“You still lay there, Hamford? My-my, with the stunning display of power I used to create this creature before us, you whimper on the ground?”
“Yes, Master,” Hamford said.
“Stand, blast you! Yes, stand and tell me why I shouldn’t just take you apart or better yet, make you one of my creations!” Ewzad truly wondered why he had suffered the man to live for so long. Hamford had failed in every important endeavor he had given him. “Tell me, why is it that you live while my better servants are gone? Sweet dear Rudfen killed by that horrid man. Sweet Kenn . . . also killed by that horrid man. Now Talon . . . surely she lives, but you. Why do I suffer your presence? Why Hamford? Why?”
The big man climbed to his feet and stood there, showing no concern for his safety. He let out a great sigh. “I have asked myself the same question many times, Master. You are right. I should have been the one to die.”
Ewzad felt a twinge of affection for the man and then he understood. “Ah yes, I see now. I understand! Do you know why I kept you all this time, dear Hamford? Do you?”
“No Master,” the big guard said, his shoulders slumped, his face a perpetual mask of sadness.
“You are a reminder.” Ewzad grinned over his realization. “Yes-yes, it’s true. You remind me of my old friend Blem. Look at you. Big? Yes. Strong and capable? Yes. Smart? No. My, you are so much like dear Blem.”
“The friend you killed, Master?” Hamford asked, his face unchanged.
Ewzad’s eyes narrowed. Was the man trying to put in a subtle jab? Surely not. The man had been cowed. Now he was boring. “Ah, well Blem’s death was a necessity you see? Yes. But I find that I am tiring of you, Hamford. All the constant moping. Ugh, so depressing. No-no. That won’t do. I find that I am not as fond of the memories of dear Blem as I once was.”
“Will you kill me then, Master?” Hamford asked and his eyes actually looked hopeful. The impudence!
“Kill you?” Ewzad sneered. “It will not be so easy for you to escape, dear Hamford. No-no.”
“Yes, Master,” Hamford said.
Ewzad considered several ways of teaching the man a lesson, but an alarm rang out in the back of his head. He frowned. One of his wards had been crossed. It was at one of the secret entrances to the tunnels of Castle Dremald; one he rarely used. He raised his thumb and it writhed, causing an image to float above. He laughed when he saw Talon’s form slinking down the passage.
“See, Mellinda! I told you. Yes-yes I did!”
“Unbelievable. She lives.” The sultry voice sounded truly stunned.
Ewzad snapped his fingers and the tortoise spider stirred sluggishly, its powerful legs raising its heavy body off of the ground. “Dear Hamford, put my new creation in the catacombs. It is too big for the cells, yes? Don’t worry, it will be quite docile for a while.”
Ewzad ran towards the entrance chamber of his laboratory, knowing where his sweet Talon would appear. He entered the chamber just before she did. She stood and blinked at him with uneasy eyes, gauging his response to her appearance. He saw that whatever terrible damage the man’s sword had done to her had been repaired by her body’s regeneration. Her newly grown arm was a bit thinner than the other, but the correct length. It would fill out soon and no one would be able to tell the difference.
He threw his arms wide. “Dear sweet Talon, you return!”
“Ewieeee!” she hissed and ran to his arms.
He wove a quick protective spell around his body, aware of the damage she could accidentally cause with her ardent hellos. Talon tried to be gentle with him, she had learned the punishment that could happen if she left a mark, but still her instincts were to rip and tear. Talon slammed into him, but his magic kept him upright.
“Ewwie! Ewwie, I come back to you,” she purred. She wrapped her arms and tail around him and kissed him all over his neck with her new lips. He could feel the sharp edges of her teeth against his skin and shuddered with happiness. If not for sweet Elise, she would have been the perfect girl for him.
“Oh yes, I am glad to see you too, sweet-sweet Talon, yes I am!” he crooned.
“I am pleased that she lives,” Mellinda said. “You must reconnect us, Master. I have so much to teach her still.”
“Oh? Must I?” Ewzad frowned.
“I will sacrifice a more suitable child for her this time so that I can help her further. And we must place the eye somewhere inside where it cannot be torn away.”
Talon froze and looked up at him fearfully. “Doess sshe talkss to you, Ewwie?”
“Oh yes,” Ewzad said. “She wishes to be part of you again. What do you think? Hmm?”
“No, Ewwie! Please no,” Talon whimpered. “She numbss me. Numbss me!”
Ewzad wasn’t surprised that Mellinda had found Talon’s weakness. The witch was a crafty one. “But Talon, dear. Without her, I don’t have a way to watch your movements. Yes, how else can I know what you’re doing?”
“But . . .” Talon’s eyes quivered. “The moonrat mother hatess you. She wantss me to betray you.”
“Of course she does,” Ewzad said with a smile. “Don’t you, you filthy thing?”
“That’s preposterous. You know I have no choice but to follow your orders, Master. She is only saying these things because she knows I can punish her.”
“Oh what a sweet liar you are,” Ewzad said.
“No, Ewwie. No liess. I never liess to you!” Talon said, and began kissing his neck again.
