Fire and Fog

The gnome' s attention turned to other matters. Dealing with Claybore proved more and more difficult. The sorcerer' s newfound power on regaining his arms worried Tefize, but not overly. He had taken a chance giving those limbs back, but it had been a calculated risk. Lan Martak' s power had been extraordinary. Only with Claybore augmented by new bodily parts had they managed to triumph.

But would Claybore give him the power he promised? Tefize doubted it possible for the mage to say anything without lying. It came as second nature to him. But using the mage' s legs as a bargaining point had certain advantages. What would Claybore do to regain them? Was control of a dozen worlds too large a price to pay for control of thousands, or even millions?

Lirory Tefize didn' t think so. With proper choosing of those worlds to rule, he decided it would be less than ten years before his own power rivaled Claybore' s. Traveling the Road had shown the gnome much. Careful lists compiled to show each nexus of power would come in handy very, very soon. Control those points, gain strength and knowledge, depose Claybore.

The disembodied sorcerer might be immortal, but Lirory Tefize knew that Claybore had been defeated once. A second time was possible- and this time the victor would not perish as Terrill had.

Tefize smiled and turned; then stopped. A frown wrinkled his forehead and anger welled inside him.

" Master," came a weak voice. " We have been defeated."

Lirory Tefize faced one of his clan. The gnome abasing himself was bloodied and barely able to crawl forward.

" What happened?" Lirory demanded. " How could the Heresler have beaten you? You followed my plan to the letter, did you not?"

" Master, they had help. Two of them with swords. And the spider! Never have we fought so well and died so nobly; but the spider!" The gnome shook all over and buried his face in his gnarled hands.

" Oh, get up. Stop groveling," Lirory said irritably. Dealing with such incompetence was a burden he disliked heartily. Ever since he had killed or exiled the other sorcerers from Yerrary, greater and greater demands of leadership fell upon him. It seemed that no one accomplished anything now without his personal guidance. Would it be like this when Claybore relinquished control of those worlds to him? Lirory Tefize didn' t want to consider that at the moment.

" Where are they? The spider and the others who so ignominiously trounced you?"

" Master, they are in the Heresler territory."

Lirory stalked off, stubby arms crossed over his barrel chest. As he walked he thought and frowned even more. He found no residual effects of magic. However his clansmen had been defeated, it wasn' t through the use of the arcane. In a way, this bothered him more than it should. He expected treachery from Claybore- he didn' t put it past the mage to aid one side over the other to sow discord. To defeat a force undoubtedly without equal in all of Yerrary through purely physical means wrought havoc on the troops and their morale.

Lirory felt control slipping away. He did not like the feeling.

Stopping short of a junction leading into Heresler- controlled corridors, he closed his eyes and listened. In the distance he heard faint scratching noises, rock against rock.

" They put up barricades," he said to his clansman. The battered gnome only bobbed his head, whether from fear or in agreement Lirory couldn' t tell. The mage began tracing patterns in the air before him, lines that first glowed pale blue and finally took on an intensity that caused his clansman to shield his eyes. Lirory Tefize stared directly into the center of the burning rectangle he' d formed.

Swirls of color took on substance, changed, flowed again, and finally came into focus. Lirory muttered a final spell and then watched the small picture and the gnomes busily working within the fiery frame.

" Master, that is Broit!" cried the gnome.

" Silence." Lirory spoke in an offhand manner. He focused all his attention on the picture and had scant time for dealing with subordinates. The barricades being erected by the Heresler clan were adequate to thwart a simple frontal assault. Lirory knew such an attack was out of the question. Using this clansman as a guideline, the mage knew the Tefize would never be whipped into attacking. They were defeated both physically and in morale.

But there were other routes open to him.

" Those large ones. The humans. They were responsible for your defeat?" he asked.

" The spider, also."

" Yes, there is the spider." Lirory repressed a shiver of disgust. The monster crouched to one side of his magical viewing port and slowly masticated a cave roach. Lirory turned his port away from the arachnid and back to Inyx and Ducasien.

" What are you to do, Master? Do: do we attack again?" The obvious fear in the gnome' s voice solidified Lirory' s belief that the Tefize clan would be defeated in any further fight.

" I attack. You and the others need only enter after I am victorious. The Heresler will not trouble you."

" You send demons to them?" The eagerness stemmed more from seeing an enemy vanquished than in releasing such potent magical beings. Lirory wanted to shake the gnome until the broken teeth rattled for even mentioning such a course of action. Elementals, demons, magical beings from other planes were all dangerous conjurations.

He did shudder convulsively as he remembered the shadow hound Claybore had summoned forth with his newly regained arms.

" There are other spells. The large sorcerer is not with them," Lirory said smugly. " I have already taken care of him."

" Master!"

" Do not fear. He has been cast outside Yerrary. The fog has seized his mind. He will never threaten us again."

" Master, you will reign supreme forever! Your power knows no bounds!"

" Of course it doesn' t," Lirory said in distraction. He knew the tales of defeating Lan Martak would spread and grow with each reverently whispered retelling. Good. Before the end of this year the name of Lirory Tefize would linger on everyone' s lips, some speaking in fear, some in awe, and all in total obeisance.

Lirory worked up the power required for the binding spell he would use. To project through the magical window was the only way possible for him. His magics were limited in that he needed to see the object of his spell. Lirory wondered if it were true that Claybore could project spells without seeing his victim. If so, that made the disembodied mage even more dangerous than he appeared- which was deadly, indeed.

Inyx and Ducasien sat close by one another. Good. That made it easier for him to cast a single spell to capture both. While Lirory was certain it lay within his power to form two equally effective spells and direct them to different targets, this made his work all the easier.

" They: they shimmer, Master!" said the watching gnome. Awe tinted his voice, but Lirory was beyond feeling pleased at this. He needed every particle of his being to propel his conjurings now.

" Tangles," he muttered. " Feet numbing. Fingers tingling. Stand, yes, that' s it, stand and try to shake off the effects." Lirory smiled broadly now. Both Inyx and Ducasien played into his hand by fighting the paralyzing spell. If they had stayed quiet he might have failed. Not now, not with them beginning to experience the first feathery touches of his spell.

Inyx opened her mouth and emitted a scream that echoed down the hallway. From the burning framed picture there came no sound. She spun about wildly, slapping her hands against her body. Every turn caused her increasing dizziness until she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Ducasien tried to kneel beside her, to aid her. He bent forward and kept going. He crashed heavily atop her, unable to do more than feebly twitch.