Pool of Radiance hop-1

by James M. Ward

  "Halt!" shouted Shal, but the water near the shoreline churned and the fish heads appeared again, much closer.

  This time, though, they rose straight up from the water. Mage, ranger-thief, and cleric took a frightened step backward as the fish heads' bodies came into view. The creatures were neither fish, amphibian, nor humanoid, but a sick crossing of the biological classes. Awkward, overly long fins beat the air where arms should have been, and thick, scaly torsos ended in stunted, barely separated legs. As the creatures lifted themselves from the water, their breathing became a labored sucking through the gills, but Yarash kept up his conjuring, and the misfit fish-men slogged closer. The wind changed directions, and the stench from the creatures was staggering, like the stink from the Stojanow multiplied and remultiplied.

  Ren gulped for air and charged forward, lunging at the first of the grotesque beasts to emerge from the water. He stabbed deep into its gut with one of his short swords and pulled straight up through the torso. By rights, the thing should have died, but no blood poured from the body. Instead, a dark, tarry ooze seeped from the wound like dirty pus. Worse, the creature showed no sign whatsoever of pain, and before Ren could distance himself for another attack, it began flailing his head and shoulders with its fins and ramming him with its putrid, scaly body. Ren swung for all he was worth, even as he fell backward, and his sword sliced a deep gash across the fishman's pelvis.

  By this time, more fish-men were closing in. Tarl charged with his shield and slammed with his hammer, but the creatures were impervious to his attacks. Not wanting to waste the Staff of Power's charges on such mundane beasts, Shal put all of her strength behind her staff and jabbed and stabbed at the hideous creatures with its sharpened point, but it didn't slow them, and now their gaping mouths were spewing a dark green fluid that seared and burned wherever it spattered against flesh. When she felt the scalding, searing acid eating through the skin of her neck and hand, Shal changed her mind about the degree of danger presented by the fish-men. She scrambled to gain enough distance from her foes to wield the staff.

  Ren did his best, meanwhile, to recover his balance and continue his attack against the first of the fish-men, but others started circling. He wielded both short swords as furiously as he was able. He chopped a wedge out of the torso of one, and it bent on top of itself, but the creature still lived, still fought on. Chop and hack as he might, Ren could not stop the creatures from flailing and spewing forth their deadly poison.

  "Get back!" Shal shouted to her companions, afraid that using the staff would threaten Ren or Tarl, who were nearly surrounded by the fish-men. But they could not retreat, and it was all Shal could do to keep the fish-men away from herself.

  Tarl discovered he was able to push the fish-men off balance, and he was doing his best to do that in hope that either Ren or Shal would somehow be able to finish off the creatures. Push, swing. Push, swing. Again and again, Tarl slammed into their rubbery, scaly bodies with blows that would have pulverized a humanoid. Finally Tarl released his hammer with the smooth spring action Brother Anton had taught him. It caught one of the fish-men square in the eye. For the first time, fishy flesh and bone splattered and shattered. The carplike head caved in, and the fish-man flopped to the ground, twitching and jerking in the throes of death. "Aim for their heads, their eyes!" yelled Tarl. "That's where they're vulnerable!" Even as he shouted, he wheeled to face another of the ghastly beasts.

  Shal and Ren heard Tarl's cry and acted immediately. Ren swung high and viciously with his swords. With the efficiency born of her impressive strength, Shal used the staff to skewer eyeballs. Fish heads rolled, and within a few moments, an unnatural calm reigned where chaos had been supreme just moments before.

  From his vantage point high atop the giant sea monster, Yarash let out an anguished moan, a soul-piercing, pitiful cry, and began another incantation. At his command, more vaguely humanoid amphibians, frog-men gone awry, slogged through the water toward the three. Each creature seemed more horrible than the last, and all struggled under the burden of cruel deformities-distorted body parts, missing eyes and limbs, hideous appendages that appeared to have been added as an afterthought.

  Shal commanded her own most powerful conjuring voice to speak to Yarash. "What manner of abominations do you send our way? If these tortured creatures are your creations, how dare you call yourself a wizard?"