“No-no, I wasn’t speaking to you, sweet Talon.” Ewzad caressed her scaled head and pondered the situation for a moment. What to do? He had an urgent mission for her to perform but could she be trusted to return again?
“You will need me to monitor her,” Mellinda reminded.
He snickered. The witch’s eagerness made up his mind for him. “Talon my sweet. I have a question for you.”
“Yess, Ewwie,” she purred.
“Have you ever failed me before?” he asked.
“No, Ewwie. I always killss the oness you want.”
“Oh? Are the ones who killed sweet Kenn dead? Hmm?”
She paused in her affections. “They . . . live. But the female iss to blame. She wantss the dagger. Makess me attack. Ruinss my planss.”
“Oh, I know,” Ewzad said, “She showed me the memory, didn’t you, Mellinda?”
“You should not mention my name around the beast, Master.” Mellinda warned. “You gave her speech and that knowledge is dangerous.”
“You try to distract me from your failure, don’t you, witch?” he snapped. “Without your interference, sweet Talon would have found a way to kill them all by now.” He ignored Mellinda’s simmering anger. “Come, Talon, dear. I have an improvement to make.”
“Yess!” Talon said and danced around as he led her down the hall past the rows of cells and into his experiment room. Hamford and Arcon had recently cleaned it for him and the round room was full of empty tables. Ewzad motioned to one of them and Talon jumped upon it, sitting in eager anticipation.
Ewzad removed a small wooden box from the desk where his many books of notes were piled and walked back to her side. He carefully slid the lid aside and froze the dangerous beast inside before it could strike, then dumped it out onto the table beside the raptoid. “Here, sweet Talon, is the weapon you will use to destroy those nasty bonding wizards.”
She leaned in close, sniffing it. “Sso tiny. What iss it, Ewwie?”
“Ah, see this comes from the shores of the southernmost reaches of Khalpany. Yes, the people there call it a death whisper.” He giggled and placed the creature on his palm. At first glance it resembled a spider, but with only six furry legs. Tan in color, its elongated torso was hairless and soft like human flesh. “Look closely, sweet Talon. Look at its head.”
She smiled and whispered, “It hass a man’ss face.”
“Yes-yes, terrifying, isn’t it? But watch.” He squeezed its abdomen and a long needle-like fang sprung from its mouth. A single drop of fluid formed on the
end. “This pretty little thing is filled with a most deadly venom. They kill hundreds in Khalpany each year and assassins value their venom for its terrible and magic resistant effects. Sweet Talon, this is what I give to you.”
“Yess, Ewwie. Please!”
Ewzad flicked two fingers and the death whisper’s hairy legs fell away from its body. He then spread his fingers wide and the creature’s torso grew. Once it became too heavy for him to hold, he laid it on the table next to him and giggled again. “Now Talon, would you give me your tail, please?”
She laid the end of her tail on the table and Ewzad flipped it over so that the underside was facing up. His fingers writhed and a blade of air sliced open the last foot of her tail, cutting it down to the bone. Talon gurgled with pleasure and he turned his attention back to the creature’s body.
He dissected the death whisper’s body carefully, exposing the long tube-like venom gland that ran the length of its torso. He enlarged the gland a bit more until it bulged out of the cavity, then detached it from the creature’s fang. Careful not to spill the venom, he placed the swollen gland into Talon’s tail.
He attached the gland to the base of her tail barb and opened up a channel for the venom to flow through. Talon hissed as he sealed her tail back up and began the intricate process of joining the cells of the gland to her bloodstream and nervous system. Finally finished, he squeezed the base of her tail, smiling as the poisonous fluid leaked from the tip of her barb.
“Ahh, there you are Talon,” Ewzad said. “Yes, more deadly than ever. Enlarging the gland may have diluted the potency somewhat, but pump those wizards full of your new venom and not even magic will be able to save them, yes?”
“Oh, yes, Ewwie. I will kills them for you!” she cooed.
“Perfect, Master.” said Mellinda, sounding pleased. “I am sending one of my most precious children now.”
Ewzad ignored her. “Good, Talon. But this time you will not go alone. I wish you to lead.”
“Leadss?”
“What are you planning, Master?”
“I will send you with a group of ten armored orcs and four bladecats. I will command them to follow your instructions and the moonrat mother will make sure they obey.”
“Yes, Master,” Mellinda’s voice was pleased.
“No, Ewwie. Pleease, Masster,” Talon begged.
“I will place the witch’s eyes in all the members of your force, sweet Talon.” He paused and enjoyed the look of anguish on her face. “Except for you. This way I can keep track of your progress and none of the orcs will defy you, yes?”
“Thank you, Ewwie!” she cried and began kissing his neck again. “I lovess you.”
Ewzad giggled, then he pushed her away from him. “Yes, sweet Talon I know. I am a kind master, yes?” His smile faded. “But if you fail me this time, I will put an eye in you. I swear I will shove it right into your sweet-sweet skull between your own two eyes and then let the witch do whatever foul thing she plans. Do you understand?”
She cringed, “Yess.”
“No, Ewzad, that is unacceptable. Wasting the lives of my sweet children on such disposable creatures,” she spat. “Your orcs will die within weeks, those cats perhaps sooner. I must have her.”
