Sands of the Soul s-5
Page 27
The pulsing grew, and a single black tendril squirmed from the gem. It was absolute in its blackness, but purple scintillated along the edges. It writhed toward Fannah. Tazi watched as the distance closed between her and the fell manifestation. Fannah looked at Tazi with her ice-white eyes and grabbed the black strand.
The tendril pulled her soul into the gem, and Fannah's body collapsed backward.
Tazi screamed in pain. Steorf was a picture of unbridled rage as the poison in his system burned away the last veneer of rationality. He ran to Fannah's side, and with one look Tazi knew she had lost her Calishite friend.
While Steorf howled in anger, Tazi screamed, "No more! The death has to stop here!"
She turned to face Ciredor.
The dark mage was a sight to behold. Bathed in the amethyst glow, his face was almost beatific. Tazi could see that he was caught up in a rapture of desire and hope. The word resounded in her mind over and over.
He hopes, he hopes, he hopes…
"Now you'll come for me," Ciredor whispered. "You've taken my last gift, my crown, and now you'll take me.
"It is no less than I deserve," he finished, lost to his own desires. "I am ready to serve you, my queen."
Something snapped within Tazi. Even as Steorf struggled to get to his feet, his fury making him blind to everything else, Tazi moved into action. Before either man knew what she was planning, Tazi shoved the enthralled necromancer toward his precious rock.
"I'm certain Shar will take you with open arms!" Tazi shouted. "After all, you carry with you the only gift she could ever refuse: your bright and shining hope."
The necromancer stumbled toward the gem but twisted to face Tazi just before touching the flames. Dozens of inky tendrils shot out of the stone. Each one latched onto Ciredor like a leech, claiming a different part of his body, and whatever he was about to say to her was lost.
One by one the tendrils started to pull back into the gem with a piece of the necromancer's flesh in its grasp. His screams were deafening. Blood poured out of every orifice, and Ciredor fell to his knees, weeping bloody tears. As the sated tendrils melted into the gem, new ones snaked out to demand another piece of the fallen mage. Before his consciousness faded away, Ciredor locked eyes with Tazi, and she was certain that the last thing to flicker within his black orbs was fear.
When there was no more of the mage left to feast on, and the last of his blood was lapped up, the tendrils retreated into the stone-but that was not the end of it.
Tazi was certain she could see one purple eye regard her from within the soul gem. She stood her ground, and two new onyx strands slipped from the stone. She could see one move to Steorf and the other came for her, but unlike what they did to Fannah and Ciredor, these strands of black were gentle and hesitant. Tazi flinched as the one moved to her forehead, but its touch was light and almost caressing. She could vaguely see that the other tendril approached Steorf in the same fashion then she saw no more.
She was engulfed in utter darkness. Everything about her was cold, her skin no longer ached with its horrible burns, and she no longer noticed the stab in her ribs. Though she seemed to be alone, Tazi could sense a fell awareness in the dark with her. Then she felt rather than heard a manifestation of the goddess Shar.
I have many things to offer you, Thazienne Uskevren. I would have given them to the necromancer but he proved wanting.
Why do you offer them to me? Tazi asked the presence.
Because you know me so well. With you, it is an instinctual understanding. And who better than one from the house of Uskevren to offer my gifts to?
What do you mean? Tazi questioned.
I feel the anger burning within you, a darkness to rival even the fallen mage, Ciredor. All I ask is that you give in to your feelings. Let me soothe and nourish your hurts and pains. They are such a part of you and have taught you so very much.
Tazi knew the presence was right. In the last few years, her pains had grown, and there was an ache in her heart that never left. But she recognized them as parts, not the whole, of herself. Just as the anger burned in her, there were other lights as well. Pain was necessary but not something to simply accept.
I thank you, but I have to refuse, she told the entity.
Tazi could feel the darkness recede but there was a parting thought.
Very well, Thazienne Uskevren, I go for now. But there will come a day when my touch will not seem so cold. There will come a day when you will welcome my embrace.
Tazi found herself back in the lookout chamber.
The tendril pulled back into the stone. The purple eye was no longer visible.
She turned and saw that Steorf was still caught in the embrace of the other onyx strand. His face was twisted in torment, and Tazi could only imagine what he was suffering to refuse Shar's gifts.
Finally, the tentacle released its hold on him as well and slithered back into the soul gem. With a final, amethyst pulse, the stone shattered into a thousand pieces. Tazi shielded her eyes from the flying shards.
When she opened them again, she saw that the glow faded both inside and outside the tower, leaving her and Steorf alone in the gathering darkness.
EPILOGUE
Tazi walked carefully over to Steorf and hugged him fiercely. It took a moment for him to respond, but when he did, he was just as emotional.
"Easy," she finally told him and freed herself from his embrace. "I think I might have a broken rib or two."
She turned from him, though she didn't let go of his hand. The sandstorm had passed at some point during the battle and starlight now flooded the chamber. Its pure, white light glinted off the shattered remnants of the soul gem, and illuminated the remains of the mummies.
The torn and desiccated bodies had been mended by the destruction of the gem. No longer were their corpses dried and withered. Each of Ciredor's victims' bodies had been restored to what they had looked like in life. Each face bore a peaceful countenance that had formerly been denied to them.
Tazi brought the back of her hand up to her mouth and was finally granted the release she needed. Tears streamed down her face.
"It's over," she choked out.
Steorf took hold of her other hand and moved so that she faced him.
"I've never seen you cry," he told her in a hushed tone.
He caught one of her tears gently on his fingertip.
"So much is lost," she whispered.
"Fannah…" she started to say, then she squeezed her eyes shut.
She held on to Steorf for a few moments. When she broke from his embrace a second time, she moved to face the chamber of the dead.
"Let me give you a moment alone," he told her. Then we should probably start our journey back to Calimport, and eventually, Selgaunt."
Tazi nodded to him and he stepped out onto the parapet. Tazi looked carefully near the brazier, but Fannah's body was no longer there.
One of the pieces of the soul gem, no larger than her thumbnail and shaped like a tear, caught Tazi's attention. She picked up the splinter and moved out onto the parapet to join Steorf.
He was gazing at the night sky, and Tazi was struck by how straight he stood, his back no longer bowed in pain. She reached out her hand and touched his face. It was cool under her fingers, no trace of a fever left.
"You're all right," she noted in wonder.
"Must be a parting gift from Shar," he answered vaguely. "Do you want to bury Fannah?" Tazi was certain he was simply trying to change the subject.
She decided to dwell on that later and dismissed the thought for another day.
"She's not there," Tazi informed him, not sure of the meaning behind her friend's disappearance.
"What?" Steorf asked, clearly surprised. "What do you think it means?"
Tazi leaned against the railing with her elbows and twirled the fragment of the jewel in her hands.
"Perhaps it means only that the world is still full of mystery," she answered.
"And hope?" Steorf
asked slowly.
"And hope," she replied.
Tazi let her gaze drift off at the miles of ever-changing yet ever constant desert, lit only by the stars. Even though she couldn't see it, Tazi knew that beyond Calimport lay Sembia, and home.
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