The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [65]
"Get back!" roared Kail when he recognized Cesira's chanting voice. Damn her, the last thing he wanted was for her to be acid-seated while protecting him.
Steam rose in a cloud, hissing and stinging Kail's eyes, but the burning sensation eased. The druid touched the base of his neck, and Kali felt a faint, humming tingle spread across his skin. It lingered in his ears like the last thtum of a fading song. Silently, Cesira drew away to stand beside him.
You'll have protection from the acid, she told him, for a time. She cocked her head, listening to Dantane's chants, watching the measured release of power. Go now!
Trusting her, Kail charged in under another rain of bolts, but they seemed targeted only to the creature and sailed harmlessly around him. Tentacles burst at random from the creature's hips and groin-Kail hacked them off, forming a buffer for Dantane and Cesira.
"Kail!" Dantane's voice was thick with magic. "The root in its throat-carve it out. Destroy it!"
Kail risked a glance at the throng retreating from the ballroom. A few stragglers had stayed behind-Lord Rays among them-to watch the horrific spectacle.
Kail yelled to Cesira. "Don't let them see!" The last thing he wanted was for the merchants to witness him butchering the girl, even if she no longer resembled anything human. He waded into the mass of tentacles as the druid backed down the dais's steps, chanting a familiar spell and arching her arms above her head.
The air immediately grew thick and moist. Dense fog billowed from the portal of Cesira's arms, curling around the dais in a concealing bubble that hid Kail, Dantane, and the creature from view.
Behind the vapor wall, Kail wedged his sword in the harpsichord bench and grabbed blindly at the creature with his gloved hands, trusting Cesira's protective spell to hold long enough for him to finish his grim task. He punched into the thing's mouth and felt teeth and tongue give way with a wet crunch.
Kali fought down a rush of bile. Whatever shape it took now, the thing still had a woman's head, and Kail had just rendered it a ruin. Steeling himself, he bore down, ignoring the choking and mewling sounds coming from the monster. When his hand met an obstruction, Kail didn't allow himself to think. He yanked the mass of mud and root straight up.
The creature's head disintegrated around his arm. Kail lurched backward, hurling the root ball across the dais. It landed, writhing, at Dantane's boots.
"Kill it," Kail growled.
Dantane wavered. His eyes followed the movements of the dozens of tendrils branching off the mass, each quivering with something arcane.
"Dantane!" Kali shouted.
The wizard flinched, stirred from his trance. He pointed to the mass and muttered something. Flames erupted from the root ball, consuming it in a flash of blue light and searing heat. Dantane raised his sleeve against the glare and stink. "Done," he said.
Kail strode to the bench, yanked his sword free, and kept moving until the point threatened to slice Dantane's nose in half. "If not for Cesira, I'd be smoking on the floor next to that thing. Mind telling me why you tried to get me killed?"
Breathing heavily, Dantane matched the furious lord's stare.
"I was fighting to prevent the creature from tearing your guests apart. If you've a problem with my methods-"
Kali interrupted, "You've as well as told the whole of Keczulla I'm hiding a wizard under my skirts!"
Dantane hesitated. Something that might have been chagrin came and went across his sweat-soaked face. "I'm not accustomed to fighting under these circumstances," he stammered. "As to the rest"-his white lips thinned-"had I intended you harm, Lord Morel, rest assured, your head would now be in as many pieces as that unfortunate creature."
Kail's grip on his sword tightened, but Dantane didn't back down. "Pethaps you would like me to discern the woman's-or man's-identity?" The wizatd's voice sounded smug. "It might prove useful, even vital, to have such information at hand when