City of Torment as-2

by Bruce R Cordell

  The angel sheathed its sword. The interdimensional tunnel collapsed. Mapathious flashed into the cavern whose lower third was filled with an ancient sea. An obelisk was caught in the space like a spike hammered askew. A frieze writhed on the age-worn exterior. The inscriptions shifted and changed even as Mapathious drew closer. The angel recognized the style to be similar to those of its order, and it nearly dropped its burden in realization. Its earlier fear was prophetic.

  This was a fragment of the Citadel of the Outer Void. A fragment lying below the world like a seed waiting to germinate. By the way the exterior images crawled as if half alive, the angel guessed the seed was sprouting.

  The ring guiding Mapathious's exploration vibrated with proximity. She to whom it was connected lay within one of the balcony-like cavities along the obelisk's side. The angel altered its course.

  It would drop the trek bell upon that very balcony. That would conclude the terms of the expedition. Then it would flee back to the higher domains, where it would warn its order of Xxiphu's existence.

  Mapathious passed the balcony once, bleeding off velocity with its wings open wide. As it circled back to drop the bell on the narrow ledge on the obelisk's vast face, something emerged from the ancient sea far below.

  Something big, with too many arms by far.

  *****

  The curved interior of the bell tilted and bucked without warning. Japheth clutched for a handle but banged his hand instead. A massive jolt threw him off the bench. The warlock's vision skewed sideways, and his head rapped against something unyielding. Stars exploded and his body went limp. He fell out of the opening in the bottom of the trek bell.

  Smears of white light resolved, showing that he lay on a stone balcony. He was grateful not to be falling through a planar vortex.

  A crash and a thump pulled his head to the left. The bell he'd been riding in was fetched up against a stone archway. Cracked pieces of the arch rained down. An odd luminescence glowed in the passage beyond the arch, though the trek bell obscured half of the opening.

  A recent dose of traveler's dust yet hazed Japheth's perceptions. Plus his head rang with pain from his violent introduction to the floor. He tried to piece together the events that led to him lying limp and dazed there, wherever "there" was…

  A shout jerked Japheth's attention in the opposite direction. The warlock saw that if he'd landed a few feet more to his right, he'd have fallen off the balcony into a vast cavern partly drowned in water black as tar. Nausea added its own sickly note to the pain in his head and the blurred confusion from his drug. A light flared below, and with it another shout, this one a cry of challenge. Japheth saw a creature with burning wings and sword.

  "The angel of exploration," he breathed. It all came back to him. Anusha, the Lord of Bats, the journey via the trek bell down to Xxiphu… That must be where I am now, he thought. Japheth struggled to his hands and knees to get a better vantage on Mapathious.

  The angel's wings worked frantically, but something held it in place. Its sword fell again and again on a length of black tentacle that reached up from the darkness of the ancient waters. Tracing the tentacle down to its source, he saw that it emerged from a nest of at least a dozen more slithering arms reaching upward. Hideous eyes glared upward too.

  "Gethshemeth!" hissed the warlock. Japheth knew with drugged certainty what and who the creature was holding the angel. It was the great kraken from whom he'd stolen the Dreamheart. The Dreamheart that lay nestled somewhere within his cloak's extra dimensions.

  Japheth rolled away from the edge, hoping the great kraken was too far away and so distracted by the angel that it hadn't noticed him. The warlock briefly considered helping Mapathious with a curse or two but thought better of it. He'd have to expend power to descend to the level of the fight. Gethshemeth had nearly won the last time Japheth faced it, and he'd had the aid of several more allies then. Japheth was in Xxiphu to save somebody, but it wasn't the angel.

  He frowned. He realized the angel had the ring he needed-

  Anguish pierced Japheth, a pain so pure that at first he didn't recognize it as soul — shredding torment. He convulsed on the stone balcony as something tore away from him, something part of him for so long he'd forgotten it belonged to another.

  A shadowy figure burst from Japheth's skin, tearing his flesh as it left. It hovered over the quivering warlock a moment, an indistinct silhouette with night-dark wings. Though tearing pain threatened to obliterate his reason, he knew the traveler's dust pulsing in his blood allowed him to see the image. The figure represented the power he'd taken from the Lord of Bats. That power, and more.

