Crown of Fire - Ed Greenwood [2]
As her gaze cleared, she saw a man sitting at a table in front of her – a stout, fussy-looking man with a wispy beard. He seemed to be alone in this gloomy, bare stone room. Alone until she arrived. He was looking irritably over his shoulder at her, a shoulder that bore the purple robes of a war wizard of Cormyr. The flickering blue radiance – the only light in the room-was coming from a thin, gleaming long sword floating horizontally in the air in front of the wizard.
Shandril let her eyes close to slits and her chin fall to her breast. After a moment, the wizard shrugged and turned back to the floating blade. Murmuring something to himself, he reached toward the blade and made a certain gesture. Blue lightning crackled suddenly, coiling and twisting along the gleaming steel like a snake spiraling around a branch. Then there was a brief, soundless flash, and the reaching, blue-white tongues of lightning were gone. The wizard nodded and wrote something on a piece of parchment in front of him.
Then he tugged at his beard for a moment, spoke a single, distinct word Shandril had never heard before, and made another gesture. This time there was no response from the magical blade. The wizard made another note.
Delg squinted up at the Purple Dragon commander. "In a breath or two, I'll tell you all that," he said, "if you've time to listen by then. There's near thirty Zhentilar riding on our heels, they'll be here very soon."
The commander stared at him, saw that he was serious, and said, "Zhentil Keep? Twill be a pleasure, Sir Dwarf, to turn them back." He made no move to call his men to arms, but nodded his head at the guardhouse into which Shandril had been taken. "So speak, what befell?"
Delg turned to look east. His hand glided swiftly to the reassuring hardness of his axe. "She won time for us to escape, blasting a score of Zhents out of their saddles. Unfortunately, there are more, and all her, ah, magic is gone."
The captain was not a stupid man. His eyes widened for a moment as the dwarf spoke of magicyounger than most spell-hurlers, that lass. His eyes narrowed again an instant later as he too turned to look at the horizon. His face changed, and he shouted, "Down! Ware arrows!"
A hail of shafts answered him, thudding into the turf many paces short of them. Up over the nearest hill bobbed many darkarmored heads, rising and falling at a gallop. The Zhentilar, riding hard and with arrows to waste, had come. Faces paled and jaws dropped. Then the men who wore the Purple Dragon were scrambling for crossbows and cover. As the minstrels of the Dales say, they scarce had time for last wistful wishes before death swept down on them.
Shandril heard a faint yell, then another. Somehow she found strength and was on her feet, her head swimming. The world rocked and swayed. There was nothing in her but sick, helpless emptiness.
Sweat glistened on her hands with the effort. She swayed and caught at the back of the wizard's chair for support.
Astonished and irritated, the mage looked up into her face. She pushed past, leaned on the table for support, and reached out with weak, trembling fingers. The blade was cold but tingling as she touched it; trembling with weakness and relief, she felt the magic it bore begin to flow into her."What're you – that's magic, lass – no – don't!" the wizard blurted. Then he stared in surprise; the blade flashed with sudden light and seemed to waken. Pulses of radiance ran down it and up the arms of the young girl, who grasped its hilt in both hands and gasped. She closed her eyes and shuddered as small arcs of lightning leapt from the blade and spiraled around her.
From outside came sudden tumult: thudding hooves, screams and yells, and then, very near, a horrible, gurgling moan.The wizard tore his gaze from Shandril just long enough to roll his eyes and snarl,
"What now? Oh, Mystra aid me!" Snatching a wand from his belt, he strode out of the room.