The Emerald Scepter soa-3

by Thomas M. Reid

  Might as well go all out, he had decided.

  The chamber was a cacophony of shouting once more as high priests debated with one another over the absurdity or plausibility of Pilos's final statements. Pilos stood still at last, waiting expectantly. When the council chamber was silent once more, all eyes turned to Lavant.

  The obese priest looked decidedly uncomfortable, but he stood to address the assembly with as smooth and as stoic a face as ever. "Dignifying such outrageous claims as this whoreson has made is beneath me, but obviously, there is some truth in what he says, insofar as he believes it to be so. It is true that certain events have unfolded in a favorable way, both for me personally and for this temple, but to go so far as to say that I was deceptive in my endeavors is laughable. Many of the points he raises are pure conjecture, with no substantive proof to back them. To bring the woman Lobra Pharaboldi and submit her to further questioning would be useless, for I have met with her myself-as Pilos so vehemently has asserted-and I can assure you she is quite delusional. The things she has apparently claimed about my involvement with her House's affairs are simply false.

  "However," he continued, raising his voice to be heard over the muttering that began anew in the gallery, "in light of the questions that have been raised, I will in good conscience remove myself from these deliberations and allow you to conduct them to their conclusion without me. If you see fit to accept this fool's words as an accurate portrayal of the truth, then find me guilty and charge me. If, however, you feel you can trust that everything I do is done for the glory of Waukeen, and that I would still make an able and energetic leader of her works, then I would humbly consider remaining as Grand Syndar."

  With that, Lavant stepped down from the dais and strode purposefully across the room. All around him, the noise of debate rose again, until someone shouted for Lavant's arrest. Lavant refused to stop walking even after several guards blocked his path, and only when they forcibly restrained him, amidst ear-splitting chaos within the chamber, did he begin to break down and struggle, a look of genuine fright on his face.

  As the guards who had been assigned to watch over the five companions on trial began to release them from their bonds, Pilos looked over at his companions. Horial nodded to him approvingly, and Edilus actually smiled.

  "Well done, lad," Horial said, clapping the young priest on the shoulder. "Fine speechmaking. You should consider becoming an orator for the temple."

  Pilos started to respond, but the noise of the chamber suddenly shifted, becoming more frantic, more desperate. Pilos looked up and saw that everyone was pointing where Lavant and his enforced escort had been standing.

  Lavant had disappeared.

  CHAPTER 14

  Waukeen, Vambran pleaded, dazed by the enormity of the creature slithering toward him. What in the bloody Nine Hells is that thing? Shaking off the paralyzing fear that gripped him, the lieutenant went into action, scrambling upward, away from the ranging, reaching tentacles.

  The sudden motion only seemed to spur on the monstrosity. Vambran scuttled to the very top of the chamber, thankful that his arcane ability still functioned. Once there, he turned to see if he was out of the thing's reach. To his dismay, the mercenary officer saw that the body of the worm reached halfway across the floor, its head near the altar, and it still hadn't completely cleared the hole from which it had emerged. The tentacles wriggled and quested for him, elongating to span the distance.

  "Son of a whore!" Vambran swore, trying to figure a way to escape. He got an idea and pulled forth his holy coin. Uttering a familiar prayer, he conjured a swarming field of coins and sent it flying toward the behemoth below him.

  The buzzing swarm of coins did not distract the giant worm as Vambran had hoped. He began to mentally command the glowing, ghostly weapons to attack the creature, and he was relieved to discover their effect on the worm. The coins did nothing against the worm's tough outer skin, but whenever they hit a tentacle, it spasmed and writhed, trying to get away from the source of the pain.

  Changing tactics, the worm reared back, withdrawing its tentacles. Vambran got the uneasy feeling that the creature was on the verge of spitting something, and he feared whatever it disgorged could easily reach him. Sure enough, the worm's head darted up toward him and a great gout of liquid burst forth from its mouth, right at Vambran.

  The lieutenant had no chance to duck or dodge, so he did the only thing he could-he let go.

