Bruce Cordell - Plague of Spells

The kuo-toa redoubled its efforts to free itself from the newcomer's vice-like grip.

A hint of movement above caught Anusha's attention.

"Watch out!" she yelled. Two morkoth-mounted sentinels flying in side-by-side formation dropped like hawks on a rabbit, intending to bracket him between two arrow-swift lance tips.

The swordwielder released his captive even as he jumped straight up. The half-elf cleared ten feet easily. The sentinels flashed beneath him. One accidentally skewered the kuo-toa rider the man released as he leaped. The other attempted to raise its lance at the last moment, but the man, even as he spun head over heels in the air, shattered the lance with a single strike of his sword.

The sentinels mounted back into the sky. The man landed lightly upon his feet, moving with the grace and economy of action she didn't normally associate with a sword fighter.

He scanned the area near where Anusha had called her warning, failed to see her, then picked up the kuo-toa he'd earlier snatched from its saddle. It was already unmoving from the wound its compatriot had delivered. He said, "Aberrations shall not be suffered." He hewed the unmoving form with the sword, splitting it asunder. Anusha gasped.

The man's head jerked around, his eyes blazing. Did he see her?

Apparently not. He continued to scan the area, then he said, "I must find Gethshemeth. I must…"

The man's expression twisted, as if he struggled to remember something vital.

Then he grunted and tossed the sword away, as if it burned his hand. The sword fell point first into the earth.

The weapon continued to burn, but the half-elf’s tattoo immediately dimmed. Human expression returned to the man's face, and he wiped his suddenly sweaty brow with the back of his hand.

A scream of alarm mounted off to Anusha's left, where the city was located.

"Angul," the man said, apparently addressing the sword, "if you wish to destroy Gethshemeth, you must swear on the Cerulean Sign we both serve never to overpower my mind again."

The sword continued to pulse with sky blue flames. "Can it talk?" Anusha blurted before she could stop herself.

The man looked up, his face remarkably serene. He said, "No, invisible one, at least not to anyone not holding it. Who are you?"

"Anusha," she replied. "I, uh, I am here to destroy Gethshemeth, too. My friends and I. We were separated, but I'm returning to them now."

The man cocked his head, glanced up at the sentinels that circled above. They seemed to be keeping their distance for the moment. Anusha didn't blame them, after seeing the man in action.

"Will you help us?" she asked. "My friends were attacked; that's when I lost them. I don't know what's happened since then. But I know they need help!"

"Who are your friends? Unseen sprites like yourself?"

"No! And I'm no sprite. I'm just, uh, not quite all here, which makes me hard to see. My friends are Japheth-he's learned spells and curses from some creature bound in the Feywild-and Seren-she says she's a wizard and she casts spells too. And Captain Thoster. He's a privateer. Actually, Seren and the captain are not my friends, just Japheth."

The man rubbed his chin, then he asked, "How old are you, Anusha?"

Her cheeks colored. She was glad the man couldn't see her. She had been nearly babbling, she had to admit it. She shot back, "And what is your name, man who falls from the sky?"

He executed a sudden and sharp bow. "Raidon Kane, disciple of Xiang Temple." "You're a monk?"

The man nodded, said, "And a Keeper of the Cerulean Sign, and reluctant wielder of Angul, whose moral sense is suspect despite his zeal for destroying evil. I have suffered much and traveled far to arrive here, all that I might destroy Gethshemeth and the relic he holds."

"Oh! Well, then you will help me?" '

"I detect no taint of aberration about you, so I shall put my trust in you until you prove unworthy of it. I already know I cannot trust this blade."

So saying, he grasped the sword. His expression hardened. His hand shook. But composure settled back into his features. He said, "We don't have time for more elaborate introductions, Anusha. Please lead the way. I can follow your verbal directions."

Anusha plucked a loose stone from the ground and explained, "Just follow this."

She dashed toward the city. Fear and anxiety loosed its overwhelming grip on her. Now that she breathed easier, she wondered whether she would ever have built up enough courage, if the half-elf monk hadn't turned up.

She dispersed the thought-it didn't matter what might have been. With Raidon Kane at her side, she allowed herself to hope. She just might see Japheth again.

Anusha led Raidon into Taunissik. Even in the middle of the night, the coral-like, jumbled structures and clear pools glowed with a pale, algal light. The kuo-toa who'd earlier lounged in the pools were absent, but sinister shapes looked out every window of the city, their vacant faces shadowed by dim glows behind them. The sentinels continued to circle overhead, keeping Raidon at the center of the circuit.

"At least they are keeping their distance," Anusha said, trying to break the tension with something more helpful than a scream or whimper.

"They will allow us to enter, then block our exit-what else but cowardly tactics can one expect of aberration-touched creatures?" The half-elf’s voice rang with a righteous zeal. Was the sword affecting the man's mind again?

She ran toward the large structure. Raidon easily matched her tireless pace.

The sinuous glyphs carved on every surface of the building flickered between green and wan red light. She plunged into the entrance, the disciple of Xiang Temple a breath behind. They passed through a low-ceilinged vestibule where three basins collected effluvia from fish-faced busts. Anusha took the right-hand path from a choice of two arched corridors and plunged down a narrow staircase. Relief-carved kuo-toa heads emerged from either wall at intervals, their eyes spilling yellow radiance.

After one switchback, the stairs emptied into a straight tunnel Anusha flew through, the stone she held to guide Raidon in one hand, her dream blade in the other.

They passed into a chamber lit by a trio of sculpted, ten-foot-diameter kuo-toa busts on high walls. A granite block stood loose, just inside the room-Anusha remembered it had crashed down and sealed the exit. Something had pushed it aside since then.

Where the central pool had been was a drained, slime-coated cavity in the floor. Dead albino fish lay within it like so many withered leaves. A hole in the cavity's basin was a spiral staircase, now open to air, leading downward.

"Raidon, this is where we were separated," she exclaimed. "I don't know what happened when I. was… pulled away, but the basin in the floor was filled with water last time I was here."

"How long…" Raidon's query trailed off as his gaze tracked higher.

Anusha followed his eyes. A dragon perched atop one of the kuo-toa busts above them like a lazing savanna cat. Humanoid remains lay between its outstretched legs, but from her vantage, she couldn't identify them. Her stomach, despite being immaterial, convulsed.

The dragon, seeing it had the monk's attention, stretched. Its wings unfolded like a webbed, thin-fingered hand opening to reach up and scratch the ceiling. It yawned, revealing bloody fangs as long as Anusha's forearm. The dragon's deep-socketed eyes and hollow nasal openings were almost skull-like. Large spikes extended from its jaw, and two rows of small horns lined its brows.

"You bear the taint I cannot abide," Raidon accused the dragon, his voice cold as iron.

"You trespass and have found your death," replied the dragon, its voice a scratchy rumble. It tensed, preparing to spring.