Red Magic - Jean Rabe [49]
"Elwin, you've got me curious," the centaur said softly. "Your name means 'friend to the elves' doesn't it? There aren't many elves in Thay, so that must mean you're not a native Thayvian."
"You're pretty smart, centaur," Elwin mumbled, sitting up and brushing the grass and dirt from his side. He yawned, displaying his broken teeth. "I'm originally from the Sword Coast… worked on a pirate ship. A few years ago, our ship started hauling slaves to Thay. I got to like this place, so I stayed." He winked at Wynter. "The orchard patrol pays well, and I do a little slaving on the side-children."
Wynter was losing his patience with the evil man. "Elwin," he said evenly, "does your slaving operation ever take you into Amruthar?"
"It takes me a lot of places," Elwin answered, sounding businesslike. "Amruthar's only one of 'em. Largest city around here. Two or three times a week, slaves are shipped in and put up for sale. They're cheaper than cattle."
"Amruthar," Wynter pressed angrily, not wanting to hear another word about Elwin's slave practices. "What is the city like now? Are the streets patrolled? Can slaves on missions for their masters walk freely? Who rules the city?"
Elwin sighed. "I've never been hassled much in the city. If you haven't done anything to offend a wizard or tharchion, you should be all right."
"Are there many centaurs?"
"Like you? Not many are as big as you," Elwin said, "but there are plenty of your type walking around."
The man sickened Wynter. The centaur believed every being had a right to choose his or her own course in life. Elwin had chosen his course long ago, but the slaves he and others in Thay dealt in could not choose. And Elwin seemed to think of them as nothing but a commodity.
"We're looking for a Red Wizard who's supposed to be in Amruthar," Wynter continued.
"A Red Wizard? There's plenty of 'em in Amruthar. Plenty all over Thay, for that matter," Elwin said with a snicker.
"His name's Maligor," Galvin interjected. "The gnoll said the Red Wizard Maligor was staying in Amruthar."
There was silence in the clearing. The charmed man nervously rubbed his scarred chin and looked at each of his companions.
"You're in over your heads," Elwin said. "Maligor's a zulkir. I ain't taking you to no zulkir. But I'll take you to the outskirts of Amruthar."
Wynter's right front hoof pawed at the ground. "Go to sleep, Elwin," the centaur stated.
In a few moments, the man was snoring again. Exhaustion also overcame Brenna, and a few minutes later her head fell to the damp, mossy floor in uneasy slumber.
Galvin and Wynter talked quietly for a while, discussing the best route to the city. They were hopeful they could move into Amruthar, get the information the Aglarond council and the Harper organization wanted, and then move out within a day or two.
In a short time, the Harpers decided it was time for them to rest, too. They discussed who should take first watch; neither Harper felt comfortable about leaving the small group unprotected. In the end, Galvin decided he would stay awake. But as the centaur chose a spot to sleep, his keen nostrils picked up a disturbing, almost imperceptible smell, reminiscent of something from his childhood. The breeze was carrying the scent of rotting flesh into the clearing. Finally, with a jolt, he recognized the smell.
"Galvin! Undead!" Wynter called, alerting the druid and waking Brenna and Elwin.
The druid's eyes peered into the darkness, searching. He smelled them first, then saw their decaying bodies coming ever nearer. At first glance, the figures appeared human, and in life they might have been. But now their flesh was gray and decomposing, and it clung to their bones like tattered sails on a mast. Their hair appeared wirey, tangled, and bug-ridden, and their deep-socketed eyes, seemingly devoid of intelligence, bore straight ahead into the clearing. They were moving in through the trees, slowly making their way past the tangled branches.
"They've surrounded us!" the druid called. He cursed