Red Magic - Jean Rabe [113]
The froglike monstrosity spied the druid, and it snaked out a long, forked tongue that stretched nearly to Galvin's face.
"Look out, Galvin!" Brenna cried. The slave girl screamed in terror and backed halfway down the staircase behind the sorceress.
The druid vaulted forward and to his right. Drawing his longsword, he sliced at the tongue, cleaving it in two. Black ichor spilled out from the flailing appendage and hissed over the stones. Brenna and the slave girl backed farther down the stairs.
"It looks like acid," Brenna called. "Shall I get the wraiths?"
"No," he barked, taking aim at the froglike creature. "They're worse than this thing."
Again the creature attacked, this time stretching out its half-tongue, spattering the druid's chain and tabard with the acidic slime.
Galvin heard the cloth sizzle and felt the heat against his chest. Using all his strength, he jabbed the sword at the frog's leathery side, pushing it in up to the hilt. The creature responded with a pitiful cry that sounded like a baby and thrashed about, trying to dislodge the weapon. Dark, thick blood began to well from the wound. The frog's bulk worked against it, however. The druid had managed to maneuver himself around to its side, where what remained of the creature's tongue couldn't reach him.
"Can I do anything?" he heard Brenna cry.
"No. Stay back!" he shouted, as he pulled the sword out and thrust it in again. "Protect the girl and save your magic! We may encounter worse creatures than this before we're through!"
More of the black blood oozed out the frog's side as Galvin leapt to the creature's back, but his foot slipped in the acidic mixture and he went sprawling between the giant frog and the wall. Although apparently dying from its wounds, the creature struggled to the end, attempting to pin the druid between itself and the wall.
Galvin pushed with his feet and hands against the frog's body, trying to regain his weapon. Finally he grasped its hilt with both hands, tugged it loose from the creature's side, then struggled to his feet. The black blood had etched holes in his tabard and burned patches of skin on his hands and face, but it hadn't burned all the way through the chain links of his shirt.
The frog moved slowly, attempting to turn itself around on the landing so it could face Galvin. It opened its maw and tried to snap at its attacker, but the druid was too quick for it. He jumped behind the creature and plunged his sword into the center of its back. The frog made a sickly gurgling noise, and the black substance poured from its mouth and began to flow down the stairs. Brenna and the slave girl pressed themselves up against the wall to avoid the trail of acidic slime. Finally the creature grew still.
On the landing, Galvin drew in several deep breaths, then motioned for Brenna and the girl to join him. As the sorceress reached for his hand, she stopped, staring wide-eyed at the creature. Its skin began to bubble like a pool of lava, and spurts of black blood shot out from its body. The frog's skin gradually changed from green to brown to orange, then flaming red, as it melted from the thing's bones and flowed down the stairway.
Galvin, Brenna, and the slave girl stared at the monstrous skeleton, which appeared as white as if it had been picked clean.
Galvin was angry. "Animals shouldn't be turned into something vile and corrupt. I want the man who did this."
"He's not here, but I'm sure you already know that. We'll just have to do." The voice came from the darkness at the end of the hallway beyond the landing.