Tangled webs - Elaine Cunningham [85]
The captain ignored this taunt. "Could you do this?" "Not here," she admitted. "The needed tools and magic remain in the Underdark. But i could replace your hand with that of another human."
"No man would consent to such a thing!"
"i never imagined that one might," Shakti said dryly, not understanding the captain's horrified reaction. "But there are human slaves in Ascarle, are there not? And i assume a slave's consent would hardly be needed. When we return, choose one that pleases you, and i will see to the rest." Rethnor fell silent as he pondered the drow's macabre suggestion, and he wondered what kind of being could speak of such things so casually. He had heard there were spells like this-usually wielded by necromancers, those wizards who dealt in death. He'd even heard rumors of a hideous slave trade in which healthy men were captured and sold for such purposes, their bodies auctioned off piece by piece as if they were mere swine to be divided into hams and chops and bacon. This notion went against all Rethnor's Northman sensibilities, for how could a man unwhole hope to enter the halls of a warrior god? And the very thought of integrating the flesh of another man with his own utterly appalled him.
And yet…
"The hand," he began tentatively. "How much skill will it hold? Will i be able to wield a sword again? Not just lift it and flail about, but will i be a master?" he demanded, his voice gaining passion as he spoke.
The drow eyed him with a dour expression. "it depends. How skilled were you before?"
"Very. The best."
"Good," she said flatly. "You would be amazed at how many restored fools ask if they'll be able to play the harp now and, when advised they can, admit they were unable to before. Even among the drow, there are those who cannot open their lips but a bad jest emerges. Bah!"
"i do not care much for jests of any sort," Rethnor said by way of reassurance. "But puzzles intrigue me, and so i cannot help but wonder why you would offer to do this for me." Shakti smiled in grim approval, shielding her eyes against the starlight with one hand and turning her gaze far out over the dark waters. "You doubt my motives. That is good."
He waited, but the drow did not add to this. "You consider it wise to go into battle with only strong allies," he guessed.
Her eyes darted, like two mocking red flames, to his face. "if you like. That explanation will do as well as any." Although Rethnor was not accustomed to verbal fencing, he was a skilled swordsman, and he knew a parry in any form. A familiar exhilaration came over him as he met the challenge in the elf woman's crimson eyes. He had not had a good battle for many days, and he hungered for the thrust and retreat, the bold attack and the clever treachery that made for a truly good match. Here, in a guise stranger than any he had ever imagined possible, was a foe truly worthy of battle.
And perhaps, he thought as he considered the ample curves beneath the elf woman's somber dark robes, this one was worthy of conquest, as well.
"How do you propose to capture the wizard?" Shakti demanded, shattering his pleasantly salacious musings and returning him to the task at hand.
"She will no doubt head for Ruathym. I have spies on and around the island." He hesitated, not sure how much he should reveal. Enough, he decided, to gain this one's confidence. There was a new hand to be gained and perhaps a bit more.
"There is a portal between Ascarle and Ruathym," he said. "Recently discovered, it is an ancient magical path, probably conjured by the elves who once lived in both lands. Messengers use the portal to carry orders. When your enemy reaches the island, we will know of it."
Shakti stared at him as she absorbed this. "Why doesn't the illithid use this portal to launch an attack?"
"You have much to learn of the Kraken Society," he told her. "information