Troy Denning - The Crimson Legion

Styan, who looked greatly relieved, moved to obey. Neeva cut him off and stepped in front of the dwarf. “Leave him alone.”

Styan reached for his dagger and tried to circle around the female gladiator. Neeva disarmed him with a lightning-fast kick that sent his blade flying, then grabbed a handful of his long gray hair and jerked him into her grasp. She slipped a hand around his chin and placed the other against the back of his neck.

“Don’t even flinch,” she hissed “As it is, it’s been too long since I’ve killed a templar.”

“Release him!” Rikus ordered, stepping off the marble throne. When she did not obey, he repeated his order. “Let Styan go.”

“No,” Neeva answered. “If you take another step, Rikus, I’ll snap his neck.”

“That’s your choice,” the mul countered, drawing the Scourge. “It won’t save Caelum.”

Neeva yelled in anger, then pushed Styan halfway across the room and unsheathed her own sword. “If you mean to kill him, you’ll have to fight past me.”

Rikus stopped. “You don’t mean that,” he said, his gaze fixed on her emerald eyes.

“Neeva, don’t,” Caelum said. He took a slow step toward Rikus.

“Be quiet and let me handle this,” Neeva ordered, once again placing herself between the dwarf and Rikus. To the mul, she said, “If you believe Maetan-”

“It’s not Maetan I believe, it’s what happened since the dwarves joined us,” Rikus countered. “The Urikites have countered every move we’ve made before we made it.”

“Perhaps there is a spy,” Neeva allowed. “It’s not Caelum, though. It doesn’t make sense. He’s the one who saved us from the halflings, and he fought with us at Umbra’s ambush-”

“That was when we lost Jaseela’s company,” Styan pointed out, still lying on the floor.

“Thanks to you,” Gaanon said. “If your templars would have been there, we’d have won.”

“True-but the dwarves weren’t there either,” said Jaseela.

“How can you say that?” Neeva demanded. “Caelum was, and he saved your life!”

“Only because she was standing next to him,” Rikus said. “He didn’t save any of her retainers.”

Caelum stepped from behind Neeva. “Rikus, I can understand why you choose to believe our enemy’s word over mine,” the dwarf said, his voice edged in anger. “But Neeva does not deserve such an insult. Apologize to her, or I’ll take measures.”

Neeva scowled. “Caelum, I’m not the one in danger here. Be quiet.”

Rikus shook his head, astonished by the dwarf’s tone. “Take measures!” The mul shouted. “Are you threatening me?”

Caelum blanched, but did not back down. “No, I’m warning you,” he said. He stepped forward, shrugging off Neeva’s hand when she tried to restrain him. “Believe that I’m the spy if you want. Go ahead and kill me. But you won’t mistreat Neeva while I’m alive.”

Jaseela stepped to the mul’s side. “Maybe we’d better think this through,” she said. “What if Maetan’s lying? He has no reason to tell us the truth. He might be trying to avenge himself on Caelum for bringing that river of fire down on his army, or he might be protecting the real spy.” She glanced at Styan meaningfully, then turned back to the dwarf who remained standing before Rikus. “Besides, I don’t think Caelum’s acting much like a spy.”

“No, he’s not,” Rikus agreed. He looked from the noblewoman to the dwarf. “He’s acting like a dwarf with focus.”

Caelum met Rikus’s eyes evenly. “That is so,” he admitted. “On the day Neeva saved my life, I swore to protect her always.”

“Then it stands to reason Caelum can’t be the spy,” Neeva said. She gently laid a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. “Betraying the legion would be a violation of his focus.”

“Unless he’s lying about his focus,” Rikus said, glaring at Neeva. Despite his growing anger, the mul sheathed his sword and stepped away. “I don’t know whether he’s the spy or not, Neeva, but he’s your responsibility. If he betrays us later, you’ll suffer the same as him. Nothing will save you-not even what there is, or was, between us.”

Neeva’s eyes softened. “You’re doing the right thing.” She, too, sheathed her sword, then gave him a weak smile. “Thank you.”

Rikus turned away without responding. “Now leave-everyone,” he ordered. “Maetan and I will talk alone.”

The others frowned and began to object, but Rikus was in no mood for arguments. “Do it!” he ordered. “And don’t come back until I call you.”

The time had come to kill the Urikite, and Rikus thought it would be safer if there was no one else in the room when he attacked. Though Maetan had made it clear that he expected to die, the mindbender had given no indication that he intended to offer up his life without a fight. With the Scourge in his hand the mul would have some defense against the Urikite’s mental attacks, but no one else had the benefit of such protection.

When everyone except Gaanon filed toward the doors, Rikus nodded to him. “You, too, my friend.”

“But if he intends to attack you-”

“He’ll do it whether or not you’re holding him,” the mul said. “A mindbender doesn’t need his hands.”

As Gaanon reluctantly released Maetan and moved toward the exit, Tamar demanded, Are you preparing to kill him?

Don’t try to stop me , Rikus warned.

Why would I want to? As long as he lives, he’s an obstacle to recovering the book , she answered. But you’ll need help, or he’ll use the Way against you .

Help?

Open the robe , she said. I’ll engage his mind. It will help if you can draw his attention to my ruby .

Once Gaanon had left the room, Maetan smiled confidently. “What did you wish to discuss in private?”

“I have something that belongs to you,” Rikus said, opening his robe.

The mindbender made a sour face as he eyed the wound on Rikus’s chest. Tamar’s gem shined so brightly that it cast a scarlet light over Maetan’s face.

“What is that?” Maetan asked, gesturing at the glow.

“Umbra,” Rikus answered. “And I want you to take him back. He’s so foul I can’t keep him locked inside any longer-he’s rotting my flesh from the inside out.”

A clever trick, Rikus , Tamar cooed.

A black shadow began to swim through the light coming from the ruby. Maetan overcame his revulsion and looked into the gem. “Umbra isn’t foul, he’s merely-”

Tamar ended his sentence by making her attack.

She filled Rikus’s mind with a vast plain of frothing yellow mud, stinking of sulfur and tolling with the thick plop of bursting bubbles. From one of these bubbles emerged the rear of a gross, many-legged thing with a ruby-red carapace of square scales. When it dragged its head out of the mud, Rikus saw that it had Tamar’s slitlike eyes and broad lips. In its huge mandibles it clutched Maetan’s struggling form.

Instantly, Rikus willed himself into the picture. He wasted no energy by assuming any form except his own, complete with the ulcerating sore on his chest. The only thing that was different, as far as he could tell, was that Tamar’s gem was not embedded in the wound.

Maetan turned toward him. “You ambushed me!” he snarled. “For that, you will die.”

The mindbender changed to the double-headed Serpent of Lubar. At the same time, the ground changed from boiling mud to roiling black gas, and Rikus lost sight of the snake.

“Maetan!” the mul screamed, furious that his enemy had eluded him in his moment of victory.

A brilliant blue light rose from the Scourge of Rkard, and Rikus found himself standing a short distance away from a massive arch of blue obsidian. Between him and the arch was a sandy plain. Here and there, jagged, square-edged sheets of translucent green glass protruded from the ground. There was no sign of either Maetan or Tamar.