Iron Tongue

" Do something," pleaded Inyx. " He' s dying." The woman' s crude and usually effective first aid hadn' t staunched the geysering flow of blood from Lan' s jaw, where arteries had been clipped by the sword. He no longer made bubbling noises of pain. His body refused to believe such agony was possible and rejected any further misery.

But Inyx felt it fully for him. He' d been a handsome man, young, vital, quick of wit and quicker with his friendship and love. Now he lay with the lower right half of his jaw cut away. His tongue had vanished along with bone and teeth and palate, making only deepthroated sounds possible now. Lan Martak had lapsed into a state closer to coma than consciousness; he didn' t need to talk.

" He is dying," came the mocking words. " I can save him. Give me the tongue and I will save your lover." The image of Claybore' s skull and torso floated a few feet away. Inyx knew this was only illusion, that the sorcerer remained safely hidden away where none might physically reach him.

The offer tempted her sorely. Lan' s life for the worthless tongue in a dead mage' s mouth. Then she heard soft rustlings of silk. She turned and saw Krek mounting the perpendicular stone wall as if it had stairs cut into it. The soft sounds came from the fur on his legs brushing as he walked.

" Friend Inyx," the spider said simply. He had taken in all that had occurred with one swift glance. " I feel as you do for our fallen friend, but what was his mission?"

" To stop Claybore," she said, her voice choked. Then, firmer with resolve, she glared at Claybore' s fleshless skull and defiantly said, " Burn in all the Lower Places. You won' t get the tongue!"

" He is dying. I can save him."

" He dies thwarting you. What more can any warrior ask? He died honorably, nobly, for a cause that means something."

" It means nothing!" blared the skull. " Nothing, do you hear!"

A wicked smile crossed Inyx' s lips.

" You won' t get the tongue. He stopped you. Dar- elLan- Martak stopped Silvain and now he' s stopped you."

Claybore' s response chilled her. She' d hoped for a moment of rage from the sorcerer. It didn' t come. He laughed without humor.

" The tongue will be mine. You can' t stop me now. Those few pitiful mages remaining cannot conjure a fraction as well as I do. Silvain died for me. Do you think there are others any less willing? Are you ready to face still another giant?"

" While it might be true that your conjuration powers exceed those shown by the Wurnna sorcerers," said Krek, " it is within their power to destroy the tongue before you can recover it. You shall lose its use, even if you do conquer this entire world. Of what use is such a Pyrrhic victory?"

Again Claybore surprised them with his reaction.

He laughed louder, harder than ever before.

" The tongue is important, but I have won. Oh, yes, worms, I have won. He is dead." Ruby beams flashed from empty sockets to lightly brush across Lan' s body. The man twitched but could not cry out in pain. " More important, my agents on other worlds have been active. While you tried your pitiful efforts against me on this world, they have been successful elsewhere. Soon enough, arms and legs will be mine."

" You won' t have a tongue or a face!" taunted Inyx, but deep inside she felt sickness mounting. Their triumphs seemed pathetic in the face of Claybore' s victories. Destroying the flesh from his skull and holding the tongue did not prevent him from becoming more powerful through the regaining of other bodily parts. Even if he lied, Lan' s life slowly slipped away.

" I will come for the tongue." The image vanished.

For long minutes none moved, then Rugga motioned for the other mages to join her.

" He must be healed," she said, indicating Lan' s limp form. " Bringing the dead back to life is beyond our power, in spite of what those of Bron have claimed for so long, but saving a life might not be."

The mages chanted, hummed, made magical signs in the air that burned with fiery intensity and left the odor of brimstone, but Lan got no better. While Inyx thought the slow consumption by death had been halted, they did him no favors preserving him at this level. He had been a vital man, a vibrant one full of life. To leave him like this was a travesty. Better she drive a dagger through his noble heart.

" Stay your hand, friend Inyx," said the spider. " There is one course of action you have not taken."

" What? What is it?" she demanded, eyes wide and imploring.

" I do not know if it will work, but it seems most logical. You see, there is a symmetry to the universe that we arachnids often ponder. Perhaps it comes from our love of geometrically symmetrical webs. We spin and weave and-"

" Krek!"

" Oh, yes. I shall try it and see." The spider lumbered over to Iron Tongue' s body and used his front legs to roll the corpse onto its back. The dead mage' s head lolled grotesquely to one side, the tongue so eagerly sought by Claybore thrusting from between bloated lips. Krek used his front talons to separate the lips and open the mouth. Bending down until the serrated tips of his mandibles were deep inside, he snipped.

The spider jumped back, a shrill screech piercing the air. The contact with the magical tongue had caused fat blue sparks to erupt forth, burning both dead lips and living spider. But Krek held the organ between his powerful mandibles. Spinning in place, he pushed through the mages led by Rugga and placed the tongue into the sundered oral cavity of his friend.

" It is yours by right," Krek said softly. " Yours is the destiny we must all follow and aid. Use the magic to heal yourself. Do it, friend Lan Martak. We need you!"

A tear formed at the corner of his saucer- sized eye. Inyx gently wiped it away as she hugged one of his thick middle legs and watched.

For minutes nothing happened; then Rugga jerked back, a look of surprise on her face.

" Our magics are blocked. We can no longer aid him. He: he is healing himself."

Inyx dared to hope then. More minutes passed and a startling transformation began. What had been bone once in Lan' s face became bone again. Whitely exposed, it gleamed in the pale light of the setting sun. Then it was no longer visible. Skin flowed and covered it, recreating Lan' s normal visage. But the young mage lay as still as death.

" Help him now," urged Inyx. " Give him your strength."

" He blocks us. All of us together cannot pierce the curtain he pulls about himself."

Then came the faint and eerie chants from Lan' s newly grown lips. The spell mounted in power, built and soared to the skies. It was a spell of power and hope and success.

His eyes flickered open and soft brown eyes met Inyx' s vivid blue ones.

" Lan?" she said hesitantly, unsure of herself, unsure of Lan.

" It' ll be all right. The tongue. It: it' s giving me power I never thought possible. The spells I only half- understood. They' re crystal clear to me now. And more! I see so much more!"

Turning to Rugga, Inyx asked, " What effect will that tongue have on him? When Iron Tongue confronted Claybore, it drove him mad. Because the tongue was once Claybore' s, might that not happen with Lan, also?"

All Rugga could do was shrug. She was the most potent sorcerer in Wurnna now and this was far beyond her expertise. Compared with Claybore- and Lan Martak- she was only an apprentice.

" While Murrk and his doughty warriors have routed the grey- clad army, Claybore still remains," pointed out Krek. " From what the skull has said, victory on this world is minor. Should not our attentions be directed elsewhere?"

" Claybore remains on this world," Lan said. " I ' feel' him nearby. If he is stopped now, the war is won." He got to his feet with Inyx' s strong arm around his shoulders for support. He tapped into the power stone around him, allowed the tongue to roll in his mouth, be drenched with his saliva, become a part of his body- and soul.