“I think not, you nasty thing,” Ewzad sneered. “Talon has proved her usefulness to me. Whereas you . . . are a constant disappointment.”
“Yess, the female disappointss.” Talon gurgled and flexed the new toy within her tail, smiling at the narrow toxic stream that squirted from the end of her barb.
“Please, do this for me, Master. She is the only one worthy. The things I could do for you with her at my command,” Mellinda cooed and for the first time in months, she reached out to stroke the pleasure centers of his mind. Her voice deepened and flowed with exquisite promise. “I will be . . . very grateful.”
“Disgusting!” The time when such nonsense swayed him had ended long ago. Ewzad shoved her touch from his mind. “I will have none of your foulness!”
“Disgusting?” she growled. “What I promise is-!”
Ewzad laughed. “Oh my! You still think yourself alluring! Don’t forget, I know what you really are. Why should I wish to be pleasured by a filthy old dead thing like you? Hmm, Mellinda?”
Rage bubbled through his connection to the witch and she growled, “I have told you not to say my name aloud . . . Ewwie.”
Ewzad’s face contorted at her insolence, his anger building to match hers. His arms writhed, his forehead throbbed. “Do you think that was wise? No. No it wasn’t.”
Talon saw the danger coming and took a wary step back.
“Go ahead,” Mellinda taunted. “Try and punish me again, Ewwie. Just be warned. This time I will not allow it meekly. I will strike back with my full power and do everything I can to wrest control of your insignificant little mind.”
“Oh, will you? We shall see.” Ewzad gathered his mental faculties, readying himself to strike. His predecessors had told him how to harm her, but he had to be careful not to overdo it. Though he hated to admit it, he needed the witch. A few dead among an army of tens of thousands was nothing, but if he destroyed her, the entire army would fall apart. If that happened, the Dark Voice would punish him and his enemies would be able to unite against him. He would be hard pressed indeed.
Ewzad could sense the moonrat mother mount her defenses. He was so focused in his preparations that he didn’t even register the alarm telling him that another ward had been crossed. He called upon the memories of the past Envakfeers and listened to their instructions on how to build a barrier around his mind. He didn’t notice the sound of the steel door latches open or see the queen enter the chamber.
“Ewzad, there are some difficulties with the nobles, and-. Oh.” Elise’s expression soured as she saw Talon standing near, and she said in distaste, “It’s back I see. Ewzad, I really need your help with something.”
She walked towards him and Talon thrust out her hand, hissing in alarm. “Ewwie’s woman! You must sstay back. Ewwie preparess to fight the moonrat mother.”
Elise’s eyes widened. “Wait! Wait, dearest!” Ewzad snarled, so focused on his coming attack that he did not register her words. She rushed across the room and threw her arms around him. His entire torso was writhing now and she had difficulty holding on. “Not now, Ewzad. Please calm yourself. You know we need her. We have discussed this before. Her insolence is empty. The Dark Voice has commanded her to serve yo-!”
Ewzad’s magic flexed. With a flare of power, Elise was thrown from his body. She flew toward the chamber wall, smoke trailing from her garment. Talon darted over just in time to embrace the queen and they slammed into the wall together, Talon absorbing the impact.
Elise was stunned. She stayed in Talon’s arms for a few short seconds before realizing what had happened. Then she felt the raptoid sniffing her neck and pushed away in revulsion. She stumbled and nearly fell, but Talon reached out and caught her wrist.
“Carefull, woman. Must not let Ewwie’ss childss be harmed,” the raptoid said.
Elise’s face colored and she turned to look at Ewzad, but the wizard’s eyes were already on her. Ewzad’s anger and focus evaporated. What had he done?
“Elise,” he said, his arms outstretched. “Dearest-!”
“You hurt me!” she said tearfully, holding out her arms so that he could see the redness of her skin. Blisters were already forming and the smell of burnt silk filled the air. “W-why? You have never hurt me before.”
“I am so sorry. Yes, dear Elise, so sorry. Let me heal you. Let me soothe your burns, yes?”
He slid towards her and for a moment she looked as if she might run from him. She shook her head and backed away. He grasped her hand and panic rose in her eyes. Then she squeezed her eyes together and took a deep breath. She let the breath out slowly and her trembling stopped. When her eyes reopened, the fear had left her.
She licked her lips. “Thank you, dearest. Please heal me and . . . please be caref
ul next time.”
He examined the wounds, murmuring a string of sweet apologies. His fingers writhed as he healed away the burns. How could he have been so careless with his dear sweet Elise? He did a quick sweep of her body looking for further injury. The foul witch was at fault. She had made him so angry! But . . . something pricked at his mind. “Wait, yes. I am missing something. What were you saying as you came in, dearest?”
“I was simply saying that fighting with the woman that controls the armies could be disastrous to our cause,” she said.
“No, not that. Not that.” He glanced at Talon. “Perhaps it was what you said, sweet Talon. What was it?”
Talon cocked her head at the queen and Ewzad noticed Elise give the raptoid a pleading look. “I . . . ssaid.”
The War of Stardeon (The Bowl of Souls) Page 36