  He dropped fast, plummeting past the spot targeted by the gout of liquid, which Vambran realized at that moment was the source of the beast's foul odor. The spray of fluid spattered over the stone walls where Vambran had been. The rock surfaces sizzled and popped.

  Acid, Vambran concluded. And powerful.

  The mercenary's plan was to drop far enough to escape immediate threat and use his magic to slow himself to a stop farther down, but the worm had other ideas. As Vambran slid past, the worm's head darted in his direction, snaking out a tentacle. With deftness that surprised the man, the first tentacle grabbed him around the waist and slowed his descent.

  The second one encircled his neck, choking him.

  The lieutenant, his air cut off, began flailing. The life was being squeezed from his body. Spots darted in his vision. In his desperate efforts to free himself, Vambran dropped the enchanted sword he had subdued. He heard the blade slide away.

  Fool, he cursed himself. Now you'll die with no weapon. A fine soldier you are.

  As Vambran struggled to remove the ever-tightening tentacle from his neck, his sight grew dim. He tried to command the swarm of coins to attack the tentacle that ensnared him, but his concentration had been broken while leaping clear of the acid and the coins had dissipated. With his body gripped in the tentacles, he had no way to mouth the words to summon another spell.

  The tentacle began pulling him toward the worm's maw. He punched it with his fists, but that resulted in two more tentacles wrapping around his wrists. Vambran's flailing grew panicked. He knew he was going to die there, at the bottom of the ocean, hidden away from all the world. It was a lonely thought.

  Vambran? Em here. Horial and Adyan arrived. Rescued Xaphira, kicked Grozier out of the estate, going to unseat Lavant. Know about the plague. What news?

  By the gods, Vambran thought, I'm sorry, Em. She'll never know, he realized. He wanted desperately to answer her, to let her know he loved her, but no words could come. It made him furious.

  There was movement. He saw a flash of blade, slashing near his head.

  The tentacle that held his neck jerked once, then loosened. Vambran yanked at it, working his fingers beneath it, making room for air. He managed to suck in half a lungful. The blade swung into view again, cutting and slashing at the tentacle again. It loosened a bit more.

  Vambran could breathe. He tried to talk, to answer his sister, but he only managed to cough and splutter. Beside him, the blade worked, moving furiously, cutting and slashing over and over at the tentacle that held his neck. The thick, rubbery appendage withdrew.

  "Em!" Vambran cried out. "I'm here! Can't talk!" He wasn't sure if the message got through.

  The magical blade was still at work, hacking and sawing at the next tentacle. But the worm had pulled Vambran close to its mouth, close enough that the scent of its acid breath stung his eyes, made him choke on the fumes. And his arms were still trapped.

  "Vambran!"

  The shout from Arbeenok came from the side, near the door where the lieutenant had first entered the great round chamber. He managed to steal a quick glance in that direction. "Do something!" he shouted back. "Hurry!"

  He could see that the elves were having a difficult time maneuvering into the chamber. They did not have the benefit of his magic. Just hurry, he thought.

  The worm's head erupted in a column of flame. Vambran was so close to it that he swore he was being scorched. He turned his face away from the heat.

  The worm thrashed madly, jerking Vambran about for a moment, and then suddenly the sold
ier was free.

  And falling again.

  He reached out and grabbed at a column on the way down, managed to snare it with his magically enhanced grip. He hung there, breathing hard, as the worm whipped about, crashing into the floor of the building and making the whole chamber shake and groan. Several large chunks of stone fell from above as part of the wall collapsed.

  Vambran scrambled to pull himself up onto the top surface of the column, still trying to suck in a full lungful of air. A large block went tumbling past him, slamming into the next column and obliterating it.

  Time to get out, the lieutenant decided. He lamented the further destruction of the ancient ruins. He looked to the stone altar, wondering if he still had a chance to open it. I have to try, he decided.

