Son of Thunder - Murray J. D. Leeder [121]
"I can handle one rabid Uthgardt," said Geildarr.
Ardeth frowned. "We have far more to deal with than one Uthgardt! Llorkh is being demolished building by building! Have you considered what will happen when Fzoul hears about this? He'll ask questions. He'll ask 'Who brought this on?' 'Why did this happen?' and 'Who do I blame?' You said he was angry that our incursion into the Fallen Lands failed-how do you suppose he'll feel about all of this?"
Each statement drove a nail into Geildarr's troubled mind. "Do you think you need to tell me this? I know!" he howled, banging his left fist against his thigh. "I know!" he repeated, stamping his feet on his red carpet. He let out a scream of frustration that echoed throughout the Lord's Keep. If Sungar did not know where to find him, he did now.
Geildarr's posture collapsed, and he wandered across his study, placing the Heart of Runlatha on a table-the very same zalantarwood table on which the axe had rested when all of this began.
"If only I had more time," he whispered. "If only I could have learned how to use it. It could have kept us secret, kept us safe from Fzoul, Manshoon, and the world. We could have lived together, you and I, hidden away from the world." He looked up at Ardeth, tears streaming from his eyes. "If Sememmon and Ashemmi can hide from the Zhentarim's eyes, surely we could too?"
"This is not a time for dreams," Ardeth spat. "It is a time for decisions."
"Yes," Geildarr said. "Decisions." He walked over to a case on his wall and pulled out a wand of duskwood. Walking back to his balcony, he looked down at the behemoths bound in the Central Square. "There's a good chance our foes are here for my pets, that they want to liberate them. We may want to relieve them of that task."
"Or you could enrage them further," said Ardeth.
"If we are to fall this day," said Geildarr, "let it be a glorious fall."
He pointed the wand at the behemoths, and the wand's magic crackled forth.
* * * * *
Like a key turning in a lock, Thanar and Kellin's blended spells succeeded in undoing the magic in the post that bound the behemoths in place. The sorceress and druid clapped hands in their victory as they watched the chains vanish. The great lizards were free, the rings on their legs now only mundane anklets.
Across the city, Vell felt their freedom and shared it. We are free, we are saved! their minds shouted, and they trumpeted in joy. You have freed us, Shepherd! Vell knew their pleasure.
No sooner had they raised their necks to salute their liberation than a lightning bolt flashed down from above.
The thunderous impact sent Kellin and Thanar diving to the ground.
The energy arced down a line of behemoths-the half of the herd that only moments before had strained at the limits of their chains along the west side of the square. Vell felt every stab of their pain as if it were happening to him, doubled and redoubled in his psyche until it became unbearable. The force of it brought him to his knees.
Another lightning blast tore down from the Lord's Keep, striking the same six behemoths. They shuddered and collapsed, their huge bulks sending the city trembling as they fell to the ground.
A blast of agony struck Vell's brain as if it carried the force of thousands of tons. Then he felt nothing. The absence was worse than the pain. Six minds fell silent.
The emptiness was deafening.
All of Lanaal's teachings fell to a forgotten corner of Vell's mind. All of his careful control of his behemoth body vanished in an instant. A rage beyond all rage overtook him and he was no longer Vell, but the mindless, rampaging monster that had killed the Zhentarim skymage in Rauvin Vale. No recollection of human consciousness, no sympathy for the blameless folk of Llorkh remained in him. Vell had no way to focus his anger on a single source. The whole city stood around him for one