Part 19 (2/2)
Polaris panted spells, but nothing worked Her anger was gone, washed away by terror Never had she fought anyone so fearsoht even be killed! And now, cornered on this ht, her repeated shi+ft spell failed too Soes eed thesphere such as protected floating enclaves Polaris despaired, ready to run for the first time in her life, but couldn't! And now- She shrieked as soled and burned as it touched her skin, and for a second she feared the black ooze Then tentacles sliht the slippery pod in both hands and yanked The thing clung to her skin She gliolden color, and instantly knew it A laraken, a swaed with ht of the parasite blotted out as a squir tentacle covered her eyes A tentacle tip bored into her ear like a sliown, and oozed between her breasts to fasten on the skin over her heart The thing would suck her dry of olden leech
She shrieked, voice cracking, ”Get it-t o-off! Get it off!”
”You didn't say please!” crowed Sysquehed so hard she alined this revenge a million times, but reality was far sweeter than any drea for ing eye she caught plank to lift off Its commander was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, for he'd waited to scoop up everyone still living Sysquemalyn fixed that
She clapped stony hands, arched the fingers to a point, and thrust toward the shi+p Before her, a dent creased rock Like an invisible knife, the crease enlarged as it slashed stone like cheese The phantom ploas nine feet hen it struck the shi+p Wood splintered, copper-riveted boards split and sprung loose People were either chopped in half or pulped with bone-crushi+ng force Screaic cleaver chopped the keel, a curve of oak fourteen inches thick, and broke the back of the shi+p As the shi+p died, so did the ic The shorn hull fetched on a spur of rock, then, with a grinding roar, slid down the ht
The fiend froments of soldiers dissolved The stone iant carpenter tools, yet pools of ice water reave off greasy smoke from charred flesh Blood, shorn liround A hole shohere the ele andwas the only action left Lady Polaris lay on her back and wrestled with the laraken Thriving on her personal dweoulfed Polaris's torso like a giant ball of snot Tentacles flailed for her arrotesque dance Voice broken, she whi thorny feet from black ooze, Sysquemalyn loomed over Polaris The archwizard's beautiful face was scratched, sweaty, scraped Her hair was dirtied and dull, her eyes wild and bloodshot with fright
”That's better,” cooed the hty? Afraid?
Suffering? Worried about dying? Oh, believe eous White Mistake, there are worse things than dying Much,your skin peeled from your body, for one Would you like that?”
A claw like an iron nail lovingly touched Polaris's cheek She recoiled, but the throbbing laraken pinned her tight With ease, Sysqueh Polaris's cheek The archwizard screaue, pierced it, yanked Polaris had to spit out blood or choke
”We could do this all day We ht yet,” crooned the fiend ”But I want you whole, to feel the touch of your pet” With a snaky hand, she caressed the laraken It perked up, sensingtentacle ”Stone skin has advantages, see? I'll tell you what's going to happen This laraken grows by consu your dweomer You'll weaken to a shell, utterly helpless Then the laraken will move to its next task You see, they don't ic You'll serve nicely The laraken will open a cavity in your body, plant an egg, and hile it hatches It will keep you alive while the offspring grows inside you, feeding off you Slowly Over months, or years Oh my, I expect it'll hurt terribly!
You'll feel yourself consumed from within! That almost pays us back, dear Lady Polaris, but co the archwizard's white hair, Sysqueed her to the black cavity left by the departed cryse Even in near-ht, Polaris felt a bitter wind blow from the hole The crysmal had bored back to its own plane This drop would take her far fro she'd ever known Better to die-but would she die?
”This little friend will devour you,” Sysquemalyn cooed, ”but you needn't watch Lie in darkness, deep in this ain And while you lie there, and shrivel, eaten alive, dreae As I did”
And the e
Dazed, in shock, Polaris barely felt her head strike stone, her face rasp as they slid down the corkscrew hole Too, the plump laraken absorbed some blows as they tumbled and rolled Horror overtook Polaris, and she wished to find death quickly
Yet part of her native intelligence fought back, calculating, though fear almost drowned out reason
For Sysquemalyn had made a mistake
By her words, the monster assumed the hole simply dropped into the mountain like a mine shaft
But Polaris had felt the alien breeze, knew it traveled to another plane where she'd never survive If so, there'd be an instant crossing of border to the next plane And at the junction, the anti-shi+fting sphere around the , pitching, and rolling, Polaris repeated her shi+fting spell over and over
Blackness wrapped her, the laraken strangled, rocks bruised, she grew dizzy, would soon black out- -then the spell took hold
Sunlight dazzled Lady Polaris Or twilight, for the sun glared on the western horizon Feebly she shi+elded her eyes, and found her hand free
She was aching, and stiff with blood and sli to her face, clotted in blood at her punctured cheek Her clothes were shredded, every inch of skin burned or scraped Thirst throbbed as if she'd sed fire Crawling, rolling over, she fought to locate herself
Thin yellow grass cluh bloodshot eyes, she recognized a gray lump lit by dusky fire Widowmaker Mountain belched smoke, spilled yellow-red lava down cracked sides, whirled ash into the air fortorch to celebrate her victory
Polaris fell back, sucked dry of ic by battle and the laraken, but her final spell had worked
She'd shi+fted and left the parasite behind She was alive, and whole in body
But her spirit was shattered The twilit sky seee
An overpowering ache possessed her, hole in a dark apartment to eat, and drink cool wine, and rest
Polaris, one of the highest es the ee
Sysquereat Let others, a conclave of great wizards, punish the fiend Lady Polaris only wanted to get home, take a bath, eat, and rest
Yes, she'd stay home from now on
Chapter 17
”Orcs!”
”Kill 'em all!”
The canny orcs chose a perfect spot for an ambush This deep defile, alh this stretch of the Barren Mountains They'd hidden on ledges shrouded by gorse, hurled rocks onto travelers to stun and panic both horses and humans, then rushed from above like falcons
Unfortunately, orcs didn't plan far enough ahead or post a rear guard, so as the orcs battled the travelers, Sunbright and Knucklebones, and glory-hungry dwarves, tore into the orcs
Knucklebones ran right while the shaman dashed and cocked Harvester of Blood over his shoulder
A pair of orcs bludgeoned a wo her hair while her children screaht hollered ”Ra-vens!” loud enough todied instantly Harvester of Blood swung in a whistling arc for the orc's elbow As Sunbright expected, the cowardly creature ducked and flinched The heavy blade clove into the orc's scrawny forearm, and slammed its slack-jawed head Lopped off clean, wrist and hand flipped ahile Harvester bit deep the orc's te crunch The orc dropped like a log, pulling Harvester down Sunbright's blood boiled with a battle-high Flexing his thick wrists, he ripped the blade free, wary because he was temporarily unarmed
He needn't have worried The second orc had abandoned the attack to run Sunbright took a long step, flicked the blade, and snagged the orc's ankle with Harvester's hook Blood spurted as razor-sharp steel cut skin and tendons Crippled, the orc collapsed on its own cleaver It blubbered and cried for mercy, but the barbarian took another step, planted a heavy boot on the orc's back, and stabbed straight down as if gigging fish Harvester's keen tip cleft the orc's spine, and the creature stopped wriggling