  His spider climbing magic was still active, so he scrambled toward the dais as quickly as he could. In the meantime, the worm had recovered from its frantic writhing and was approaching the newcomers. It reared its head back in a familiar way.

  "It spits acid!" Vambran shouted, motioning. "Get back!"

  Serille nodded and shouted a curt order, and the sea elves tried to retreat back through the doorway.

  Not all of them were fast enough.

  Vambran turned away as their screams rose in pitch and went silent. He focused his full attention on the box. Make their lives count, he told himself. Get this accursed scepter! He still could see no way to open the box. But Serille said the elves believed the ruler of Naarkolyth had sealed the scepter inside! How?

  The lieutenant slapped his forehead, feeling the fool. He focused his arcane energy on the stone, conjuring the magic of opening. There was a heavy click and the top of the box fell away, tumbling to crash into the debris below. Vambran peered over the edge of the huge stone container and looked inside.

  A box, crafted of wood and perhaps very fine once, rested canted against one corner. It had broken open and the lid was twisted, one hinge snapped. A cudgel lay there, nestled in a form-fitting depression in the lining of the box. It was made of living things, grapevines and leaves and feathers all wrapped together. The head of the artifact held one of the largest emeralds Vambran had ever seen.

  He reached inside, afraid to touch it, terrified it wasn't real, wasn't the right piece of history, would crumble if he disturbed it. He laid a single finger on it, felt its smooth hardness.

  The worm loomed into view, its body blotting out all other light in the chamber. Its tentacles darted toward Vambran. The lieutenant grabbed the scepter and lunged away just as the enchanted blade shot past him, slicing into the flesh of the nearest probing appendage. He did not waste time looking back. He clambered across the stone surface of the floor as fast as he could, raced toward the doorway where the rest of his companions awaited him.

  "Go!" he shouted. "I'll catch up!"

  The elves began to vanish, retreating from the chamber. Arbeenok remained, waiting for Vambran to reach them. Behind him, Vambran could sense the worm moving toward him again, could almost feel the tentacles reaching out, grasping at him.

  He scampered faster.

  Vambran finally reached the alaghi and together, they departed the great chamber. As they moved, Vambran still climbing the stony surfaces and Arbeenok using a length of kelp rope, Vambran said, "So, please tell me this was the place from your vision."

  The alaghi chuckled. "Indeed. It was magnificent once, don't you think?"

  A horrific thud on the underside of the stone wall bounced them both. Vambran could only guess what the worm was doing inside.

  "What I think is, we'd better hurry."

  Out beyond the great hall, the rest of the group was already climbing the canted street, working their way toward the top of the hill. Water was spilling down the slope, runoff from above. Vambran stared at it. "That wasn't happening before," he said.

  "The worm's vibrations must have shifted some of the rock," Arbeenok said. "The chamber may be flooding now."

  Vambran found himself thinking of the enchanted sword, wondering if it would still defend its home once it was submerged.

  The return trip to the cave was uneventful, though Serille seemed pensive for most of the way. When pressed about her mood, she replied, "I lost three today."

  Vambran nodded. "I'm sorry," he said. "Who were they?"

  Serille looked at him with puzzlement. "Why does it matter to you?"

  "I grieve for everyone who falls in battle. It helps me keep the cause of the fight in the forefront of my mind, making sure they never die in vain."

  "Ah," the sea elf said. "Then you will be sad to know that Ishuliga was one of the three."

  Vambran was surprised at the depth of his own sorrow.

  At the cave, the mercenary and the druid gathered their belongings and with a smaller escort, departed for the surface. They were bestowed with the enchanted necklaces as farewell gifts. "For the next time you come to visit me," Serille said with a mischievous look in her eye.

  After bidding farewell to Serille and the other sea elves, Vambran and Arbeenok walked up the beach toward the rocks. The last rays of the setting sun were fading in the western sky, and Vambran felt some remorse in parting ways with the elves. But he also felt a keen sense of urgency to return to Reth with the healing power of the scepter.

