember how to breathe—where was she? What nightmare was this? Something terrible was circling her overhead, she had to knock it from the sky. The woman standing in front of her was giving her an eager, ferocious look … Did she know her? Yes, Rohini. And the creature above wanted to hurt Rohini and Farideh both. Only she could save … Rohini.
Rohini.
Farideh blinked and her heart seized.
Rohini, who had nearly killed her sister.
She pointed the rod at Rohini’s throat. “Adaestuo.”
The blast seared away the succubus’s skin and sprayed blood over both her and Farideh. Farideh pulled the rod back like a club and cracked it hard across the succubus’s face. Rohini reeled back, but as Farideh stepped toward her, vertigo overtook her—the succubus’s domination wasn’t completely gone. She glanced up in time to see Lorcan hit the Wall hard as a tentacle lashed out of the sky and into him. He scrabbled at a window ledge and clung on long enough to get his bearings and draw his sword before leaping back into the sky.
Behind Rohini, Brin dodged Brother Vartan’s blast of magic and sank his sword into the twisted priest. The man collapsed, not only blood pouring from his wounds, but a colorless slime that Brin stepped neatly out of—the horrors of Vartan’s search for secret knowledge.
Rohini straightened, her eyes mad, the powers of the Hells and the Sovereignty warring over her skin. She spotted Brin, and her eyes took on a wicked gleam.
“Come here, boy,” she said sweetly. “I have need of your sword.” Brin straightened, his eyes glazing. He looked down at the servitor and the sword in his hand, then up at Rohini, puzzled. He took a step forward.
Rohini screamed, her wings going stiff and thrust back. Both Brin and Farideh stumbled as the traces of her magic fled.
Rohini gasped and spat blackish blood, then slid to her knees, her wings drooping.
The blade of Havilar’s glaive was buried in her back. Havilar yanked it free and Rohini fell face first into the ground. Havilar spat.
“And I still don’t think you’re pretty,” Havilar said. She looked down at Farideh. “Are you all right?”
“Move!” Lorcan swept down and caught Farideh, shoving her out of the way. Havilar scrambled after them, dragging Brin behind her.
Farideh glanced back to see Invadiah swinging her blazing sword at the larger monster’s last tentacle. The thing gave a horrible scream and recoiled, waving in the air. It slammed down beside Rohini’s broken body, then slithered heavily around her, pulling the fouled succubus up and over the Wall. Back to the Chasm it had come from.
Farideh risked a glance around. The smaller monsters were all slowing, bleeding out as the remaining erinyes shook off the effects of their poisons and mental attacks. The guards up on the Wall were rallying.
Here, Farideh thought, is where things go sour. They could draw off the erinyes, but where to? Not here, she thought. If they could get the devils out of the city, Neverwinter might mount a reasonable defense.
“Come on,” she said to Havilar, “we need to catch their attention.”
Lorcan grabbed ahold of her arm. “I didn’t promise my help in getting you killed.”
“No one’s asking for your help,” she said. “If we don’t, Neverwinter could fall.”
“Then let it,” he said. “It is not yours to care for.”
“It is mine as much as it is anybody’s,” she said, twisting from his grip.
In front of the House of Knowledge, a bright line of red light sliced through the air, then split wide like an opening eye. A low buzz filled Farideh’s ears, and suddenly the gap exploded with creatures the size of wolves that swarmed over the erinyes, their sharp stingers glistening with venom.
“Hellwasps,” Lorcan said, and he pulled both twins behind the body of the largest monster. The devils swooped over the battling erinyes, breaking off in pairs to circle them, trapping them each neatly apart from their sisters. He pulled Farideh nearer into the curl of his wing. He was shaking.
A piercing cry ripped through the night air as one erinyes sliced neatly through one of the smaller devils. It vanished in a burst of flame. Before she could so much as laugh, two of the larger hellwasps descended on her and speared her through with their stingers. She collapsed with a yelp, and the other erinyes were wise enough to take the hint and sheathe their swords.
“You are to come with us,” Farideh heard one of the large ones say to Invadiah. “You are to stand for the failure of your mission.”
“My mission has not failed,” Invadiah countered. “It is still in progress.”
“The queen deems it a failure,” the hellwasp said. “You will come with us, or we have orders to kill you here. After you have reformed, you will be tried. It is your choice.”
Invadiah growled, but sheathed her burning blade and set her hands atop her head. “If you recapture that succubus and my idiot son,” she said, “then I will gladly go to see them punished for this disaster.”
“We will find them.” The hellwasps not guarding the erinyes were sweeping the street, killing the last few cultists who had the bad sense not to stay away.
Farideh turned to face Lorcan. “Run,” she whispered. “Come with us.”
“There is no running,” he said. “They will search until they have me.”
“You don’t mean that,” Farideh said. “They’ll kill you.”
“They might. And you’ll be safe. I told you before, darling,” he said, “I’m not such a bad fellow.”
The hellwasps buzzed nearer and Farideh clung to his arm, to keep him there out of sight, to keep him from making a mistake. He was stronger than she was, though. She couldn’t hold him and he broke free of her, pushing her back, farther behind the dead horror. Havilar cau
ght hold of her as Lorcan stepped out into the open street, his hands held in a gesture of surrender. The remaining hellwasps spotted him and circled back, peering at Lorcan from one angle, then another.
Farideh found herself hoping that they would pass him over. But the pair of hellwasps seized Lorcan in their swordlike talons and ushered him through the waiting portal.
It snapped shut behind them like a slamming door, and Farideh let out the cry she’d been holding back. He was gone. She might never see him again.
It wasn’t what she wanted after all.
Havilar pulled at her arm. “Come along,” she said. “Unless you want to get eaten by those Chasm monsters or thrown in jail. The defenders are coming.”
Farideh watched from the crest of the hill where they’d first spied Neverwinter as the sun rose and the low light painted the massive walls bloody red. She pointed at a stone near the road. “Assulam.” When it shattered into fragments, she sighed. A momentary comfort.
Tam and Mehen had spotted them fleeing the scene, and separated from the confused and riled guard. None of them had spoken as they rushed out of the city, carrying only their weapons, until they reached the crest of the hill.
“Rest,” Mehen ordered. “Check your weapons and catch your breath. We’ll have to get farther on before we try to camp in case …” He snorted. “In case any of those monsters come for us.”
Farideh kept watching the city. The Chasm seemed to flicker more brightly than usual. She cast again on another stone, and again it shattered.
Havilar sidled up beside her. “Do you think they’ll kill Lorcan?” she asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know. He’s fine for now. I can’t get powers from a corpse.” Farideh rubbed her branded arm. “It was the only way for him to get home.” Havilar put an arm around her and squeezed.
“I can’t decide,” she said, “whether it would be better or worse for him to be gone. But I hope whatever happens isn’t too hard to bear.”
Farideh kept her eyes on Neverwinter, and bit her tongue. “I hope the city survives.”
Brimstone Angels Page 38