Rising tide - Mel Odom [67]
"For what?" Laaqueel demanded.
He shook his head. "Once, my little malenti, I ruled the seas of this world, and I choose to do so again."
"Sacrilege!" Laaqueel said. "Sekolah-"
"-Has more pressing matters than paying attention to one puny world out of all those open to him," Iakhovas finished for her. "Why else have the sahuagin had to rely more on themselves than on their god?"
"Sekolah teaches us to be unmerciful, trains us to be strong through hardship. Self-sufficiency is valued above all things."
"If your people were truly self-sufficient," Iakhovas said, "they wouldn't need me now, would they? They would have already dealt with the hated surface dwellers, but they haven't. The success we've had here tonight will only lead to more successes in the future." Laaqueel searched for a reply, but none came readily. Her attention shifted to a Waterdhavian Watch group that raced down the walk across the street. Two of the men wore wizard's robes showing the watch's colors of black, gold and green that were apparent even in the moonlight. She watched their heads turn as they came across from Iakhovas.
"Hold there!" one of the watch wizards ordered. He pulled a red glowing wand from his robes. The other guardsmen came around like a school offish, turning as one.
Laaqueel appreciated their training but knew it made them dangerous if they saw through the illusion Iakhovas had cast. "Who are you people?" the watch wizard demanded. Citizens trapped between the two groups on the street quickly thinned around them, leaving them facing each other.
"We have a ship out in the harbor," Laaqueel replied after realizing Iakhovas wasn't going to answer.
"I want to see your papers," the wizard said, gesturing to one of the men around him. Several of the other watch members had drawn heavy crossbows.
"They have the sense that something is wrong," Iakhovas said. "They smell the sewer scent of the wererats. Even I couldn't disguise that from those who are magically adept. Stand ready."
Laaqueel wished they were closer to the harbor. There she would be at least near her element.
"Slay the man who approaches us," Iakhovas commanded quietly, "as soon as he's near enough to make sure of the kill."
Laaqueel stretched her empty hand down, hiding it behind her leg. She flipped her retractable claws out and waited. When the man stood across from her and reached out for her papers, she struck. Her claws flashed across his throat, opening his jugular in a crimson rush. He fell to the street clutching at his torn throat.
The watch wizard pointed his wand. A bright flare shot from the end of it, wriggling like an eel and the color of fire coral. The mystic bolt streaked at Laaqueel's face. Before it could reach her, Iakhovas stretched out a hand. Tattoos along his arm glowed. In the next instant, the bright flare disintegrated into a shower of purple sparks, like a candle that had been snuffed out.
"Attack!" Iakhovas ordered. He dropped a hand in front of Laaqueel. "Not you, little malenti. The wererats possess a resistance to any weapons that aren't silver or have magical properties. You will remain with me."
The wererats shrugged forward, cluttering in a semi-human language mixed with high, piercing squeaks. They brandished their swords, shapeshifting into their hybrid forms. The watch members held their ground, immediately moving shield men forward while the heavy crossbowmen fired at Laaqueel and Iakhovas. All of the arrows struck an invisible barrier and shattered, the pieces dropping into the street.
Iakhovas gestured at the wizard in an intricate pattern and spoke only a few words.
The human screamed in fear and pain as the spell took him. His arm holding the wand changed into limestone and the transformation kept moving, petrifying the whole man in seconds. He lost his voice in mid-yell.
The crossbow quarrels pierced the flesh of the wererats but didn't slow them in any way. They hacked