  "How dare you speak to me in such a tone, apprentice!" Yarash raised his hands skyward, and lightning crackled in the air. He spoke a sharp word of command and pointed at the three companions. With the movements of defective zombies, the river creatures closed in to attack.

  "Don't do it!" shouted Shal to the wizard.

  Ren and Tarl raised their weapons, prepared to fight the approaching monsters, but Shal motioned them back, at the same time uttering four arcane syllables to the Staff of Power. Balls of flame rolled from the end of the staff, and Yarash's creations ignited like so many giant torches. Their miserable existences ended in even more miserable screams, but it was Yarash's scream that would stay forever etched in Shal's memory. Every hair on her body bristled as he shrieked in a combination of rage, horror, and devastation that would have been no more terrible had it come from a mother watching her firstborn put to a slow and painful death.

  "Bitch! Bitch, be prepared to die!" the wizard shouted in a voice tainted with panic and frenzy. Magic missiles, spheres of flame, acid-tipped arrows, and lightning bolts burst from Yarash's fingers in rapid succession as he called on all his resources to destroy the intruders. The deformed brush all along the shoreline immediately burst into flames, and a bolt of lightning struck Ren's mare in the chest, killing her on the spot. Cerulean blazed a vivid purple from the profusion of magical energies all around him, but as he remained vulnerable to attack. Shal and Tarl acted at once to dispel what magic they could, while Ren dodged for his life.

  As soon as Shal found a spare moment, she leveled the Staff of Power at the huge fish-beast beneath Yarash, then at Yarash himself, and pronounced the arcane words to call forth its full power. Lightning ripped through the air, jagged and blinding. The bloated sea monster exploded as if it were under pressure. Green, acidlike goo sprayed everywhere, and Yarash was blasted into the air. He managed to halt his descent with a hastily summoned spell, but he was still vulnerable to Shal's attack. A bolt of lightning slammed his body back against the pyramid. Electricity crackled all about him as his energies clashed with Shal's, arcing off the metal sides of the pyramid in a violent display of green and purple.

  The wizard bellowed in rage and pain and raised his hands skyward to draw new energy from the churning gray clouds above. Shal recognized the gesticulations of a Weather Control spell and fought with all her newfound skills to turn the ferocious winds Yarash was creating back in his direction. Daylight disappeared as tornado fought cyclone for space in the sky and wizard strove against wizard, Shal seemed to thrive on the raw power that surged through her body in the exchange. With Cerulean's mental aid, she fought to maintain the precious concentration needed to hold back the magical winds. At the same time, Shal brandished the Staff of Power once again. Yarash released the winds and leveled his hands toward Shal. With one word, even as Shal spoke the command to activate the staff once more, he let loose a force of energy that ripped the Staff of Power from her hands. In the same instant that the staff's second lightning bolt exploded against Yarash's chest, silhouetting the wizard's bones through his robes and skin in its brilliance, the staff burst like a piece of crystal, sending wood fragments flying in all directions.

  "The staff!" Shal shouted, reaching out desperately toward where she had last seen it. Before she could think to try the Wand of Wonder or a magical spell, Yarash vanished, leaving what was left of his tornado to be devoured by Shal's. Within moments, the unnatural winds collided, lost most of their magical force, and drifted off to the north. The quiet that ensued was uncanny. Ren and Tarl still stood nearby, their mouths agape with awe over the display of power they
had just witnessed.

  Shal remained tense and her muscles taut as spent energy dissipated through her body. Cerulean's color faded rapidly, an inadvertent barometer of the forces dispelling through the air all around them. Time passed unreckoned before Shal finally broke the eerie peace. "He lives yet. He teleported himself to safety."

  Shal's words jarred the two men from their stunned silence. Tarl rushed to Shal and wrapped his arms around her. The big woman's muscular body went completely limp, and Tarl could only slow her collapse to the ground.

  "I've-I've never seen anything quite like that," Ren said simply. "Will she be okay?" Ren looked to Tarl, and in his eyes he could see the fear that blanketed his friend's face. "Can you help her?"

  "I–I don't know." Tarl responded numbly, and he shook his head. "My god, she's powerful!.. But even as strong as she is, her body wasn't ready for that kind of expenditure of energy."

