Part 27 (1/2)

The fallen G.o.d clenched his gauntleted hand into a fist, turned his back on the council, and strode to his throne. He sat down and tried to force his anger away, but couldn't stop quivering with rage. Torm had suddenly recognized the extent of the damage wrought by Tenwealth and his perverted plan. All this time, when the Realms were torn by chaos and good people suffered, the G.o.d of Duty had possessed the means to make things right, to fulfill his duty to Lord Ao. And his priests had hidden it from him, supposedly for his own good.

Torm looked out at the frightened priests and awestruck guards, and for the first time, he saw himself through their eyes. I'm just another petty tyrant to them, the G.o.d of Duty realized. I'm nothing but a very powerful despot whom they will do anything to please.

”We were going to give you the tablet when the time was right. We-,” Tenwealth wailed.

”Silence!” Torm shouted. ”Where is the Tablet of Fate now?”

”In the vault,” Tenwealth said softly. ”I had an illusion cast over the tablet to disguise it, and mystical wards keep it safe.”

The G.o.d of Duty stood up again and pointed at Tenwealth. ”You and your council will be held until I decide what to do with you,” Torm growled. ”Guards, take-”

A wild-eyed messenger burst into the room. ”Lord Torm! There are Zhentish s.h.i.+ps on the horizon! They're heading this way!”

The priests all gasped and got off their knees. The messenger stopped moving toward the G.o.d of Duty when he saw the golden lion at his feet. ”Go on,” Torm said. ”What else do you have to report.”

The messenger swallowed hard and spoke again, never taking his eyes off the lion. ”There is something else crossing the Dragon Reach, too. A night-black giant, over fifty feet tall. The goliath wears spiked armor, like one of the Black Lord's a.s.sa.s.sins!”

”Bane!” Torm yelled. The lion roared and leaped to its feet. ”He's come for the Tablet of Fate!”

The fallen G.o.d was then silent for a moment, and he considered the city's dilemma. After a moment, he said, ”Issue a summons to all of my faithful. I wish them to meet in the outdoor cathedral in one hour.”

”We are your faithful!” Tenwealth cried and took a step toward the G.o.d of Duty.

Torm looked at his former high priest. ”In one hour, each of you will have a chance to prove that.” Gesturing to his guards, the G.o.d added, ”Take them to the cathedral. Watch them. Then tell the soldiers to prepare to defend the harbor from the Zhentish s.h.i.+ps. The Black Lord will be my responsibility.”

The hour pa.s.sed quickly for the G.o.d as he formulated his plan and waited for his faithful to gather in the temple. Soon, he was standing on a platform, looking out over a throng of priests and fighters. The Council of Torm stood near the stage, chains around their wrists and ankles.

”There is little time to waste this day,” the G.o.d of Duty cried. ”By now, all of you know that our city will soon face an attack by Zhentish forces. Lord Bane, G.o.d of Strife and Tyranny, conqueror ofScarsdale, approaches the harbor of our city in the form of a giant warrior.” The fallen G.o.d paused and listened to the frightened, excited murmuring of the crowd. After a moment, he added, ”I can stop Bane. But to do so, I need the power that only your belief... and your sacrifice can give to me.”

The noise from the crowd grew louder, and Torm raised his gauntleted hand to silence them. ”My avatar has volunteered to be the first to offer me his essence.” A deep sadness filled the G.o.d of Duty's eyes. ”You must follow his example, do your duty as followers of my word, if Tantras is to be saved from destruction.”

With those words, Torm plunged his hands into his avatar's chest and pulled out his heart. A torrent of sky-blue energy swirled around the staggering body of Torm's avatar then engulfed not only the frail, human form, but also the golden lion that raced to protect its master. When the swirling lights faded, a golden man more than nine feet tall stood before the wors.h.i.+pers of Torm. His head was that of the mighty lion, and his body crackled with energy.

”Your duty calls you,” Torm roared from snarling lips of his new avatar. ”There will be no pain. I would not bring suffering to my faithful. You need only accept your destiny, and you will pa.s.s quietly.”

In unison, a dozen wors.h.i.+pers cried, ”Take us, Lord Torm!”

With expressions of complete bliss, the wors.h.i.+pers fell to the ground. From their gently parted lips, sky-blue mists flowed and rushed toward the G.o.d of Duty. Torm opened his arms and embraced the souls, which lost their individual shapes and became a large pulsating ma.s.s of light. The lion-headed avatar absorbed the energy and started to grow. Soon the cathedral was filled with corpses, and the fallen G.o.d towered over the proceedings, the golden avatar now nearly fifty feet tall. Soul energy flowed toward the avatar from all across the city as word of the G.o.d's need spread. In the temple, Tenwealth and his fellow members of the council were among those who had not yet surrendered their lives.

”So beautiful,” one of the priests wept as he looked up at the golden avatar. ”Yet no matter how strongly I wish to join Lord Torm, he will not accept my life!”

”We were such fools!” Tenwealth cried. ”Forgive us, Lord Torm! Accept our sacrifice! Let us prove our loyalty!”

The lion-headed avatar stared down at the council members. He could feel their desire to join him and almost taste the anguish in their hearts now that they recognized the price of their failure.

Torm closed his eyes and opened his arms. Tenwealth and the rest of the Council of Torm died, and their soul energies rushed to the avatar's embrace. The G.o.d of Duty absorbed the energy, let out a deep, loud roar, and pushed through the back wall of the temple. Then the lion-headed avatar went off in search of the G.o.d of Strife.

