The Wizardwar (Counselors & Kings) by Elaine Cunningham

Author:Elaine Cunningham [Cunningham, Elaine]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786961887
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2011-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

Kiva watched as Akhlaur received the stolen magic. His long, black staff crackled with bluish light and gathering energy. His faintly green face was intent as he considered the nature of his booty.

“Druid spells,” he said disgustedly, and tossed the eel aside. “The laraken will have to do better than that”

Despite his words, he seemed pleased. The laraken would quickly advance Akhlaur’s rise to power, even if many of the spells it drank were of no use to its master. Whatever magic Akhlaur possessed was magic that another wizard did not.

“One thing concerns me about the laraken’s return,” Kiva said. “I am afraid its presence might drain away my hard-won spells. It did so once before.” In a few words, Kiva told the necromancer how she had regained her wizardly magic and how the effort had aged her.

“You raided the Lady’s Mirror,” Akhlaur repeated, clearly amused. “I must say, little Kiva, your initiative is rather impressive.”

The necromancer snapped his fingers, then plucked a small, glittering vial from the empty air. “All problems have solutions. You recognize this powder?”

The elf hesitated, then nodded. It was the same glowing green substance that had triggered the zombie transformation in the half-elven wizard’s guard.

“There is a death-bond between us,” Akhlaur went on, “which already gives you some immunity to the laraken. I can strengthen that bond. While I am not averse to taking your spells, it serves my purpose to keep you as a loyal servant.”

Kiva pretended to consider this. “But what if I die, my lord? The death-bond between us is already as strong as it can be without binding both ways.”

“Hence the potion,” Akhlaur said with strained patience, as if speaking to a particularly slow and stupid child. “I have no intention of dying, of this I assure you! This potion will grant you a type of immortality. An elf can expect an unnaturally long life; this will ensure a lich transformation at the end of it.”

“I had never aspired to such an afterlife,” Kiva said, speaking for once with complete truth. Elves, particularly wild elves, viewed transformation into any undead creature as an unspeakable abomination and a fate to be avoided at any cost.

The necromancer took her words at face value. He motioned for Kiva’s water flask and poured the potion into it She accepted the flask eagerly and tipped it back. Remembering the terrible death throes of the half-elven wizard, Kiva gave a theatrical shudder and dropped to the ground. She thrashed and flailed, twisting herself into wild contortions—conveniently managing to spit out most of the tainted water unnoticed. By her reckoning, a sip would strengthen the death-bond sufficiently without preparing her for lichdom.

At last Kiva dragged herself to her feet “And you, Lord Akhlaur,” she said hoarsely. “Have you also taken this precaution?”

The necromancer gave her a condescending smile. “As long as the crimson star lasts, what power could possibly bring me down?”

“I have often pondered that very question,” she said.

Akhlaur’s face fell slack with astonishment, then darkened with wrath.

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