  Japheth's deal with the fey creature he'd discovered in the dusty tomes of Candlekeep was concluded.

  "My pact stone!" Someone had shattered it. He could guess the sniveling worm who'd broken it. "Behroun, I'll have your skin as a curtain," he hissed through his pain.

  Except… he knew the threat was idle. His loss wasn't merely of the extra power he'd seized from his patron. The hovering shape represented all his powers, every spell, and even the minor abilities he used for simple conjuration. It was all gone.

  He was no longer a warlock. He was just a man. A man who'd made several powerful enemies. A man who was stranded in a hideously perilous aboleth lair. A man with only a little time left to bemoan his fate.

  The shape above him flashed away as if fired from a bow. It pierced the trek bell's iron side like a ghost, into the half where Neifion traveled.

  A scream burst from the conveyance, overpowering and jubilant. The cry didn't subside, instead, it swelled, sending a crack shivering through the trek bell's iron walls. Neifion was reclaiming all that Japheth had taken.

  The discordant noise raised the hair on Japheth's nape and arms. In that howl of victory was a promise. Neifion had made it often enough from his chair set before the Feast Never Ending.

  Would the Lord of Bats craft a homunculus from Japheth's corpse?

  The image of such a transfiguration broke through his loss and the traveler's dust. Japheth rolled onto his knees, gritting his teeth against complaining muscles. Sweat broke on his brow. He heaved himself to his feet.

  The sideways bell vibrated like a cage restraining a rabid wolverine. He could see into the bell from its wideopen bottom, but the side Neifion had claimed was obscured by a haze like hundreds of flapping leathery wings. At any moment the Lord of Bats would emerge, without pacts or oaths to restrain him. He'd appear in the full flush of his strength…

  "No," mused Japheth, anot all his strength." He still wore Neifion's lesser skin.

  The Lord of Bats's freedom shriek redoubled in volume. The trek bell exploded like a hobgoblin's wall — breaker mortar. The shock wave punched Japheth into the waiting folds of his cloak, and he was gone.

  *****

  "What was that?" Anusha said. She craned her head to look down the tunnel toward the balcony. The molten- winged creature she'd glimpsed was gone. "I saw a light," said Yeva.

  "It had wings. I think it carried something. It went by the balcony too quickly for me to tell."

  Yeva took a step closer to the exit, then paused. "Are you sure it wasn't an aboleth?"

  "It wasn't an aboleth," Anusha replied. "Well, I only saw it a moment. I guess it could have been."

  "Let's go," Yeva decided.

  Then the fiery light returned. This time Anusha clearly saw a manlike figure with wings of fire. It brandished a flaming sword in one hand. In the other was a ridiculously large temple bel l.

  The creature's enormous wings thundered as it lowered the bell onto the balcony. Yeva grabbed Anusha's arm and tried to pull her down the corridor. "We need to get back," she whispered.

  "No, wait!" Something about the bell was familiar.

  The odor of rotting fish hit Anusha. A tentacle wide as a tower squirmed over the balcony. Its black length entwined the fiery-winged humanoid, who cried out in surprise. The tentacle yanked, and the creature was snatched out of sight.

/>   The bell fell freely a silent instant until it smashed onto the balcony, bounced onto its side,and caromed across the floor.

  Yeva hauled Anusha back with surprising strength. A boom hammered the air.

  Despite Yeva's insistence, Anusha's eyes remained locked on the exit. "Look," she said. "The bell is near the arch."

  Yeva let go of Anusha's arm. The woman's face lost some of its agitation. She said, "It doesn't look like something the aboleths made. Maybe you're right, Anusha. Let's take a closer look."

  Anusha nodded.

  A scream burst from the bell caught in the tunnel mouth. The iron shell vibrated with… fury? No, exultation.

  "Nor does that sound like an aboleth," said Yeva, her voice raised over the ecstatic bellow.

  Anusha nodded. What was it about the bell that tugged at her memories? Something that should have been obvious to her. Had the Eldest stolen away her memory of why the bell was familiar?

  The ecstatic call didn't fade after several moments-it swelled.