  "Have you figured out what must be done with it?" he asked Arbeenok, who was fondling the object delicately.

  "I am becoming attuned to it," the alaghi replied, "but I am also simply enjoying the history of it. Imagine-this was created over fifteen hundred years ago by elves who lived in a forest twice as large as what we know here now. And the landscape wasn't even remotely similar. This might have been uplands, low hills running along a ridge of mountains that no longer exist, for all we know."

  Vambran regarded the druid. "You have a knack for seeing things in a grander way than most people. Nature made a good choice in granting you the ability of portents and visions."

  When Arbeenok smiled, Vambran thought he could detect a glint in the druid's eye.

  "We must hurry, though," the lieutenant said at last, breaking the moment. "People in Reth are dying even as we stand here."

  "We will reach her in time," Arbeenok said, understanding Vambran's thoughts without the mercenary needing to voice them. "My slowing magic should still be effective."

  "I hope so," Vambran remarked. "The only way we'll reach her in time is to travel into the city the same way we departed. Can you do that?"

  Arbeenok nodded and stepped back from his companion in order to have room to transform. He shifted and twisted to become a giant hawk, then the druid lofted himself into the air, reaching out with his talons to grasp Vambran by the shoulders as he had before.

  Together, they soared into the sky, gliding their way toward the city and the plague.

  It was nightfall by the time they landed in the city street near the villa where they had left Elenthia that morning. As soon as they arrived, Vambran was running into the home, calling to the woman. "Elenthia! Elenthia, we've returned. We found a way to heal you!"

  Elenthia was not where Vambran had left her.

  Vambran called frantically for a few moments, running from room to room, but the woman was nowhere to be found. He raced back down to the garden, trying to guess what might have happened to her. He jogged through the gate and out into the street, calling to Arbeenok.

  The druid was surrounded by mercenaries of the Order of the Silver Raven, many of them holding lanterns aloft. They held crossbows leveled at him.

  When Vambran appeared, several more soldiers moved to surround him, though they stayed back far enough that they clearly showed their fear of contracting the plague from the two visitors.

  "You will stand very still, or we will kill you on the spot," one of the Silver Ravens said.

  "All right," Vambran answered, remaining motionless. "But may I speak?"

  "Only to answer our questions," the leader replied. "First, what are you doing here?"

  "We've brought a cure
for the plague," Vambran said, "and we've returned to this spot because I left a woman here. She had magical healing placed upon her by my druid friend here so she would not get sicker and die."

  "A druid? I think not," the man said. "The only thing druids are good for is dying."

  Vambran had to clench his teeth to avoid an angry outburst. Instead, he simply said, "My men and yours have been at odds for the last several days, but if you give us a chance, we can show you that I speak the truth. If we can cure the plague, would you want to hinder us?"

  The soldier considered Vambran for a moment, then shook his head. "I won't make this decision myself," he said. "We'll leave this up to Captain Havalla." He turned and ordered a runner to fetch the captain, and the young soldier sprinted off to find the officer.

  "May I ask if you know what happened to the woman I left here this morning?" Vambran asked. "She was too sick to go very far on her own."

  "Someone undoubtedly found her," the soldier said, "and rounded her up into the middle of the city, in the quarantine camp, with all the rest."

  Vambran was aghast. "But the plague works so fast!" he said. "Anyone who has it is likely to die and rise as a zombie!"

  The man nodded, looking grim. "It's the only way we could control it," he said. "No one has been able to figure out what else to do. We're waiting for healers from Arrabar to arrive, but that could take days."

  "Then let us help," Vambran said, feeling desperate. "Let us go to the quarantine camp and see what we can do to cure those people!"

  At just that moment, a commotion began behind the soldier who had been speaking with Vambran. A runner appeared and began whispering to the men. When the soldier in charge heard what the runner had to report, he paled.

  "What is it?" Vambran asked. "What's happening?"

  "Zombies have gotten free of the quarantine area," the man said. "They're moving through the sewers and coming up in other areas of the city. We didn't contain them after all."