Джейн Рэйб - Red Magic

“However, the wizard Maligor will have been researching magic—alchemical spells that will turn lead into gold. The research will be successful, using our pocketed gold as proof. And my alchemical achievement will be a boon to Thay’s economy. The country will have gold once more. Of course, to get the gold, other Red Wizards will have to come under my influence. In the end, I will be the most powerful Red Wizard in Thay. Nothing will stand in my way.”

“And what of me? What will happen to me?”

The Red Wizard’s face softened slightly and he leaned close to Asp.

“Your domain will be the mines, dark and dismal as they may seem to you. But it will not be forever. You will have a share in all of this, I promise. Every great man needs his queen.”

Maligor was relieved that Asp appeared to be accepting that story. He would keep her with him as long as she proved useful. If she became too hotheaded and belligerent, however, he would have to find another naga.

“The plan is wonderful,” she hissed. “I had wanted glory at the head of an army, but the subtlety of this intrigues and excites me. When do we move?”

Maligor grasped her pudgy male hands as he rose from the chair. He couldn’t bring himself to embrace her while she was in the guise of the tharchion.

“The gnolls will move out tonight, about an hour after the sun sets. Since it will be dark, it will take a substantial amount of effort on the parts of the wizards to follow them and guess their intended target. Then, with all eyes on them, I will loose the darkenbeasts, creating a low-lying fog to cover their exodus and casting spells of silence to hide their cries. I have more darkenbeasts, too, not far from here. There are more than enough to capture the mines.”

Asp appeared puzzled. “And how will we reach the mines?”

“Magic,” Maligor replied. “We will fly, too. Then we will sit back and watch my creatures do their work.”

“You are brilliant, Maligor,” Asp said, her tharchion eyes shining.

The Red Wizard left her several hours later to meet with the gnoll army. As the sun set, he stood before the dog-men, resplendent in his youthful appearance and scarlet robe. Maligor paced grandly in front of them until he was satisfied all eyes were on him.

“We will move soon!” the Red Wizard began. “The night is our ally. You can see in the blackness, but your adversary cannot.”

Asp, in her tharchion guise, watched Maligor from the shadowed recesses beyond the tower window. She couldn’t help envying the admiration he was receiving from her gnolls.

“We are unstoppable!” she heard Maligor cry. She stared at the growing enthusiasm in the gnoll army. “With your strength, your sword arms, and your courage, you shall tread over the opponent’s forces, grinding them beneath your hairy heels.”

The wizard’s voice quickened and rose. The words carried to even the gnoll soldiers gathered at the back of the throng. “The ground will turn red from your victims’ blood. The sky will turn black from the flock of ravens drawn to feast upon the corpses of our enemies. Victory is ours!” he screamed.

“For Maligor!” the gnolls replied as one.

The Red Wizard cast his arm to the northeast. “There, near Eltabar. Take the lands of the young Red Wizard. Crush him utterly!”

The gnolls beat their weapons upon their shields, creating a din of clanging metal that drowned out the rest of the Red Wizard’s victory speech.

The dog soldiers marched, and all eyes from Amruthar were on them.

Maligor ran into his tower as he mumbled the words of an incantation. He continued mouthing the spell as he raced down the stone steps to join his darkenbeasts below. By the time the spell was completed, a thick fog had blanketed the land around his tower and the western edge of Amruthar.

The darkenbeasts felt the wizard’s excitement and began to soar about their subterranean chamber, faster and faster, on their leathery wings. Maligor’s mind reached out, contacting one, then another, then a dozen, then still more until his thoughts were intertwined with all of his macabre creatures.

The darkenbeasts’ cries spiraled upward from the chamber, unnerving everyone in the Red Wizard’s tower. Louder and louder the noise grew, until Maligor masked the cacophony with an enchantment of silence.

Then he rushed up the steps, the darkenbeasts first following, then overtaking him. Higher and higher the hellish creatures flew, until they reached the ground floor.

“Throw open the doors!” Maligor commanded as he reached the entry hall. But the guards couldn’t hear him because of the forced silence. The wizard waved his arms to indicate what he wanted.

The guards, quaking in terror, fumbled with the latches in their attempt to comply. Maligor ran ahead of his cloud of hovering darkenbeasts to wrench the doors open himself. So elated was the Red Wizard that he neglected to punish the fearful guards.

While the wizards and the city of Amruthar watched the gnoll soldiers, the darkenbeasts flew unnoticed. No one heard or saw them, and Maligor’s spirits soared on their wings.

Asp, growing accustomed to her new form, waddled to Maligor’s side and gazed up into his face.

The Red Wizard grasped her pudgy hand and muttered a few words. Then the pair vanished in a wisp of smoke.

The sun was setting on Thay in front of the heroes and their undead charges. Wynter glanced over his shoulder so he could watch the skeletons and zombies.

“Why are they here?” the centaur asked Brenna. “They’re dead, aren’t they?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later,” she sighed. “I only wish you could remember.” Brenna stared at the undead army. They were frightening and macabre, shuffling stiffly, some hunched over. She wondered if there was any spark of life within them. Did they realize what they were doing and whom they served? Did they know they were being denied a true death because of sorcery? It was just another form of slavery. She had thought about that a great deal during the past few hours, just as she had been thinking about a lot of other things since leaving Szass Tam’s fortress.

This was wrong, she knew, Wynter’s condition and this entire procession against the Red Wizard Maligor. Choosing the lesser of two evils was still an evil. And any evil in Thay was an abomination as far as the enchantress was concerned.

“They smell funny,” Wynter complained, interrupting her thoughts. “They look bad, too.”

“I know,” she said softly, smiling at the simpleminded centaur. “Try not to think about it. Look at the sunset. Isn’t it beautiful?” The orange rays spread out over the groves of trees to their right and left and the verdant plain before them. The breeze that blew over the grass teased their faces.

“Pretty,” the centaur agreed. “Your name is Brenna, right?”

The enchantress nodded sadly and tilted her head so she could see Galvin. The druid was several yards behind them and was apparently studying the centaur.

“Where are we going?” the centaur persisted.

“A city called Amruthar,” Brenna replied.

“Tell me when we get there. I’m going to look at the dead men,” Wynter decided, falling back to march between the first two rows of the undead. Balancing his enchanted bardiche under one arm, the centaur waved happily at Galvin.

Feeling morose about his witless friend, the druid didn’t acknowledge the gesture. Galvin was angry at himself for not being with Wynter when the plant trapped him. Strangely, he was even angrier that the plant hadn’t killed his friend. The druid knew that, in the wilderness, only the strong survived, and Wynter could no longer survive on his own. He hated seeing his friend this way—an adult with a child’s mind.