  They both flinched when a dozen splintering lines cracked across the bell's face.

  Bats poured from the fissures like smoke. The iron object burst apart like a peeled fruit, revealing a creature Anusha had last seen sitting at a table in Castle Darroch.

  "Oh no," Anusha said.

  When she'd seen Neifion in the castle, he'd been harmless, trapped, and quiescent. Now he was transformed. An aura of needle-toothed bats veiled him. He seemed physically larger, and muscle visibly rippled beneath his formal black clothing. The scream of demented joy emerging from him had just burst an iron vessel. If it hadn't already, the noise would draw the attention of every lesser aboleth already roused from slumber.

  A pocket of nothing opened only paces from Anusha, and a man stepped through. His eyes were red as a demon's-or as the eyes of someone walking the crimson road.

  "Japheth!" Anusha gasped.

  "I found you," he replied. A sad smile brushed his lips. He swayed, then fell unconscious at her feet.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Year of the Secret (1396 DR), Xxiphu

  "Stay back, Anusha!" Yeva said. "It could be an aboleth trick."

  Anusha shrugged off Yeva's restraining grip and leaned down to look at the unconscious man.

  It was definitely Japheth, though he didn't look healthy.

  "Disguise seems too subtle for the creatures we've found here," Anusha said.

  "Well, that's true," Yeva said.

  "This is Japheth, the one who sent me a vision!"

  "Ah. Well. Of course. Who else would he be? And who's the screamer back there?"

  "A wicked creature called the Lord of Bats who's probably trying to kill Japheth. Let's get out of here."

  The Lord of Bats's scream ceased. They had only moments before Neifion took stock of his surroundings and saw, if not Anusha and Yeva's dream forms, then at least the all-toocorporeal warlock lying in the moist corridor. Yeva was no help carrying the unconscious man. Her hands passed right through him. After a few heartbeats of fumbling, she gave up in disgust.

  Thankfully Anusha found Japheth's weight bearable, if she maintained concentration. She pulled him up and across her armored shoulders. They moved down the corridor, and Anusha tried not to drop the lolling Japheth on his head. Yeva hurried in the lead, saying she would make sure the way was clear.

  The Lord of Bats did not notice the furtive figures moving away down the slimy tunnel. He concluded his victory scream with a hearty laugh, simultaneously sinister and booming. Anusha supposed he reveled in the return of his autonomy.

  With any luck, Neifion would draw local attention. Maybe a clutch of aboleths would descend upon the Lord of Bats, catching him before he readjusted to the return of his power, and that would be that.

  Anusha reached the tunnel fork where Yeva waited.

  Yeva eyed Japheth, then glanced back along the way they'd just come.

  "Is he following us?" Anusha asked.

  "I don't see a Lord of Bats or anything else. The tunnel's clear as far as I can see."

  "Good." Anusha shifted Japheth's bulk slightly on her shoulders. His weight was becoming easier to bear the longer she held him.

  "Which way?" said Yeva. "Back toward the orrery, or into the egg tunnels?"

  The larger obelisk-studded passage descended in wide loops to the orrery. That chamber hosted too many aboleths for comfort, some of which could see Anusha. Even those that couldn't see her would certainly notice an unconscious human floating in midair.

  The other passage narrowed precipitously before splitting into a snake's nest of twisted, winding tunnels.

  Quivering masses of white jelly dotted the rock walls, each containing a handful of pale orbs the size of a human head. A few of the white blobs were much larger, easily twice the size of a man. The obelisks of the larger corridor continued into the smaller maze of tunnels, though only one tunnel seemed lit with candlelike purple flames.

  Anusha made up her mind. "This way," she murmured. She pushed up the slight grade leading into the egg tunnels. Though upward was closer to the Eldest, she hoped they could find a niche or some sort of aboleth version of a closet to shelter in prior to reaching the city's apex. Japheth needed tending. If they could wake him, maybe he could deliver them from Xxiphu in one fell swoop.

  The rotting, salty smell redoubled as they plunged into the sinuous maze. Anusha took the first tunnel whose obelisks didn't burn with purplish radiance. The aboleth they'd seen earlier lighting the obelisks had gone a different route. Anusha hoped the branching tunnels without light contained no roused monsters.

