Pool of Radiance - James M. Ward [64]
They left the woman, agreeing to return and bury her when they left. The door across the hall led to what were apparently servants' quarters. There were two beds, and beside one they found a young man, dead. He'd obviously seen his attacker and struggled with him-or it. He had fallen victim to repeated stab wounds to the chest. Once again, Ren noted the nature of the wounds and suggested that the killer was tall, perhaps as tall as Tarl.
"I grieved only for my teacher," said Shal. "It never occurred to me that others died with him." She was near tears and stood clenching and unclenching her fists as she stared down at the bloody corpse. She spoke to no one in particular, pausing between words. "When Denlor sent his message in the crystal, he was completely overwhelmed by monsters and humanoids. But Ranthor and this poor young man and the cook… you're suggesting they were killed by another human being. I-I couldn't see the attacker, you know-only an arm, stabbing over and over. I just-just assumed it was a hobgoblin or one of the other beasts that were attacking the towers."
"Shal, I'm not saying for sure that it was a man," said Ren quietly. "I'm saying I think it was. But at any rate, they wouldn't be any less dead if it was a hobgoblin or a kobold that killed them."
"I know that!" Shal shouted. "Don't you see? Monsters and humanoids kill on whim alone. Men kill for reasons-however distorted. A kobold I could kill and be done with it, with no regrets. A man I'll hate…"
Tarl put an arm around Shal. "And you will probably be right in that feeling."
Shal gently removed Tarl's hand from her shoulder, squeezing it firmly before letting go. "I need to find Ranthor," She turned to leave the room.
"Wait!" called Ren, quickly reaching for Shal's arm. "Don't you think it would be better for Tarl and I to lead? We can't be sure that everything within these walls is dead."
"No, but we do know that almost everything within these walls is magical. Tarl was the right person to lead us at Sokol Keep. I'm the right person to lead us through the red mage's tower."
Once again Shal left no room for question. She turned again and went through the meeting hall to the door from which the red robe had emerged. The horse, the two men, and the red robe followed.
The door opened into a splendid, almost palatial landing at the foot of a great, broad soapstone staircase. The floor was inset with tourmaline, amber, amethyst, aventurine, and other semiprecious stones. A brilliant light beneath the stones shone through their translucent surface, creating a glorious speckling of many-hued rays that colored the walls in a dazzling display. The whole party stopped for a moment to admire it.
When Shal finally started up the stairs, a ruby-colored cloud, in the image of the red mage himself, formed on the staircase.
Tarl didn't recognize Denlor. The only contact he'd had with such cloudlike visages had been with the wraiths that had killed so many of his brothers in the graveyard. He charged past Shal and would have challenged the ghostly vapors had not Shal caught hold of his armor and used all her recently acquired strength to stop him.
"Poison! It's poison, Tarl!" shouted Shal, hauling him back. "It's a poison image of the master of this tower!" Tarl looked sheepish, and she softened her voice. "I'm sorry, but I must insist that you let me go first. I welcome your company, and I can use your help, but as I said to Ren, this is my mission."
Even as Shal spoke, the cloud expanded, spreading its deadly haze down the stairway. Both Shal and Tarl started to cough.
Shal held her breath and concentrated, then spoke the words she'd heard from Denlor. "Lysiam calentatem, Denlor."
The cloud dissipated immediately, and the wide soap-stone stairway once more stood vacant. Shal started up again but stopped when she heard Cerulean's whimper inside her head.
She spun around, very nearly bumping into Ren and Tarl, who were following close behind her. "What is your problem?" she exclaimed, her eyes blazing.