  He closed his hands around both of hers and uttered a prayer of restoration and rejuvenation. In moments, he could feel a pulse of warmth and renewed strength building in Shal's exhausted body. As with the other times he had healed Shal, he was nearly overwhelmed by the bond that flowed between them. He felt as though he were only a whisper away from sensing all of her emotions, and for the first time, he was certain that she shared the bond. When she opened her eyes and stared directly at him, he knew she did.

  "Are you okay?" asked Ren, stooping down beside Shal.

  She nodded, and he cuffed her gently on the shoulder. "I don't ever want to be on the other side of a fight with you, woman. I never felt so helpless in all my life. My swords and daggers could've been butter knives for all the good they would've done me against you or Yarash."

  Shal sat bolt upright. "We've got to find him! He won't stop making those creatures, those abominations. He's obsessed. It's the generation of those perverse creatures that pollutes the river, and he thrives on their creation. I'm no mind reader, but during the battle, I could feel his presence, his essence. He's crazy-completely chaotic. And his obsession doesn't end with the Stojanow River."

  "Can you get us out to the island?" Ren asked. "I know you've probably already used your quota of magic for at least the next week, but-"

  "For a month or more, I think," interrupted Shal. "I don't think I can do it."

  Tarl reached out and gently helped her to her feet. "Take your time," he said.

  Still shaky, Shal slowly walked over and patted Cerulean. "I don't think I'd have come through that without you, big fella. Thanks."

  Cerulean stamped one hoof but kept his thoughts to himself until Shal held out the Cloth of Many Pockets.

  I'll stay right here, thank you! Cerulean sniffed.

  "No, please. I have an idea. I know I don't have the strength to teleport all of us to the island, but I believe I can teleport myself."

  "You can't go out there alone!" Ren and Tarl spoke as one.

  "Shush." Shal waved her hand at the two. "Cerulean, you have to tell me something. Are you able to go in the cloth because you're magical, or can anybody do it?"

  It has nothing to do with me, Mistress, though it does take a certain amount of concentration.

  "How's that?"

  I could walk right up to that cloth and bump into it. Unless I was planning to go inside, I wouldn't. I have to kind of get myself prepared for it-mentally, I mean. I dislike going in there, so I always pretend I'm going to land so hard in there that I'll rip the pocket, and then I won't have to do it anymore. Do you follow me?

  "Yes… and I think it'll work," Shal said aloud.

  "What?" the two men exclaimed together.

  "I don't have the energy to transport all three of us across the river, but if the two of you can get inside the cloth with Cerulean, I think I can fly myself over."

  Cerulean folded his ears down against his head and pawed the ground thoughtfully. Since you put it that way… Tell the two gentlemen to observe me closely. Be sure to explain what I just told you about getting prepared mentally.

  Without a sound, Cerulean leaped forward and poured into the cloth, where he immediately proceeded to expound on the virtues of a well-lit environment.

  Tarl and Ren both looked at Shal skeptically as she repeated Cerulean's advice. Ren paused to collect his thoughts, then jumped toward Shal, but he stopped short before crashing into her, unconvinced that he could really pour himself into such a tiny space. Even Tarl, with his clerical skills, could not keep doubt from hindering his attempts to enter the cloth.

  "Enough!" said Shal. "I don't know what I'll have left when I face Yarash, but I'm going to cast a Shrink spell."

  Neither Ren nor Tarl had any opportunity to object. A moment later, they were mere fractions of their former size. A gigantic Shal stooped over, picked them up, and deposited them in the cloth. Another moment later, they were all on their way to the sorcerer's island with the aid of a Fly spell.

  On the shore of the island, Shal pulled Tarl out. The Shrink spell wore off moments later, and he was back to original size and standing beside her. "Boy, it sure is black in there!" he exclaimed.

  "So I've heard." Shal said Ren's name and reached for him, but nothing came within her grasp.

  "Ren? Can you hear me?" Shal said excitedly. "Cerulean, is he in there with you?"

  Suddenly the big man popped out of the cloth as if he had been shot from a gun. "By the gods, I've been to the Abyss and back! It's blacker than the Pit in there, and it's not all that easy to get out."

