Black wizards - Douglas Niles [137]
"What do you want? I haven't time for – "He stopped suddenly as Kryphon began to wave his hand.
"Dothax, Mylax Heeroz." Kryphon repeated the spell that had, thus far, served him very well. He pulled a diamond pendant from beneath his robe and waved it slowly.
The captain paused, confused. He looked suspiciously at the sorcerer. Slowly, his hand crept toward the steel shortsword girded to his waist. His face twisted as his mind wrestled with the magic.
"Captain Cassidy, my friend," said the sorcerer softly. "It is good to see you again."
The officer looked at him uncomprehendingly, but finally gave him a tentative smile. Magic had won over his mind.
"There has been a mistake," continued Kryphon urgently. "The attack comes from the south – you must take your company there! Screen the approaches to Doncastle, but remember – from the south!"
Captain Cassidy nodded earnestly, grasping the mage's hand. "Thank you!" he said sincerely before springing to his horse and racing into the plaza.
Kryphon smiled to himself before turning back to his original path. The chapel of Vaughn Burne was not far.
The cleric knelt in reverence, meditating. His goddess answered his calls for strength, filling him with her life-affirming power. She knew, as did he, that the coming battle would test his might to the limit.
Vaughn Burne felt a slight disruption in the rhythm of his meditation. Immediately he knew that someone, some evil, had entered his sanctuary. A dark presence sent a shiver down his spine.
The cleric ceased his meditations and rose to grasp his silver war hammer. He stepped to the thin curtain that separated his meditation alcove from the main chapel and looked out. The front door stood open, but the huge room, with its dozens of benches, was empty.
Or was it?
Vaughn Burne cast a spell upon himself, passing a hand before his eyes. Now he looked at the room and saw it as it truly was.
Along the far wall, an invisible man was creeping stealthily. The intruder had covered himself with magic, and he carried no weapon. The cleric deduced that he was a sorcerer. And his fingers glittered with diamond rings – this was indeed the killer from his dream. The cleric grew angry, knowing that he was looking at the man who had killed his friend Annuwynn – and who now intended to slay him as well.
The cleric did not grow overconfident. He knew that if not for the warning provided by Chauntea, he would probably have been slain at his meditations. But now he had the advantage, and the sorcerer was not the only one who could use magic.
Vaughn Burne whispered another spell and became every bit as invisible as the mage. He stepped around the screen, careful not to disturb the hanging fabric, and crept toward the intruder. Carefully, he raised the silver hammer. The weapon, like him, could not be seen.
But a floorboard creaked beneath his careful step, and across the room the sorcerer froze. His black eyes turned toward the cleric, and seemed to sear into Vaughn Burne's flesh. But the mage surely could not see him!
Suddenly the magic-user reached into his robe, pulling forth a slender, glittering rod – a glass tube, studded with diamonds. He pointed the thing at a spot just to the cleric's left, as if he didn't know exactly where Vaughn Burne stood.
"Blitzyth, Dorax zooth!" he chanted.
A bolt of energy exploded from the rod, crackling like a lightning bolt through the chapel. It sizzled the air and blasted a hole in the wall, sending dust and shards of wood flying into the street. Vaughn Burne dove to the side as the lightning struck, but heat and fire blazed across his chest. He felt as though his lungs were consumed by flame as he tumbled over empty benches and lay still on the floor.
His robe was gone – burned away – and wisps of smoke rose from his skin.
* * * * *
The duergar spilled from their lair like an army of insects. Their number seemed limitless as they continued to pour forth long after Finellen's companies had pulled away.
The retreat threatened to become a rout, as even the sturdy dwarves