Cormyr_ a novel - Ed Greenwood [207]
Gaspar Cormaeril screamed. The noble allies who previously stood alongside him now scattered like frightened fowl in a barnyard. Gaspar pawed at his ornate vest and pulled forth a large ruby, given to him days earlier by his friend Aunadar Bleth. Green and crimson flames erupted from the gem, spreading along his chest and arms as if they were coated with oil. Gaspar writhed in helpless, rising agony as the mystic fire consumed him.
The green flickering flames grew into a green snake of crackling magical force, a twisting, questing rope of radiance that climbed over the heads of the nobles and then descended, like a vengeful arrow, to strike the abraxus.
Strike-and be absorbed. The golden bull pulsed with green light, and the flames left the tottering, shriveled body of the stricken noble, infusing the abraxus with life energy. Gaspar Cormaeril fluttered like a dry leaf caught on grass in a high wind, and then collapsed into dust. Not even his bones survived to hit the floor.
The abraxus rattled, shook, and moved, raising its head and shifting its shoulders with a heavy clank. Its head began to turn, and Aunadar, fairly leaping with glee, pointed and shouted to direct the automaton at the king. This time there would be no mistake.
Forgotten on the dais, the Royal Magician of Cormyr quietly finished casting a spell and let his hands fall, a grim smile on his lips.
Suddenly the crown princess burst into motion in a swirl of robes, racing to stand in front of her father. "No! Aunadar, you must not do this!"
Aunadar's intent, ruthless expression did not change. "Join me, my love," he hissed between clenched teeth. "Throw off your heavy past and join me in a brighter future. I will comfort you, care for you, protect you, in a way that these others never will!"
Tanalasta recoiled from the look in Aunadar Bleth's eyes, but her gaze did not leave him. She looked neither at Vangerdahast nor at her father, nor at the assembled trembling nobles. Instead, her mouth formed a smooth, thin line. "No," she said simply. "I will not. Stop this madness now."
His glittering eyes shifted from her in an instant, dismissing her, and turned back to his quarry, Azoun, who stood calmly and quietly, watching the metallic doom come down upon him.
Tanalasta raised her hands, as if she could stop the steadily advancing abraxus, and shouted, "Aunadar! Stop this! Don't-"
Aunadar lifted his lips back from his teeth in a wolfish grin, and a hissing began. The poisonous breath of the abraxus rushed out, swirling like smoke, but did not reach the terrified princess. Instead, it struck something hard and hitherto unseen in the air before it-something large and curving. The smokelike breath of the beast stole outward along it, revealing the great curve of another barrier, this one a sphere that enclosed the abraxus-and with it, Aunadar Bleth.
On the steps below the throne, the wizard Vangerdahast's smile tightened. Giogi looked at him. Just for an instant, he saw the glittering stare of the ruthless hunter in the old mage's eyes, and from below them came the raw sound of Aunadar's disbelieving scream.
The abraxus breathed again, and the sphere could be seen clearly now as deadly vapors swirled within it. It was moving with the clanking monster, proceeding slowly down the Hall of the Dragon Throne toward the king.
Tanalasta turned an instant before the magical shield would have touched her. She stepped backward one step, then a second, and rushed into her father's embrace. Azoun's arms went around her and held her firmly.
Behind her, Aunadar's scream broke off into choking, frantic hacking sounds that went on and on as the smoky sphere advanced. Tanalasta turned in the king's arms to stare at it in horrified fascination. Her treacherous fiance was going to die, but would he be the only one? Were they going to be able to stop this golden clanking horror?