Black wizards - Douglas Niles [124]
In spite of himself, Kryphon was impressed. It took a great deal of power to control a climate, as this mage had obviously done. He had magically created this tropical garden in the middle of a temperate forest.
A splash of water rose over the bushes before them, and they rounded a curve in the trail to see the wizard, Annuwynn. The mage of Doncastle was a trim, handsome man. His face was thin, but his jaw was squared and powerful, and clean-shaven. He emerged from a wide pool of water to shake himself dry upon the smooth flagstones. His body was tanned to a dark brown, and he was naked.
Annuwynn shook his long black hair and wiped the water from his face. He walked gracefully beside the pool, moving like a stalking wolf, when he suddenly turning to sit on… something. An invisible chair caught the wizard as he fell, supporting him easily.
"Glynnis!" he called. "I desire wine."
"Coming, my lord," responded a musical voice. Kryphon discerned the large outline of the wizard's manor, almost concealed by the thick foliage beyond the pool.
Kryphon squeezed Razfallow's elbow. There was no mistaking the gesture. The wizard felt Razfallow slip away, but he could hear no sign of the half-ore's movement.
A pretty young maid, no more clothed than her lord, emerged from the building, carrying a glass that had begun to gather frost in the humid air. She approached the reclining figure of Annuwynn.
But Razfallow got there first. The wizard might have detected some sign of his enemy's approach, but it was too late. Annuwynn's eyes widened, but then his throat suddenly fell open. A wide red wound suddenly sprouted below his chin.
The dying wizard thrashed in his chair. The wizard's fingers twisted desperately – but he would cast no more spells.
The serving maid screamed and dropped the glass. Annuwynn fell backward, his lifeblood spurting onto the flagstones – and onto the assassin. Razfallow crouched and snarled as the blood marked his invisible form. He saw Glynnis's eyes widen, and his instincts took over. With a growl, he thrust the blade into her heart.
The girl stumbled, a look of surprise growing on her face, and then she fell into the pool. The water swirled around her in a crimson pattern as a flock of brightly colored birds broke, shrieking, from the underbrush. Razfallow cleaned his blade and returned to the mage.
They walked silently from the tropical garden. The opening in the hedge rustled and closed behind them.
And the garden slowly grew cool.
* * * * *
The great form lay sprawled among the wildflowers, one wing folded unnaturally over her back. As Newt dove to Robyn's side, the bird flopped and twisted, growing in size. By the time the wood sprite settled beside her, Robyn lay as a young woman. She clutched the runestick in one hand. Yazilliclick reached tentatively forward to take the stick. He placed it in his quiver of arrows, taking care that it would not fall out.
But she was not moving. Yazilliclick moaned slightly as he saw blood running from her nose, but he realized from the slow rising and falling of her chest that she still lived.
The crows, satisfied that the threat was over, circled back to the trees around the clearing, ignoring the human, the wood sprite, and the little dragon.
"Robyn? W-wake up, please!" cried Yazilliclick, thoroughly miserable. He was in a strange land, farther than he had ever been from his home. Who would help him?
Distraught, the sprite jumped into the branches of the dead oak that had been Robyn's intended landing place. His antennae drooped as he tried to think.
Then he saw movement in the clearing – some men were coming! They were hunters, he thought, dressed in brown leather and carrying bows. He counted six of them.
"Newt! Up here! Up here!" He called to the faerie dragon, who was sniffing about the meadow, buzzing several feet off the ground. Newt quickly