At the bow of the Argent, a Zhentish trireme, Cyric stared at a city on the horizon. The thief had not expected to return to Tantras so quickly, but Bane's orders had been explicit. Slater and a few of the other Zhentilar whom Cyric commanded were given orders to stay behind in Scardale, but the majority of the thief's men were a.s.signed to the Argent and ordered to follow Bane. Dalzhel, the leader of one of the contingents of Zhentilar who joined the Scorpions before Tyzack's death, had been made Cyric's lieutenant. Dressed in an ebon cloak that was pressed against his sleek body by the heavy winds, Dalzhel ran his hand over his bushy, black beard.

”You're worried when you shouldn't be,” Dalzhel noted. ”There should be no doubt as to our victory. Lord Bane himself leads us to Tantras.”

”Of course,” Cyric replied, his voice distant. Realizing that Dalzhel was staring at him, the thief a.s.sumed the posture of a confident warrior. ”We will bathe in the blood of our enemies.”

Dalzhel was still staring. Cyric thought for a moment then realized his mistake. ”If we are forced to engage them, we will slaughter the Tantrasans. Lord Bane's orders are not to be taken lightly, no matter how badly some of us may wish to engage these dogs and drive them under our heels.”

The lieutenant looked away. ”Were you privy to the ceremony where Bane took his new avatar?”

”I was,” Cyric replied and felt a warmth spread through his body. ”It was a spectacular event to witness. It was almost inspirational.”

Dalzhel nodded. ”I understand that three beholders were summoned from Zhentil Keep and Lord Myrkul himself was in attendance.”

”That is something of an exaggeration,” Cyric noted and proceeded to tell Dalzhel all that he had witnessed.

After reaching the harbor, the obsidian juggernaut that Bane had inhabited was forced to enter the Dragon Reach from the east side of Scarsdale, while most of the Zhentilar fleet, four sailing s.h.i.+ps, three galleys equipped with rams, and the Argent, left from the Ashaba port to the south. Triremes were noted for their speed and superior handling, so it wasn't surprising that the Argent quickly pulled ahead of the fleet and pa.s.sed the southeast tip ofScarsdalein time to see Bane's mammoth avatar enter the water.

The sun had been directly above the avatar as it waded into the Dragon Reach. Brilliant white light enshrouded the unnatural creation with an aura of blinding luminescence. Despite the glare, though, Cyric could see reddish black mists swirling inside the smoky body. The obsidian giant now hummed with a throbbing tone that rose and fell in time with the movements of the crimson light within its ma.s.sive chest.

During the journey, only the head, shoulders, and parts of the G.o.d of Strife's arms were visible as he waded and swam through the Dragon Reach. The waves Bane caused made it impossible for the fleet to follow closely, and so the G.o.d was always far ahead of the s.h.i.+ps.

Now, as Cyric told Dalzhel about the birth of the obsidian avatar, the Zhentish fleet's two-day trek was almost at an end. Bane had broken away from the main body of the fleet, taking two s.h.i.+ps with him as he prepared to enter Tantras from the north, where thetempleofTormresided. The Black Lord justified the move by claiming he was going to destroy Torm, and thereby plunge Tantras into chaos.

Cyric knew better. The Tablet of Fate was all that concerned Bane, and the thief now knew that the tablet was somewhere near theTempleofTorm.

The Argent had been ordered to take up a position at the northernmost end of Tantras's harbor, closer to the scene of Bane's imminent raid upon theTempleofTormthan any of the other s.h.i.+ps sent to blockade the western borders of the city. The Argent's orders had been to stand ready, but take no action unless it was necessary.

Cyric, however, had plans of his own.

Elminster's lair was a filthy hovel in the low-rent district of Tantras. The heroes had spent the better part of three days hiding there from the priests of Torm. They pa.s.sed the time by arguing about a plan for the retrieval of the first Tablet of Fate.

”I think we should just charge in and grab it,” Kelemvor grumbled sarcastically as he stared at the sharp edge of his blade. The fighter looked up suddenly as he remembered something Adon had mentioned about theTempleofTorm. ”What about the main wors.h.i.+p room in the center of the building? The vault might be there.”

Elminster stared at the ceiling, his fingers absently playing with his beard. ”Ye sound much like the lummox I always took ye for, Kelemvor,” the sage sighed. ”The tablet must be in the diamond corridors that Torm warned Adon about and Tenwealth threatened him with.”

The fighter mumbled something rude about the old mage, but Midnight spoke before Elminster had a chance to reply. ”So how do we get to the tablet, then?” the raven-haired mage asked. ”If we teleported or even opened a gate-”

The sage threw his hands into the air. ”Far too dangerous,” he snapped. ”With the instability in the weave, ye might find thyself a mile beneath the earth or somewhere beyond the reach of the sky. Ye might even find thyself halfway across the Realms, in a place like Waterdeep... but then, ye'll be going there soon enough anyway.”

”That's the second time you've mentioned Waterdeep in the last few days,” Adon said angrily. ”Why do you think we'll go there soon?”

Midnight 's eyes narrowed. ”Yes. You mentioned Waterdeep when we were in the market, too. Why?”

Elminster thought it over then looked at the mage. ”Ye can get to the second tablet through the City of the Dead, next to Waterdeep,” the old sage sighed. ”I learned this from... reliable sources during my time in the Planes. But whether or not ye are worthy of the task of retrieving both tablets-”

Kelemvor punched the rickety wall that stood a few feet away from him. ”No!” he cried then looked to Midnight . ”We're not going to go chasing after the other tablet, too. We're getting nothing in return for this. Let the old wizard get the artifact himself.”