Pool of Twilight - James M. Ward [62]
"Our vengeance is at hand, Father." Her voice echoed across the stones. Now, quickly, to complete her tasks. "Hoag!" she hissed, sending out a summons to the hamatula fiend. "Come to me, my black knight!"
I come, glorious mistress, the fiend's voice answered in her mind. But you must be patient. The new form you have given me chains me to this plane of existence. I can journey only so fast as my steed may travel, and though the wings you granted him speed our journey, there is much distance to cover.
"Then make it travel faster!" Sirana snarled. "You must destroy the skeletal paladin called Miltiades. He is the most powerful among the fools who have journeyed here, and the most dangerous. I will not have that vile knight desecrating my father's tower once again! Do you understand?"
I understand, my fearsome mistress, and I will obey-
Sirana broke the connection with a wave of her hand. She had no more time to waste. Hoag understood her orders. He would not dare disobey her. There was another being whom she must contact now, one more powerful than a lowly baatezu fiend.
Standing in the protective circle inscribed in the center of the chamber, she opened her mind. With all her will, she sent forth a summons. She counted three heartbeats. Then her call was answered.
What is it you desire, sorceress? The guardian of the twilight pool spoke in her mind.
Its voice was fawning, yet so vast in power that Sirana almost buckled. She steeled her resolve. She could not show weakness to the guardian of the pool. It must never, not even for a second, doubt that it was her slave.
"I require more power," Sirana demanded. "The Hammer of Tyr is close. Very close. Soon I will hold it in my hand. But I must have the strength of the twilight pool to protect me from the force of its holy magic. Give me that strength. Now!"
As you wish, sorceress.
Sirana felt raw, crackling energy flow into her spirit. She reveled in the sensation. Her heart, her fingers, even the tips of her hair, tingled with power. It was glorious, intoxicating.
"Now, sink back into your slime, creature," she snapped when the transference was complete. The guardian meekly obeyed. Sirana hugged herself, thinking how truly delicious her revenge was going to be.
Once again, twilight-colored flecks glittered in her dark eyes, only this time they did not fade away so quickly.
* * * * *
"There, can you see it?"
Daile handed the long, cylindrical scrying glass to her father. They stood on the rampart of the crumbling guard tower, looking out over the ruins. Ren lifted the glass to his eye.
He nodded. "It's the entrance to the stairwell. I remember those crimson marble steps well." He smiled broadly. "Good work, Daile."
"Glad you agree," she beamed smugly.
"You know, modesty was one of your mother's most becoming traits."
Daile smiled winningly. "Well, then, I suppose I'm just my father's daughter."
Ren laughed gruffly, squeezing her shoulder. He couldn't argue with that.
Daile took the scrying glass, peering through it again. She could see the head of the stairwell in the center of some half-formed chamber, close to the huge statue where in an hour they were supposed to meet the others. Spindly vaults gave the chamber a vaguely cathedral-like aspect. Dozens of stone sarcophagi lined its perimeter.
Daile was about to lower the glass when movement caught her eye. She watched as a mule deer bounded into the open-air room. It was the first sign of life she had noticed in the ruins. The deer wandered through the hall. Clearly the poor beast was lost, separated from its herd. The animal ventured close to one of the stone sarcophagi standing upright along the edge of the chamber. What happened next made Daile gasp in horror.
As the deer passed by, the lid of the sarcophagus flew open. A half-dozen long, skeletal arms reached out, clutching at the animal. The deer thrashed wildly, eyes rolling in terror, but the skeletal arms dragged the little mule deer into the coffin. Abruptly the lid slammed shut. The hall was still once again.
Daile lowered the