  "Okay, okay! So it's dark in there. Can we get on with this?" Shal vowed silently to get Cerulean a lantern to take with him for future stays in the dark folds of the cloth.

  To Ren's keen senses, the smells of lightning and charred cloth were still recognizable. Set flush with the pyramid and barely discernible even up close was a teleport platform. A smudged footprint was the only telltale sign that made the surface of the platform visible. Ren pointed the teleport surface out to Shal and Tarl, then explained, "This should take us to him."

  They took position on the platform together, and immediately found themselves inside what they had to assume was the dark interior of the pyramid. An empty hallway stretched before them, but Yarash was nowhere in sight. "He's been here," said Ren, sniffing, his keen eyes darting from side to side. They walked the length of the long corridor, Ren as alert as a fox to any sight, smell, or sound. They passed doorway after doorway, but Ren didn't even pause. "There!" He pointed suddenly. "Another teleport platform!"

  Ren led the way, and three teleports and a walk upstairs later, they came upon Yarash, sitting against the corner of a room filled with books and ledgers, obviously his personal study. His robes were seared to his body, and his flesh was horribly burned, but he was still able to summon another contingent of fish-men. With no water, the strange creatures gasped for air, their malformed gills heaving and collapsing with such effort it seemed they would drop, but instead they crowded forward as their counterparts had, threatening the adventurers with their bulk and poison spittle. This time, there were no surprises. Shal, Tarl, and Ren went straight for the creatures' oversized heads and gawking eyes. In moments, their flopping, twitching bodies and decapitated heads littered the floor. Shal knew the wizard's paltry effort signaled his defeat, but she did not anticipate his next move.

  As the last of the creatures flopped and twitched on the floor in death, Yarash began to rant. "Killing my creations! All my research, gone! You can't carve my brain! You won't get my secrets! You'll never get my secrets!" And before they could reach him, he had disemboweled himself with his own dagger.

  "Tyr and Tymorah!" Tarl pressed his hands against the spasming body to stop its grotesque twitching. "What do you suppose the sick fellow was thinking of?"

  "It looks to me like the answer might be in those ledgers," said Ren. He wasted no time getting started on a search of the sorcerer's belongings. "Bloody divination!" he shouted as he rifled through one of the larger ledgers. "Look at these maps! He was going to try to contaminate
the entire Moonsea and use those freaks of his to control things! He was sicker than-"

  "Cadorna," said Shal, who had also started poring over the ledgers. "Yarash's notes are thorough. Cadorna knew everything. Look at this! The councilman didn't send us to check out a rumor or even to stop the pollution. He knew exactly where he was sending us. He did it to get the ioun stones."

  Ren moved behind Shal and started reading over her shoulder. "Would you look at that? Yarash wasn't even going to give the stones to Cadorna. The Lord of the Ruins had offered a higher price!" Ren stopped cold and then began reading aloud. "'… I can't imagine what all the fuss is over a couple of rocks. The dragon has dispatched assassins to Waterdeep and beyond, looking for the stones, and now the councilman wants me to give them to him… '."

  Ren's eyes were wide. "The Lord of the Ruins-he sent the assassin to kill Tempest!"

  Shal reached out and patted Ren's arm soothingly. Then she pointed to an entry in another ledger and started reading it aloud. " 'Thank goodness Porphyrys has followed the instructions of the Lord of the Ruins this time and had those two interfering windbags killed. Between the red mage and that blue fellow, they were seriously depleting my supply of experimental stock…' " Shal could read no further.

  "I've seen enough!" she said. "I wanted vengeance. Now I can get it. I want Cadorna to pay for this. Between these writings and what the three of us know already, I think we can convince the First Councilman of his guilt."

  "If we can't," said Tarl, helping Shal load the ledgers into the Cloth of Many Pockets, "there's more than one bad apple on the council."

  Outside, the pyramid still looked like a giant bauble protruding from the landscape, but Yarash's abominable creations had ceased forever. The conduit that had pumped the vile byproduct of his unnatural magical creations into the Stojanow was still, and the last of the black sludge had begun its slow journey downriver to the wide expanses of the Moonsea.