The Coral Kingdom - Douglas Niles [33]
Yet the Destructor had other plans to make, and to this end he summoned his avatar, bidding Sinioth to appear in a guise of master in his new domain. Thus, beneath the waters of the Trackless Sea, Coss-Axell-Sinioth assumed the shape of a proper creature. Long tentacles trailed from his head, and a beaklike mouth clamped shut with crushing power. As large as a good-sized ship, the giant squid waited to hear his master's words.
At the same time, Talos summoned Sythissal, king of the sahuagin, into his immortal presence. The scaly creature, his humanoid body layered with supple sinew, a column of bristling spines extending down his back, soon floated before the squid.
"This is your master," came the voice of Talos, like a distant landslide rumbling under the sea. "You will obey him in all his commands.
"The two of you must journey to Kyrasti, to the great city of the sea trolls in the Coral Kingdom. There, you, Sythissal, are to assume personal command of the prisoner.
"And you, my favorite pet"-the voice of Talos lowered to an affectionate growl-"are to prepare my minions for mastery of the Moonshaes!"
5
Pawldo of Lowhill
Keane was the first to attack, spurring his horse into a charge across the meadow with reckless abandon. The others raced behind him as the magic-user raised his hand and started barking the commands to a spell.
The awful appearance of the monster before them belied any kind of rational explanation-from its three legs, to its monstrous size, to the lack of any apparent face, except for the fluid opening and closing of its grotesque mouth. Two humanlike figures, barely visible below the banks of a nearby stream, took advantage of the momentary distraction to scramble away from the horror.
The beast turned slowly through a full circle, waving long, whiplike tentacles in the air, as if seeking some clue to the approaching party.
Alicia's first thoughts about the monster told her that the thing was impossibly huge-too big to fight, much less hope to kill. Her second thoughts followed closely as she understood that this was not a beast of this world. But even as these apprehensions whirled through her brain, she spurred her horse to join the thundering charge of her companions trailing after Keane.
The lanky wizard, his robes flapping from the speed of his horse's gait, extended his right hand, pointing a finger toward the monstrosity looming over the riverbank. He shouted hoarsely, his words blurring with the pounding thunder of his suddenly animated steed. In fact, the gelding seemed to have abruptly come to life, throwing every ounce of its strength into a desperate and surprisingly fast gallop.
A crackling bolt of energy exploded from Keane's hand, slashing through the air like a flaming spear to impact against the monster's bony carapace, hissing for a split second as sparks flew from the wound. The domed monster bellowed in a droning, almost metallic sound and reared backward. Tentacles lashed the air before it as it sought the source of the painful attack.
But Keane reined in, well back from the monster's clutching tendrils. The muddy figures in the streambed dropped out of sight, but Alicia caught a glimpse of their wide eyes staring at the fight in the field. One of them wore a steel helmet, its silvery sheen streaked brown with mud.
Robyn joined Keane, leaping down from her saddle to stamp the end of her staff on the ground before her.
" Caorralis-Etrai!" she shouted, summoning the power of the goddess from the earth itself.
Immediately a mound of dirt began to rise from the ground, ripping itself free from the surrounding soil, tearing away a great patch of sod and rising into a giant, vaguely human form. Clumps of grass clung to its back and shoulders, for the creature had been formed from the earth itself. Growing steadily, it soon towered like a giant over the heads of the mounted Ffolk. It was an earth elemental, a creature summoned by the power of a druid and sent by the goddess to aid a cause in the