James Wyatt - In the Claws of the Tiger

“You recognized these fiends?” Auftane asked. “From your last visit there?”

Janik took a deep breath and let it out slowly, rubbing his hand over the stubble on his chin as he collected his thoughts. “I recognized them from texts,” he said, “not from experience. The earliest descriptions of Mel-Aqat describe giant statues of people with the heads of tigers, so naturally I’ve done some research about what those were supposed to depict. You remember in Stormreach, when we were talking about the Tablet of Shummarak? About the great war that supposedly raged between fiends and dragons in the first age of the world? Well, the legends describe those fiends-or at least some of them-as having the heads of tigers.”

“Rakshasas,” Mathas said. “I have read of them as well.”

“Exactly,” Janik said. “The most powerful of these rakshasas were called rajahs, their rulers, and they were ultimately bound within the earth-”

“By the couatls,” Dania interrupted, “the allies of the dragons. They sacrificed themselves to bind the fiends forever.”

“Right,” said Janik. “But the servitors of the rajahs were not all bound or destroyed. Several ranks or breeds of these fiends served the rajahs. Some wielded powerful magic. A black-furred variety served as scouts and assassins. And there was a warrior caste, called zakyas. I’m guessing that’s what we have here.”

He paused, running his hands through his hair. “It is possible that Mel-Aqat was a place where one of the rakshasa rajahs was imprisoned.”

“What?” Dania turned to face Janik.

“I’m beginning to see some of the pieces of the puzzle here,” Janik said, staring at the tiger-headed demon on the ground. “I don’t know how they fit together yet, but I think I see some pieces.”

He furrowed his brow in concentration.

“Some of the most ancient texts that mention Mel-Aqat-the same ones that describe the statues of these demons-call it the Place of Imprisonment. I’m certain that the ziggurat at the heart of the ruins is the locus of that imprisonment. That ziggurat is the one structure still standing in the city, and we could not find a way inside it on our last visit. So I have considered the possibility that your church is correct, Dania, and we released this rakshasa rajah from the Place of Imprisonment on our last visit. But I don’t think that’s the case, partly because we never got into the ziggurat.”

Dania’s face was flushed. “Unless the Ramethene Sword was a key of some kind,” she said, “and removing it from its place opened the prison.”

“That might be possible-if it weren’t contradicted by every extant text about the Ramethene Sword,” Janik snapped. “If your carefully reasoned theory had any validity, you would expect to see descriptions of the sword as a key, or a linchpin, or a keystone, maybe a cornerstone. Instead, it’s described-as one would expect for a weapon of war-in terms of its capabilities as a weapon. It’s the Sunderer, the Fleshrender, the Axis of Destruction. You are too hasty to assume the worst, Dania. But the most important reason I don’t believe we released the rajah is that the world would have noticed by now. By all accounts, these creatures possess power to rival the Dark Six, and little subtlety. If one had been released into the world three years ago, I’m fairly confident that Stormreach would not still be standing, at the very least.”

Dania looked unconvinced, but Janik ignored her to continue his train of thought.

“That said, I suspect that the possibility of Mel-Aqat being the Place of Imprisonment for one of these fiend lords is not irrelevant to what we’re doing here. Dania said that Krael and Maija were looking for the Tablet of Shummarak in Karrnath. I told you before that the Tablet is an ancient inscription that describes what we’ve just been talking about-the fiends that ruled the world in ancient times, and the couatls that imprisoned them in the earth. Thanks to Krael stealing the most important books from my library, I have no idea whether there’s a specific connection between the Tablet and Mel-Aqat, but it seems pretty obvious there’s a general connection. Both of them are connected to these ancient fiends.”

Auftane interrupted. “So you think Krael and Maija were looking for the Tablet so they could use it to free the fiend imprisoned at Mel-Aqat?”

“I think that’s possible, yes,” Janik said. “Although I still have no idea how much Maija is involved in all of this. I only know what Dania told me.”

“We have no evidence that she is here with Krael,” Dania said. “Assuming she’s still alive, she would have slowed the party down.”

“Unless she was also riding in the palanquin with that necromancer,” Mathas added.

“Not very likely,” Janik said. “No, I don’t think Maija is here. But the other piece is these zakya warriors. Again, I think there’s some connection to Mel-Aqat, but I’m not sure what it means. We’re relatively close to Mel-Aqat, close enough that the horn might have been meant for someone there. But we didn’t see any fiends there last time. So does that mean that the imprisoned rajah has been freed, and these zakyas are serving him? But then what’s Krael doing here?”

Janik heaved a deep sigh. “Oh, it makes my head ache. This is the sort of problem best addressed in a quiet library, not out in the wild.”

“And what are we going to do about that horn?” Dania added, casting a wary glance toward the tower nearby. They were mostly shielded from the view of anyone in the tower, but they had hardly been careful about hiding since the first attack of the rakshasas. “Do you think we should attack the tower, Janik?”

“I think it all depends on what’s in there. Mathas?”

“Of course, Janik,” Mathas said. “I will require some time.” He turned toward the tower and closed his eyes, beginning a low chant and tracing complex symbols in the air with his hands.

Janik turned to Auftane. “You did something to your weapon that made it more effective against them. What was that? I felt like I was stabbing them with a spoon instead of my sword.”

“Like many creatures of evil,” Dania said before Auftane could answer, “these fiends are susceptible to holy might. Without that power behind your blows, your sword could not pierce their defenses.”

“So we know Dania’s black-and-white interpretation of events,” Janik said, looking at Auftane. “I want to hear yours, Auftane. You’re no paladin. What did you do to your mace?”

“Well, Dania’s interpretation is correct,” the dwarf replied. “More or less. The world is full of opposing powers, and it’s simple enough to find one power to use against another. When you’re fighting a creature of cold, you make your weapon fiery. And when you’re fighting fiends, you make it holy.”

“But how do you do it?”

Auftane laughed. “That’s what I do. Everything has magic in it-it’s just a matter of adjusting it to get the effect you want. It’s relatively easy to do, if you only need it to last a short time. With enough time and the right materials, you can make it permanent.”

“So you could do it to my sword?”

“Sure,” the dwarf said, “for about an hour and a half.”

“Long enough for us to clear out that tower.”

Mathas made a last dramatic gesture and fell silent, standing like a statue with his eyes closed. The others watched him in silence for several moments, then he began to speak.

“I didn’t see anything between here and the tower,” Mathas announced. “There’s not much to the tower at all-from this side it looks mostly intact, but if you go around the other side, the walls are crumbled away. There’s one more fiend by the doorway, it looks like-yes, there’s another one perched on a ledge higher up, looking toward us. With an enormous horn. I think that’s all, just those two.”