Curse of the Shadowmage - Mark Anthony [13]
The tunnel ended abruptly in a door. A thin line of ruddy light glowed above the sill. Slowly, Mari turned the door handle, which creaked softly. She tensed her body, then threw the door open. Crimson torchlight spilled outward like blood. The two Harpers leapt through the doorway, daggers drawn.
The Zhentarim were all dead.
With caution, Mari and Caledan moved into the long subterranean chamber. It took Mari several moments to count up the corpses, for they were all horribly mangled. Stray body parts were strewn haphazardly across the room, and the floor was slick with blood. She clamped her jaw shut, trying not to retch. Seven, she decided at last. There had been seven agents of the Black Network in the underground lair. And someone had slain them all. Or something.
Caledan knelt beside one of the corpses and touched a finger to a gory puddle on the floor. "However they died, it happened only a few minutes ago."
"The screams we heard," Mari said with a shudder. "Those were their death cries."
Caledan wiped his hand on the dead man's tunic, then stood. "I can't say that I'm sorry. I wanted the scum dead myself. But I'm more than a little curious to find out who managed to do my job before I had the chance."
Mari shuddered. "Whoever… whatever… they were, they're gone now." She moved to a table littered with sheaves of parchment. The ones on top were illegible, spattered with blood, but those below were unstained. Several showed schematic drawings of the interior of the High Tower. Mari realized that they were plans for an attack. "Look at these, Caledan. The Zhents were plotting to take over the city. These plans prove-"
"Mari."
Caledan's voice was low and quiet, but the tension in it made her freeze.
"Mari, I want you to turn around. But do it very slowly. Do you understand?"
She nodded jerkily. Then, as slowly as she could, she spun around.
They were streaming out of the shadows that filled the far end of the chamber. Dozens of them. Even as they drew near, Mari could not identify them. They reminded her of sea creatures she had once seen off the coast of Amn, far to the south. Raystingers, the creatures were called-flat, boneless animals that floated in the warm tides, trailing whiplike tails barbed with poison. These things that drifted out of the shadows toward the two Harpers were not so different from raystingers, except they were dark as obsidian, and were floating on thin air, not water.
Heart pounding, Mari followed Caledan's lead, backing slowly toward the door. Suddenly, she felt something cold and slick brush against her hand. She gasped, looking down to see one of the dark creatures float past her and move toward the others- She twisted around. More of the things rose from a shadowed corner behind her. They spilled out of the darkness and streamed silently past. Their touch made her flesh crawl, yet they did not harm her. She saw that the creature's touch had left a red smear on her hand. Blood.
"By Milil, what are they?" she gasped.
Caledan's halting reply came from behind her. "I don't… I don't know. Perhaps the Zhentarim conjured them, but the spell of binding went awry, and the things turned on the Zhents. I…" There was a pause. Then Caledan's voice came again, a hoarse whisper. "Mari, help me.."
Dozens of the dark creatures had surrounded Caledan. They drifted around him like a dense black vapor. Caledan gazed at Mari, face pallid, eyes shining with terror. The creatures circled him slowly, brushing gently past his hands and letting their long tails slip softly around his neck in movements that seemed almost like caresses.
Caledan shuddered uncontrollably. Finally he could remain still no longer. "Get away from me!" he hissed, lashing out with an arm.
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