Lady of Poison_ The Priests - Bruce R. Cordell [103]
Damanda roundly cursed the elf, envying the Rotting Man his way with words and ancient languages but making do with her own obscene vernacular. At least Lex had slashed the little bastard as she fell. Damanda knew lethal blows. She doubted she'd see Fallon again.
"What now, Damanda?" inquired Bonehammer, already back on his feet. With the light of day so close, the wounds given by that odd dark man with the strange war club were not mending as quickly as they should.
Damanda considered her minion's question. She said, "The Talontyr once told me that the cleric and his band would bring the Child to him of their own accord. If that is true, we merely need to arrange an ambush of such magnitude that nothing can survive it; well, we want the girl to survive, of course."
"Perhaps we should refrain from setting an ambush, if they're going to come to the Rotting Man anyway."
"I'd rather the Talontyr receive the girl from the hands of his trusted lieutenant."
Bonehammer nodded; he was nothing if not a yes man to Damanda's will.
While the sun remained above, they were trapped there in her emergency redoubt. On the one hand the building stood within sight of the Close itself. Once darkness fell, she'd raise an army. In a few hours, she'd gather hundreds of blighted volodnis, twig-blights, and other rot spawned creatures. She knew all the passages, all the ways that the Close could be accessed, both above and below ground. If the cleric pressed ahead with his fool's errand, they'd be caught and flayed, there was no doubt in her mind.
First, a bit of rest. Activity during the day, even spared direct light, was taxing. Yes, a bit of a lie-down was called for, she decided. Soon, in just a few hours, the sun would dip below the horizon. Then her full powers would return. Her quarry was as good as in her grasp.
CHAPTER 28
Ash bent, touching the limp form of Fallon on the forehead. Where she touched, a glow lingered before suffusing the body. It seemed then to Marrec that Fallon's motionless form sighed.
Ash said, "Redemption he has."
Marrec turned quickly to the crouching girl. "Ash. Can you hear me?"
The girl rose, the look of compassion fading from her face, animation fleeing her body. In a moment, she looked as she always did-unresponsive and uncaring.
Marrec was grateful for the small miracle that moved Fallon to save Elowen from the vampire's bite. He murmured thanks to Lurue. He just wished the betraying hunter had decided to return to the light before he'd kidnapped the girl. Had it been so, perhaps all might now be different.
"Now what?" wondered Elowen.
"We continue to head toward the center of Dun Tharos and confront the Rotting Man. With Ash in our keeping, we may have some protection," replied Marrec.
"Going overland will take days-yet I do not wish to return to Under-Tharos."
"True," said Marrec. He turned to the Oslander, "What do you think, Gunny?"
"Either route has its difficulties. Above ground we'll likely run afoul of the Rotting Man's forces-such was the original reason we decided to approach from below-but the subsurface route seems far more indirect and dangerous than we hoped. The path is not clear."
"It is not," agreed Marrec, sighing.
Gunggari continued, "If the blightlord had retreated physically rather than magically, I might have tracked her back to the center." The Oslander shrugged.
Ususi held up one hand. "Hold on… that gives me an idea."
The imaskari grasped the Keystone that she still wore around her neck. She brought it to her