Unholy (The Haunted Lands Book 3) by Richard Lee Byers

Author:Richard Lee Byers [Byers, Richard Lee]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786955916
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2010-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

chapter ten

21–25 Mirtul, The Year of the Dark Circle (1478 DR)

It isn’t possible,” said Samas Kul. Disappointment hadn’t robbed him of his appetites, as the buttered roll in his meaty hand and the crumbs scattered down the front of his gorgeous robes attested. But it seemed to Aoth that though the archmage ate and drank as ceaselessly as ever, there was a sullen quality to it instead of the usual gusto. “Break a pattern and you rob it of its arcane virtues. Every apprentice knows that.”

“What a pity,” Lallara drawled, “that Szass Tam isn’t an apprentice.”

Samas glared at her. “Do you understand how he did it?”

“No,” Lallara said, “but the other Dread Rings are still functional, and so is the device they comprise. We’ve all verified it. So it’s time to stop whining that ‘it isn’t possible’ and figure out what to do next.”

Aoth agreed with her. He just hoped there was something to do and that someone would have the cleverness and the will to propose it. He wouldn’t have wanted to bet on it.

The Dread Ring of Lapendrar possessed all the amenities of any great castle, including a hall equipped with a round oak table and chairs where lords and officers could palaver. It was here, beneath hanging black-and-scarlet banners adorned with skulls and other necromantic emblems, that the zulkirs, Bareris, and Aoth had assembled for a council of war. And when the sell-sword captain looked around at his companions, it appeared to him that weariness and discouragement had set their stamps on every face.

Or rather, every one but the bard’s. Bareris’s expression was just as it had been for a hundred years, joyless and haggard but keen as a blade. Aoth had the odd and vaguely resentful thought that for his friend, it was a good thing their plan had failed. Now he had a better excuse to go on hating and fighting.

Everyone sat silently for several heartbeats. Then Samas’s throne floated back from the table. “That’s it, then. I have treasure to move out of Escalant. I assume the rest of you have your own arrangements to make.”

Aoth didn’t realize he was going to jump up out of his chair. It just happened, and the seat overturned to bang on the floor behind him. He leveled his spear and said, “You’re not running. Not unless we all decide it’s the only thing to do.”

Samas’s face turned a deeper red, and inside its yards of jeweled vestments, his gross body seemed to swell like a frog’s. “Are you truly mad enough to try to dictate to me?”

Aoth smiled. “Why not? We’re co-commanders, remember? Besides, our cause is too important, and too many of my men gave their lives to get us this far.”

“This is on your own head, then.” Samas’s quicksilver wand writhed out of his sleeve and into his hand like a snake. “Which would you prefer: to turn to smoke or to live on as mindless worm?”

“Surprise me.” Aoth roused the power in his spear, and the point glimmered.

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