Pools of Darkness - James M Brown [20]
"Fiends," the Red Wizard said imperiously, "arise. I have a mission for you."
Three abishai, one black, one green, and one red, flapped down from their golden alcoves in Marcus's throne room and shuffled over to the wizard. If it were possible to read the expressions on the faces of the ghastly creatures, it would be obvious they didn't like taking orders from a mere human.
Of the many types of fiends, abishai were among the lowliest. Their distant cousin, the pit fiend, was the most powerful of their kin. The abishai's bodies showed disgusting similarities to their more powerful relatives.
Like pit fiends, abishai looked much like hideous gargoyles. Thin and reptilian, they possessed long, prehensile tails and great bat wings. Standing seven feet tall, their true heights were deceptive due to their crouching, bobbing gaits. These monsters were powerful, much stronger than goblinkin, and about as intelligent as an average human. And each abishai was more than a match for even the most powerful of wizards. A man wiser than the Red Wizard might have had the sense to be fearful.
"My pit fiend has given you three to me to use as I wish. You will guard my tower night and day. Fly out from the tower three hundred miles and circle the entire area. Kill anyone or anything that might cause me trouble."
The three fiends grumbled in irritation.
"None of this!" the wizard shouted, waving his ringed hand. "I, Marcus, have power over you. Now go!"
The abishai flew across the room and out of the chamber. As they went, each vowed silently to serve the pit fiend Tanetal for a thousand years, but only if they were allowed to dismember the wizard and rip out his organs one by one, keeping the insolent spellcaster alive during the fun.
No, the red abishai thought, I must offer to serve Tanetal for five thousand years. It was the most intelligent and powerful of the three, and it knew that such a plan might successfully exclude its lesser brethren from the delight of torturing the Red Wizard.
Unaware of the hidden feelings of the abishai, Marcus gloated as he sat on his throne. Invisible among the Red Wizards of Thay, he'd been of their lowest rank and was paid no attention by other wizards in the sect. Marcus's only claim to fame was a smidgeon of power granted to him after he became a follower of Bane. From that day on, his star had been on the rise. And a dark star it was.
A high priest of Bane had given Marcus the means to summon the pit fiend to Toril's plane of existence, as well as the name of Tanetal. This evil priest had also told Marcus of Bane's plan to take over the cities of the Moonsea and fill them with possessed humans who would worship Bane and make the deity the most powerful god in Faerun.
When Marcus summoned Tanetal, he was startled but overjoyed by the massive power of the pit fiend. The creature's mere touch had given the wizard awesome mystical abilities. And in a snap the fiend had summoned the lesser fiends, the abishai, to serve Marcus in any way the Red Wizard desired.
"Oh, that was a glorious day when Tanetal became my servant. We raised this tower and later we stole the entire city of Phlan. All I must do now is conquer the city with the mystical minions I command, and all will be pleasing to Bane. I will be granted powers beyond those of mere mortals. What more could one wizard ask?" Marcus hissed and seethed in distorted ecstasy.
Over the next hour, Marcus gave instructions to clerics of Bane and then to the commanders of the mercenary armies. Phlan would fall-of that he had no doubt-and all would be perfect. True, the city had resisted the first attack of Marcus's army. The residents were surprisingly well prepared for battle, and powerful wizards lurked within the city, including one female who cast the most damnable violet lightning bolts. But they would fall; they would be defeated.
Marcus smiled as he thought of the day that the people of Phlan would be submerged into the pool of