Red Magic - Jean Rabe [25]
Wynter still looked puzzled.
"You can't see who's watching you, but sometimes you can tell you're being watched." Brenna scratched at the back of her neck. "But only sometimes. More often than not, you'd never have a clue that someone was spying on you."
"How did you know just now?" the centaur asked uncertainly.
Brenna could tell he only half believed her. "Goose-bumps," she answered simply. "I felt an odd sensation, and I had the definite feeling someone was watching us."
"And now?"
"The presence is gone," Brenna stated.
"Good," Wynter said, feeling more relaxed.
"Only good to a point," the sorceress countered. "Whoever or whatever was watching us probably knows we're going to Thay."
The centaur scowled and trotted toward Galvin.
*****
The Red Wizard continued his circuit of the tub, convinced now that the woman was a power to be reckoned with. Maligor was furious; he had little time to devote to the mysterious enchantress. He had his own goals-and his own personal army-to contend with.
Maligor knew he couldn't attempt to scry on her again, at least not for a while. He'd have to wait several hours until he regained enough magical energies. Needing to take his mind off the red-haired woman, he decided to check on his forces-forces that only he knew about.
Even Asp remained oblivious to Maligor's secret army. Although the spirit naga was the only being in whom he placed any semblance of trust, he nevertheless limited her knowledge. He would tell her of this other army only when the timing was right.
It is time to check on my soldiers, he reflected, pleased with himself about what awaited in the basement. He sauntered from the chamber as erect as his aged back and the liqueur allowed and motioned the guards not to follow.
"Instruct the slaves to put out the candles and clean the room," he ordered as he passed. "I am finished here for the evening." The guards moved immediately to comply.
Satisfied with their promptness, the Red Wizard descended the spiral staircase that led to the bowels of his tower. Passing guards on every level, he nodded to them and noted that all of them seemed alert tonight. Maligor's security was stronger in the evening than in the daytime; he knew many wizards preferred to act at night. Tonight Maligor had placed several special guards and had cast powerful wards to keep even the most powerful of sorcerers from scrying into his domain. He planned to add to his army this evening and wanted no one else, not even Asp, to watch. He would have to keep her very busy with the gnoll troops for the next several days or she was bound to become curious about his work.
As Maligor proceeded past the ground level, the stairway widened. He had had it constructed this way to better accommodate the large creatures he often kept below. He passed through several doorways that appeared, when closed, to be sections of the wall, but which pivoted or slid back to open. Only skilled thieves or special spells could reveal the stonework as doors.
It took the old wizard several minutes to reach the deepest underground level. It was quite damp here, and slime and mosses coated the walls. The guards at this level had never been human. They were vague, misshapen forms that, except for the rise and fall of their massive chests, stood unmoving against the foundation. He passed them all, taking note to construct a few more such guardians tomorrow as an added precaution.
Eventually he reached a large chamber where the stonework along the walls appeared older than the rest of the tower. The oval chamber, lit only by a dozen guttering, tallow-soaked torches, was more than two hundred and fifty feet long and nearly half that in width. At first the room appeared empty, wrapped in shadows that writhed and breathed in the meager torchlight. Then, as Maligor's eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he made out the shapes he was searching for. Darkenbeasts. Nearly a thousand of them.
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