  The passage looped up and around in a wild curve. The regularity of its width suggested it wasn't quite a natural tunnel, but the chaotic way it wound around argued the other way. It didn't take long for the purple light to fail, leaving only the mucous green glow that seemed a feature of Xxiphu's air.

  Every so often another tunnel split off, spiraling away on a separate egg-smeared path. She wondered just how many eggs were stuffed into the reeking corridors.

  Anusha tried to track their course by taking every leftbranching corridor. Unfortunately, not all the passages diverged to the left or right-some dropped straight down, others led up, and several settled on some angle in between. Perhaps she should have asked Yeva to blaze a trail so they could retrace their steps? Maybe that was what the aboleth had been doing with its purple flames.

  "Stop," she called. She was second-guessing how many left branches they'd taken.

  The warlock groaned.

  "Is he awake?" Yeva said.

  Anusha carefully slid Japheth to the floor. The man appeared to be waking from his deep slumber.

  "Japheth? How are you?" Anusha said.

  Blinking was about all he could manage, but at least he was conscious.

  Seeing him so defenseless and confused made her throat ache in a way she was unprepared for. He was the reason she was trapped here. But now… she was the reason he was here too. He'd been looking for her. How he'd managed to find her-what struggles and obstacles he must have overcome to reach her side-she couldn't even guess. And there he lay. He'd succeeded. He was the worse for wear, true, but even now he was coming around.

  Japheth's powers had proved equal to the task of finding her against all odds.

  Real hope flushed her, and with it came a swell of affection. It was good to see him.

  She placed a palm on his forehead and willed herself into visibility.

  "Japheth, wake up," murmured Anusha. Her voice drew his attention. His eyes focused and found her.

  They were bloodred.

  Anusha pulled her hand away.

  "Where am I?" he said.

  "We're safe, for the moment," Anusha said. "Long enough for you to get your strength back, I hope." Japheth took a deep breath.

  "Anusha," he said. "Is it really you?"

  "Yes, it's me," she replied. "My dream, anyhow. I hope you didn't leave my sleeping body back in that iron carriage you arrived
in."

  Japheth considered for a moment. He looked around, obviously trying to figure out where he was. The creases on the bridge of his nose deepened to canyons.

  He tried to rise, and Anusha helped him to his feet.

  He said, "No. I didn't leave your body in the trek bell. Good thing, huh?"

  She surprised herself by laughing.

  It was a release. Her reticence evaporated and she flung herself into his arms. At least she tried to-his hands passed right through hers.

  "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. Being insubstantial was as much a curse as a blessing.

  She concentrated, willing herself to solidity, then grasped his hands in hers. They were warm and strong.

  "Gods, I've missed you," he said, staring into her eyes. "We had so little time before…" The red pupils distracted her from the sentiment, but only a little.

  "I'm still angry with you, you know," said Anusha. She blushed. Actually, she felt the opposite of angry just then.

  He nodded, then leaned slightly toward her, his hands tightening on hers. She bridged the remaining distance to kiss him.

  Her concentration tattered. She grasped emptiness and kissed only air.

  Intellectually, she knew she'd lost the mindfulness required to evoke a solid form. Emotionally, in that instant, losing the embrace still felt like a punch to the heart.

  "There's no time for this!" came a voice from behind them. "Reunions are wonderful things when safety is assured. But aboleths prowl these tunnels, and the Eldest wakes! Warlock, can you get us out of here?"

  "Who said that?" said Japheth. He scanned the tunnel in both directions.

  Anusha swallowed. Yeva's interruption couldn't have come at a worse time, but the woman spoke sense. "It's Yeva," she told the warlock. "She was trapped like I was."

  "She is invisible to me. She is a dream spirit like you?"

  Anusha nodded. "Yes. We met where I broke free of a wall of captured dreams. I think my escape triggered her release too."

  "Captured dreams?" repeated Japheth. "More minds than just yours have been stolen by this city?"

  Yeva broke in. "The Eldest lies in deathlike sleep, and his memories have settled out of mere conception over the eons. They coat the interior of Xxiphu like frozen dew. Those who draw too near without a body are snared like the rest of his memories."